The rulings for foods and drinks
Essential details:
– The consumption of halal four-legged animals and birds is only permitted if they have been slaughtered (or hunted) in a shar’i method (method considered acceptable in Islam).
– Shar’i slaughtering is when a Muslim individual after mentioning the name of God and facing in the direction of the qibla (Kaaba), cuts the four vessels (the carotid arteries and jugular veins, the trachea and esophagus) in the neck of a living animal using an iron tool.
– If a halal wild animal that runs away is hunted by a Muslim person whilst mentioning the name of God using a sharp weapon, its meat is pure and permissible to eat. However, if the animal is still alive when captured, it must be slaughtered.
– The consumption of scaly fish and shrimp is permissible only if it has been captured alive from the water or it is collected and dies whilst in a fisherman’s net or later-on.
– The edibility of the eggs of animals depends on whether the animal’s meat is permissible (halal). Likewise, the drinking of the animal’s milk is dependent on the ruling of the meat.
– Some components of halal animals that have been slaughtered by shar’i method are haram, such as: blood (except the amount that naturally remains in meat), pupil, glands, bone marrow, spleen, testes, etc…
– Various types of food and canned food (except meat products) even if we are not aware whether haram products have been used, are considered halal and there is no need to inquire in this regard.
– If we doubt whether the gelatin present in a food or drink is from a vegetal or animal source, it is permissible to be eaten; however, if we know that it has been obtained from an animal and we are uncertain regarding its shar’i slaughtering, its consumption is not permissible.
– Products that have an animal origin and we are not certain of its shar’i slaughtering, if it is transformed, meaning during a process it is converted to another substance/material, it is pure and halal. Therefore, if a small percentage of alcohol, gelatin, or haram material present in a food or drink has been destroyed and it is widely recognized as a different matter, it is halal.
– Researching about the religion and beliefs of the person who has prepared or produced the food and drink, or gaining certainty regarding its purity, even if easily done, is not needed. And until we have not gained certainty whether something is haram or impure (najis), we can consider it pure and halal.
– When in an emergency, all haram food and drinks are halal only to the extent necessary.