Halal or Haraam?

Halal is any object or an action which is permissible to use or engage in, according to Islamic law. The term covers and designates not only food and drink as permissible according to Islamic law, but also all matters of daily life. The opposite of this word is haraam.

I have not seen the word “Halal” being used as much as in the UK, as anywhere else in the world. I have not noticed it much in America, not at all in Australia, no where in India and can’t tell about middle-east because I couldn’t read the local languages. But in the UK, almost all butcher shops and food shops in suburban high-streets have a label attached to their brand, which authenticates if they deal with Halal product. This is to the extent that the vendor, who sells boiled “sweetcorn in a pot”, also has this label attached to the advertisement board on this stand. Halal-sweetcorn! Cool stuff. I don’t know what it should mean to me, except for some sort of sincerity and honesty about his business.

Curious me, tried interrogating my friend, who practices Islam religion, asked him what it meant for him? And he said: if we are talking about food, Halal is the one , source of which never finishes, for example the meat of the animal who give birth once a year, like Cow, Lamb, Goat. Dogs, Pigs etc give birth many times a year, hence they can’t be Halal, so we don’t eat them, and hence they are Haraam!  Different people have difference opinions/justification. Beauty lies in the differences – very interesting to hear and do analysis.

Wondering if we have such categorizations in Hindu religion? Yes we do. Burra-Bhala, Bhala-Burra, It’s called! That’s good-deeds / Bad-deeds. But if we talk about food? Do we have categorization of Good-food and Bad-food in Hindu religion? Heyna…why not, we do, we do, we do.!!! What is allowed is always broad, broad as any spectrum. If we apply theory of relativism, it gets even bigger.  There are dozens of different reasons why we eat - but only one reason why we should.

Similarly there is always what others eat, what is allowed, what is advertised, what worked for others, what they think and what we think – BUT what is truth, that never changes, never ever and that is: anything that Dharti Maa (Mother Nature) provides us is good for us as food. Do we know what Mother Nature provides us? If not, let’s check with our friend today, young Mr. Google . Yes he is still in his twenties…1998 born, you see. He knows everything.

Take pride of your appearance today; by over practicing your smile. And let me know what they thought….hmmm? Until tomorrow…