McDonald's Australia & Halal Food
McDonald's Australia reaches out to Muslim fast-food lovers...
However some non-Muslim customers are furious they were not told their hamburger meat was slaughtered and blessed in accordance with Islamic rules laid down in the Koran.
[...]
Coburg resident Miriam McLennan was stunned to discover the hamburger she bought from the Brunswick East store was blessed.
"Just as a Muslim would not want to eat anything that isn't halal . . . I should have my rights to eat normal, ordinary food that hasn't been blessed," she said.
[Source: Herald Sun]
First of all, I think this is great news. Being a fast food fan myself, when traveling abroad, I often find myself wishing there were a restaurant or two of my favorite chains that served halal food. So I definitely hope more and more chains consider opening up halal restaurants.
Secondly, regarding the reaction by some of the non-Muslim customers, I think that it might be because of a misunderstanding of the concept of halal food and the way the animals producing halal meat are killed.
In the Koran, here's what we find:
"Forbidden to you are: dead meat, blood, the flesh of swine, and that on which hath been invoked the name of other than Allah. that which hath been killed by strangling, or by a violent blow, or by a headlong fall, or by being gored to death; that which hath been eaten by a wild animal; unless ye are able to slaughter it; that which is sacrificed on stone;..."
– Al-Maidah 5:3
So basically that verse explains what is Halal (permissible) and what is not for Muslims.
As for the slaughtering process used in Islam, it's as follows:
- Checking if the animal is healthy or not to avoid any possible diseases being passed to humans.
- Giving the animal water to drink in order to quench its thirst.
- Invoking the name of God at the moment of sacrifice as an acknowledgment of God's right over all things, to ask his permission to slaughter the animal and show gratitude.
- Cutting the large arteries in the neck along with the esophagus and trachea with one swipe of an unserrated blade. This method of slaughter serves a dual function: it provides for a fast, merciful, relatively painless death and also helps to effectively drain waste blood from the animal.
So the blessing doesn't happen when the animal is being slaughtered, it's before a Muslim eats that he mentions God's name and asks him to bless his food, much like people from every other religion do.
That's why we Muslims are allowed to eat Kosher food or meat slaughtered by Christians using a similar way, because we only ask for God's blessing for that food before consumption.
In the end Halal food is just like any other food, the only difference being that the animal that produced that meat was killed as quickly and mercifully as possible instead of it being electrocuted; and that it is healthier.
So, even though I agree people have the right to know if the food they're presented with is Halal or not; I just wanted to clear up the misunderstanding surrounding Halal food, eliminate any misconceptions that I think are the reason behind some people's reaction to these restaurants, and show that it is ordinary food.
Halal Pork Anti-Arab Violence in Sydney, Australia Oil, Food, Control And The Arab World Google Food No More Food for GazaI just wanted to clear up the misunderstanding surrounding Halal food, eliminate any misconceptions that I think are the reason behind some people's reaction to these restaurants, and show that it is ordinary food.
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It's not ordinary food, MMM: it's better food. :) As is kosher beef, poultry and lamb. And Jewish friends who at least try to eat kosher will, if there's no kosher food around, immediately gravitate toward the nearest source of halal food, if available. In the U.S. you can usually spot such places because of the large sign out front reading "Halal." In Boston, one of the busier halal butcher shops also does a nice lunchtime Greek gyro and sells excellent pizza by the slice. (Do not buy fish from him! :) )
