What does halal mean?

“Halal” comes from the Arabic “حلال‎‎” (Halal) and means ‘permitted’ or ‘lawful’. The Quran classifies food, goods and services in different categories such as “Halal” (permitted) or “Haram” (forbidden). The Halal when used in relation to food and other consumables means permissible for consumption and used by Muslims based on the Islamic law, which is the Shariah.

It is the obligation of a Muslim to ensure that any food consumed or any businesses performed in their daily lives are clean, hygienic and not detrimental to either their health or well-being simply Halal. Halal promotes cleanliness in all aspects of a person. It is the new benchmark for quality.

According to these guidelines gathered from the Qur’an, Muslim followers cannot consume the following:

pork or pork by products, animals that were dead prior to slaughtering, animals not slaughtered properly or not slaughtered in the name of Allah, blood and blood by products, alcohol, carnivorous animals, birds of prey, land animals without external ears

These prohibited foods and ingredients are called haram, meaning forbidden in Arabic.

The concept of Halal applies to a wide range of goods and services used in a Muslim’s daily life which have purity and cleanliness of the sources from which products are derived and the process by which they are made.