Of Mice and Men - The Cheese Factor
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I admit: I am cheesed off. Totally, that is.
Recently, I returned from one of the largest Muslim conferences in North America. While at the convention, I had placed my son Ammaar in the day-long seminars meant for the younger children. When Ammaar got back to the hotel room, the first thing he said as he barged into the room, his eyes wide open in amazement as is his wont, ‘Baba, Baba! Do you know that Doritos and Cheetos are harām?’ I groaned internally, knowing the basic source of this ‘fatwā’, and asked, ‘Why do you say that?’ to which he replied, ‘The auntie in our class said so!’
Sigh………. One more important lesson in fatherhood: make sure you teach your children that much of what they learn in ‘Islamic’ school is not necessarily ‘Islamic’.
As all of us are so (painfully) aware, of recent there has been a flurry of e-mails in Muslim circles regarding popular products, such as Doritos, that use cheese manufactured from porcine rennet. Since these products are sprinkled with such cheese, concerned Muslims have automatically concluded that the aforementioned products must be totally harām, and thus unceremoniously boycotted. Putting aside the nutritional value of such products, such a (cheesy) attitude, although commendable due to its sincere intentions, also betrays a fundamental lack of knowledge regarding halāl and harām foods. Before jumping the gun, it would behoove Muslims to do a little more research and consider the matter from all angles.
In this article, it is my intention to examine the issue in a more academic manner. However, for those who don’t have the time to read it, then to cut a long story short, the strongest opinion appears to be that cheese, in all of its commonly available varieties (except those that actually contain pork as an added flavoring) is absolutely and totally halāl.
In order to prove this point, first we’ll discuss how cheese is actually manufactured. Then, we’ll look at the Islamic perspective on animal rennet and, finally, the ruling on cheese derived from it. As a disclaimer, please note that this is, firstly, a very cursory look at the issue, both from a chemical and an Islamic point of view (although I do feel it is comprehensive despite its brevity), and, secondly, represents only the opinion of its author.
The Manufacture of Cheese
Cheese is a product formed by coagulating milk using a substance called rennet, and an acidification process. Milk from any animal may be used, although of course the most common ingredient is cow’s milk, followed by goat’s milk (some more exotic cheeses are found in cultures that use milk from reindeers, camels, and llamas, to name but a few). Hundreds of different flavors of cheese may be produced, depending on what type of milk is used, whether the milk was pasteurized or not, the butterfat content of the milk, the type of rennet, the addition of specific enzymes and flavoring agents for taste, the acidification process, and the length and environment in which the cheese is aged.
No one knows when man first ‘discovered’ how to make cheese. The origins of cheese pre-date recorded history, and all ancient civilizations, including the Romans, Greeks and Egyptians, are known to have been cheese producers and consumers. One of the folktales regarding the ‘discovery’ of cheese involves an Arab nomad who wished to carry milk across the desert. Finding no container other than an goat’s stomach, he transported the milk in it, only to discover at the end of his journey that the milk had been separated into curd and whey by the rennet from the stomach!
Rennet is, therefore, an essential component of manufacturing cheese. Traditionally, only animal rennet was used in the manufacture of cheese. However, due to the high demand of cheese and the cost and difficulty associated with the production of animal rennet, more and more companies are turning to other sources for rennet. The two primary types of rennet besides animal rennet are: vegetable rennet, and synthetic rennet manufactured in laboratories from various fungi. It is safe to state that in modern times most cheese is manufactured from non-animal rennet, but the percentage of animal rennet is still quite high. (In one of the cheese manufacturing plants that I visited in Holland, a mixture of synthetic and animal rennet was used; another one I visited in Vermont used only vegetable rennet).
It goes without saying that any cheese manufactured with rennet not taken from animal sources does not raise any fiqh controversy, hence the discussion at hand will focus on cheese manufactured with animal rennet.
Animal Rennet
Rennet is a complex natural enzyme that is produced in mammalian stomachs to digest milk. Animal rennet is typically extracted from the inner linings of the stomachs of young animals, usually cows or pigs. It is the younger animals who need this rennet to fully digest their mother’s milk; older animals do not yield as many necessary enzymes, hence if older animals are used, more stomach lining must be used to produce the same quantity of rennet.
In order to extract the rennet from the stomach linings, a chemical process is used in which the linings are dissolved in a mixture of acid and other solvent. This facilitates the transfer of the enzymes from the stomach linings to the solvent. The final stage involves neutralizing the acid. At the completion of this process, the rennet is available in a viscous liquid form. It is this form of rennet that is actually added to the milk for the coagulation process.
Of interest to note is that most of this final viscous liquid is actually solvent (water, salt and acid remnants); typically less than 1% of the liquid used is actual animal enzyme. The amount of rennet solvent needed for the manufacture of cheese is quite insignificant – as an example, in the factory that I visited in Holland, a small beaker of solvent rennet was added to a large vat of prepared milk.
The Islamic Ruling on Animal Rennet
From an Islamic perspective, animal rennet can be divided into three categories:
Firstly, the rennet derived from animals that have been slaughtered in accordance with the Sharīaah. There is no difference of opinion that such rennet is completely pure.
Secondly, the rennet derived from permissible animals (e.g., cows, sheep and goats) that have not been slaughtered according to the Sharīaah - for example, a cow that has been killed by a means other than ritual slaughtering (zabh). With regards to this second category, there is a difference of opinion amongst the classical scholars (manifested in the four madhabs) regarding the permissibility of such rennet – the opinion of Abū Hanīfa, one of the two opinions narrated from Ahmad (and the one chosen by Ibn Qudāmah), and the opinion of Ibn Taymiyyah, was that such rennet was pure, hence the cheese derived from it would also be considered pure. Other scholars, including the relied upon position in the Shafī’ī and Mālikī schools, is that such rennet is impure, and the cheese derived from it also impure. Many later Hanafīs, disagreeing with Abū Hanīfa’s view on this matter, also claimed that such rennet is impure (for some modern fatwas, the reader is referred here).
Thirdly, the rennet derived from impermissible animals, such as pigs. There is no significant difference of opinion that such rennet is impure, as the source of it is impure. Just like the meat, milk and bones of such animals are impure, similarly the rennet derived from their stomachs is also impure. Rennet of the second category would be permissible for Muslims to produce, buy, or sell if they followed the opinion that it is pure (and this is the correct opinion insha Allah). However, since porcine rennet is Harām, it is impermissible for Muslims to manufacture or sell such rennet, based on the Hadīth, “When Allah prohibits a matter, He prohibits its price” [Narrated by Ahmad]. The ‘price’ in this Hadīth means buying and selling the product.
Having said that, this ruling [viz., that porcine rennet is impermissible to sell or consume] should not be confused with another one: buying, selling and (most importantly) eating cheese manufactured with porcine rennet. Most Muslims simply do not understand that the two rulings are not necessarily identical, hence the confusion.Thus, to reiterate, cheese manufactured with animal rennet of the second and third categories is what is at dispute here. This article will not discuss the ruling of the second category of rennet in detail because, as shall be seen, if cheese from the third category is shown to be Halāl, then ipso facto cheese from the second category will also be considered permissible.
The Islamic Ruling on Cheese Derived from Porcine Rennet
There are two issues which need to be considered in order to derive the Islamic ruling on cheese: firstly, does the rennet undergo a chemical transformation when it is extracted from its source, and secondly, the quantity of rennet vis-à-vis the other ingredients. Both of these issues have a direct and immediate effect on the permissibility or impermissibility of such cheese. [Of interest is to note that although this article is specifically about cheese, these two foundational premises may be extrapolated to derive rulings on all substances and food items.] The first issue, that of a complete chemical transformation, is called in Arabic istihāla. Istihāla basically answers the question: If an impure substance undergoes a complete and total chemical transformation into a pure substance, is that sufficient to consider it to be pure? The classic example used by the early scholars is that of vinegar derived from wine: if left in the right circumstances or agitated in a specific manner, any bottle of wine will undergo a chemical transformation and become vinegar. This resultant vinegar is completely harmless and does not intoxicate.
Classical scholars differed over the issue of istihāla – the Hanafīs and Ibn Taymiyyah claimed that it made the final product pure, whereas the other three madhabs generally did not consider the resultant product pure if the process was intentionally done by human intervention. There is no verse or authentic hadīth that explicit supports either side – both groups base their opinion on sound reasoning and various reports from the Companions. (Also refer to this very beneficial article by a contemporary scholar on a closely related issue and a hadīth that plays an indirect role in this matter). Due to the fact that there is nothing explicit in the Divine Texts on this issue, and taking into account that a chemical transformation does indeed completely alter a compound (as anyone with a basic knowledge of chemistry will attest to), I follow the first opinion, which states that istihāla does indeed make the resultant product pure. Most of the modern fiqh academies also adhere to this first opinion.
The relevance of this issue to that of rennet is as follows: if animal rennet undergoes a chemical transformation during the extraction process, then even if its source was porcine, the extracted solvent would be considered permissible and pure by the first category of scholars. (Of course the second group of scholars would not be concerned with this issue, and would consider porcine rennet impure even if a chemical transformation occurred.)
Unfortunately, in my (limited) perusal of this subject, I could not verify whether the extraction process causes a chemical change in the rennet or not; however, from what I did read it would appear that no chemical change occurs and the extraction process is merely concerned with the transfer of the animal enzymes from the lining of the stomach into the liquid solvent. (Any information from specialists in this area would be greatly appreciated). Therefore, if the situation is that no chemical change occurs, then this issue is moot, and we move to the next one.
The next issue is really the crux of the matter. It concerns the quantity and residuum of an impure substance when mixed with a pure one. Now, there is pretty much unanimous agreement amongst the scholars that an extremely minute quantity of an impure substance, when added to a large quantity of a pure one, will not make the final substance impure. For example, if a glass of urine is thrown into an average-size lake, no scholar would consider the entire lake to be impure. Although the overall principle is a matter of agreement, there is no clear consensus on exactly how much impurity would affect a pure substance. So the real issue here is how to define what constitutes a miniscule quantity versus what would constitute a significant quantity. But the basic point is agreed upon: if an extremely minute quantity of an impurity is totally dissolved in a much larger quantity of a pure substance, such that the impurity does not leave any discernable presence (this is called istihlāk), the resultant substance will still be pure.
This fiqh principle is primarily derived from the famous hadīth, “When water reaches two qullas (a specific quantity of water), it will not become impure” [Narrated by Abū Dawūd]. Another evidence is the hadīth of the ‘Well of Budā’ah’.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah writes, commenting on the hadīth of the two qullas, “So when it is clear that the water being asked about was of a large quantity – two qullas – and a large quantity is not affected by impurities, but rather is dissolved in it, this shows that the ruling [of whether something is pure or not] is dependant on whether the impurity is carried [by the pure substance], meaning that its presence is obvious, and in this case it will be impure. But if it has been completely diffused in the pure substance, then it does not have any residual effects [and the substance is pure]. So, with regards to these oils, and milks, and sweet and sour drinks, and other substances that are pure, since any impurities [contained in it] have been completely consumed (istihlāk) and altered, then how can the pure that Allah has permitted be considered impermissible?! And who is there who has said that if a quantity of impurity mixes with a pure substance such that it is totally consumed by it (itsihlāk) and altered in it, that the substance will be impermissible? Rather, there is nothing to suggest this from the Quran, or the Sunnah, or unanimous consensus, or analogy. And that is why the Prophet (saw) said, in the hadīth of the Well of Budā’ah, when he was told that menstrual pads and dog carcasses and impurities fall into it, ‘Pure water is not made impure by anything’” [Mukhtasar al-Fatāwa al-Masriyyah, p. 20; also see Majmū’ al-Fatāwa vol. 21, p. 502].
Other scholars also give similar rulings. For example, Ibn Hazm claimed that if an impure substance is dissolved in a larger quantity of purity, to such an extent that the final product does not carry the name of the impure substance (i.e., such that the impure substance will not be a significant part of the final product), then the impermissibility that was initially applied to the impure substance will be removed from the final product, since the final product is not called that impure substance. As an example, he states that if a drop of wine were to fall into water, no effect is demonstrated, and the same applies for all other substances as well [al-Muhallā, vol 7, p. 422].
And this is the opinion of many modern fiqh bodies as well. The European Council for Fatwa issued a fatwa (Number 34, issued in Jumad al-Akhirah 1419 A.H.) stating that any impure substance added to pure food items does not make the food impure if either: (a) the substance underwent a complete chemical change (istihāla), or (b) was totally used up and dissolved in the food item, such that its traces became negligible (istihlāk). Based upon this principle, since the quantity of animal rennet in cheese is very insignificant, it would then follow that even if the rennet used to manufacture it was impure, the final cheese would be completely and totally pure. There would be no difference whether impermissible bovine rennet or porcine rennet was used. Since the quantity is so trivial, it is considered to be completely used up (istihlāk) by the pure elements, such as the milk, which makes up the bulk of the cheese. (See below for a more detailed look at the quantity of rennet involved in the manufacture of cheese).
Statements from the Classical Scholars Regarding this Issue
To the best of my knowledge, there is only one explicit hadīth about cheese. Abu Dawud, in his Sunan, has a chapter on eating cheese, in which he narrates a hadīth in which some cheese was presented to the Prophet after the Battle of Tabuk. He called for a knife [to cut it up], said bismillah, and ate of it (al-Sunan of Abū Dawūd, ‘The Chapter of Foods’, # 3819). This is quite an explicit hadīth on the permissibility of cheese manufactured from impure rennet, since no Muslim would have been present at Tabuk to manufacture the cheese. Hence, this hadīth appears to state that the Prophet ate cheese manufactured by idol-worshippers. The chain, however, is not the strongest of chains, and in fact appears to be weak (compare with the mursal narration found in both the Musannaf of ‘Abd al-Razzāq # 8795 and the Musannaf of Ibn Abī Shaybah # 24417). Also, if anything, this narration could only be used directly to support the permissibility of cheese manufactured from the second type of rennet mentioned above, and not porcine rennet, as the Arabs did not eat pig.
Of the famous Imams, we have the report where Imam Aḥmad was asked about eating cheese, to which he replied, ‘It may be eaten from anyone,” meaning regardless of who made it. And he was explicitly asked about the cheese made by the Zoroastrians, to which he responded, “I do not know; but the most authentic hadīth narrated in this regard is the hadīth of ‘Amr b. Sharahbīl, in which he said that ‘Umar was asked about cheese, and he was told that the rennet from dead animals is used, to which he said, ‘You say the bismillah yourself, and then eat.’ And Imam Ahmad also said, “Isn’t most of the cheese we eat manufactured by the Zoroastrians?” [See: al-Mughni, v. 13, p. 352; also al-Inṣāf, v. 27, p. 264].
Thus it is quite explicit that Imam Ahmad considered cheese to be permissible regardless of its source, as the Zoroastrians are not of those who mention Allah’s name at the time of sacrifice, yet the cheese manufactured by them was considered permissible. (It should be noted that, as is typical with the Hanbalī madhhab, there are other opinions narrated as well - but this is the one that is considered stronger within the madhhab).
Amongst the Companions themselves, we find some references to eating cheese, as Imam Ahmed referred to. Both the Musannafs of ‘Abd al-Razzāq and Ibn Abī Shaybah have entire chapters dedicated to cheese. In them, we find that although some of the classical scholars, such as Sa’īd b. al-Musayyab and Sa’id b. Jubayr, were hesitant to eat cheese if it was known that a dead animal (mayta) was used in its preparation, the majority of such scholars saw no sin in this regard. Ibn ‘Abbās is reported to have held the view that there is no problem with cheese that originates from Jews and Christians (Musannaf of ‘Abd al-Razzāq, # 8789). Both ‘Umar b. al-Khattāb and his son ‘Abdullāh b. ‘Umar allowed the eating of cheese, without regards to their origin. ‘Umar is reported to have said, when asked about it, “Eat, for it is only milk or whey,” (Musannaf of ‘Abd al-Razzāq, 8787), and his son said, “Nothing comes to us from Iraq that is more beloved to me than cheese!” (ibid., # 8790). A son of ‘Alī b. Abī Tālib, Muhammad b. al-Hanafiyyah, said, “Eat cheese regardless of its source” (ibid., # 8793). In my humble opinion, some of these narrations (such as the last one of ‘Umar) show that the Companions hinted at the small percentage of impurities in cheese and that it was not so consequential as to cause the entire product to be impure. Also, as Ibn Taymiyyah points out (see following quote), those who allowed the cheese were more aware of its manufacturing process than those who prohibited it.
And my favorite scholar, Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah, wrote, “As for the milk and rennet of dead animals, then there are two well-known opinions about this issue. The first of them is that it is pure, and this is the opinion of Abū Hanīfa and others, and one of the two opinion of Ahmad. The second opinion is that it is impure, and this is the opinion of Mālik, and Shāfi’ī, and the other opinion from Ahmad. Based on this difference of opinion, they then differed regarding cheese manufactured by the Zoroastrians, for the animals sacrificed by the Zoroastrians are considered impermissible [to eat] by the vast majority of scholars of the past and present, so much so that it is said that the Companions unanimously agreed on this ruling. Hence, if they made cheese – and cheese is made from rennet – then these two opinions will apply. But the stronger opinion is that their cheese is indeed permissible, and that the rennet and milk of dead animals is pure. And the proof for this is that when the Companions conquered Iraq, they ate the cheese of the Zoroastrians, and this was something common and well-known amongst them. As for what has been narrated of the disapproval of some of them in this matter, then there is a problem with it, since it is of the opinion of some of the people of Hijaz [i.e., Arabia]. And the people of Iraq were more knowledgeable of this, as the Zoroastrians were in there land and not in the land of the Hijaz. What makes this matter even clearer is that Salmān al-Farsi, who was the governor of ‘Umar b. al-Khattāb over al-Madā’in (in Iraq) and was active in calling the Zoroastrians to Islam, was asked about fat and cheese, to which he responded, ‘The halāl is what Allah has made permissible in His Book, and the ḥarām is what Allah has prohibited in His Book. And whatever He has remained silent about has been forgiven.’ And Abū Dawūd also reported this as a prophetic hadīth. Of course, it is understood that he was not being asked about the cheese of the Muslims or Ahl al-Kitāb, for that is a clear-cut issue; rather, the question was about the cheese manufactured by Zoroastrians. This shows that Salmān gave a fatwā for its permissibility…” (Majmū’ al-Fatāwā, vol. 21, p. 102-103). Note here that Ibn Taymiyyah is not talking about rennet derived from pigs but rather rennet derived from cows and sheep that have not been slaughtered according to the Sharī’āh (i.e., the second category of rennet in the tripartite division given above). However, his quote can be used here in the general context of the permissibility of cheese, regardless of its source. Also, in other fatāwā (some of which were quoted above), Ibn Taymiyyah clearly shows that he ascribes to the view that istihlāk of a impure substance in a pure material does not make the entire material impure.
Conclusion
Although it is healthy to note that many Muslims are very concerned about the laws of the Sharī’ah, before jumping to any hasty conclusions it is essential that these laws be understood and studied.
The primary issue that needs to be considered when it comes to the permissibility or impermissibility of cheese, in this author’s humble opinion, is the quantity of animal rennet that exists in it. Consider the following: In a crude experiment, 2 square centimeters of a prepared calf’s stomach lining was immersed in 30 grams of water to produce the initial rennet solvent. After the extraction process, the remaining linings were removed via a fine sieve, and then one teaspoon of the solvent rennet (i.e., around one-seventh of the initial solvent) was then mixed with approximately five gallons of prepared milk to produce around five pounds of cheese. Someone with a little more time than myself may easily work out the precise percentages and the final quantity of animal rennet in an average slice of cheese, but from these numbers it is pretty clear than a very insignificant quantity of actual animal enzyme ends up in the final cheese. To quote only one reference, Wikipedia states that 1 kg of manufactured cheese contains about 0.0003 grams of rennet enzymes. Again, that’s one kilogram – imagine how much rennet would be present in one slice, and now imagine how much would be in a corn chip that has only been coated with dried cheese.
Such a miniscule quantity of impurity (i.e., less than 0.00003 %) simply cannot make the entire product impure – a drop of najas blood that falls into a ten-gallon container of water is actually more concentrated than the amount of rennet enzymes in cheese.
Hence, to conclude, it is the humble opinion of this student of knowledge (and of many great ‘ulamā) that cheese, regardless of how it is manufactured or who it is manufactured by, is permissible. [The only exception would be if other impure additives of a sufficient quantity were incorporated in the manufacturing process - such as bacon flavored cheese.]
So go ahead Ammaar – eat away! Oh, and pass the dip…
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The whole mouse-and-cheese thing is making me twitchy… hands off the Doritos, people, they’re MINE!
I like cheese on my burgers and cheese steaks. Sheikh Yasir Im hoping the cheese pizza you ate at my store is halal right?
Its a mixture of whole cheese, skim cheese, and cheddar cheese.
Sheikh Yasir,
My husband and I gained much from your lectures at this recent convention Alhamdulillah. On the long drive home, we listened to your amazing series on du’a.
I do have a question about saying AMIN at the end of making a dua. I believe you mentioned it is something unique to the Muslims? Then why do the Christians say it?
wow shaykh yasir, never knew you loved doritos that much.
asalaamu alaikum
Hope to see more from you, Sheikh Yasser.
Jazakum Allaah khair.
May Allah ta’ala reward you for clarifying what so many people are confused about.
As I read the entire article I kept thinking:
1. How blessed students of knowledge are because they can reassure the laypeople (not Frito Lay) regarding that which is permissible.
2.
Cheeze Whiz! 
Barak Allahu feek Sh.Yasir.
- Muhammad Alshareef
AlMaghrib Institute
Takbir! Allah hu Akbar!
Hmm….Sh. Yasir showing he still have remnants of his old school science background. BTW…What’s really interesting is that Altaf Husain (the Yasir Qadhi clone) mentioned how Doritos were haraam at the MSA Central Zone Conference this year and got everyone who was sleeping through his lecture to wake up. So the Original Yasir Qadhi refutes the Cloned Yasir Qadhi on the fiqh of Doritos.
asa… its tough to clone YQ…
If there is one imp. point that hopefully we will all absorb, regardless of our agreement with the content, is that people need to be careful when going out on the limb with regards to halal and haram. That’s just one area that, as laymen, we have no right to step into.
Is cheetos also halal!
can we lay the dunkin donuts, skittles, and marshmallows to rest also?
if not.. i might have to start making new halal products to sell at conventions like halal organic milk, halal ice cream, and zabihah lassi
forgot to say jazakallahu khayr for the article, it was quite informative
while we’re at it why don’t we discuss the whole halal meat issue and what truly is encompassed under it so we can really beat the dead horse no more
Alhamdulilah, finally some credible clarity!
Although…if you think about it…..Doritos aren’t exactly whats best for health and welfare so we probably shouldn’t eat them anyways….
*cough Al-Maghrib-Rizq-Management-Bonus-Section-Physical Health*
(waits for backlash)
I should add that Sh. Yasir does not believe in the permissibility of eating meat in America that is not dhabihah (halal or kosher). So, people should not confuse the two issues and conflate them as one. Completely different set of textual evidence and fiqh.
This is also an important point because some people may dismiss the conclusion reached in this post as just another “arab” opinion and that YQ probably believes meat is halal too in America. And that is NOT the case.
P.S. We are not going to turn this thread into a discussion about the meat issue, so please refrain from that topic. That is one dead horse that we have to just live with. FYI, I am not a muqallid of YQ in this one
Sh. YQ, since you are basing your conclusion really ultimately on the quantity aspect, what is the opinion of the madahibs on this? Is there a consensus that a very minute proportion does not make the rest of the substance haraam?
Great article, jazakum Allahu khairan for this info and giving us an insight into the thought processes that are involved in contemporary issues.
Wow! It seems the shaykh hit a sensitive spot when he mentioned food.
May Allah ta’ala reward you for this comprehensive, articulate, and insightful clarification. Alhamdulillah, just reading it has made me hungry
Your brother in Islam,
-Altaf Husain
Jazaak Allaahu kharain
Who would have ever thought cheese Doritos would be inspiration for an article
Maa shaa Allaah..
Jazakum Allahu Khair for the article. I always held that animal rennet is halal from dhabiha or non-dhabiha permissible animals. I will have to disagree about the pork rennet though. Although, the sheikh makes a good case using the quantity ruling regarding pure and impure substances, this ruling does not apply when impure substances are *intentionally* put into pure substances. Water is a different case because it is flowing and self-purifying by nature.
Those who don’t agree with the impermissibilty of it should at least practice wara’ (caution of falling into haram) in this matter and stay away from pork rennet. Seriously, eat an apple or something.
Wa Allahu ‘alam
U have no idea about how happy i am hehe (i luvvvvv cheetos and doritos
Oh yeah, i volunteered for two hours in kids seminar on Saturday and met your kids, Yusuf is soo adorable and not to mention how he was so over protective of his lil sister
(i gave her chocolate so she would stop crying but yusuf made me call ‘mom’ to get the permission first -lol)
One should be careful not to let one’s love for Doritos just follow Sh. Yasir’s reasoning without thinking about it. That may constitute ‘phatwa shopping’. It’s OK to disagree and I think he would have no issue with us disagreeing w/ him as long as we have our sound basis for disagreement. (correct me if I’m wrong Yasir Bhai)
As for myself..I could care less b/c I never liked Doritos.
Is this the same reason why some people eat gelatin?
The gelatin issue is more based on the istihala (change of property) than on quantity… wallahualam.
As a hanafi, I already knew this, but to keep in line w/shafi’s/maliki’s i stayed away from it because of its questionability of source. Even alot of hanafi scholars say that the change that gelatin goes through is not enough of a change to amount to a transformation to a pure substance.
Yes, in my family my dad prefers that we not buy or eat anything with gelatin in it…
jazakallahukhairan
Interesting. jazakAllaahu khairan
Oh and Ibn Abee Omar, my aunt called the Skittles company and (at least in the US), they do not use pork gelatin in it. It’s some other animal gelatin…
Thanks for clarifying this issue. On a follow-up note, does this mean that it’s permissible to eat foods cooked with alcohol (such as cooking sherry, etc.) since the alcohol content is low relative to other ingredients AND since the alcohol undergoes a chemical change? Just wondering if the same rule applies? :0)
Sheikh, Allah swt says in the Quran to eat HALAL AND TAYYIB, i wonder if all the junk food we eat is tayyib??
If you can make comments on what does tayyib imply, ill appreciate it, JazakAllah Khair
- Jazakum Allahu khayran Ustadh Muhammad AlShareef and Ustadh Altaf Hussain for your kind comments.
- Of course people have the right to disagree, and of course if someone does agree it should be due to the evidences presented, and not due to one’s culinary preference
- The issue of gelatin typically has to do with the istihala issue. Therefore for me this issue needs to be resolved by scientists, not scholars. I’ve asked many chemists/ biochemists/ pharmacists, and it seems the jury is out on this one - but to be honest most of them have told me that they would not classify the change as chemical. Hence if this is the case porcine gelatin would be najas.
- The issue of alcohol that has been added to cooked food as a flavoring and burned off is a more detailed one, but yes these two principles would still apply in my humble opinion. There is also the added issue of whether alcohol is najas or not (major difference of opinion in our times; not a major one in previous times), if it’s not najas then different rules will apply in cases where its used in food. Again that is a different topic.
- The brothers who wanted to avoid cheese out of wara’ (extreme piety) are indeed commended for such a view, but I must admit that I find this a bit skeptical. Establishing wara’ in relation to cheese is good, and I do not mean to put anyone down, but the way I view it, living in the West one compromises on so many issues of far greater evils. In my humble opinion the evils associated with even opening a checking account in an interest-bank (yes, I have a bank account) are far worse than many of these high-level wara’ matters. While it might be a type of daroorah to have a bank account, really if you think about it there are indeed ways that you could live with a very minimal amount in the current account and the rest safe in cash in safety vaults. But who amongst us will do this? Additionally, I believe that pretty much most companies that we would work for would have more haram in them than the percentage of rennet in cheese, and yet none of us is that picky when it comes to ascertaining where the money of his paycheck comes from (and neither does the Shari’ah require such precision - walhamdulillah!!). The point is that to be selective in where to apply wara’ seems to be missing the point - but that is just my opinion and you are free to disagree, and I pray that Allah rewards you for it. Also please do remember that wara’ in and of itself cannot be used to make anything makruh, much less haram.
- I know that some scholars (without any explicit evidence from the Quran or Sunnah, I must add) differentiate between a najas being intentionally added vs. one that just ‘falls in’, but I find this differentiation to be illogical. In the end of the day, I personally don’t see why that should have an effect on the verdict of the final product - it is either pure or impure! But, yes, for those who stick to a particular madhab and hence cannot go beyond the rulings of its scholars, I do understand that even a percentage as trivial as .00003 simply does not matter in the face of a legal opinion within the madhab.
- Amad generally speaking there is agreement on the principle that an extremely minute quantity of an impurity would not affect a large quantity, but under this principle some madhabs add other conditions, and are more stringent in defining what constitutes ‘trivial’. As some of the comments above illustrate, its not that simple.
- One also notices that even amongst the Companions and early generations, there was some ikhtilaf. A point that I mentioned in passing, but can now be extrapolated to our situation, is that those Companions who were more knowledge of the manufacture of cheese (such as Salman and Ibn Umar) generally allowed it. And I would add that even in our times, those scholars who are more aware of the chemical processes and quantities involved (such as most modern fiqh academies, and also the very scholarly and Western-educated Dr. Nazih Hammad, who specializes in food matters, and the European Academy of Fiqh, etc…) are more lax than ulama who have never really studied these procedures or are aware of how cheese is made. For them, the mere mention of ‘pig’ or ‘alcohol’ makes anything and everything haram - but if this principle were really taken to the extreme and the percentages neglected, then many many food items, including coke and vanilla flavored products, would be considered haram.
- With regards to a product that is not nutritional being haram, really this is an extreme statement. By all means live a healthy lifestyle, and if you wish to avoid foods that are fatty or high in cholesterol or this or that, then do so. But don’t read the word ‘haram’ into these matters. Most people don’t realize the severity of this word!! The Quran itself strongly chastises those who make haram what Allah has made halal. The pure is that which Allah has made halal, and the impure is that which He has made haram, as per the text of the Quran (Surah Maidah).
Hope that clarifies some issues. And once again, I iterate: this is just an opinion. Feel free to follow what others say. But I would advise brothers and sisters to use the intelligence that Allah has blessed us with, and realize that scholars - all of them - are but human, and their own prejudices and contextual backgrounds are bound to affect the fatwas they give, just like my own prejudices and background shape my understanding of the issue.
In the end, truly Allah knows best…
Yasir
this may be one of the signs of qiyamah when, in comparison to who passed before, an unlearned men becomes sheik and starts giving fatwa..
Jamal - What exactly are you implying?
yeah jamal, who are you pointing finger towards ?
I am still skeptical
That desi in me.
Thank you Sh. Qadhi for this insightful article! I have a few questions though:
Impurity: What does this mean in Islam?
- Other than pigs, what other animals are considered impure? Are ANY products derived from pigs impure (Can I play with a football that’s made from pork leather)?
- I’ve heard many people say that alcohol is also impure or ‘najis’. What are the views on that issue? Can I clean my hands with ethanol in the lab? Check out this article about Muslims refusing to use anti-bacterial gels in hospitals because they contain alcohol: ( http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006600358,00.html).
Sh. Qadhi, you mention two main Islamic principles in his article:
Principle 1: “Istihāla basically answers the question: If an impure substance undergoes a complete and total chemical transformation into a pure substance, is that sufficient to consider it to be pure?…I follow the first opinion, which states that istihāla does indeed make the resultant product pure.”
Principle 2: “If an extremely minute quantity of an impurity is totally dissolved in a much larger quantity of a pure substance, such that the impurity does not leave any discernable presence (this is called istihlāk), the resultant substance will still be pure.”
Using your reasoning in this article, can we assume that gelatin-containing products and foods cooked with wine are halal (since pork-derived gelatin is chemically altered (principle 1) and the amount of alcohol in foods cooked with wine is very small because most of it is burned off in the cooking process (principle 2)?
Thanks,
Abdurrahman
JazaakAllah khair, Shaykh Yasir.
Just for this post, I’m thinking about holding a BBQ for you when you come to Chicago, insha’Allah; with cheesy cheeseburgers served just for you (and Ammaar, too). Maybe with some cheesecake?
Oh, and we can’t forget the Doritos =P.
assalaamu`alaikum
I have just read Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani’s “Ahkaam Adh Dhabaa’ih”, and I strongly believe we have many issues to address regarding the meat we consume, so much so that we have operate abattoirs like how the jews run their slaughterhouses. Forgive me for posting this here, but I would really love to discuss certain matters regarding this with Bro Yasir Qadhi, is there any way I could reach him? jk.
so can we eat mcdonalds?
JZK - I have some confusion on category 2 - rennet from unislamically slaughtered animals.
An argument I read for allowing this rennet was that they classified the rennet to be ‘alive’ in and of itself as it is an enzyme - and by it acting to make cheese by itself after it is separated from the animal’s stomach - shows that it is still ‘alive.’
Thus the issue was not with the way the animal was slaughtered, but whether the source of the rennet (the animal) was non-porcine, as the porcine rennet would be najas as of the source - as everything from and about the pig (and dog) is najis; wheras the animal rennet from a calf/lamb/etc would have been fine as the rennet did not ‘die’ when the animal was slaughtered - and their host animal source was tahir - so they were tahir.
That being said, whilst the minuteness of the amount of rennet in proportion to the amount of the cheese is a more flexible argument, the classical opinions seemed to use the fact that the rennet was tahir (as no pigs were eaten by the arabs - nor by it seems the zoroastrians from your article - and the rennet was from halal animals.)
Did the previous scholars draw a distinction between cheese from porcine and non-porcine rennet - i.e. did they approach the issue from a different angle to one of insignificant amount?
ASA Sheik,
Jazak’Khair for the science lesson, am ashamed I transiently believed all I heard without critically thinking it out. And to think I spent 4 years in med school…..
Your sis, L. Kadir
salam
Abdurrahman Kandil: Sh. YQ has already alluded to the gelatin issue.
McDonalds, etc., regarding the issue of meat in the West: it is a COMPLETELY different topic, with different ahkaam and different conclusions. As I have already mentioned, YQ does NOT believe that non-zabihah (non-dhabihah) meat is halal in America… so no McDonalds cheesburgers for Sh.Yasir.
Please let’s stick to the topic and not conflate the variety of the issues. One issue at at time inshallah!
Br. Osman, you can email us at info at muslimmatters //dot// org, and we’ll pass your questions to YQ.
JAK
Asalamalekum,
Another issue for which I haven’t received a satisfactory answer as of yet, is the issue of verifying the permissibility of food before consuming it. How far do you have to go? An example will hopefully clarify. Suppose I go into a non halal restaurant and order black bean soup from the menu. The menu does not indicate that it contains any forbidden substance, but say in actuality it contains broth made out of pork. Since I knew it was a non halal restaurant am I obliged to eat only from halal restaurants (plenty of which are nearby), since there is a risk that I may be consuming haraam. Or conversely, do I take the approach, that since the food I am consuming, apparently seems not to contain any haraam ingredient, assume it is halaal. Perhaps the latter approach is recommended (not sure about this), but if I take the former approach, is this blameworthy (meaning is it makrooh or haraam)? An answer to this question will greatly reduce the dilemma that many Muslims in the West (I suspect ) are facing.
JazakAllah
Brother Sheeraz made excellent question, that I had in my mind as well. How much investigation are we supposed to do, to find if meat was slaughtered properly, to find if water is pure (tahir). I remember someone telling me, that he went to islamic fundraising dinner, and few people did not eat even fish (not talking about crab/lobster etc, normal fish), saying we do not know how it was cooked! I mean it was muslim event, and its fish, but they apparently need to know whole life history of fish, before they can eat it.
Maa-Shaa-Allah, as expected from a magnum-cum-laude of Medina university, Shaykh Yasir gave it so hard.
Regarding food cooked with wine added:
http://www.islam-qa.com/index.php?ref=1814
*Note the intent of this link is not to link readers to a fatwa website. Rather, the link contains research performed by the MAYO Clinic on food cooked with wine.
Love the note, SaqibSaab.
JazzakumAllahu khayr Shaykh Yasir.
In regards to your comment/question about gelatin, I was able to find the following statement from Kraft Foods:
http://www.kraftfoods.com/main.aspx?s=contact_us&m=contact_us/faqview&faq_question_id=1005&cache=N
Also, if anyone has a subscription to this service (or wants to donate generously for the Ummah
) then this article is available and might answer a lot of in depth questions:
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-2621.2001.tb15209.x?cookieSet=1&journalCode=jfds
This is the correct link from Islam Q&A that SaqibSaab was referring to:
http://www.islam-qa.com/index.php?ref=1814&ln=eng
Also, the North Carolina Physicians Health Program makes reference to the same Mayo Clinic study here:
http://www.ncphp.org/code/inform/articles/fns/alcnfood.doc
Exploratorium makes their own statement about this issue:
http://exploratorium.edu/cooking/icooks/01-05-04.html
Assalamualaikum Brother Yasir Qadi.
First off, I wanted to say how much I enjoyed your speeches at the convention, I gained alot of Islamic Knowledge from listening to them.
About the Doritos topic, after hearing about what you posted, I went straight to the phone and called the Doritos headquarters itself. I asked them, what they have in the Dorito chips, and they told me to name a specific variety. I named the Nacho Cheese, and I was told that it contains the pork enzyme. When my older cousin called, she received the same information, and they told her there was a mix of beef and pork in every variety, dosen ‘t that make it automatically haraam? I haven’t read your whole article yet, but this is the discussion me and my cousin were having. Inshallah I will take the time right now to read the article and fully understand what your saying.
WS.
ASA Sabih, yes, they use the enzyme that could be of bovine origin. That is the whole premise of the article.
Amad,
Did you mean that the whole premise of the article is even if the enzyme is porcine then it is still permissible?
Correction to my previous post:
“Perhaps the latter approach is recommended (not sure about this), but if I take the former approach, is this blameworthy (meaning is it makrooh or haraam)?”
This should be read as:
“Perhaps the former approach is recommended (not sure about this), but if I take the latter approach, is this blameworthy (meaning is it makrooh or haraam)?”
My apologies.
Assalaam-u-Alaikum Wa-Rahmatullahi Wa-Rabakatuhu
what about pepsi
they include pork in it ?
pepsi include pork? No.
w/s
Excellent, excellent, Yasir Qadhi. The rules are somewhat different, but kosher and halal certifiers often work together on these issues. Anything that lessens the confusion is a boon to manufacturer, retailer, and consumer alike.
As for myself, I buy Utz brand Nachos, Party Mix, and cheese curls because these products are certified kosher by the Orthodox Union AND they taste delicious. (Herr’s “Nachitas” are also kosher, but not to my taste.)
On the gelatin issue, products made with kosher gelatin (derived from fish, I think) are available: certain flavors and brands of Jell-O and marshmallows are made with it. One just has to look for the stuff.
In my humble opinion the evils associated with even opening a checking account in an interest-bank (yes, I have a bank account) are far worse than many of these high-level wara’ matters.
You are treating modern currency as if it is real money. Real money, the money discussed in the Torah and the Koran, is gold and silver, isn’t it? Paper dollars and base-metal tokens are just units of credit, and the amount of credit a given quantity of gold and silver buys varies from day to day. So why worry about an interest-bearing account if it is denominated in dollars, rather than gold or silver?
Solomon, timely entry! I have always had a few questions in mind about kosher:
I had an instructor once who was an orthodox Jew, and he used to bring special kosher pizza to share with me… awesome dude… In any case, he told me that as far as gelatin pills, the Torah forbid that it touch your mouth (I am going off memory, so excuse any mistakes), so he would wrap it up in a little piece of tissue to swallow it. Does that ring a bell? What do Jews do about medicine and other pills that you may not have a choice on? Are there similar principles w/regards to change of characteristic?
As far as everyday stuff, if it has a K or a U on it, does that mean that it will for sure not have any bovine products? And will be based of kosher other-than-pig animal meat/bone?
Look forward to hearing more…
I know it’s going off base, but I’m curious about kosher food, too. It’s always my second choice if I really really can’t get my hands on halal - for instance, I bought kosher chicken broth when I couldn’t find halal. Is that appropriate?
the Torah forbid that it touch your mouth (I am going off memory, so excuse any mistakes), so he would wrap it up in a little piece of tissue to swallow it
Gross. That must really do a number on the esophagus.
What do Jews do about medicine and other pills that you may not have a choice on?
I consider the matter of what to do if prescribed medication with porcine and other non-kosher ingredients is controversial enough to consult with one’s rabbi for guidance. The general principle, I think, is to do what’s necessary to reasonably preserve one’s life and health.
If it has only a “K” on it, that is a symbol added by the manufacturer only, not a certification. It’s all right for some breakfast cereals.
Bovine = cow meat or product, at my level it must be kosher-processed to be acceptable, and must carry the hechsher of a reputable kosher-certifying organization. No food I know of can be certified kosher if there is any pork product in it.
The “change-of-characteristic” rule is something I’ve never heard of before. I don’t think it exists in the laws of kashrut. Even if an egg has a single bloodstain on it, that renders the contents inside non-kosher.
oops i meant pork.. not bovine…
I have heard all Jello is kosher. And what does a K symbolize if not kosher?
Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu everyone
Wow…so sheikh Yasir’s kids were in the kids sessions….I’m surprised someone didn’t keep one of them lol! Not funny…on a serious note, it would be interesting to get some insight on how a learned person educates his children….idea: It would be AWESOME if ANY Ustadh og Al Maghrib wrote up a bit about how they raise their children…how they deal with issues, when they teach what..day to day life..reallly awesome…I’m sure others would agree…
i did read the article…really good masha allah la hawla wa la quwata illah bullah!
lol! Doritos would generate so many responses. subhan Allah
Assalaamualaikum warahmatullaahi wabarakaatuhu.
I’ve listened to your lectures.
It’s jewelry to me.
As one of many admirers of yours, I have to confess that I love you Sh.Yasir Qadhi in Allaah.
Thank you for your excellent article.
Your article consists of mainly two parts.
And I want to ask you a question for each part.
1. Helping the one who use pork.
: If they make cheese by porcine enzyme, that means they earn money by using pig.
It’s same thing with Jewish case. Jewish used to make candle by pig fat and they earned money by using pig. According to one Hadeeth, the Prophet(sallalaahu alaihi wasallam) forbade buying the candle made from pig fat.
What I mentioned above is not food matter, but from the Hadeeth it can be concluded that it’s forbidden to make money from pig.
If you say it’s Halaal to buy and eat Dorito made from porcine-added cheese, doesn’t mean that you allow them to make money by pig? In the Quran Allaah forbides us to help Munkar. What can you say if someone says to you that your statement eventually help Munkar(making money by pig) or what’s forbidden by the Prophet(sallalaahu alaihi wasallam)?
2. Matter of quantity
I agree with you regarding quantity matter in general. But let me differ from you in one perspective.
It’s right to say small quantity of najas(A) doesn’t make water(B) impure. B exists without A. In other words, B doesn’t contribut anything to the existence of A. B has nothing to do with A. In this case, in my humble opinion, we can apply quantity rule that you’ve mentioned.
But can we still say that porcine enzyme(A) doen’t make the cheese(B) impure because of its small quantity? In this case, B CAN’T exist without A. Thanks to the B, A can exist. B is essential to the existence of A. That is, this case is not the matter of quantity. It’s matter of ingredient. This case is totally different from small najas and water. Water can exist without najas, but cheese can NOT exist without enzyme. Therefore, I think we can NOT apply quantity rule to this case.
I’m not sure whethere I can get reply from you or not, ut it would be great honor for me to get some words from you. Please know that you’re my role model, and I always want to see you in person. Because I reside in Korea, it’s not easy, but who knows?
May Allaah bless all of us. Ameen.
My mistake:
But can we still say that porcine enzyme(A) doen’t make the cheese(B) impure because of its small quantity? In this case, B CAN’T exist without A. (Thanks to the B, A can exist. B is essential to the existence of A.)
-> Thanks to the A, B can exist. A is essential to the existence of B.
I think Karam raises an interesting question in point 2. Is it correct to make analogy (qiyas) between consuming water mixed with a drop of urine and consuming cheese containing pork enzymes. The two cases though similar are different in some regards (as Karam described above). Another question which comes to my mind is that water is consumed in its liquid form while cheese is solid. Perhaps analogy should be restricted to liquids and not be extended to solids. My point is that a scholar’s conclusion on this issue will differ depending on the what he considers a valid qiyas. And derviving the qiyas involves ijtihaad. Just some thoughts. Allah alone knows best .
Sheeraz:
EVen if you were to restrict it to liquids, it would include the cheese manufacturing process, as the rennet is added as a liquid, into a larger vat of liquid.
Maverick correct, but what I was referring to was in the end of the day you’re eating a slice of cheese, which is different than drinking water. The point I’m trying to make is “Is it a better approach to be liberal or conservative in one’s qiyas?”. What is the stronger usool? One may argue that the ahadith refer only to water and do not apply to other cases (a very restrictive approach). Therefore all other cases need a different proof.
Sheeraz, personally I take the opinion that if there are two halal choices in front of me, but one is more easier [liberal] than the other, then I take that one, since Allaah said in the Qur’an that He desires ease for us … so only in situations where there are two halal and legitimate choices, I’ll take the easier one.
Not to be mistaken for picking and choosing between the different madhaa’hib to suit my desires. That, I don’t do.
“…Wikipedia states that 1 kg of manufactured cheese contains about 0.0003 grams of rennet enzymes.
—
Such a miniscule quantity of impurity (i.e., less than 0.00003 %) simply cannot make the entire product impure ”
It’s actually even more minuscule: 0.0000003%
(.0003 grams is .0000003 kg, so .0000003/1)
Salaam Alaikum
- Br. Jamal - this fatwa is not being given by a minor student of knowledge such as myself, but rather is the fatwa of many scholars and Fiqh Academies of our times, amongst them the European Fiqh Council.
- The issue of alcohol being najas is another topic altogether. The majority of scholars claimed that it was, a small minority (and this minority is growing in our times) claimed that it is not.
- Br. Fulaan - yes your comments are on the mark. I tried to allude to this in the article but did not want to go into too much detail. The controversy in most classical fiqh works is whether rennet ‘dies’ and hence is najas, or whether the death of the animal has no ruling on it. Ibn Taymiyyah and others opined that a dead animal’s rennet (and milk) does not take the ruling of its meat. From my readings, I have only noticed later scholars bring up the istihlak issue in specific reference to cheese. The concept of istihlak is clearly discussed in classical works, but I do not know of any works that then use this principle for cheese. However, most modern medical researchers with Shar’i knowledge bring this up as the main point in claiming cheese is permissible. Allah knows best why most classical scholars did not use this principle in their times…
- Br. Sheeraz, again this is a different topic. There are no doubt levels of piety, and there is also extremism in over-verifying! Personally, if a dish ‘appears’ to be vegetarian or seafood, I assume it is. In some fancy restaurants I ask if any wine will be used to prepare the seafood, but otherwise I don’t go into too much detail. If someone were to do that I’m not saying that’s not allowed…
- Solomon2, thanks for your comments. The ruling on paper money takes the same rulings as gold as silver because, in our times, they have taken the place of gold and silver. There is no significant difference of opinion amongst modern scholars that paper money takes the rulings of classical dinars/dirhams.
- Karam, the rulings of Islam would not apply to insignificant quantities. Our buying Doritos does not drive the pig industry! Really no scholar would consider Doritos haram for such an issue.
Your second issue is valid if the Sharee’ah were to take into account the effect of a substance on another. But for the most part it doesn’t. It looks at the quantity, regardless of what effect that quantity has. The final product, as long as it is pure, contains a very insignificant quantity of najas. This is all that the Sharee’ah is concerned with.
- The rennet is added as a liquid to a liquid. The issue of cheese being solid would not affect what I mentioned earlier.
- bdr, well I’ll be! I can’t believe I overlooked that. So you’ve actually increased the potency of my argument by 1000 % (or is it 10,000 %?)
Yasir
“It’s actually even more minuscule: 0.0000003% (.0003 grams is .0000003 kg, so .0000003/1)”
Assalaamu alaykum,
Actually, what Sh. Yasir originally had (0.00003%) is the correct percentage. True, 0.0003 grams is 0.0000003 kg, and the final ratio is 0.0000003/1… however, since 0.01/1 is 1%, then 0.0000003/1 is 0.00003 %, as was mentioned in the original post.
Just so we have our numbers straight
wassalaam
Subhan Allah, I didn’t read the whole thing (but I’m gonna soon, in sha Allah)…but what stood out for me from this entire page is this:
“- Br. Jamal - this fatwa is not being given by a minor student of knowledge such as myself, but rather is the fatwa of many scholars and Fiqh Academies of our times, amongst them the European Fiqh Council.”
May Allah increase you in ilm and in emaan shaikh Yasir, can’t wait to see you again this Saturday, in sha Allah
On the article, I’m actually very strong against eating cheese from a non-Muslim store, but now my shunning of cheese will be mostly related to my culinary preferences
I think a few of my friends would be vindicated by this, but its all good, walhamdulillah!
Wow JKK to Sheikh
mASHAaLLAH from all these responses it would be fair to say Our Ummah really loves cheese, now we have the verdict just watch the waistline huh maybe will stick to low fat cheesE!
Just for comparison: in kosher products, it isn’t necessarily the quantity of non-kosher ingredients that matters, but whether or not their presence changes the character of the food. Even a very small amount of rennet suffices to change milk into cheese, so rabbis have decreed that rennet must be added to the cheese culture by an observant Jew, and if animal rennet is used it must originate from a kosher-slaughtered animal.
Salam Brother Yasir!
Nashville Sisters give our salams and look forward to our next class if you come back to Memphis.
Great Article, and JazakAllah Khair…I had already put those forwarded articles about the chips in my trash file.
Honestly, if I were to listen to every fowarded article about what is “Haram” or “Halal” I would only be left with water. And who knows that might be next weeks email…”Bottled Water no longer Halal”…lol
Umsalih
Subhan Allah…I have been following this issue in real life and on the web for several weeks and their are 2 responses I see:
1. Jazakum Allahu Khair for telling me, I will never eat Doritos again.
2. Are you sure? You want to make everything haram! I’ll have to do some more research (chomping noises heard after eating more Doritos).
Group #1 is very Sahaba-like and I respect you for that. Hearing and obeying and staying away from doubtful matters.
Group #2. Wow, how disappointing. I mean come on — celebrating in the post comments that the shiekh made a fatwa that corresponded with your desires! And still asking about McDonald’s.
Now, this is a real trivial issue to me but it has big implications and that is why I must say something. It is trivial to me because I barely eat chips and, when I do, I eat Kosher-certified Kettle chips that are healthier and taste better. Also, Frito Lay still has non-porcine and even Kosher products to select from: http://www.fritolay.com/fl/flstore/cgi-bin/dietary_choices.htm?
But of course, your favorite bag isn’t on there is it.
The fact that Frito Lay has a section on their website called “Seasoned Products Made Without Porcine Enzymes” makes it significant. It is upsetting that Frito Lay is more concerned about this than some of our Muslim brothers and sisters. Especially when there are alternatives.
The reason I say this has big implications because it really is a sign of the weakness of our faith. I am not talking about the difference of opinion on the matter but more of the reaction.
Really bros and sisters we need to step it up! When will we eat halal over non-dhabiha? When will we start eating kosher over non-kosher enzymes? When will we take the extra effort to free ourselves of any blame as the prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said, “He who guards against doubtful things keeps his religion and honor blameless.” [Bukhari and Muslim]
I know, I know you’re saying: the halal meat store is “not clean”, it’s just cheese, or their is a difference of opinion, or this is a fiqh issue.
No this is not a fiqh issue. This attitude is not a fiqh issue. Our hearts are not pure.
Everyone always going back to fiqh. We have completely taken Zuhd (Asceticism) and Wara’ (Leaving doubtful matters) out of our vocabulary. It is something that we read about in stories and no longer possible I guess.
The prophet (peace be upon him) forbade us from drinking out of gold and silver and sitting on silk cushions and said these are not for the believers in this world. We always think about the technical fiqh and never think why. We use analogy for porcine rennet but never for our iPhones and luxuries. Wake up!
Let’s start making sacrifices really. And I’m not talking about cheese I’m talking about dunya. Wassalamu Alaikum.
masha’Allah, this article is awesome
salaamun ‘alayk Abdullah,
You state, “The reason I say this has big implications because it really is a sign of the weakness of our faith.”
I understand why you’re upset; however, you have no reason to be. You seem to be upset and concerned because your impression of debates such as these, debates that deal with “trivial issues” as you label them, are an excuse for Muslims to dig up any excuse they can find to follow a lax opinion that is in accordance to their desires.
I say you have no reason to be upset since these “trivial matters” are, in fact, addressed by the Quran, Sunnah, Sahaabah and the Ulamaa of the past and present. So how can one claim that they are trivial? And if in fact they have been addressed by said sources, and there’s sufficient evidence from them to lead to such detailed conclusions as are available today, then rather than getting upset and calling it a “weakness of faith,” shouldn’t you be appreciative of the vastness and comprehensiveness of our religion; or in the least, be appreciative of those who expend their efforts to reveal the works of the scholars of past and present?
Lastly, your implication that the iPhone and other luxuries fall under forbidden indulgences of this world is severely flawed. Granted, it’s important to “think about” the technical fiqh as well as the “why” behind such rulings; however, many people conclude (based on their own whims) with a “why” that, in reality, opposes the technical, yet manifest teachings of the Quran and Sunnah.
All praise is due to the One who sent us the clearest of Books, the most knowledgeable of Teachers, salallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, and the minds we can (and should) use to comprehend their lessons.
wassalaamu ‘alaykum.
Yaa Sheikh Abdallaah!
Your post made my heart totally comfortable.
Since there’s no clear message from the Quran and the Sunnah about this matter, I’ll stay away from that, doubtful matters.
Reason matters, but faith also matters, even more than that.
May Allaah bless and guide all of us. Ameen.
Assalamalaikum,
To Yasir Qhadi, I came across this in an email about why doritos are haram:
“other Enzymes such as Lipase and finally dairy flavors containing Enzymes, if the rennet is from microbial and above mentioned are not from Halal source then cheese will not be Halal. The culture medias are made with milk, whey and lactose (Haram if made from pork rennet, Haram media, pork enzymes), dried autolyzed brewer’s yeast (by product of beer) and Pancreatin (Haram if from pork).”
source: http://www.muslimconsumergroup.com/Events.do?menu=Events&eventAction=eventdetail&eventId=307
Can you clarify this please? I assume that the same prinicple applies here to these other enzymes and ingredients?
Jazakallah kahyr.
Assalamu Alaikum ‘Abdil Kareem. Akhi you missed my point. You are looking at it from a fiqh perspective as I mentioned. I am talking about this attitude that you describe as “an excuse for Muslims to dig up any excuse they can find to follow a lax opinion that is in accordance to their desires.”
You might see it otherwise but I find this to be a real problem with the umma. If people’s conclusions were based on pure fiqh I would have no issue with that. But when you have people posting celebration comments you know yourself that is not the right attitude. My issue isn’t with fiqh as you think, it is with the Muslim attitude.
I didn’t say those luxuries were forbidden. Be fair. But once again you keep going back to the fiqh. This is my exact point. We have no concept of Zuhd in the dunya and Wara’ in our daily lives. These are the treasures that the prophet Muhammad (may Allah send peace and blessings upon him) lived by and the sahaba (may Allah be pleased with them) and all the scholars (may Allah have mercy upon them) that we read about. Everyone is familiar with fiqh but none of us try to emulate these great people in how they lived. I know, I know it’s not obligatory to do so…
May Allah guide us all to what is best. Ameen.
Mr. Abdullah, I openly and very happily celebrate bounties of Allah for making this religion easy. My zuhd tells me to be happy praying qasr while traveling because I know that what my prophet (PBUH) did and making it longer would not give me any further reward. My zuhd tells me to enjoy what Allah has make halal for me. My zuhd tells me to see the example of sahabi Omar(RA) when he was accompanying a man and water fell on that man from roof, and he started asking people if this water was “tahir” (pure), and Omar forbade people to answer him, as it would make only things difficult for me. My Zuhd tells me not to act like jewish people who asked so many questions about halal and haram that made their religion of just dos and donts and left spirituality out of it.
Verily the best spirituality is that of prophet Muhammad PBUH, who married women, fast some days, break other days, sleep sometime in nights, and wake for tahajjud. He did not go out into jungl