What Makes a Dish Halal?

Halal is all food that is permissible for a Muslim to eat. There is a specific process to how animals should be slaughtered in order to be considered halal.

• The animal must be healthy and alive before being slaughtered because any stress the animal experiences before it's slaughtered effects the meat; which will in turn be consumed by humans and effect us. This is why it's important that an animal does not see other dead animals around it before it dies.

• Once the jugular vein, carotid artery and windpipe are severed on the animal with a single swift swipe; blood must be carefully drained and this is why we historically would see carcasses hanging upside down in butcher shops

• Lastly, a short prayer is recited called tasmiya or shahada.

Every society has it's own set of cultural norms of what is acceptable and unacceptable to eat but Muslims (universally) know what is beneficial and harmful to us if only we put this into practice. This process of halal slaughtering and eating halal foods which was shared with Muslims by the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) over 1400 years ago still applies to mankind today.