My husband is very careful about what he eats and will only eat meat from a butcher or restaurant who is HMC certified. We believe that what you eat influences the way you behave and that one who eats haram, it will lead him to bad deeds and his dua's will not be accepted:
Anas (radhiallahu anhu) said to the Prophet (salallahu alaihi wasallam) ‘O Messenger of Allah! Supplicate to Allah for me to make my Du’a’ acceptable.” The Messenger (salallahu alaihi wasallam) replied, “O Anas! To have an acceptable Du’a’, you should eat only the Halal (Lawful) since a person may be deprived of his Dua’ being answered for forty days because of eating a mouthful of Haram food.” (Al-Asfahani in Al-Targhib).
Sayyiduna S'ad (radhiallahu anhu) relates that the Prophet (salallahu alaihi was sallam) said “O S'ad purify your food (and as a result) you will become one whose supplications are accepted. I swear by Him in whose hands the soul of Muhammad lies, verily a servant (of Allah) tosses a haram (impermissible) food morsel in his stomach (due to which) no good deed is accepted from him for 40 days” (Tabrani 6395)
The app filters your chosen type of organisation by distance from your current location, ratings and number of Facebook likes it has received from users (I tend to check out location the most).
If you click on a restaurant, you can check for ratings (out of five) and reviews if customers have left any (there are currently not many as it is a fairly new app).
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In all I have been using this app quite a lot. I have found it useful to navigate and fairly up to date with new restaurants being added. I like how many restaurants I have found using it very nearby which I did not were HMC certified. I also like that it is free.
If you would like to know more about HMC, you can do so here. The App is available here. All images courtesy of the Tayyib App homepage.
“O mankind: Eat of what is lawful and good on earth” (Quran 2: 168)
O ye who believe! Eat of the good things wherewith We have provided you, and render thanks to Allah if it is (indeed) He whom ye worship” (Quran 2:172)
“And eat not of that whereon Allah’s name hath not been mentioned, for lo! it is abomination. Lo! the devils do inspire their minions to dispute with you. But if ye obey them, ye will be in truth idolaters” (Quran 6:121)
Abu Hurayrah (radhiallahu anhu) reports that the Prophet (salallahu alaihi wasallam) said, “A time will come upon the people wherein a man will not bother what he intakes; whether from a halal source or haram.” (Bukhari 2059)
The Prophet (salallahu alaihi wa sallam) said, “Avoid whatever you have doubts about in favor of what is not (doubtful).” (Tirmidhi)
Ka`b Ibn Ujrah (radhiallahu anhu) relates that the Prophet (salallahu alaihi wasallam) said, “A body nourished with haram will not enter Jannah”. (Tirmidhi 614)
My husband is also a da'ee (someone who promotes and teaches about the faith) and it is something we all aspire to, so being careful about what I eat and what I feed my family matters a lot to me. My understanding is also that because my children are learning Quran I have to be careful what I feed them too, as one who is eating food that is halal and cooked with dhikr (remembrance of Allah (SWT)) is more likely to remember and learn Quran than one who is careless about what he or she is eating.
Anyway, what all of this means is that over the last few years, despite being surrounded by a glut of halal butchers and restaurants (dozens within half a mile of me), we have been very limited in what we can eat when eating out. On on occasion, we went to a local halal butcher and my husband asked one of the staff if his chicken was halal. The poor man squirmed, but could not lie, telling hubby that he should get the meat and avoid the chicken.
Recently though there has been an explosion of HMC certified certified butchers (three within ten minute walk of me) and restaurants. The Tayyib App helps to determine which restaurants nearby are HMC and provides contact details.
The organisations listed are split into butchers, restaurants, schools, suppliers and caterers.
The app filters your chosen type of organisation by distance from your current location, ratings and number of Facebook likes it has received from users (I tend to check out location the most).
If you click on a restaurant, you can check for ratings (out of five) and reviews if customers have left any (there are currently not many as it is a fairly new app).
In all I have been using this app quite a lot. I have found it useful to navigate and fairly up to date with new restaurants being added. I like how many restaurants I have found using it very nearby which I did not were HMC certified. I also like that it is free.
If you would like to know more about HMC, you can do so here. The App is available here. All images courtesy of the Tayyib App homepage.
“O mankind: Eat of what is lawful and good on earth” (Quran 2: 168)
O ye who believe! Eat of the good things wherewith We have provided you, and render thanks to Allah if it is (indeed) He whom ye worship” (Quran 2:172)
“And eat not of that whereon Allah’s name hath not been mentioned, for lo! it is abomination. Lo! the devils do inspire their minions to dispute with you. But if ye obey them, ye will be in truth idolaters” (Quran 6:121)
The Prophet (salallahu alaihi wa sallam) said, “Avoid whatever you have doubts about in favor of what is not (doubtful).” (Tirmidhi)
Ka`b Ibn Ujrah (radhiallahu anhu) relates that the Prophet (salallahu alaihi wasallam) said, “A body nourished with haram will not enter Jannah”. (Tirmidhi 614)
Assalamu alaikum sister.
ReplyDeleteI'm a "new" Muslim and so appreciate this article. I have gone back and forth between eating halal(when its available) and non-halal, listening to some says its obligatory to not eat halal and others who say "well if you don't have access to it...." The truth is in my area we don't have much in terms of halal meat or either it is very expensive. The closest city with a wide variety is about 2 hours away. So, its either make the trip or become vegetarian! Which, honestly, I have/am considering because I don't believe too much meat is good for us and because I think it would make my life easier! Seriously I'm considering it because, as a single mom, I am finding it increasingly difficult to deal with the "bad" behaviors of my children.Astafirullah.
I read your article today and made up my mind AND told my kids that I will, inshaAllah, try my hardest NOT to buy any more non-halal meats, to cook more vegetarian friendly meals, and to make a point to dhikr more while preparing and cooking meals. I truly feel deep down inside that this practice will help our family greatly in addition to getting us healthier.
Thank you again and Jazzakum Allahu Khairan for writing such an insightful article!
Walaikam-assalam Dear Sister,
ReplyDeleteThank you for stopping by and for you comment. The post was in no way meant to judge or suggest what is right for others, just the approach we take as a family.
I can imagine it is challenging where there is no halal meat available close by, I have read writing fom other sisters who have had to deal with similar situations in the US and Canada, such as Wood Turtle here:
https://woodturtle.wordpress.com/2011/03/30/meat-market/#more-2174
It's easy for me because of where I live, there are about a dozen halal (HMC and non-HMC) butchers within a 10 minute walk. It just means the Muslim community here consume waaaay too much meat. So despite the abundance I too am slowly trying to move my family towards semi-vegitarianism due to health reasons.
Funnily enough, although I am strict about my children eating halal and my children are quite practising, especially Little Lady mash'Allah, they still have their "bad behaviours", they can squabble for 95% of their waking hours until I want to hide in the bathroom and sometimes it feels like typhoon has gone through the house. I just tell myself they are kids not saints.
The biggest thing that has helped them is trying to learn and establish the sunnah way of doing things in our every day life and teaching them as much as possible about the Companions of our beloved Prophet (pbuh) in an accessible way. They still fight though...