O ye people! Eat of what is on earth, lawful and good; and do not follow the footsteps of the Evil One, for he is to you an avowed enemy. (AL BAQARAH : 168)
O ye who believe! Eat of the good things that We have provided for you and be grateful to Allāh, if it is Him that you worship. (AL BAQARAH : 172)
Eat of that over which the name of Allah swt has been pronounced (at the time of slaughter), if you are believers in His revelations. (AL-ANAM : 118)
Prophet Muhammad (SAS) is reported to have said:
"Halal is clear and Haram is clear; in between these two are certain things that are suspected. Many people may not know whether those items are Halal or Haram. Whosoever leaves them, he is innocent towards his religion and his conscience. He is, therefore, safe. Anyone who gets involved in any of these suspected items, he may fall into the unlawful and the prohibited. This case is similar to the one who wished to raise his animals too close to a restricted area, so that the animals may step into that area. Indeed for every landlord there is a restricted area. Indeed the restriction of Allah are the Haram." (Sahih Bukhari & Sahih Muslim)
Rasulullāh (SAS) mentioned (the case
of) a man travelling a long arduous journey, greatly troubled and distressed,
with disheveled hair crying to Allāh, O my Lord! O my
Lord! But his food is harām, his drink is harām, his dress is harām and he
is nourished with harām. How then can his duā be accepted. (Sahih Bukhari)
The
degeneration of the Ummah is largely contributed to indifference
in earning halāl and moreso
in consuming halāl. With proper direction and guidance
this weakness can be overcome.
Reflect on the profound
prophecy of Rasulullāh (SAS):
"There
will come a time upon my Ummah when people will not
be concerned about what they consume. It will not matter to them whether it is Harām or Halāl". It is
further reported, "When such time appears, none of their du'ās will be accepted". (Al-Bukhari,
Razeen)
It
is a common misconception that as long as a person is unaware of anything being
harām his consumption of that item will not
harm him. This is absolutely incorrect. The effects of harām are felt, whether consumed
knowingly or unknowingly. It is much like eating poison. No one will believe
that consuming contaminated food without knowledge thereof,
will eliminate the toxic effect of the contamination. The inherent
characteristic of contamination is to harm. Similarly, the inherent property of
harām is to destroy a person's spirituality and imān.
Many
an unsuspecting Muslim consumer being unaware,
consumes certain foods with great relish, little realizing the harm that has
been caused to oneself.
Rasulullah (SAS) said, "Jahannum
is more deserving of the flesh which has been nourished with harām" (Al-Tirmidhi)
Following
question is from ask-imam.com of Mufti
Question: Can
we eat the chicken burger at MCdonald? Some say zabiha of people of book is right?
Answer:
Visit the following link for the answer
http://www.islam.tc/ask-imam/view.php?q=3989
Also
see,
THE FOOD (MEAT) OF AHLUL KITAB -- Is it Halaal?
By Dr. Jaafar Al-Quaderi
(Dr.
Quaderi is IFANCAs
Religious Advisor. He received his Islamic training at
http://www.ifanca.org/newsletter/2000_09.htm#03