Halaal Association of Zimbabwe

What is Halaal?

Halaal is an Arabic word meaning anything that is lawful, legal, licit, legitimate, permissible, allowable, permitted, allowed, admissible, authorized, unprohibited, unforbidden or acceptable to all aspects of daily life and betterment of social context.

Halaal is associated with the word tayyib which means “good”. This is clearly stated in the Noble Quran:

يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ كُلُوا۟ مِمَّا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ حَلَـٰلًۭا طَيِّبًۭا وَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا۟ خُطُوَٰتِ ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنِ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّۭ مُّبِينٌ

Oh Mankind, eat that which is lawful and good on earth, and follow not the footsteps of shaytwaan (Satan.) Verily, he is to you an open enemy.”

Qur’an 2 v 168

For a food and drink to be approved for consumption it must conform to the Islamic dietary laws as specified by the Quran and the Sunnah (tradition) of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and in the Fiqh (jurists.)

There are several factors that determine the halaal/haraam status of a particular halaal product. Amongst others, it is dependent on its nature, how it was processed and where it originated from.

There are mainly 2 terms that mean Islamic prohibition or restriction on food, Halaal and haraam. Halaal can be eaten by non-muslims and Muslims together.