Important question regarding food in islam..

[Isamisthedeen]

We as muslims know that Pork is forbidden in Islam... My main question is, suppose you go to a store that cooks food in the same pan they cook the pork in.... If they told you "O we clean the pan before we cook new food", is it still ok to eat the food? Example: Chinese lady at Chinese place told me that we cook the pan twice with hot water before we cook new food.

 

[crimsontide06]

If it is cleaned, then it should be ok. However, if they lied and you don't know they lied, you won't be committing a sin since you didn't know.

 

[Hamza Asadullah]

We as muslims know that Pork is forbidden in Islam... My main question is, suppose you go to a store that cooks food in the same pan they cook the pork in.... If they told you "O we clean the pan before we cook new food", is it still ok to eat the food? Example: Chinese lady at Chinese place told me that we cook the pan twice with hot water before we cook new food.

Asalaamu alaikum. It is better to keep away from such places. Non Muslims are very negligent when it comes to cross contamination of halal and haram food and ingredients. The same applies to Dominos, Subway and all other non Muslim owned chains and restaurants, takeaways etc.

So keep away from such restaurants and takeaways and stick to Muslim halal restaurants and takeaways to be on the safeside. Even better pack your own homemade food whenever you can. Cheaper and safer.

 

[Marina-Aisha]

is subway not good i know some subways do halal meat, also i alway ask them to change there gloves cos they might of touch pork is that still okay?

 

[Hamza Asadullah]

is subway not good i know some subways do halal meat, also i alway ask them to change there gloves cos they might of touch pork is that still okay?

The halal subways are ok but the ones that sell pork are very negligent regarding cross contamination of pork with halal ingredients. Ive seen it myself many times. The same applies to any place that sells pork along with halal food especially pizza joints.

Ive been told by many Muslims who work in such places that most of their non Muslim colleagues just dont care about changing gloves and knives, spoons etc.Therefore It is best to stay away from such places.

And Allah knows best in all matters

 

[Marina-Aisha]

The halal subways are ok but the ones that sell pork are very negligent regarding cross contamination of pork with halal ingredients. Ive seen it myself many times. The same applies to any place that sells pork along with halal food especially pizza joints.

Ive been told by many Muslims who work in such places that most of their non Muslim colleagues just dont care about changing gloves and knives, spoons etc.Therefore It is best to stay away from such places.

And Allah knows best in all matters

oh okay thank you, i think ill stay way from them..ill tell my partner too he always goes to subway..

 

[islamica]

If you have to eat at such a place or something, you will get better result if you tell them to clean their utensils and replace thier gloves if you say you are allergic to meat products then if you mention religious grounds. Pizza places will clean cutter more thoroughly as well places like subway will change their gloves. Of course, if they are considerate type then they'll do that also if you mention religious grounds.

 

[Hamza Asadullah]

If you have to eat at such a place or something, you will get better result if you tell them to clean their utensils and replace thier gloves if you say you are allergic to meat products then if you mention religious grounds. Pizza places will clean cutter more thoroughly as well places like subway will change their gloves. Of course, if they are considerate type then they'll do that also if you mention religious grounds.

What difference does it make telling them to clean their utensils and swap their gloves when the ingredients and food in such places is already cross contaminated by pork? Rather a person should avoid going to such places. This was the advice given by Muslims I knew who worked in such places as Dominos and Subways which sold pork ingredients.

There will always be cross contamination by pork if it is present as an ingredient. So telling them to swap their gloves or was their cutlery will not make any difference.

Any Allah knows best in all matters

:wa:

 

[islamica]

wa'alaikum as'salaam,


and yet many Muslims do and will go to those places. Better they know what to say to try to minimize the contamination then telling them "don't go! don't go!"

 

[Hamza Asadullah]

wa'alaikum as'salaam,


and yet many Muslims do and will go to those places. Better they know what to say to try to minimize the contamination then telling them "don't go! don't go!"

Sister how can they minimize contamination when all of the ingredients are already cross contaminated with pork and meat? That doesnt make logical sense. I know many Muslims who have worked for Dominos and Subways and they told me specifically that all of the ingredients are always contaminated despite the management trying to reassure vegitareans by saying that different cutlery is used.

Once I even went to Dominos and the Muslim brother who worked there said to me: "Brother I advise you not to eat in these places as the ingredients are cross contaminated by pork". One brother who used to work in Gregs even once told me that he has seen many a time non Muslim workers using the same cutlery as pork and meat products as the vegitarrean ingredients. He simply told me that non Muslim workers dont care thats why cross contamination is so prevalent in non Muslim restaurants and takeaways. Ive seen it myself once when I went to a non halal Subways and I saw the lady who was making the sandwich use the same glove for several sandwiches. She only took it off once I pointed it out.

So the simple fact is that rather than making illogical statements about using different cutlery when the ingredients are already contaminated. We should raise awareness among Muslims to abandon such places. Simply because non Muslim workers will never take care to ensure cutlery plates and ingredients are kept seperate because they dont care as it doesnt make a difference to them, but as Muslims we should care and avoid such places where we know ingredients are cross contaminated with pork and meat. We should have taqwa over such matters, they dont.

So we should not encourage our brothers and sisers to eat in such places rather we should warn them not to go and eat food that is clearly cross contaminated with pork and meat. Consider the following hadith regarding doubtful matters:

On the authority of Al-Numan bin Basheer, who said : I heard the messenger of Allah say : "That which is lawful is plain and that which is unlawful is plain and between the two of them are doubtful matters about which not many people know. Thus he who avoids doubtful matters clears himself in regard to his religion and his honor, but he who falls into doubtful matters falls into that which is unlawful, like the shepherd who pastures around a sanctuary, all but grazing therein. Truly every king has a sanctuary, and truly Allah's sanctuary is His prohibitions. Truly in the body there is a morsel of flesh which, if it be whole, all the body is whole and which, if it be diseased, all of it is diseased. Truly it is the heart." narrated by Bukhari and Muslim

Then let us not make the doubtful as permissable.

And Allah knows best in all matters

 

[islamica]

Despite what you say, Muslims will and DO eat in such places. I rather tell them to try to minimize the cross contamination then to just be blind to it and go eat anyway. It may seem illogical to you but your advice is impractical. You can't force people to stop eating at these places. You have to tell them the next best thing, which is try to have the people change utensils, have your pizza uncut, stand there and have the lady change her gloves before touching your food, etc. If you want to talk to me about haram and halal, why are these brothers working in such places. Do they not know they should know they are feeding haram to others, they are not suppose to participate in anyway or fashion in sale of pork or other haram.

 

[Hamza Asadullah]

Despite what you say, Muslims will and DO eat in such places. I rather tell them to try to minimize the cross contamination then to just be blind to it and go eat anyway. It may seem illogical to you but your advice is impractical. You can't force people to stop eating at these places. You have to tell them the next best thing, which is try to have the people change utensils, have your pizza uncut, stand there and have the lady change her gloves before touching your food, etc. If you want to talk to me about haram and halal, why are these brothers working in such places. Do they not know they should know they are feeding haram to others, they are not suppose to participate in anyway or fashion in sale of pork or other haram.

Why should they "go anyway" if their not aware of the cross contamination issues? Ive informed many Muslims about the cross contamination issue and they clearly stated they were unaware and they did not go back to such places. So you should put more effort into warning Muslims and discouraging them from going to such places than encouraging them to eat doubtful cross contaminated food.

The ingredients are already contaminated before the pizza is made so how can you minimize contamination on ingredients which are already contaminated? Any restaurant which has halal ingredients next to haraam ingredients will be very likely yo be cross contaminated. So you cant prevent cross contamination by standing next to the lady cutting the pizza when firstly the ingredients would already be contaminated.

We should never encourage any Muslim to "go ahead" and enjoy cross contaminated doubtful food. As the hadith stated we should safeguard ourselves and not come near that which is doubtful.

The same applies to the issue of eating meat from an animal that has been stunned prior to slaughter. Stunning the animal may or may not kill the animal before slaughter. Any animal dying before slaughter makes the meat of the animal haraam to consume as the animal must be healthy and alive before slaughter. So because stunning the animal may or may not kill the animal before slaughter then this makes stunned animals doubtful to consume.

So please desist from encouraging others to go near the doubtful and instead encourage them to only go near what is clearly permissable.

 

[Huzzy_786]

Sad to say, out own muslim brothers do this, to make a couple of extra pounds.

 

[Marina-Aisha]

u guys need to calm down...its just one persons views doesnt mean there gonna follow them..people will take or leave it...but to be honest my view is i'll just dont go in them places because if if theres alittle chance they would contaminated my food then its not worth going..

 

[Insaanah]

We as muslims know that Pork is forbidden in Islam... My main question is, suppose you go to a store that cooks food in the same pan they cook the pork in.... If they told you "O we clean the pan before we cook new food", is it still ok to eat the food? Example: Chinese lady at Chinese place told me that we cook the pan twice with hot water before we cook new food.

It's far better to avoid it brother. Thats' just the pans. What about knives, chopping boards, plates, other utensils, and also, you know when chefs are cooking, they sometimes have a teatowel dangling off the drawstring of their aprons to wipe things, and wipe the corners of plates etc. Then there's the dishcloths used to wipe surfaces clean when juices or particles of food have fallen on them. Also some people tend to wash up by having a sink full of water and soap, and everything gets washed in that. So things getting washed at the end, are in effect washed in water that contains things that the previous plates had on them. Even though she may have good intentions, a non-Muslim won't think the same as a Muslim or be as scrupulous with regards to contamination.

As a side thing, Chinese takeaways also tend to contain a chemical called monosodium glutamate, a flavour enhancer, that has been proven to have harmful effects on the health.

So avoid it brother.

 

[Ramadhan]

During my student days in australia and brief period in the US (and when I was far away from Islam), I worked in restaurants to supplement my meager scholarships money.
And it is my opinion now, based on what I experienced back then and based on my current knowledge of Islam, that muslims should avoid going to non-halal restaurants.
I also worked in a vegetarian chinese restaurant who claimed to not use MSG, but they did anyway.

 

[syed1]

I havent read what every other poster has said on here but Ill share my own personal experience:
I use to work at a fast food restaurant which I am sure you are familiar with, its called Thai express, basically a fast food for noodles etc. I would watch how they would cook the food and here is what I can tell you...

after each order they would clean the frying paying with to scoops of water and with a rough sponge to scrape the stuff that is sticking to the pan... after which they would rinse it and throw in the next order... they did not cook bacon but they had chicken, beef, etc.. probably the only halal meat they had was shirmp.