Food 101---basics of food rulings
Ihtemalaat from 1% - 100%
- ilm/ yaqeen/ qat' / jazm = 100% knowledge/certainty about something
- itmeynaan (certitude) = 99% or the same 100%
- zann (gumaan) = 51% to approx.98% or 99%
- shakk = 50%
- wahm = 1% to 49%
Rule about meat
- everything in islam is considered to be tahir (paak) unless known to be najis.
- everything is islam is considered to be h a l a l unless known to be h a r a m.
- meat and leather are the only two exceptions. so it is compulsory to consider every meat and leather to be h a r a m and najis unless we make sure that a muslim person has physically slaughtered that animal himself according to the Islamic conditions and rulings.
- the exceptions are the 'yad ul-muslim' (taking from a muslim's hand) and 'sooq ul-muslimeen' (buying from a muslim marketplace), being the 'amarah shareyyah' (an islamic sign) for helleyyat.
- but if you know that a muslim is not a shari'ah-abiding person (multazim/mutadayyin), then the yad ul-muslim being a sign of helleyyat, is no longer applicable on him.
Important tips to remember in the west
- given the fact that a lot of false statements are made and fake halal meat is sold frequently in the name of halal, do not trust just any shop displaying 'halal' sign.
- you should research to get yaqeen about the meat getting slaughtered islamically according to the conditions mentioned below.
- remember that your yaqeen (100% certainty) is hujjat (a reliable proof).
- zann (gumaan) or shakk or hearsay is not hujjat.
- if you don't get yaqeen about the statement of the seller of meat, you have to call the supplier and talk to him directly to get yaqeen.
- if you don't get yaqeen, don't buy the meat from this shop and or this supplier.
Six conditions of shari'ah which need to be met at the time of zibh, for the hilleyyat of a halal-meat animal (in order for the animal to be considered as 'halal')
- zaabih (the man or woman or a mumayyiz child slaughtering the halal-meat animal) has to be a muslim.
- zaabih should not express 'adawat towards ahl ul-bayt a.s.
- zibh should be done by a steel (blade).
- at the time of zibh, the front part of the animal's body should be facing towards qiblah. intentional negligence will cause the meat to become haram. uintentional, is not problematic.
- with the neyyat of zibh of this particular animal, the name of Allah should be taken before the zibh. intentional negligence will cause the meat to become haram. unintentional, is not problematic.
- the animal should move a bit after the zibh, proving that it was alive before the zibh.
Rules about the fish to be halal
- a lot of species of fishes do not have scales. all the clingfishes (family: gobiesocidae) as an example, are scaleless. their bodies are protected by a thick layer of mucous.
- the scales give external protection to the fish. there are 4 main kinds of scales: placoid, cosmoid, ganoid, cycloid & ctenoid.
- some fishes have more than one kind of scales. the scale kind, also varies with the sex.
- a fish having scales, even though the scales may be small in size, is halal to eat.
- but it has to be caught alive from the water and die outside of water. this is the tazkiyat us-samak---"akhzuhu minal-maai hayyan". some of the common examples are salmon, halibut, tuna, trout, caviar etc.
- the fishes that do not have scales are not halal.
- shrimps and prawns are halal, due to a specific daleel (shar'ie evidence) about it's hilleyyat. the crab and lobster may be similar to those, but are haram to eat.
- the jellyfish, snake fish, shark (except one species of the white shark), catfish, shell fish, eel and snails are just a few examples of haram fishes, as these do not have scales.
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