Yes, I have been to a popular HMC restaurant in London and I looked at one of the condiment bottles and it had e120 listed on the ingredients. As far as I know they only certify the meat. And the raw meat is only one part of what is in a restaurant meal. So does being HMC certified guarantee a restaurant is halal -- Not at all. It just shows their raw meat is passable. People should be very diligent about what else goes into the meal.
thats a very good point!
there is no guarantee that the rest of the ingredients are halal. in fact, going by how most people are very ignorant when it comes to haram colourings and flavourings, there is a very big chance that some haram ingredients will get passed through.
its even difficult to trust a person who is on the sunnah. i have had to point out a few times to some brothers on the sunnah that such-and-such item that they are eating is haram.
obviously the best way would be to eat food from your own hands, but then the excuse we would use is that 'i dont always have the time or opportunity to do this'....but in reality that is not a real excuse and does not exempt a person from eating doubtful or haram food. ALL haram foods are haram. there is no 'big' haram - and no 'small' haram which is ok to eat if it happens to make things a little convenient.
do HMC actually say if their certification is based on the hanafi madhab or not?
A Brief Description of the Question:
I want to know if "squid/calamari" which comes from sea is halal or haram. Please clarify, may Allah reward all of you for this great service. Wassallam.
The Answer:
It is not permissible to eat squid according to Hanafi school.
The verse which is translated as "It is He Who has made the sea subject, that ye may eat thereof flesh that is fresh and tender" (1) and the verse which is translated as "Lawful to you is the pursuit of water-game and its use for food,- for the benefit of yourselves and those who travel" (2) indicate that seas are full of boons and people can benefit from them.
In the verses, Allah, the Supreme, states that all sea animals are permissible to eat without any exception and without the obligation of slaughtering like other animals, and He provides His servants with easiness and wideness. Moreover, He gives people the permission to use anything to catch them on condition that one avoids torturing the animal as much as possible.
As it is already known, animals are divided into two as sea animals and land animals depending on where they live. The land animals can be eaten and that cannot be eaten are recorded in Islamic jurisprudence books. However, as for the sea animals, there are different views among schools regarding which ones are permissible to eat and which ones are not.
According to the scholars from Shafii, Maliki and Hanbali schools, who base their judgments on the verses whose interpretations we have given above, all of the sea animals, i.e. animals which cannot live out of sea, are permissible to eat, no matter what species they are and no matter where they are. According to the same schools, that permissibility is not affected by the difference in these animals' names, whether they are alive or dead, whether they are caught by Muslims or non-Muslims.
While the school of Maliki does not make any exceptions regarding the sea animals, the school of Hanbali considers it haram to eat eel because it deems eel pernicious; the school of Shafii defines eating the animals that live both in the sea and on the land like frogs, crabs and crocodiles as haram.
According to the school of Hanafi, it is haram to eat the sea animals which are not in the form of fish. In this sense, all kinds of fish which always live in the sea can be eaten. Turbot, carp, dolphin and eel are included. On the other hand, other sea animals are not permissible. Animals such as mussel, shell, lobster and crab are not considered permissible to eat; they are regarded as forbidden by some scholars (3)
According to those criteria, while sea animals such as mussel and shell can be eaten according to the school of Shafii, Maliki and Hanbali, they cannot be eaten according to the school of Hanafi. The reason why the school of Hanafi considered them haram is that those animals are not nice both physically and with respect to their edible parts, and they are deemed ugly and filthy.
I saw a HMC certified Fast food joint Yesterday. I took a quick look at the menu.
They had a nice variety of sea food too which included Squid. Now, as far as are concrened, it is Haram.
However please note that the certificate in the store clearly said ALL MEAT AND POULRTY was certified Halal.
Careful guys.
Many people go for Sushi's too. They aint Halal because they contain Squid, Octupus etc etc.
it would be halal if it is halal in their madhab.
do HMC actually say if their certification is based on the hanafi madhab or not?
and by certifying 'ALL MEAT AND POULTRY PRODUCTS', does that include sea food products, or does it not include sea food products?
A Brief Description of the Question:
I want to know if "squid/calamari" which comes from sea is halal or haram. Please clarify, may Allah reward all of you for this great service. Wassallam.
The Answer:
It is not permissible to eat squid according to Hanafi school.
The verse which is translated as "It is He Who has made the sea subject, that ye may eat thereof flesh that is fresh and tender" (1) and the verse which is translated as "Lawful to you is the pursuit of water-game and its use for food,- for the benefit of yourselves and those who travel" (2) indicate that seas are full of boons and people can benefit from them.
In the verses, Allah, the Supreme, states that all sea animals are permissible to eat without any exception and without the obligation of slaughtering like other animals, and He provides His servants with easiness and wideness. Moreover, He gives people the permission to use anything to catch them on condition that one avoids torturing the animal as much as possible.
As it is already known, animals are divided into two as sea animals and land animals depending on where they live. The land animals can be eaten and that cannot be eaten are recorded in Islamic jurisprudence books. However, as for the sea animals, there are different views among schools regarding which ones are permissible to eat and which ones are not.
According to the scholars from Shafii, Maliki and Hanbali schools, who base their judgments on the verses whose interpretations we have given above, all of the sea animals, i.e. animals which cannot live out of sea, are permissible to eat, no matter what species they are and no matter where they are. According to the same schools, that permissibility is not affected by the difference in these animals' names, whether they are alive or dead, whether they are caught by Muslims or non-Muslims.
While the school of Maliki does not make any exceptions regarding the sea animals, the school of Hanbali considers it haram to eat eel because it deems eel pernicious; the school of Shafii defines eating the animals that live both in the sea and on the land like frogs, crabs and crocodiles as haram.
According to the school of Hanafi, it is haram to eat the sea animals which are not in the form of fish. In this sense, all kinds of fish which always live in the sea can be eaten. Turbot, carp, dolphin and eel are included. On the other hand, other sea animals are not permissible. Animals such as mussel, shell, lobster and crab are not considered permissible to eat; they are regarded as forbidden by some scholars (3)
According to those criteria, while sea animals such as mussel and shell can be eaten according to the school of Shafii, Maliki and Hanbali, they cannot be eaten according to the school of Hanafi. The reason why the school of Hanafi considered them haram is that those animals are not nice both physically and with respect to their edible parts, and they are deemed ugly and filthy.
I wasn't suggesting that you were incorrect. Alhumdulillah, you pointed out a very vital point about the Madhabs.
One item is Haram according to the Hanafi but permissable according to another Imam and vice versa.
Do HMC consider Seafood as part of their certificate? No idea. (inshaAllah, I'll try and get an answer for that).
Seafood is not Meat or Poultry
Meat is animal flesh that is eaten as food. Generally, this means the skeletal muscle and associated fat and other tissues, but it may also describe other edible tissues such as offal. Often, meat is used in a more restrictive sense-the flesh of mammalian species (cattle, lambs, etc.) raised and prepared for human consumption, to the exclusion of fish and other seafood, poultry, and other animals. Usage varies worldwide, depending on cultural or religious preferences.
Poultry is a category of domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of collecting their eggs, or killing for their meat and/or feathers. These most typically are members of the superorder Galloanserae (fowl), especially the order Galliformes (which includes chickens, quails and turkeys) and the family Anatidae (in order Anseriformes), commonly known as "waterfowl" (e.g. domestic ducks, domestic geese and ecterim). Poultry also includes other birds which are killed for their meat, such as pigeons or doves or birds considered to be game, such as pheasants.
Seafood is any form of sea life regarded as food by humans. Seafood prominently includes fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Historically, sea mammals such as whales and dolphins have been consumed as food, though that happens to a lesser extent these days. Edible sea plants, such as some seaweeds and microalgae, are widely eaten as seafood around the world. In North America, although not generally in the United Kingdom, the term "seafood" is extended to fresh water organisms eaten by humans, so all edible aquatic life may be referred to as seafood.
Vegetarians don't eat fish, and consider that fish is meat, since it is the flesh of an animal.
However, Pescatarians eat fish and other seafood, but not mammals and birds. Pescatarians may consume fish based solely upon the idea that the fish are not factory farmed as land animals are (i.e., their problem is with the capitalist-industrial production of meat, not with the consumption of animal foods themselves).
I wasn't suggesting that you were incorrect. Alhumdulillah, you pointed out a very vital point about the Madhabs.
i see. you said i am correct to an "extent" and was just wondering what you meant by that.
but personally i believe that the real problem is the added 'stealth' haram ingredients that even careful eaters can miss. a squid/prawn/crab/eel etc are hard to miss as they will be on the menu and can be seen when eating, but other ingredients that may be haram such as colouring, flavourings, even the bread can pass under the radar.
these 'stealth' haram ingredients may even have been added unknowingly due to the ignorance of the management and chef about halal and haram. maybe the management and chef should do a course on halal and haram and tested on this in an exam.
This cannot be undone and I am sure it will be greatly appreciated.
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