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Halal

OED Definition

A. adj.

1.a. Of food, a person’s diet, etc.: conforming to Islamic dietary laws; (of meat) spec. slaughtered and prepared in a way which conforms to these laws.

2. Of behaviour, actions, a commercial product or service, etc.: (designed) in accordance with Islamic law or principles.

Halal is the Arabic word for lawful or permitted.

How this term should be used

In a binary context, the term “Halal” is contrasted with “Haram” to designate what is and is not lawful in Islam. Although in the West, the term “Halal” is most often applied to food stuffs, especially meat that has been slaughtered in accordance with Islamic law, it is a word that Muslims around the world use to describe anything which is permissible in Islam.  

Halal Meat 

For meat to be Halal, the person doing the slaughter must be a Muslim or an Ahl-Kitaab (person of the book, i.e. practicing Christian or Jew), the animal must be permissible (i.e. not a pig or carnivore), the name of God must be mentioned (similar to grace ‘In the Name of God. God is Great.’), the animal must be alive at the point of slaughter (not necessarily conscious), welfare must be safeguarded and the blood vessels must be swiftly cut to maximise blood loss and ensure a quick death.
In the Qur’an, it is specified which animals may be consumed by Muslims. Even with those animals deemed permissible, there are a select number of circumstances in which they cannot be Halal. These are as follows:
1. Carrion or animals that have died in the wild, or domestic animals which die from natural causes.
2. Animals that have been beaten to death, strangled or savaged by a beast of prey.
3. Animals consecrated to pagan deities.

The Quran, is the source of what is halal, meaning lawful or permissible and, conversely, what is haram, meaning forbidden.

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