I need more education on halal foods

[Amoon 0]

Ok, so here is my dilemma...my husband is Muslim...he will be here very soon (we are at NVC now). I was talking to someone today from Jordan (here in the states) and he mentioned halal meats. He explained all of that to me and now I am worried. I guess I didn't realize that there was the halal aspect to the foods allowed to be eaten in the Isalmic religion (as I am Christian I am not very educated on this). The guy I was talking to mentioned halal marshmallows and then that really threw me for a loop. I really didn't realize that some pork bi products were used to make these kinds of things, like gelatin. So to get to the point, I live in a rather small town. There is one place I know of that sells halal meats & a few other things. So is there a list of brands that you can buy...stuff like chips, chocolate...etc? I'm scared to buy the wrong thing!!! On top of that all of my family is Christian and they buy their meat from the regular grocery store, so I am guessing we are going to have to take our own meat to family gatherings because I cannot be sure that what they are serving is halal (not to mention going to all the restaurants around here, pretty sure NONE of them serve anything remotely halal except veggies).....I want to make sure my husband is comfortable here and that he doesn't have to worry about what he is eating...any suggestions, tips, your experiences if you are/have been in a similar situation would be very helpful. Sorry its long-winded but I want to get the point across.

Amanda

[Y's_habibitk 2]

i would google "halal meat in_____ "<--fill in your town here or arabic markets in____

Im in louisville and we have at least 3 that i know of..hopefully you have some that you dont even know of there.

did you talk to your husband about eating halal? he may be willing to eat non halal meat, just become a label reader and steer clear of the pork.

they make turkey everything now yummy

[dimanuni 1]

Good question, I'm curious to hear what Muslims who've moved here have done.

I have a Kurdish-Muslim friend here, married to an American who converted. They told me they buy halal when they can, avoid red meat at home (but will buy a hamburger when they're out at a restaurant), obviously never buy pork, but otherwise try not to freak out about it. I'm trying to prepare my fiance by telling him that things will be different here. I'm hoping he'll try to adapt and not be too stringent. You can't be 100% perfect all the time. I don't think God expects that!

I plan on eating vegetarian a lot, and chicken.

Also, a lot of food is marked kosher (with the Kosher "U" symbol). Muslims I've talked to here say they'll happily eat that, as the rules for slaughtering the animals are similar. In fact kosher is stricter. Oh and another thing, you can find out which items have pork products in them by looking for kosher and vegetarian foods. Most strict vegetarians won't eat marshmallows because of the gelatin (although who knows if it's pig gelatin? hmmm)

I hope that helps a little! And I'm looking forward to hearing other people's experiences!

Good luck! Rebecca

Edited February 11, 2009 by dimanuni

[meowmeowmeow 1]

I've had this argument with people a lot and I used to be real hardcore about the meat I eat. I'm a Muslim, but a very flimsy one I must admit. Halal meat does taste better as the blood is entirely drained from it and it lasts longer as well, same as kosher. But if you really can't find any, he can always say "Bismilahirahmanirahim" before he eats anything I know that's not a great answer, but hope it helps. And as Lisa mentioned, there are sites online that can guide you to halal stores in your area. Good luck!

Kat

[catknit 144]

There was a thread about this not too long ago here:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...06&hl=halal

The Reader's Digest version of that thread:

Some say kosher can be used for meats - it's debatable based on school of thought.

Read labels as much as you can.

Labels sometimes need to be translated - there were some websites listed that can help.

What I've done in my house before [for my ex]:

We used grocery store meat that he washed unless by dumb luck we were near a halal butcher over the weekends.

We avoided all gelatin, glycerin [not listed as soy based], stearates

We used foods listed as kosher as a guideline for packaged foods [like frozen meals, canned soups, mac and cheese] especially if listed as parve [meaning no meat or dairy products]

We didn't avoid medications if needed even if gelatin was listed

No alcohol, no extracts

We ate out frequently, my ex didn't care if pork was served at the restaurants but couldn't be in what he ordered

That is what worked for my ex - it's a very personal thing. You may want to broach it with your husband and see what his feelings are about this situation...

[caybee 21]

We avoid pork or anything that might contain pork, but we usually shop at the regular supermarket. We've talked about trying to seek out specifically halal meat for some of the reasons Enraptured listed -- the blood has been completely drained out, and my husband says it tastes better (I haven't had it enough to compare). I also like the fact that the animal apparently suffers less during the slaughter. But we haven't tried the suppliers around here yet.

[amal 4]

This is what I posted in the other thread about our feelings on halal foods.

we're not that picky lol. We do our absolute best to check the packaging that it doesn't show any known pork products. We don't go around making excuses to eat pork, I promise!!! but it's just that we know that god knows we do our best to check and that is as good as we can do. We don't have the time to call on every product we consume.

I know that u have to be careful with marshmallows. Be careful with the hot dogs and sausages coz they're oftentimes cased in pork intestines but it's not written on the label.

My husband is not picky about going out to eat as long as we don't physically order pork. I do know others though whose husbands refuse to eat take-out just because there's a chance that pork may have been cooked on or near the place the beef and/or chicken was cooked or prepared..OR the worry that they could use the same utensils to prepare them. It's all really up to the non-pork eater and their preferences. Definitely talk to him about how he feels. Explain the ways restaurants prepare things and there are codes and what not and just see how he feels. Good Luck!

OH, and anything that has gelatin...is not ok. Gelatin (at least from what I've read) is made from pork.

There are a lot of them who come here and won't eat anything other than fruits and veggies but eventually they ease up as you either find halal foods OR they remember that if halal is not readily available, they can eat what is there for them to eat without punishment from God. It's best in this situation that they say bismillah before eating and if possible before preparing the food.

It is definitely something you should discuss a LOT with your SO before he gets here since it is a very rough subject to get through if they're not open to the possibilities of not having halal available at all times.

[sara535 15]

Here is a guide to restauraunts and shops in your area (and everywhere for that matter)

Zabihah

When eating out, he can always choose the seafood option. or vegetarian. thats what we do when we go to a non-halal place.

[merijan 0]

My husband is very strict with that he never waivered even when he went to London. BUt there are tons of Halal shops and restaurants there so it was not hard. Here we have a two small shops and we buy meat for him there. I am Muslim but I eat meat from grocery store, I have three kids and its just alot cheaper. I buy our chicken and his and cook seperately. We buy our ground meat halal its just alot better. Sometimes we buy enuf halal and cook it for all of us. Sometimes he goes a week or more with no meat and eats veggies , etc. We dont eat out much, there is one Pakistani place here that we love and it is all Halal. When we are better off money wise we will buy all meat Halal. But I eat out as well as kids, fried chicken, (I hate fast food) from the grocery store deli, I love the arab restaurants here and they are not "halal" but I heat shawaram and he eats falafal.

The main thing is to read lables. Like tortillas, refried beans you have to look for veggie or no lard. No gelatin unless its Kosher Gelatan in candy etc.. No pork is easy if your not Muslim you can eat it when you go out or something but its best not to cook it at home if you want to respect that part of his religion.

There are alot of halal meats you can buy, like halal beef peperoni, salami etc. and they also have Halal beef bacon, We buy Hebrew National hot dogs alot. Because Kosher is ok.

And buy the way halal marshmallows are yummy.. mykids love them.

[brnidokiegurl 0]

I found our small market, went twice and only came home with 2 pkgs of chicken, the days they were to have beef it was sold out so after two trips there i doubt i go back. Wasnt impressed at all, i look at the labels and catch what i know to look for and he doesnt seem to picky so thats how we make out with the checking.

[Amoon 0]

Thanks for all the replies. I talked with my husband about it alot last night. He definitely wants to eat halal meats. When we go out to eat he said he would go with the vegetarian or seafood option like some of you suggested. I think we will be ok in those aspects, but I am just worried about going to eat with my family as they may not fully understand. We live in the south so all my family always cooks with pork, like in beans and such to add flavor. So it will be challenging. I did look online and found a halal meat market here so I will go & check it out with my husband when he gets here. Maybe if he sees that it is not so easy to get halal meat he will ease up on that, but I am in no way trying to force him or convince him otherwise. I just want him to be comfortable and not have to worry about everything he eats! Thanks for the support guys.

[~Jackie~ 30]

A sheik in Jordan told my ex...'just say bismillah over everything'.

Jackie

Edited February 11, 2009 by just_Jackie

[UmmSqueakster 54]

I'd almost say you should have your husband do research as to what's acceptable, but I'm coming to think that scholars from "back home" don't really understand the food situation here in the US.

If he is takes the opinion that only meat slaughtered in a particular way is ok for him to eat, and he's ok with vegetarian and sea food options when that meat is scarce, then don't push him to eat supermarket meat. I have a bunch of good vegetarian cooking resources, if you're looking to expand your repetoire

re: your family, I've found that it's simpler to say that you'll (he'll) be eating vegetarian, rather then to nit pick over no pork, only zabiha (slaughtered islamically) meat, etc etc etc. It's not too hard to pick up a can of vegetarian baked beans, some potato salad sans bacon and a box of veggie burgers to bring along to a cookout if they're not accomidating to his food choices.

for those interested in the grocery store meat vs. zabiha debate here's:

*Qaradawi's ruling in his book "The Lawful and Prohibited in Islam" that allows supermarket meat to be eaten

*A response to Qaradawi's fatwa saying supermarket meat is in fact not halal

[Sandrila 1]

I thought it was going to be a major issue but i havent had much luck finding may halal meat markets and the one we went into the first time

he came, he didnt like the smell of it.

I just dont give him anything at all with pork meat. I dont get too involved with reading the labels and he has never really specified that to me.

I know sometimes he will check the meat out and he says it looks different. I believe our meat is not as fresh and loses it quality and appearance by the way it is killed and freezing it.

He is not that strict. If is not pork he is fine, other than that he doesnt fuss about where I have to buy the meat and if is halal.

It does make my life a little easier but if it were an issue I would certainly oblige.

[MrsAmera 41]

I am going to agree with UmmSqueakster on this one. He doesn't get it yet, he's not here. My husband said "yes of course I only eat halal" until he moved to BFW (BF Wisconsin) and there was no halal meat. He hates vegetables, so that left him with fruit and beans, and it lasted ooooooh a day?? After talking to the imam at the mosque it was quite ok for him to say bismillah and dig into grocery store meat. Also this may cause an uproar but the Quran says it's permissible to eat the meat of the people of the book. Turkey, chicken, beef, all pob (people of the book) food. For us it's not an issue now. Also when a pound of ground beef at the halal store is $6 and a pound of ground beef at the grocery store is $3 come on. Economics come into consideration. We have 4 mouths to feed!

As for the family this was an issue. We had to be very careful what we ate at first. This year was the first Christmas gathering where everyone was VERY accomodating and left pork items off the menu. It really was so much more relaxing and easy for us. The hardest is the kids. For example we eat pepperoni pizza, with turkey pepperoni, however when we're with my family they have pork pepperoni, it's pretty tough to explain to a 4 yr old why he can eat something that looks the same at home but not at grandma's. We've since talked to him about it and I think it's ok now. But you should have seen the death stares of my family when he was throwing a fit because we wouldn't let him eat the pepperoni pizza....