Rennet, Gluten, Whey

Are these things halaal or haraam?

Rennet is a lining of an animal, so I can see it being haraam. But gluten is wheat, right? So its okay? And what about whey?

I was going to bake up some pizza rolls, but I noticed the pack said rennet, so I put it back, hehe.

If you're in the United States this link is good as well

http://www.muslimconsumergroup.com/General.do?menu=Home&eventAction=init

It lists American products, including fast food restaurants.

Jazakallahu khayr. Akhi Danyal, your link isn't working right now.

Sis-Khangul's link says that Rennet is not halaal, unless it's from an islamically slaughtered animal. In the US, that would most likely be a *no*.

Whey needs to be investigated for each source, it's supposedly halaal, but the enzyme source needs to be found out to make sure it isn't used from a pig.

Nothing about gluten.

Odd not sure why it didn't work for you. Here's the shortened version of it (it will redirect you):

http://www.muslimconsumergroup.com/

Gluten is nothing more than a protien that is in grain starch - such as wheat or rye or barley. Companies include it on ingredient lists and on packaging because many people have gluten sensitivity (celiac disease) and they try to avoid eating it. In the US rennet usually comes from calves or sheep (at least, as far as I know... Allahu alim) and its considered haraam if you are the kind of person who doesn't buy beef or lamb from your mainstream grocer. Personally, I don't; but I do know many Muslims in the US do due to the scarcity of halaal butchers.

The link is working for me now. It might've been down last night. Yes, rennet is basically haraam, because if a person doesn't eat any non-halaal meat products, then rennet is also a meat product.

These days, scarcity of halaal meat is not an excuse. Things have changed so much in the US now, that there's a mosque or a halal meat shop pretty much everywhere. When my parents' were here in the 80s, there wasn't any mosque or halal store where they lived. But my father still used to go to a nearby farm with the only handful of muslim people who resided there then, they would slaughter a couple animals, and hire a deep-freeze locker to store their meat in for a couple months.

So does any one avoid whey, or is it okay?

No way. I checked up some food items, and it says that all Doritos, Cheetos, Lays (except plain salted), Yoplait Yogurts.. they're all haraam!!

.....

.....

...... What will I eat??? Yoplait Yogurt is such a support for me, and none of the ingredients are bad.. it even says "kosher gelatin".

And whey is pretty much in everything. Soooo.... how do people survive here??

You should try making your own fruit yogurts. Having a full time job and going to school full time i use to live off yoplait yogurt as well. Then I found out they were haram. I started making my own fruit yogurts . I just get the mountain high low fat plain yogurt and some berries and mix it up. You can put it in the blender and add some sweetener for really sour berries. Or you can just put the fruit in the yogurt and eat it like that. It is a good substitute and actually taste better to me. The best part about making your won fruit yogurt is it is HALAL! . I hope this helped.

So everything in the chips line really is haraam? Or is there some sort of exaggeration going on? (like cheetos, doritos, frito-lays, etc.) I read the ingredients, and it doesn't have anything haraam in it, so how come?

Yes, I'm very confused now. Because a product which says "kosher gelatin" is haraam. And cheddar cheese where it says its made from "cheese cultures" is stated haraam. Whey is not always haraam, otherwise there's whey in every single milk product.

Lol, I'm just confusing myself even more.

Okay, nevermind, when in doubt, go straight to the source.

I went to the frito lay website, and there is a list of all the products that DO NOT contain pork things:

http://www.fritolay.com/your-health/for-special-dietary-needs.html

So there are many cheetos and doritos that *are halaal*. Nacho cheese Doritos is not on the list, therefore that is haraam.

:lol: again, nevermind. I forgot that other than pork, the products could still contain any other animal enzyme. So I've written them an email. Lets see what they answer........

Lol, I'm so serious about these things..

DanyalSAC said:

Odd not sure why it didn't work for you. Here's the shortened version of it (it will redirect you):

http://www.muslimconsumergroup.com/

Gluten is nothing more than a protien that is in grain starch - such as wheat or rye or barley. Companies include it on ingredient lists and on packaging because many people have gluten sensitivity (celiac disease) and they try to avoid eating it. In the US rennet usually comes from calves or sheep (at least, as far as I know... Allahu alim) and its considered haraam if you are the kind of person who doesn't buy beef or lamb from your mainstream grocer. Personally, I don't; but I do know many Muslims in the US do due to the scarcity of halaal butchers.

Click to expand...

:salam2:

Well Akhi, it is sad that they justify it that way. Because there are other food items that can be eaten if we can't find halaal food in our area.

it is not permissible for you to eat meat that is not slaughtered in accordance with Islamic sharee’ah. The fact that there is no halaal meat is not an excuse for you, because you can eat fish and seafood, or you can eat things other than meat, such as canned goods and vegetables, or you can look seriously for an Islamic centre that provides halaal meat to the Muslims.

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Link : http://www.islam-qa.com/en/ref/82444

The command is clear if the verses regarding halaal and haraam are read.

“Eat not (O believers) of that (meat) on which Allâh’s Name has not been pronounced (at the time of the slaughtering of the animal), for sure it is Fisq (a sin and disobedience of Allâh)”

[al-A’naam 6:121]


“Made lawful to you this day are At-Tayyibaat [all kinds of Halaal (lawful) foods, which Allaah has made lawful (meat of slaughtered eatable animals, milk products, fats, vegetables and fruits)]. The food (slaughtered cattle, eatable animals) of the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians) is lawful to you and yours is lawful to them”

[al-Maa’idah 5:5]


Wasalaamalaikum waa rahmatullahi

“Made lawful to you this day are At-Tayyibaat [all kinds of Halaal (lawful) foods, which Allaah has made lawful (meat of slaughtered eatable animals, milk products, fats, vegetables and fruits)]. The food (slaughtered cattle, eatable animals) of the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians) is lawful to you and yours is lawful to them”

[al-Maa’idah 5:5]

Click to expand...

So everything Kosher is fine for us too, right??? Because some say that kosher gelatin may or may not contain pork stuff.

Here's our response to your e-mail - RE: one of our products, Reference #010836619A

Hi,

Thank you for writing to us.

The snacks on our kosher list are free of all animal enzymes and flavors. You'll find this list on our website in the "Your Health" section, under "For Special Dietary Needs."

We consider you a valued consumer and hope you will continue to enjoy snacks from Frito-Lay.

Happy Holidays!

Best regards,

Linda
Frito-Lay Consumer Affairs
010836619A

Click to expand...

There's no flavoured dorito or cheeto on there. Bye bye old friends..

Tabassum07 said:

So everything Kosher is fine for us too, right??? Because some say that kosher gelatin may or may not contain pork stuff.

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:salam2:

Perhaps the following fatwa would be of some benefit. It is too lengthy to quote on here.

http://www.islam-qa.com/en/ref/210/gelatin

Sheikh Muhammad Salah also answered a fiqh question related to rennet.

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Jazak Allahu Khayr, brother. Basically, to sum up, the video said that if the animal is lawful for us to consume, then the rennet is also halaal for us. Allah Alim. No matter if it was slaughtered correctly or not, and the strongest belief for that is that the Sahaabah and Tabieen used to eat cheese of Jews, Christians and also the fire-worshipppers, who are not People of the Book.

Hm. So. There. Oooookaay. Can I finally go and eat those mozarella sticks now?? The ones that don't have any pork enzyme in them, but do have animal and non animal enzymes in them... Actually, I don't know

Tabassum07 said:

Jazak Allahu Khayr, brother. Basically, to sum up, the video said that if the animal is lawful for us to consume, then the rennet is also halaal for us. Allah Alim. No matter if it was slaughtered correctly or not, and the strongest belief for that is that the Sahaabah and Tabieen used to eat cheese of Jews, Christians and also the fire-worshipppers, who are not People of the Book.

Hm. So. There. Oooookaay. Can I finally go and eat those mozarella sticks now?? The ones that don't have any pork enzyme in them, but do have animal and non animal enzymes in them... Actually, I don't know

Click to expand...

:salam2:

haha.. Perhaps you can email Ask Huda and ask the sheykh about these irresistible mozzarella sticks.. It's a good thing these kind of Fiqh issues don't arise in the month of Ramadan.. lol

Wasalaamalaykum waa rahmatullahi

I emailed them about this. Will they email me back or just post the answer on their tv show, because I most likely won't be seeing their answer if they do it on tv.

I really wish I could start up my own halaal food business/bank/clothing line/everything else. Then there wouldn't be all these little everyday hassles about "is this halaal?" "can I eat this?" "can I do this/that? "are these clothes islamically ok?" etc etc. I know there are already tons of businesses like this, but they're all sooo expensive. I'll keep my stuff cheap.

BrotherInIslam7 said:

:salam2:

Well Akhi, it is sad that they justify it that way. Because there are other food items that can be eaten if we can't find halaal food in our area.




The command is clear if the verses regarding halaal and haraam are read.

“Eat not (O believers) of that (meat) on which Allâh’s Name has not been pronounced (at the time of the slaughtering of the animal), for sure it is Fisq (a sin and disobedience of Allâh)”

[al-A’naam 6:121]


“Made lawful to you this day are At-Tayyibaat [all kinds of Halaal (lawful) foods, which Allaah has made lawful (meat of slaughtered eatable animals, milk products, fats, vegetables and fruits)]. The food (slaughtered cattle, eatable animals) of the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians) is lawful to you and yours is lawful to them”

[al-Maa’idah 5:5]


Wasalaamalaikum waa rahmatullahi

Click to expand...

Wa alaikum salaam -

Most American Muslims use that line right there to justify buying meat in a grocer. My masjid's imam corrected me when I said I "try to buy halaal meat". He said that meat bought in a US grocer is still OK for us to eat as long as we say "Bismillah" before eating it - and as long as it is from a halaal animal. However buying from a halaal market is still better for us. And he's not steered me wrong yet. Allahu alim.

As far as "kosher gelatin" is concerned, that's because many Jews think if the product has been processed beyond the "swine" identity then it is no longer forbidden. Also - and this always gives me a chuckle - I've seen Jews who eat pork rinds (that's pork skin, in case you don't know) because the scripture says "He has forbidden you the FLESH of swine"... to them this means, of course, that everything else is fine to eat

DanyalSAC said:

Wa alaikum salaam -

Most American Muslims use that line right there to justify buying meat in a grocer. My masjid's imam corrected me when I said I "try to buy halaal meat". He said that meat bought in a US grocer is still OK for us to eat as long as we say "Bismillah" before eating it - and as long as it is from a halaal animal. However buying from a halaal market is still better for us. And he's not steered me wrong yet. Allahu alim.

Click to expand...

As Salaamalaykum waa rahmatullahi..

If the US grocer store is selling meat of Jews or Christians who slaughter in the name of god, then you can say 'Bismillah' and eat.

But it is well known (at least where I am at), that meat sold at grocery stores are not slaughtered. Electrocution and other machination is how meat is processed. Therefore it is not permitted for us to consume this meat.

I am not sure about the practices followed to obtain Kosher meat in the US, but if they slaughter in the name of God, then according to the ayah mentioned, it is permissible to eat the meat.

Alhumdulillah where I am at, they sell all kind of halaal meat portions. The only thing that I resist here is eating at the fast food joints and restaurants, which is a common practice here.

I've seen Jews who eat pork rinds (that's pork skin, in case you don't know) because the scripture says "He has forbidden you the FLESH of swine"... to them this means, of course, that everything else is fine to eat

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I have encountered a sect of people calling themselves to be part of 'Reform Jews'. They eat all kind of meat without any consideration if it is Kosher slaughtered or pork. I don't know how they got around a prohibition in their religion but I found it to be really strange.

Wasalaamalaikum waa raahmatullahi