Halal

A Halal meat market in Minnesota. There's definitely no pork there

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Halal refers to anything permissible in Islam, but it is commonly used to refer to food or drink meeting Islamic dietary codes, especially meat (much like kosher). When you see "halal" outside a food store, it generally means two things: top-notch lamb but no bacon.

There are animal welfare issues associated with halal slaughter, but halal meat probably does not promote terrorism.

## Contents

* 1 Animal cruelty
* 2 Anti-halal
* 2.1 A storm in a soup can
* 2.2 Reality
* 2.3 Creeping ~~Halakha~~ Judaism
* 2.4 Sikhs
* 3 See also
* 4 References

## Animal cruelty[edit]

See the main article on this topic: Animal rights

Those pesky anti-unnecessary-suffering folk have spoken against claimed animal cruelty involved in halal-kosher slaughter.[1] In conventional slaughterhouses, animals are stunned before they are killed to minimize sensations of pain. Some Islamic authorities consider stunning to be prohibited, although many halal slaughterhouses do stun their animals.

Farm Animal Welfare Association (FAWC), an independent UK government advisory organisation, released reports in 1985 and 2007 regarding religious slaughter of animals.[2] In both, it observed unnecessary suffering to animals that were not stunned prior to slaughter (i.e., under halal-kosher slaughter). The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), UK animal welfare organisation, also holds this position and cites the FAWC's reports as evidence.[3]

Muslims and Jews often cite Schulze 1978, who concluded that halal (and presumably therefore kosher) slaughter was more humane than slaughter following stunning, but warned in his report that the stunning technique may have been incorrectly carried out.[4][5] A 2009 study using brain electrical activity found brain patterns consistent with pain signals in animals cut without stunning that disappeared once the animals were stunned shortly afterwards.[4]

Of note, some have argued that halal slaughter doesn't require the animals to be un-stunned.[6]

## Anti-halal[edit]

A good way to prove that you are anti-terrorist rather than anti-Muslim (or anti-Zionism rather than anti-Jew) is to avoid attacking dietary practices like halal (or kosher), which don't matter very much.

And then there's the anti-halal folks.

### A storm in a soup can[edit]

“”Campbell's now making Muslim approved soups. Mmmmm Mmmmm not good. No more campbells for me.

—Tea Party Nation, noted non-bigots[7]

The halal soup controversy began in late 2010 when Campbell's Soup Company test-marketed a line of halal-certified products for the Canadian and later the American marketplace. (The invisible hand of the market strikes again!)[8] This caused a fury of ridiculous hysteria about Muslims in America.

Pamela Geller whipped up the frenzy by claiming this was part of Creeping Sharia through a conspiratorial plot involving the grocery store soup aisle.[9][10] Geller stated that the board certifying the soups has links to the Muslim Brotherhood and "other terrorist groups". (JihadWatch claimed it was actually Hamas.[11]) Apparently, these groups are now funding terrorists and lobbying for the introduction of Sharia law into "middle America."[12] Geller thinks boycotting is the way to go because "The State Department is doing nothing as it is run by Islamic Supremacists."[13] Meanwhile, folks over at "Boycott Campbell Soup" had some amazing insights, including:[14]

> This is yet another example of just how dangerous creeping shariah is to Western Civilization, Democracy and all freedom loving peoples. There are stages to the islamization of non-islamic countries. [...] This is just another way that terrorism and it's sponsors are insinuating themselves into our culture, Terrorists are NOT freedom fighters they are murderous thugs and I will not pay money for soup or any other product that supports, aids or abets their tactics. Hope someone puts a list out of all of Campbell's affiliates.

More recently, Geller has warned us that those juicy Butterball turkeys are Halal, and therefore are a threat to patriotic Thanksgiving celebrators.[15] And in Australia, both Reclaim Australia and the United Patriots Front have constantly put forth the rhetoric that halal foods funds terrorism. Their evidence is, shall we say, scanty.[citation needed]

### Reality[edit]

Australian government agencies state that there is no evidence that Halal has any link to terrorism.[16] Of course, the Islamophobes plead that absence of evidence does not mean evidence of absence.[17]

### Creeping ~~Halakha~~ Judaism[edit]

As far as we can tell, Geller et. al have nothing to say about Campbell's kosher products.[18]

### Sikhs[edit]

One other group which may get upset about halal food are Sikhs, who are religiously prohibited from eating meat killed in a ritualistic fashion, as with halal and kosher meat; Sikhs are supposed to eat Jhatka meat, killed instantaneously and not bled to death. Sikhism often discourages, but does not forbid, meat eating.[19][20]

## See also[edit]

* Kosher
* God hates shrimp

## References[edit]

1. ↑ Halal and Kosher slaughter 'must end', BBC News, 10 June 2003
2. ↑ 2007 report
3. ↑ http://www.rspca.org.uk/ImageLocator/LocateAsset?asset=document&assetId=1232719611043&mode=prd
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17972-animals-feel-the-pain-of-religious-slaughter.html
5. ↑ http://www.way-to-allah.com/dokument/bolzenschuss+schaechten_gutachten_schulze_tiho.pdf
6. ↑ https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn10712-halal-standard-slaughtering-doesnt-need-animals-awake/
7. ↑ https://twitter.com/teapartynation/status/26657625998
8. ↑ Campbell's halal line
9. ↑ Outraged, and Outrageous: Pamela Geller — Blogger, Provocateur, Lightning Rod, The New York Times
10. ↑ Sound The Sharia Alarm! Campbell's Makes Halal Soups, TPMMuckraker, 7 October 2010
11. ↑ Campbell's Soup goes halal with approval from Hamas-linked ISNA, JihadWatch
12. ↑ Islamophobia 101: Episode 38–Pamela Geller vs Halal Soup from Campbell Soup, The Islamic Workplace blog
13. ↑ U.S. Warns Citizens of Muslim Attacks in Europe, Pamela Geller, Atlas Shrugs, 4 October 2010
14. ↑ Archive
15. ↑ http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2011/11/pamela-geller-beware-stealth-halal-thanksgiving-turkeys
16. ↑ ABC News Fact check: Does halal certification fund terrorism?
17. ↑ ABC News The Truth About Halal A quote of the transcript: "MIKE HOLT: Well, a lack of information doesn't s, doesn't show that it's not there, does it. All it means is that they haven't done their homework properly."
18. ↑ Mmm, Mmm kosher! Campbell’s soup gets the nod from Orthodox Union, Jweekly.
19. ↑ See the Wikipedia article on Prohibitions in Sikhism.
20. ↑ I’m Sikh and I can’t eat halal, Bournemouth Echo, May 15, 2014

v \- t \- e

Articles about the Qur'an

Suras: |  The Ant • The Family Of Imran • Women (sura) • The Cow • The Elevated Places •
Analysis: |  List of actions prohibited by the Qur'an • Qur'anic scientific foreknowledge • Qur'anic scientific errors • Qur'anic contradictions • Dhu al-Qarnayn •
| Scientific foreknowledge: |  About the Rain in the Qur'an • From Big Bang to Big Crunch • Water is a must have for having life in any planet in the Universe • Seven Heavens in Quran • A New Astronomical Quranic Method for The Determination Of The Greatest Speed C • A Scientist's Interpretation of References to Embryology in the Qur'an • The Coming of the Universe into Existence • The Conquest of Space • The Expansion of the Universe • The Layers of the Atmosphere • The Miracle of Honey • The miracle of honey as an alternative medicine • The Weight of Clouds • Qur'anic scientific foreknowledge •
Other: |  Satanic Verses • John the Baptist • Qur'an • Sharia • Hadith • Jihad • Allah • Burqa • Dhimmi • Houri • Ishmael • List of actions prohibited by the Qur'an • Qur'anic scientific errors • Sexism in the Qur'an • Qur'anic contradictions • Dhu al-Qarnayn • Satan •