Zabihah.com, An Excellent Resource for Eating Islamically

Zabihah.com, www.zabihah.com,  is a great website if you are looking for places to get zabihah food. If you have used yelp, you will find its format very familiar. It gives you tons of useful information about restaurants, groceries and restaurant/groceries. Most importantly, it gives customer reviews written by real Muslim customers. You can find addresses and phone numbers for the locations listed. You can even get an idea of the prices as the site uses a scale with $ being cheap and $$$$ being expensive.

There’s a terrific review for a local favorite of mine, Mediterranean Oasis, http://www.zabihah.com/d/Naperville+7701+Mediterranean-Oasis-Mart/. It has a rating of 4.9 out of 5.0, based on 12 reviews.

Here’s one review I particularly liked:

★★★★★ Arguably the best halal meat store in Chicagoland – big selection of groceries and meats including the widest selection of halal cold cuts and deli meats that I have ever seen: turkey breast, salamis, pastrami, etc. There’s a small restaurant counter that is better than most full-fledged middle eastern restaurants. Single biggest reason to move to Naperville.  (M.A. Hussain, Lincolnwood, IL).

Before you go out to eat, check out zabihah.com. It’s a real timesaver.

How to Eat in Islam

Read “How to Eat in Islam” by Stylish Muslimah, http://stylishmuslimah.blogspot.com/2011/06/how-to-eat-in-islam.html. (The original author is Pixie of the “I Love Hishma” blog.) There are three points that I would emphasize. First, wash your hands before a meal. This is crucial to prevent disease and to promote good health. Second, if you are unsure of what a food is, you should ask. It does not hurt to ask. Why jeopardize your good deeds and your health? You need to know if the food you are eating is halal. Third, after you finish eating, rinse out your mouth. This is especially beneficial for the health of your teeth. Food particles left behind in your mouth can lead to the growth of bacteria and plaque. Read the whole article, http://stylishmuslimah.blogspot.com/2011/06/how-to-eat-in-islam.html, and put into practice. You’ll be glad that you did.

What is Logos?

In the beginning was Reason, and Reason was with God, and Reason was God. 2 It was with God in the beginning. 3 Through it all things were made; without it nothing was made that has been made. 4 In it was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:1

Defining Halal and Haram

Halal means “allowed,” “lawful,” and/or “permissible.” It comes from a verb meaning, “untie, unbind, unfasten, unravel, solve, decipher.”

The milk of a cow is an example of a halal food.

Haram means “prohibited,” “unlawful,” and/or “sacred.” It comes from a verb meaning “to be forbidden, to be unlawful.”

Note that the meaning of haram depends greatly on context. When Muslims refer to Masjid al-Haram or the Haram Shareef, they are using the word in the sense of being sacred, referring to the masjid surrounding the Ka’aba in Mecca.

Bacon, meat from the side, back, or belly of a pig, is an example of a haram food. There is a clear daleel (piece of evidence) supporting the claim that pork is haram is Islam. Quran 2:173 says, “He [Allah] has only prohibited to you dead meat, and blood, and the flesh of swine and that on which any name hath been invoked besides that of God.” (Hussaini and Sakr, 17, following Yusuf Ali). “Swine” refers exclusively to the animal known in contemporary English as the pig.

When Muslims refer to pork as haram (pronounced with a longer second vowel than above), they mean that pork is prohibited. They do NOT mean that pork is sacred to Muslims.

References:

Mohammad M. Hussaini and Dr. Ahmad H. Sakr, Islamic Dietary Laws and Practices, Chicago: IFANCA, 1983,9.

R. Harmsen, “Halal and Haram.” http://rudhar.com/etymolog/halal.htm, 2011

Why Do We Fast?

http://www.islamicfinder.org/articles/article.php?id=400&lang=

Abu Hurairah relates that the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him, said: “Allah, the Lord of Honor and glory says: All other deeds of man are for himself, but his fasting is purely for Me and I shall reward him for it. The fast is a shield. When any of you is fasting he should abstain from loose talk and noisy exchanges. . . [T]he breath of one who is fasting is purer in the sight of Allah than the fragrance of musk. One who fasts experiences two joys: he is joyful when he breaks his fast, and he is joyful by virtue of his fast when he meets his Lord” (Bukhari and Muslim).”

Allah declares that fasting is purely for Him, Subhana wa Ta’ala (Glorified and Exalted). All other deeds that man does, he does for himself. There is a mystery about fasting that sets it apart from other forms of ibadah. Hajj is always public. Salat earns more merit if it is done in public (for men). Zakat can be done relatively privately, yet it involves multiple people including the donor, the recipient, and often intermediaries to ensure it is properly distributed. Yet fasting is inherently private. The only ones who can be certain that you are fasting are you and Allah (SWT).

The fast is a shield. Fasting should prevent us from committing sins. Unfortunately, the way many of us fast, fasting does not perform this function. We think that if we have gone without food and drink, we have succeeded. We need to push beyond this and realize that fasting should raise us higher. I think the problem is that we are satisfied with too little progress. We are so proud of ourselves when we complete a day of fasting or a night of Taraweeh. Why is it in Shawwal, we struggle to do more than 4 rakahs of Isha? Why are the six fasts of Shawwal so much harder to do than the 30 fasts of Ramadan? I think it is because we have lost the appreciation of excellence in religion. We just want to be good enough Muslims. The idea of becoming the best Muslims in the world does not even occur to us.

Still, I do not want to leave on a sour note. We should reflect on how the fasting that Muslims do inspires awe from people of other religions, even religions that themselves teach fasting. The lesson in this is that if we dedicate ourselves to Islam, there is no limit to our spiritual progress.

Foundations of Islamic Ethics of Food

1. Allah (SWT)* created the universe for us to use. Whatever is in the world is ready for our use except those things Allah has forbidden. Humanity has found remarkably ingenious ways to use the creation of Allah for our collective benefit. Biologists have engineered microscopic bacteria that make insulin for diabetics. Physicists have used the gravity of planets to move observers to collect data to advance human knowledge.

2. The purpose of eating is to nourish our bodies which require inputs of matter and energy. It is not wrong to take pleasure in food, so long as we do not go to extremes. We need to eat to live. We do not live merely to experience the pleasure of food.

3. We ought to purchase food from money that we have earned honorably. According to the Noble Messenger, Muhammad (S)**, “No one eats better food than what he eats out of the work of his own hand.” (Sahih Bukhari). Allah, in His infinite grace, has provided us an unlimited variety of ways to earn money in a permissible manner. We can practice medicine, work as engineers, advocate for clients in court, teach classes, serve food, or do one of the many jobs that observant Muslims perform all around the world. We must not steal, gamble, distribute intoxicants, or prostitute ourselves. The sins that accrue from these negative choices can undo the rewards we reap from our good deeds. A Muslim who steals incurs the sin of theft but additionally incurs the sin of eating prohibited food because the food he purchased was bought with dirty money.The lists of permissible and prohibited careers is not comprehensive. For example, I did not mention business management, but in general, that career would be considered permissible. On the other side, I did not mention exotic dancing, but that would be considered prohibited.

At your next meal, take a moment to thank Allah for providing you with the means of survival. Also, reflect for a moment on how you paid for the food you are eating. We should strive to be as grateful as possible and as obedient as possible to Our Merciful Lord, Allah.

(SWT)* = “Subhana wa Ta’ala” (Glorified in the Highest)

(S)** = “Salla allahu alaihi wa sallam (May the peace of Allah be upon him)

Bismillah

Bismillah hir Rahman nir Raheem

In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Beneficent

Do you want to eat better? Do you want to make more money? Do you want to get into heaven? In this blog I will attempt to help you do all three.

Here’s the tricky bit – I’m not an alim, I’m not a hafiz, I’m not a doctor, and I’m not an accountant. What I am is a fairly clever Muslim who is willing to do lots of research to find the best answers to the questions that matter most to you.

Why “Flawed Muslim”? My brother is the author of this title. I use it because it fits. So many Muslims argue from a position that seems to imply that they are absolutely perfect. I don’t work that way.  If you’re a flawed Muslim like me, maybe there’s something we can learn from one another. Let’s begin.