Do You Like Cheese?
November 25, 2008 - الثلاثاء 27 ذو القعدة 1429 by Anwar alAwlaki
Filed under Imam Anwar's Blog
Cheese is great. So if you are a fan of cheese you might be asking yourself the question, is cheese made by non-Muslims allowed or not?
Well if it is cheese made from vegetarian rennet then there is no concern but the issue is with cheese made from natural rennet. Rennet is extracted from the stomachs of calves and contains enzymes that are used in the cheese making process. Bellow are quotes from scholars of the four schools:
Al Mabsoot, a Hannafi reference, states: “Cheese is halal even if it is made by Zoroastrians (polytheists of Persia who used to worship fire) because it is narrated that a servant of Salman al Farisi, when he was a governor of al Mada’in, brought him a basket full of cheese along with some bread and a knife. Salman (ra) would cut pieces of the cheese and hand it out to his companions and would explain to them how cheese is made.”
The Maliki book, Manh al Jaleel says that “Imam Malik disliked cheese because it was made by rennet of animals that are not slaughtered according to Sharia rules (maitah).” The author quotes another Maliki scholar, Abu Ishaaq al Tunusi as saying that “the cheese of the Zoroastrians is definitely haram but the cheese of the people of the book is halal.”
In Sharh al Bahja, a Shafi’I reference, cheese is allowed as long as the rennet is obtained from a properly slaughtered halal animal that is only feeding on milk otherwise the contents of its stomach are najis (impure).
Kashaaf al Qinaa’ in Hanbali fiqh states that the cheese of the Zoroastrians and other polytheists is allowed even if it is made from rennet of animals they slaughtered. Which means that the cheese made by the People of the Book is also allowed.
By far the most detailed in his discussion of the topic is Ibn Taymiyyah. He talks about it in the fatawa v4-p396, v5-p29, and v9-p218, 240 and 241.
He states that there are two opinions regarding the cheese of the animal that is not slaughtered according to sharia rules. According to Imam Abu Hanifa and one narration from Imam Ahmad it is halal (keep in mind that we are talking about the rennet and not the meat of the animal). The other opinion is that it is najis and that is according to Imam Malik, al Shafi’i, and the other narration from Imam Ahmad. The stronger opinion is that it is halal because when the Sahaba opened the land of Iraq they ate from the cheese of the Zoroastrians and this was common among them.
Ibn Taymiyyah was further asked about the cheese imported from the Ifranj. The Ifranj is Arabic of ‘the Franks’ and this was the name given to the people of Western Europe. Since the largest group among the early crusading armies where the French, the Arabs called all the peoples of Western Europe Ifranj.
The summary of Ibn Taymiyyah’s answer is that the reason some say their cheese is haram is because when they ship it by sea they seal it with lard and secondly because they do not slaughter their cows but they kill them by striking their heads. He responds to the first concern by saying that sealing the cheese with lard does not make it all impure but only the parts that touch the lard. If that part is removed the rest is halal. Rasulullah was asked about a rat that falls into butter and dies. He said remove the rat and the butter around it and eat the rest. If a rat does not contaminate the butter it falls into, how can we claim that all the cheese becomes impure when the lard is only on its surface?
His response to the second concern is that it is reported that they do not kill all their animals by striking the head but they only do that with cows, and even then, they would still slaughter the cow after it falls down and this does not make the animal haram. And even if we would consider this animal to be haram there are two opinions concerning the rennet extracted from it.
In conclusion it is the opinion of Ibn Taymiyyah that cheese is halal not only if it is made by the People of the Book but even if it is made by polytheists.
Obviously these quotations from the scholars are on cheese per se and do not take into account the economical boycott considerations that Muslims may have against certain nations.
Some of our historians mention that a barbaric polytheistic people would raid al Andalus every now and then. These where from the Scandinavian states. They were Danish, Swedish or Norwegian. They were men of the sea and would attack the Muslim coastal areas of the Iberian peninsula and kill and pillage before disappearing again into the seas. They once reached all the way up to Seville but where driven out back to the sea after a total stay of around forty days. Some of them stayed behind in al Andalus in a place called Shuraish and became Muslim and lived on raising cows. Since they were experts in dairy products, the cheese of Shuraish became famous and they would make a pastry from it called mujabinaat. Apparently this treat was so good there was a famous saying in al Andalus that “whoever visits Shuraish and does not have mujabinaat is deprived.” There are even lines of poetry talking about mujabinaat. Talk about fans of cheese!
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Asalamualaikum, i just have two words Mac & Cheese. Can’t wait.
jazakallah for sharing. Never thought that our esteemed ulama would discuss this issue at length.
We must feel fortunate for this shareeah that we have been blessed with.
may Allah make us steadfast in our faith.
jazak Allah Khair imam anwar, i know its only cheese but everytime i buy cheese in the back of my head i always wonder if i can eat it or not. although alhamdoulilah over the last couple of years the major brands in australia have become halal and are certified. since were on th etopic of halal food, is there any chance you could teach us on whether or not we can eat sumthing thats not halal when we are over sumones house who has invited us for dinner? if im not sure if the chicken is halal or not, can i still eat it? and if i see that its from a non halal place, should i decline if they put me a plate? Jazak Allah Khair imam and i hope you and your family are doing well. Assalamou alaykum.
Yaa Imam, when i read the title, i thought it was about Obama and Politics, never knew you were reffering Cheese, anyway, u look great while on politics, Jihad,Walla wal barra, khilafah, tawhiid. so please my beloved Imam, drop this cheese thing and give us something to debate on.
Love you Anwar
Dalha Sumali
i wish there was an Anwar i could take as an example and learn from in real life. unfortunately all there is where i live is shaitan. i still try to learn as much as i can from you mashallah an excellent example to learn from and listen to. your brother majed. (cant wait for your new series)
Barakallah feek sheikh but please dont let us wait so long for new posts or lectures, we are in need of this. Question, where is the best place to wage jihad? Somalia, afghanistan, kavkaz, iraq, palestin? please this point is very important, where we have to start my beloved sheikh.
such an irony.
I was eating cheese while reading this post.
Assalam Walaykum
sheikh can we come and learn from u in yemen, [edited]
Barakallah feek just shocked out ….. same here never thought our beloved ulamas would talk about cheese ya sheikh we have bigger problems and mashallah whenever you write somethings its always the best.. CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE PEOPLE AT DAMMJ IN YEMEN WHO ARE SAYING THERE IS NO JIHAD AND IT IS FITNA what should we say and they say they are the salfy this is a big problem more then the kaffirs we are in war with… salam
Salam Ya sheikh.
Alhamdulillah i had the honor of eating with you when you were in london in brother (abdul mu,mu’min Yahya’s house)were he invited us. I I also had the honor of picking you up from whitechapel station when you were giving a lecture at the east london mosque . Unfortunatly back then i only started practicing my deen and didnt know much about the deen as much as i know now. If only i knew you then the way i know you know, i would have kept you hostige and not ever let you go. You are the most beloved shekh to me. May my family be sacrificed for you. Love you to the MAX for the sake of Allah
Asslam alaykum,
Jazakallahu khairan for the post shaykh. I know sh. Yasir Qadhi gave a similar verdict, but he also included porcine, pork enzyme. What would scholars say of this? In his fatwa he proved that it was halal therefore other type of enzyme by default is halal.
I find it amusing that some people are only concerned for jihad and nothing, but jjihad. There are other issues in our lives. And eating halal food is at the core. It is extremely important. If the food you do not eat is not halal, then how do you expect Allah to answer your du’aa? The prophet (SAW) mentioned many hadith about du’aa being denied because people ate from haram (both haram food and from halal earnings). So do not belittle these issues.
SubhanAllah. Till now, I always stayed with one type of cheese as the ingredients were not from haraam source.
But after reading the Hanafi fatwa and Ibn Taymiyya’s fatwa.. I would like to go all out on cheese now. JazakAllah Khair ya Sheikh for informing us all.
Also, I just have one requests:
Please post often. As you can see we are all in need of your ilm.
JazakAllahkhair sheikh! Now I feel like having cheese strings!
I have a question. A sheikh from the USA came to the UK to give a lecture and in it he mentioned that he considers McDonalds in the west to be halal
Is there any basis for this?
Assalamu Alaykum,
On the subject of halaal food, I was informed that bread containing cysteine and l-cysteine is not halaal because cysteine is an non-essential amino acid primarily derived from animal source – pork, sausage meat, chicken, turkey, duck, luncheon meat, unless the package is marked vegetarian which means the source is from eggs, milk, whey protein, ricotta, cottage cheese, yogurt or vegan (red peppers, garlic, onions, broccoli, brussels sprouts, oats, granola, wheat germ).
As for l-cysteine it is derived from human hair, which I am told makes it non-halaal.
I wasn’t aware of l-cysteine (or cysteine) so it wasn’t one of the ingredients I looked for on the package to determine if a food item is halaal or not.
But now I check for it.
Yes this might be important but this is something your local imam can tell you. And i know jihad is not our whole religion theres more to islam. Its the most important part of our religion today. This is the reason why were weak. And in our time most of our leaders our not on the haqq. So we want to get the most from sheikh Anwar before allah takes him from us. Dont get me wrong this is a great subject but the umma has lots of questions and we just want them answer.
The biggest jihad is jihad an nafs! Struggle against one’s own desires.
Brother Anwar
We wait 20 days for a new blog and its about cheese! Im quite amused. however it is important to note that sheikh has included the different opinions of the jurists. Here in South Africa we have 4 different halaal bodies and if one certifies something then the other one says its haraam.It just causes lots of fitna and disunity amongst the muslims.We need to learn to accept differences of opinion.
Now where would i find mujabinaat?
AA
A big diversion from your recent posts. Shaykh i wonder what prompted you to talk about cheese?
A soothing post nonetheless away from the tribulations of the times we live in.
Jak. May Allah bless protect you and bless you immensely. ameen
Wassalam
N.B. have people watched the new “Arrivals” series on Youtube. There is some pretty deep and shocking stuff in there. But all ‘Sunnis’ be wary, there is some pro-Shia content, or so it seemed to me anyway. But i highly advise people to watch it. ‘Better the enemy you know’, and also keep your children away from cartoons produced by non-muslims. Watch the Arrivals to find out more.
”The biggest jihad is jihad an nafs! Struggle against one’s own desires.”
That’s a lie, bring forth your evidence!
heraish, NO, it is the first one
Just like your desire for live on this dun’ya you have to fight with, the Ummah is screaming for Dzihad and ppl like you go around and talk nonsense like that!
Come and lets fight against the kufar that is killing and raping your brothers and sisters!!! Are you coming???!!! Or do you have to struggle with your desire for live, and hateress for death in the Path of Allah!
The biggest jihad against nefs might be yours, but for seekers of Jannah it is only the first ones and the ones that does never leave any nefs, not the proud of this Ummah – the mujahedeen, nor the cow’s of this Ummah – everyone who does not join them (men) or support them (women)
Yes heraish you are indeed in big struggle!
salam
its important to clarify these issues – while clearly they are not the most important issues today, they are nevertheless important. a little surprised to see it on this particular blog though!
imam anwar, perhaps some comments on the building of the $60 million masjid in Yemen!! i read that 42% of yemenis live in poverty and 1 in 5 are malnourished – perhaps an exxageration but still highlighting the wrecklessness of the rulers. $60 million!!! – couldn’t he have built some schools, hospitals etc????
Brothers:
I think it was a great idea for br. awlaki to change the topic to something looser. This just goes to show how a lot of people here are TOTALLY not sincere, but are just looking for a thrill, or to get some sort of “high”.
You guys want the khilafa back? Do you really?
Well first and foremost Allah did NOT send the messengers to establish the khilafa. HE sent them so that Allah may be worshipped ALONE WITHOUT ANY PARTNERS. Khilafa is only a consequence of the TAWHID of Allah. But now, how many of you here are establishing the Tawheed in your hearts? How many of you know what the different branches of Tawheed are? How many of you know the Nullifiers of Islam? Before we fight for something shouldn’t we know what it is? How many are sure that today they haven’t done something that removed them from Islam without knowing? How many of you know the 3 questions of the grave? How many of you know how to recite the quran properly with tajweed? How many here know noon saakin?
You see the Salaf used to say : “Establish the religion in your heart, then Allah will establish it upon your lands”.
But the only thing we see here, is a bunch of youth, enjoying jihadee videos, and I’m sure some aren’t even making their salah in jamaa’h.
So inch’Allah brothers and sisters, if you are really concerened about your deen, come back to learn you religions with sincerety. If you do not know here to start:
Web Sites: http://www.spubs.com
http://www.salafimanhaj.com, http://www.calltoislam.com, http://www.almuflihoon.com
Books: Kitaab at-Tawheed, Thalathaa Ussol (Three Fundamental Principles), Al-Qawaaid-ul-Arbaa (The Four Principles of Shirk)
Start there, be sincere to Allah be making dua to Him for guidance and beneficial knowlege.
Ibn Taymiyyah used to say in sujood: “O Teacher of Ibrameem and Musa teach me. O You who has made Suleyman understand, make me understand”.
But no, all that we do is sit here and just ramble ramble. Brothers and sisters stop wasting time ! Allah does not change condition of the people until they change what is in themselves. Allah did no say change the outerself; but rather what’s inside you FIRST.
May Allah help each and everyone of us. Ameen
Asallam uh alykum I just wanted to make sure everyone is aware of this ingredient, which is in alot of Cheese flavored snacks.
Porcine Enzymes
Do a lot of research it contains pork, even on the Frito lay website it states the products made with and made without it.Just giving everyone a heads up.
But alhamduliallah jazakallah sheikh for clarifying rennet since a lot of cheese products like you’ve said contains this ingredient.
Assalamu Alaikum Sheikh,
As always you enlighten us with your knowledge.Since you have opened this topic up, it would be great if you write to us about the halal vs haram food since many of us have bits of knowledge here and there about this issue. I mean we all eat and there is no doubt that therefore this is essential info for us to for a day to day life. Jazak Allah Khair. Please don’t take too long and make us wait for your blogs. Also, looking forward to the Medinan series part 2. I hope it will be out soon..We defnitely need to learn from the past especially from our beloved Prophet(saw) to deal with the present.
Alhamdulilah.
I was so anxious for 20 DAYS without any posts, I checked it almost twice a day, before and after work since the Elections Over post.
Keep the blogs coming Shaykh, more often please.
VERY Random topic…..but beneficial and beautiful never the less!!!! wa-salaam
Salam Alykum brother Anwar,
I never knew about the cheese issue until today. It would be beneficial on what the ruling is on food for muslims in the west. I enjoy the occasional Burger King, Mickey D’s, Taco Bell, KFC etc.
Is this halal? How about in cases of necessity? I am on the road alot and sometimes fast food is one of my only choices.
May Peace Be Upon You and Your Family!
BTW brother Anwar can you do a quick blog on what Muslims should do about Thanksgiving and Christmas?
Alhamdulillah, a good change of topic to tickle our palate and brain at the same time. I have always loved cheese and whenever I visited France on business, it was this I looked forward to.
JzkAllah sheikh for this post. I love cheese and have not bought any that is not certified “kosher” for a while now, just for the fear of it being haram. Off the subject, first comment I read was Mac and Cheese….I hope that was a joke since the “Mac” meat is not halal for us (per many scholars opinions, and if sheikh wishes to clarify that for us it would be much appreciated). I have to agree with most when they say that your posts are missed try to write to us more often, please.
Aboo Abdallah.
please take that Murji’a propaganda out of here, you people are even worst than the shia’s and sufis. you have invented a bid’a on the definition of imaan in order to protect takfeer from your so call walat amr (taghut leaders) and you’re the cancer of the ummah. your scholars protect the taghut instead of Allah’s right to legislate while Allah clearly say he doens’t share it with anyone, and he who does it is a Kaafir, and false Ilaah(taghut) beside Allah.
on your website Talafimanhaj you call Shiekh anwar Kharaji and Jihadee as if Jihadee is some sort of an insult. you people are so fake and i can’t wait for sheikh anwar inshaAllah to destroy your waterdown Aqeedah.
ya Sheikh please do a Lecture on these modern day Murjia. they’re spreading fitnah amongs the ummah and taking advantage on current events
i know there is tons of material on the internet refuting this people
like
http://salafiyyah-jadeedah.tripod.com/
but i guess we are just thirsty for your words ya shiekh
BarakAllah feek ya shiekh for this beneficial post as i always wondered about the pizza i usually eat
As-salamu alaikum wrwb!
Alhamdulillah the Awareness of Halal and Haram is THRILLING!! i feel so happy whe i find out about these things!! alhamdulillah
JazakAllah khair Imam Anwar for the info. um don’t they sell halal certified cheese in america? i hope they do :S
Mohammad Hassan: do you livein Australia?? coz i doo!!! in Perth
i thort most ppl here were from america or sumthing :S anywayz good to see the wide community of Muslims everywere alhamdulilah!
Thank you for this post it was a nice light read Alhamdulilah. What is the fatwa on cheese using pig rennent? Some scholars I hard have said that after the rennet goes through mnay processes it no longer is associated to the animal. I may be explaining this incorrectly.
Anyway Jazak Allahu Khair
MashaAllah- Sheikh you remind me when Kuffar argue with Sahaba that your Prophet tells you such minor things that how to make ghusul, how to wash, how to eat drink, how to sit… Subhan Allah, this is true Sunnah of our Prophet Sallalaho alaihey wassallam, that our sheikh teaching us other minor things too. May Allah increase you in Imaan.
Ya sheikh kindly deliver a lecture exculusively on “Malhima tul Qubra”
Rabana Afrigh Alaina Sabrun, Wa sabbat ikdamina, wansurna ala qomil kafireen.(Amin)
”I think it was a great idea for br. awlaki to change the topic to something looser. This just goes to show how a lot of people here are TOTALLY not sincere, but are just looking for a thrill, or to get some sort of “high”.
You guys want the khilafa back? Do you really?
Well first and foremost Allah did NOT send the messengers to establish the khilafa. HE sent them so that Allah may be worshipped ALONE WITHOUT ANY PARTNERS. Khilafa is only a consequence of the TAWHID of Allah. But now, how many of you here are establishing the Tawheed in your hearts? How many of you know what the different branches of Tawheed are? How many of you know the Nullifiers of Islam? Before we fight for something shouldn’t we know what it is? How many are sure that today they haven’t done something that removed them from Islam without knowing? How many of you know the 3 questions of the grave? How many of you know how to recite the quran properly with tajweed? How many here know noon saakin?
You see the Salaf used to say : “Establish the religion in your heart, then Allah will establish it upon your lands”.
But the only thing we see here, is a bunch of youth, enjoying jihadee videos, and I’m sure some aren’t even making their salah in jamaa’h.
So inch’Allah brothers and sisters, if you are really concerened about your deen, come back to learn you religions with sincerety. If you do not know here to start:
Web Sites: http://www.spubs.com
http://www.salafimanhaj.com, http://www.calltoislam.com, http://www.almuflihoon.com
Books: Kitaab at-Tawheed, Thalathaa Ussol (Three Fundamental Principles), Al-Qawaaid-ul-Arbaa (The Four Principles of Shirk)
Start there, be sincere to Allah be making dua to Him for guidance and beneficial knowlege.
Ibn Taymiyyah used to say in sujood: “O Teacher of Ibrameem and Musa teach me. O You who has made Suleyman understand, make me understand”.
But no, all that we do is sit here and just ramble ramble. Brothers and sisters stop wasting time ! Allah does not change condition of the people until they change what is in themselves. Allah did no say change the outerself; but rather what’s inside you FIRST.
May Allah help each and everyone of us. Ameen”
@ Aboo Abdullah: Do you assume we do not know what you mentioned? Do you just think we are a bunch of ”jihadee youth” ? Go away and take your Spubs somewhere else, you ”Spubs”people call Shaykh Anwar a ‘Khaaarijee” and now you come on here and twist your tongue & words….
Wassalaamu 3aleykum,
AsSalaamu 3laikum,Imam Anwar wa ikhwaan, very good article. The history of how the tabi’i lived is difficult to find. Can you refer me to some books of seerah of the tabi’i in arabic and english?
walekumsalaamwarahmatuallahiwa barakatuhu
This is another example where scholars differed in declaring a thing Haraam or Halal without degrading & abusing eacthother.
Jazakallahukhair.
As’salamualaykum
JazakAllahu khair for another excellent post sheikh.
To all those people who are disappointed that this is not a political or jihadi post then you should be a shamed of yourselves. Do you not see that are scholars of the past have taken time out to highlight such issues even though they were going through some very tough times? As you all know in the time of Imam Ahmad he went through the prosecution of the Mu’tazilaa and He still touched upon this issue. If he didn’t we would have lost this aspect of knowledge from him. In the time of Ibn Taymiyyah the Tartars were attacking Sham and he was imprisoned on many coactions and as you can see “By far the most detailed in his discussion of the topic is Ibn Taymiyyah. He talks about it in the fatawa v4-p396, v5-p29, and v9-p218, 240 and 241.”
Some people said that we can get this info from are local imams, well I’ve never heard this from my imam and I’ve been to many Masjids! Another person said give us something to debate on…lol you’ve already found this issue as something to debate on. Others want to talk about the salafis in damaj…well everyone knows what there all about, and even if they say there’s no Jihad then we all know there is but what are you going to do to be part of it? And just listen to the constants of jihad by the Sheikh. There’s always going to be people who say there’s no jihad and this happened in the time of Rasullah saw (even though they said it in a different context, but the message was the same).
Well I think it was a very interesting post and a fresh return. JazakAllahu khair and May Allah forgive us for are mistakes!
P.S I think you should keep the posts regular too.
Salaam Alaikum,
Brothers and sisters, what is wrong with us calling only for Sheikh Anwar to only talk about politics and jihad? Yes, those are important issues, but they are not the only issues. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in our anger toward the oppressors and the kufr that we forget about the rest of Islam.
This is interesting to me, especially because a brother and I were discussing jihad and Anwar’s lectures about a week ago, and while we were doing this I was eating grilled cheese. The other brother then went on about wondering if cheese was halal or not. Story aside, all aspects of Islam are important aspects and we should not feel averse to learning any one of them.
Aboo Abdullah,
First off, why are you accusing people of things which you know not? It is one thing if you are using phrases like that in a rhetorical manner, but to accuse the Muslims who have posted on this website of not learning tawhid is pushing it brother.
I am having trouble locating the hadith’s number but it is reported by Bukhari and Muslim, and I think it will help you understand some of what you are saying:
Then they left for Al-Madinah and the Prophet(SAAWS) sent with them Ibn Ummi Maktum and Mus’ab Ibn ‘Umair (if anyone has not read the story of Mus’ab Ibn ‘Umair I strongly advise they do so) to teach them the Qur’an and call them to Allah(SWT) and they stayed with Asa’d Ibn Zurarah. Mus’ab Ibn ‘Umair would lead them in prayer and he performed the Friday prayer for them when their numbers had reached forty. At there hands many embraced Islam, including Usaid bin Hudhair and Sa’d bin Mu’adh; and through their Islam, the whole of the tribe of ‘Abdul Ashal embraced Islam, except Al-Usairim, who did not embrace Islam until the day of the Battle of Uhud and after embracing Islam on that day, he fought until he was killed without ever having prostrated once to Allah(SWT); the Prophet(SAAWS) said, “His deeds were few, but his reward will be great.”
Part of learning tawhid is applying it. When you are struggling for the sake of Allah(SWT) you are acting upon your tawhid. Knowledge of tawhid alone can be enough to earn the mercy of Allah(SWT), so do not think I am saying that you do not need to learn tawhid. Actually for brothers who do not like to read, I find the Fundamentals of Faith lectures on youtube to be very beneficial.
Anyway, I hope that helped.
Oh,
Here is the hadith about the rat in the butter:
Narrated by Maimuna:
AAllah(SWT)’s Apostle was asked regarding ghee (cooking butter) in which a mouse had fallen. He said, “Take out the mouse and throw away the ghee around it and use the rest.”
[Bukhari |Book 4|No.237]
I ran across it while looking for the hadith about Al-Usairim.
Aboo Abdallah
How much time does it takes to learn deen ? whole life? When will come the time of Jihad?
In old age?
assalamualaikum sheikh…… jazakallahu khairan for the post….i would request u to share ur more and more knowledge with us! is it allowed for us to eat at non muslims’ house or parties????????
Asalaamu alikum,
I want to say that I am kind of disappointed at some of these comments. If somebody says something that you do not agree with, you should not address them using a belittling or demeaning tone. I find that ironic seeing that we are talking about the weakness of the Ummah is the abandonment of Jihad and look how we deal with each other! Come on, if you feel you have knowledge more than the other than politely try to steer them in the right direction. We are all in the boat together. I dont think any of the sahaba suffered from superiority complexes, and we are not better than them. Maybe if we deal with each other in a loving manner this will help the Ummah to unite. May Allah forgive us and grant us hikmah in our words. Ameen.
Assalamu alaykum,Sheyh! this post was unexpected, bcs one of the hard thing for us was to find proper cheese. I was told one ruling, but I never read it. if nonhalal substance loses its property after processing that substance becomes halal except anything from pig. that’s why we’re avoiding even leather. I think most cheeses contain pig rennet, for ex Kraft cheese (their CS confirmed).
besides this Sheyh pls clarify what means ahli kitab, bcs so many people eat meat from store saying this is the meat ahli kitab. as to my knowledge only Kosher & halal labeled meat it slaughtered, the rest is killed.
I want to say to brothers who is saying this is not important issue that when u choose ur food with such a dalils it connects every point of ur life to life of Sahaba, solihiyn,..islam.
May Allah protect u & Grant u His blessings!
make dua for us
I know one halal cheese brand, Hajra Hashmi !
Cabot cheese
asalamu alaika ya sheikh
i honestly love cheese specially the comembert le president and i also love and love al-indalus which ya sheikh seem to love too , i’m making my hijra to indalus inchaAllah the occupied muslims land. and i will be shouting every where “WE ARE BACK” inchaAllah.
“The biggest jihad is jihad an nafs! Struggle against one’s own desires”
you still have to do jihad once you do jihad nafs therefore jihad is jihad nafs.
JazakAllahu khairan Sheikh Anwar.
To brother Ibraheim: “BTW brother Anwar can you do a quick blog on what Muslims should do about Thanksgiving and Christmas?”
Here’s a link to Ibn Uthaymeen’s (raheemahullah) fatwa regarding Muslims participating in Non- Muslim celebrations.
http://www.islam-qa.com/en/ref/947/thanksgiving
May Allah benefit everyone form it.
Wasalamu alaykum warahmatulahi wabarakatuhu.
My dear brothers and sisters…for the sake of Allah and our religion please do not make any rude comments or suggestions to our sheikh. Allah has blessed us with such a human being. Every word he utters is for the benefit of us and this ummah and we should either accept it and welcome more or if we do not accept it simply walk away. Please Please!! do not tell him what you think he should talk about or do. It is very disrespectful and unappreciative of us. If you have an important question just send him an email as he does allow it. Otherwise we have much more important things to say and do than to try to correct someone who has fought so long and hard to help his fellow brothers and sisters. May Allah(swt) bless Imam Anwar and keep us in the straight path. Jazak Allah khair for your time in reading this.
Salam Sheik, what about Mark Hansen AKA Hamza Yusuf, saying “Arabs love Danish cheese cos they do good cheese”. and that we shouldnt boycot them. Would you agree that this guys wala and bara has been tampered with?
@abu nabil
where do yuo live now?
As Salaalmu Alaikum,
I think it is great that our shiekh has given us something light-hearted to digest(some pun intended).
Ya our Beloved shiekh i apologize for the way i utter out those words at you. May allah have mercy on me. Its just that brothers go on blog everyday waiting for something new. Your one of the few scholars we can trust in this day of age. where its hard to find the Haqq. We wait everyday that allah gives us for ur blogs and lectures. We can’t wait for the medinah period and other lecture you have coming out. Sheikh ur our beloved sheikh allah has bless you with all these brothers loving you for the sake of allah. you a lot to the ummah right now. For the brother who is talking about Humza yusuf that guy is a suffie i dont know if u should listen to him. BUT u can taKE the good and leave the bad or avoid him.
jazakallah kahr
bro Anwar
asalamu alaikum
heraish
i live in dar alkufr note not dar alharb otherwise i would have been gone long ago.
to abu abdullah
TAWHEED HAAKIMIYYA :
Islamic Monotheism (Tawheed) is divided into 4 categories.
These 4 categories appear in the Holy Qur’an on different occasions.
Before providing these irrefutable evidences we will first define the meaning of each category of Tawheed.
Tawheed Rububiyyah– to believe that Allah is the only Lord & Creator.
Tawheed Asmaa wa sifaat–to believe in Allah’s 99 names & attributes.
Tawheed ibaada–to believe that Allah alone deserves to be worshipped.
Tawheed Haakimiyyah–to believe that Allah is the only lawgiver.
The Qur’anic evidences to establish Tawheed Haakimiyyah are His words:
“And Allah does not allow anyone to share with Him in His Rule.”
Surah 18:26
“Isn’t Allah the Best of Judges?” Surah 95:8
When Prophet Yusuf (as) was in prison he taught the inmates Tawheed and he taught them the 4 branches of Tawheed. Thus he said in Surah 12:39
“O you two companions of the prison! Are many different lords better or Allah the One, the Irresistible?”
Without a doubt this ayah represents Tawheed Rububiyyah because it speaks of Allah’s Lordship.
Then prophet Yusuf said in Surah 12:40
“These names and & attributes that you serve besides Him are nothing but names which you forged, you and your fathers fabricated them. Allah did not send down any authority for these names.”
After reading the above-mentioned Qur’anic evidences concerning our creed, Tawheed we have to wonder why some people still have a Tawheed problem. The answer to this question is clear. These people are hypocrites who are pretending to be Muslims. They don’t live by the Deen instead they live off the Deen.
They claim to dismantle the sharia is a minor kufr even though Ibn Kathir & Ibn Taymiyyah said it is known of Islam by necessity and it is the ijmaa (agreement) of all the Muslims that if anyone dismantles the sharia such a person is a kafir.
See fataawa 28/524 and Tafseer ibn kathir of Maida 5:50
The Saudi Salafis go against the ijmaa of the Ummah. Those who go against the ijmaa of the Muslims are not of us. Hence the Saudi Salafis are heretics (zanaadiqa) and major hypocrites. The noble scholar Ash-Shaji said: “This group claims that Tawheed Haakimiyyah is not a principle of the deen.” Poor fools! They don’t realize that Allah has 99 names & attributes and one of His name is AL-HAKAM , the Only JUDGE, hence those who deny Allah’s Haakimiyyah have nullified their shahadah.
Some Salafis realize its impossible to reject Tawheed Haakimiyya so out of desperation they slide it underneath Tawheed Rububiyyah and claim that both Tawheeds mean the same thing. We the members of ahlus sunnah wal jamaa’ah say to the Saudi Salafis, by doing so you have made the shaitaan a Muslims. Because the shaitaan believes in Tawheed Rububiyyah. Thus when he was casted out of heaven he said to Allah in surah Hijr 15:36
“My Lord grant me respite till the Day of Resurrection when man will be raised from the dead.”
The above-mentioned ayah is clear evidence that the shaitaan believes in Tawheed Rububiyyah because he said: MY LORD. But he does not acknowledge Tawheed Haakimiyyah because he refused to obey Allah’s command and bow down to Adam. Its possible for a person to believe in one Tawheed and reject another and this is why Allah separated the Tawheeds in the Qur’an on all occasions. Allah separated the 4 Tawheeds in surah Fatiha thus He said:
“All praise is due to Allah Lord of the worlds.”
The Saudi Salafis have reinterpreted Islam to cement the thrones of their kafir paymasters. They prefer to offend Allah by denying His Haakimiyyah than to offend their kafir paymasters. Their kafir paymasters are the apostate regimes who have given their allegiance to the crusaders to conquer Afghanistan & iraq the land of ibrahim (as) Today 1000s of Muslim women are been brutally raped by the army of the dajjaal in iraq all because these apostate regimes helped the kuffaar to conquer iraq.
Its obvious that those who Allah doesn’t love will never understand this beautiful Deen. The Saudi Salafis are in this plight today. They went against the ijmaa of the Muslims because Allah doesn’t love them so He didn’t give them the correct understanding of this wonderful Deen. The first person to rebel against Allah’s Haakimiyyah was their mentor Iblees. He Iblees is also their ideologue. Today they are seeking to revive the manhaj of Iblees by claiming Tawheed Haakimiyyah is not an aspect of the Deen.
Shaikh faisal: May Allah protect him
These qur’anic evidences cited by sheikh faisal about Tawheed Haakimiyya are irrefutable.
My advice to the saudi talafiya murji’ah is to go away quietly. Because the more they speak the more they dig a deeper hole for themselves. and the more they speak the more they convince others that they are major hypocrites
Let’s see how we can utalize the “Halaal” Cheeze in in Qiyas.
Remember Khalifah Muhammed used the lard on the tree logs to attack the Bazantine empire. The ultimate skill that even the Greek were amazed off and a final decline for the Western wall of the forts and cinquest of Constentinopolous or something like that, say cheeze
As Salaamu Alaikum, I only ment the above comment to be taken as greatfulness to Anwar al Awlaki for his knowledge and his sharing it with us. Truly some might take the subject of cheese lightly however this aspect of Islam, what we put into our bodies is very important. Thank you Ya Shiekh for taking the time to provide us with such valuable information and may Allah give you the best in this life and in the hereafter.
Assalamu Alaikum Shykh,
I would like to know whether the stunned chicken is permissisable to eat according to Islamic point of view.
Not long ago, the country where I live launched the new law that every chicken must be stunned. I don’t eat it because I am afraid that that chicken may be dead during the stunning process.
Please reply.
May Allah Aza Wa Jall reward you greatly
Waalaikummu Asalam
as salaamu aleikom wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Allah yabarak feek brother anwar. indeed this is a benefitial post and keep them coming in. @ abu nabil il take what you said as a joke about jhdun nafs being the greatest jhd.
@ khalid you said the words out of my mouth. some of the comments are very disrespectful! may Allah swt keeo us on the straight path and make us die on the straight path
I can’t believe someone’s still quoting this “Jihad Nafs Jihad Akbar” thing…
May Allah show you light.
Es Selamu alejkum we rahmetullahi we berekatuhu,
jhd/hijra fisabilillah, dear bro/sis abu nabil just quoted the words of bro abu abdullah! Read again the comment till the end, do not just overflow it
The Life of Muhammad: Medina Period 2 of 2 by Imam Anwar al-Awlaki, coming soon
As Salaamu Aleykum Sh. Anwar,
JazakAllah for your 2 cents on cheezy ilm. My All western brothers are invited for a cheezy zesty turkey dinner tonight, Alhamdulillah, only because this time of the year “halaal” “Zabiha” turkey is available.
Of note, I heared a brother saying that for the non-believers its so easy to prove that the speech of Allah SWT is wrong in Quran because,
Allah SWT says several times that the non-believers as a GROUP ( not individuals here and there) can never be the friends ( even outwardly) with believers. Imagine the non-believers as the entire group JUST have to declare in sincerety that they are friends of all Muslims/believers and help them as friends without becoming muslims in their affairs and take this chalenge of Allah SWT to prove the Quranic verses wrong (naoozubillah) without spending a cent, shooting a bullet etc.
I mean they dont even have to take shahaada just declare openly as a group just FRIENDSHIP in its real sence.
Remember Abu Jahal and his wife continued to remain disbelivers even after the verses came about them being in hell. The only thing they (Abu Jahal and his wife) had to do was “say” Shahaada (even hypocriticaly without believing in their hearts)just to prove the verses towards them wrong in Quran.
Indeed Allah SWT protects his speech for which the Aalameen, heavens, Jannah, Jahanam and everything that exist was created for.
Indeed Allah SWT does not guide the corupters.
to jhd/ hijra fisabilillah
please please bro/sis read carefuly or open you mind when you read.
what i said is this
“you still have to do jihad once you do jihad nafs, therefore jihad is jihad nafs”.
Meaning jihad is the greatest jihad to combat our nafs
in other word jihad is GUNS AND SWORDS
there is no such thing in the Qur’an called jihad nafs .otherwise the ayah would be traslated as follow
” kill your nafs”.
Abdul lah bin Masood (Rathiya Allahu anhu )said:
“The Jama’ah (body of Muslims) is what agrees with the Truth, even if you are alone.”
The hukm shari for a person living in non muslim lands is dawa not to sit and dream about participating in events in far off lands. The sahaba went to china in the earlier years and gave dawah. They also went to the king during uthman’s time and he allowed them to build a masjid and introduce islam to the people. They did not go there sit and dream about some super state or about military conflicts in other parts of the world.For those in the west please join any type of dawah efforts related to the people living in those societies whether muslim or non-muslim. If you want to promote the concept of hijrah come up with practical suggestions of where, how, when etc. And this wont be suitable for all muslims anyhow. The analyses on cheese here is very good. We need an analysis on chicken. There is a huge discussion on hand slaughter versus machine slaughter etc.
As salam aleikum wa rahmatullah:
InshallahShaheed Muslimah: The purpose of your creation is to worship Allah without any partners! You were not created for worship.
@ Aboo Nabil: Tawheed Hakamiyyah is INCLUDED in tawheed Uloohiyah. It is not a fourth separate segment of tawheed. If you are unclear about this matter, then go back in time to the scholars of the salaf, and read their books on tawheed. It’s in 3 branches. May Allah guide us.
I think that a lot of people here angry at spubs.com are from the UK. Maybe the brothers of spubs.com have had some ghuloo in the past, but that does not mean that you are to negate ALL they say. You take the Haqq even if it’s bitter.
With regards to Tawheed Haakamiyyah:
http://abdurrahman.org/tawheed/haakimiyyahFawzaan.html
1) Mono and Di-Glycerides/Diglycerides:
Found in a lot of items such as bread, ice cream, salsa, salad dressing, etc. May be plant or animal derived (i.e. cow, pig).
2) Vanilla Extract:
“Vanilla extract is prepared by crushing the cured, dried vanilla beans and extracting with alcohol. Vanilla flavour is made from oleoresin vanilla, a dark, semisolid concentration of vanilla extract, and alcohol and water. Imitation vanilla is made from commercially synthesized vanillin.”
“Vanilla extract is a solution containing the flavor compound vanillin. Pure vanilla extract is made by extracting from vanilla beans in an alcoholic solution. In order for a vanilla extract to be called pure, the FDA requires that the solution contain a minimum of 35% alcohol and 13.35 ounces of vanilla bean per gallon”
Natural vanilla flavoring contains real vanilla bean but no actual alcohol.
“People who prefer to use non alcohol-based vanilla extracts can use natural vanilla flavor found in natural and specialty food stores and some supermarkets. It is usually made with a glycerin or a propylene glycol base. The texture of natural vanilla, especially in a glycerin base, is viscous and a little darker than vanilla extracts. It also smells somewhat different. In uncooked foods and beverages it tastes fairly similar but with a slight aftertaste; in cooked or baked foods, it’s more similar to the alcohol based vanilla extracts.”
Can be found in pudding, ice cream, etc.
DISCLAIMER: This list/details are a result of quick research, further reasearch is encouraged to further ensure that the above information is 100% accurate.
Does anyone know if sorbitol, malitol, etc. all these *ols, are they halaal or haraam because they are found in some toothpastes and gum? (Please provide links if you can).
abu abdullah
YOUR QUOTE:
“then go back in time to the scholars of the salaf, and read their books on tawheed. It’s in 3 branches”.
so come on tell us what are the THREE categories of tawheed.
Also sheikh faisal has given the FOUR categories based on Quranic evidence DO YOU REJECT THEM?
and BTW “aboo” it spells ABU
Shaikh Fawzaan:Tawheed ul-Haakimiyyah an independent category and it does not enter into Tawheed ul-Uloohiyyah? It enters into Tawheed ul-Uloohiyyah! It is a type of worship and is a type of devotion to Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic.
Shaikh Fawzaan:This is clear error! Because al-Haakimiyyah enters into Tawheed ul-Uloohiyyah. Who has made it another category or made it an independent category? Will he make the prayer into a fifth or sixth category and jihaad a seventh category? [Because] all of the types of worship are from the types of Tawheed? This is not correct…
this is what the saudi salafi so called sheikh say abut tawheed hakimiyya
DID ANY BODY NOTICED SOME THING IN THIS TWO QUOTES?
COME OM THE SMART ABU ABDULLAH TELL UD WHERE IS THE EVIDENCE OF YOUR FAWZAAN?
I’M NOT SCHOLAR but By Allah i can refute and correct this saudi talafi becasue tawheed hakimiyyah is to establish the sharia on Allah’s earth (by means of jiahd)which al fawzaan is coving up to avoid conflict with his paymaster.
abu abdullah
just a question
what is the simple arabic sharh of the word hakimiyyah?
walekumsalaamwarahmatuallahiwa barakatuhu
Aboo Abdallah
Does’nt learning deen includes learding about Jihad as well.
Does worshipping Allah includes practising Jihad as well?
In the two Sahihs (of Al-Bukhari and Muslim), it has been narrated on the authority of Sahl ibn Sa`d (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “To guard Muslims from disbelievers in Allah’s Cause for one day is better than the world and whatever is on it, and a place in Paradise as small as that occupied by the whip of one of you is better than the world and whatever is on it; and a morning’s or an evening’s journey which a slave (of Allah) travels in Allah’s Cause is better than the world and whatever is on it.”
On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) who reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “The likeness of the Mujahid in the Cause of Allah – and Allah knows best who really strives in His Cause – is like a person who fasts and prays steadfastly. Allah guarantees that He will admit the Mujahid to Paradise if he dies in His Cause, otherwise He will return him to his home while being unscathed, rewarded, and with booty.” (Reported by Muslim in his Sahih) In another version, “Allah has guaranteed that one who goes out to fight in His cause while believing in Him and affirming the truth of His Messengers, will either be admitted to Paradise or returned to his home from where he set out with a reward or (his share of) booty.”
It has been narrated on the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “He who is wounded in the Cause of Allah will come on the Day of Judgment with his wound bleeding. The color (of its discharge) will be the color of blood, (but) its smell will be the smell of musk.” (Agreed upon hadith)
Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Struggle against polytheists with your wealth, selves, and your tongues.” (Reported by Ahmad and An-Nasa’i and graded as authentic hadith by Al-Hakim)
In the two Sahihs it has been reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was asked: “What is the best deed (in the Sight of Allah)?” The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) replied, “To believe in Allah and His Messenger (Muhammad).” The questioner then asked, “What next?” He replied, “To take part in Jihad in Allah’s Cause.” The questioner asked further, “What next?” He replied, “To perform Hajj Mabrur (accepted pilgrimage).”
Abu `Abs Ibn Jabr Al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “No slave (of Allah) whose feet become dusty in Allah’s Cause will be touched by the Hell-Fire.” (Reported by Al-Bukhari in his Sahih)
Al-Bukhari has also reported on the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “He who dies without having fought or having desired to do so will die guilty of a type of hypocrisy.”
It has also been narrated on the authority of Ibn `Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “If you deal in usury and hang unto the tails of cows, being satisfied with cultivation and ceasing to take part in Jihad, Allah will inflict a humiliation upon you which will not be removed until you return to your religion.” (Reported by Ahmad and Abu Dawud and graded as authentic by Al-Qattān, and Al-Hafiz states in Al-Bulugh that the chain of narrators are trustworthy and reliable.)
Kindly ponder brother
was’salaamu alaikum
SubhanAllah walhamduiLlah,
There are many important issues that Muslims face today. Jihad is one. The implications of belief in a system which is not founded on Allah’s revelation (like democracy) is another.
The issue which the Imam addressed may appear to be trivial or insignificant to some people. By Allah, nothing in our deen (way of life) is insignificant. And although there are priorities depending on the circumstances of people (like Jihad and Allah’s right to legislation, in our time), it is still important for one of knowledge–one who is deputed to a position which obligates him or her to explain Allah’s revelation–to cover such issues as what is haram and halal to eat. May Allah reward the ‘Aalim, Anwar Al-Awlaki. Amin.
Be patient, you who believes. The Imam is responsible for how he deals with people of kufr, islam, and iman (and so are you). And he is responsible for making Allah’s revelation clear [in plain words (not that he has to speak to someone "from their perspective" as some people might claim)] to the best of his ability, from aqeeda to fiqh; from what is Jihad to what you can eat. I believe he fears to misguide anyone, and in being too lenient or too harsh. Wallahu a’lam.
May Allah forgive our Imam for any shortcomings, any mistakes, and any wrong actions or words! Amin. May Allah give him an easy judgement. Amin. May Allah grant him Jannatil Firdaus. Amin.
Salaam alaikum,
I have been cheeking nearly everyday to see if you have posted anything new…..mashAllah you never fail to feed our hunger for knowledge! ya sheikh may Allah be pleased with you!
Hajra Hashmi, yeah i live in australia, in adelaide. i know a few brothers in perth. There isnt one place on the earth where the truth will not penetrate! BarakAllah feek ya ya sheikh and may Allah swt keep you above our heads.
assalamulaykum warahmatulahi wabarakatu
firstly,i would like to start by thanking our beloved sheikh for this beneficial post. May Allah increase you in taqwa sheikh.
secondly, there seems to be a discussion concerning the different branches of tawheed among some of my brothers and sisters. well according to SHEIKH MUHAMMAD IBN SAALIH AL-UTHAYMEEN there is only 3 branches of tawheed:
1) tawheed of Allah’s lordship (Tawheed ar-ruboobiyyah
2) tawheed of worship (tawheed al-uloohiyyah)
3) tawheed of Allah’s names and attributes ( tawheed al-asmaa was-sifaat)
the book is called ‘Thalaathatul-Usool’ and is available in the english language along with the arabic text.
after reading this it seems that tawheed Al-Hakamiyyah is part of tawheed ar-Ruboobiyyah as Allah says in this verse ‘ indeed creation and command are his. exalted is Allah, the lord of all the creation’. (soorah al-a’raaf v:7 chap: 54.
And Allah knows best.
Assalamu Alaykum,
re: Abdullah (sorbitol and malitol)
There is a pdf file from Canadian Halal Foods that states that sorbitol and Malitol are halaal and are sugar alcohols – http://www.canadianhalalfoods.com/Doc/eNumbers.pdf.
Allahu ‘Alim whether this is correct or not. Maybe Imam Anwar could discuss permissibility of using sugar alcohols and other questionable ingredients mentioned by other posters.
requiremnts for a scholar who we can take from are:
He having completed studies at a reputable institution.
Or having completeted studies under a series of reputable scholars. No dropping out after half completed studies or reading a few books here and there and listeing to a few lectures from this or that person.
He follows the sunnah in his appearence as a result of love of the Prophet. If he does not follow the sunnah in the apparent stuff it is unlikely he is following it in the hidden stuff. Like being honest and careful with his tounge etc.
Having a trackrecord of sacrificing for the deen with their time, money and self.
Not knowing to have changed his fatwa due to pressure from authority or people with money.
Sallam mashalla sheikh anwar has opend up the subject of cheese and now we are all getting the opinion of others about some other food that we thought was halal and maybe be not.
Aside from cheese ya sheikh I would like for you to talk about this group called “Medkhales” I might be spelling the name wrong but they follow sheikh rabbie, they also follow the school of thought of demmaj Yemen, they focus more on what they claim is dawa but they are trying to give dawa to muslims, and you do not give dawa to a muslim you give him a “naseha” a reminder they claim there is no jihad in our time and we should wait until our ulema tell us and they believe that every Muslim leader has the right of his people so we should not try to over throw what we think is a corrupt leader even if the leader don’t use the Quran and the Sunnah subhannallah what a group to top it all they believe this is not the time for khilafa and we should not focused to establish khilafa but get elm Knowledge, doesn’t this sound the “Rand Institute” idea of Islam that our sheikh covered about.
What is more striking about this group is the majority of this kind of teaching is taking in African American Muslim Communities Masjids, how ironic they go to the most impoverished communities who the population are most likely to revolt against the government so the way to defuse them down is since they can not stop them from becoming Muslim but rather they give them the new scripted of Islam. I talked to the majority of those brothers who think of this kind of Islam and almost 95% of them accepted Islam while in Jail and Mashallah they are 6 feet and above tall very well built. The way they talk about Islam and brother hood is so beautiful, you don’t expect to hear such a tone from a big beard 250 pond 7 feet tall man, however o dearly respect Imam if you can enlighten us about their scholars and who we should stay away from.
May Allah forgive me and all of us for our sins and short comings.
Before I get some rude response about any race issues I am a black Muslim from ERITREA who live in the USA so I don’t want anybody here to think I’m racial profiling I’m talking about what I know and see Asslam Walykum Wrhm2lh Wbrk2
asalamu aleykum,thank you sheikh anwar for talking this.i live in usa and iam confusing the food and some times ask my self is this halal or haram. i like to eat chicken “KFC” please ya sheikh make me clear if it’s halal to eat or haram.and still confusing about the cheese.we love you for the sake of allah.jizakalaahu kheyr,and may allah be with you where ever you are.
mashallah sheikh always good to hear from you, i wish to learn deen from you 1 day inshallah. But it was very interesting to read up on a topic i didn’t know was an issue but maybe because i dont fancy cheese much anyway! take care my beloved sheikh and please don’t fear the blame of the blamers, may allah keep you strong enough to speak the haqq as long as you are with us! assalamu alaykum.
salam alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh,
jazakAllah khair, shaykh. It’s good you talk about other things too, as some brothers and sisters, in their zeal think that we should ONLY talk about jihad, and not fiqh matters. At the same time, yes, I too, look forward to more jihad and hijra related posts and talks from you. BarakAllahu feek.
Allah ya7fadhak..
wassalaamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh,
ukhtukum fillah
I do NOT see that any, ANY brother or sister do want our shaykh to talk ONLY about JIHAD. Every one of us is suprised about the knew subject, but do not see that one of us does not respect the choise of our shaykh. Just picture your self if we all were his students and he were in front of us, and we are all prepared for something about hijra, jihad, sunnah, bidah and suddenly shaykh comes with a question “Do you like cheese”, you must agree that there would be funny-confused faces, because non of us would expect the fiqh about food, specialy not cheese.
I was shocked about the subject because I saw a video about our Iraqi sisters in Jails, and what they are suffering, just a minute before opening shaykhs site, but than I calmed down because I realized that first the subject is very important for bro/sis who are living in lands of kuffar, and secondly, there is a wisdom behind this choise of our shaykh! Elhamdulillah for the zeal we do have and inshaAllah with Allahs Will and Support will be able to apply on Allah s Path and the sources of knowledge like our shaykh. Elhamdulillah, such a beautiful brace, elhamduLillah
Im more than happy to see that there are brothers and sisters who at least do not reject that Jihad has become Fardh Ayn, and very thankful that there are brothers and sisters who are just waiting for their time to come. And Allah knows the Best.
Es Selamu alejkum we rahmetullahi we berekatuhu
asalamu alaikum
to brother wala and bara
your quote:
“I am a black Muslim from ERITREA who live in the USA”
i understand you meant to say MUSLIM black from eritrea living in the unite state of loosers.
apart from this , i thank you very much for bringing up the subject of the (MADKHALIA Disease) that is infecting the Ummah in general and they are working against the mujahideen in particular.
Ashlam-o-Ahlaikom ya sheikh,
I love the way you wrote on something – talking with evidence. I have heard that some people says that you can eat anything except pork or the one that is forbidden explicitly even if they are slaughter without the name of Allah. They argue that the only hayat in Quran (that is in surant bukarah) which forbids you to eat anything that is slaughter without the name of Allah came for the particular events and not a hakam. Can you please advice us whether it is halaal to eat the meat which is slaughter without pronouncing name of Allah.
JazakAllah
-Muhammad
As Salaamalaikum Shaykh Anwar,
We the students of knowledge would like to see a debate on halaal vs haraam including cheese between the Shaykhs of West vs East.
Not for winning or loosing but to gain authentic knowledge from it.
Brothers why are we arguing like the kufr? Argue with evidence and stay calm. If two people differ in opinion they may have a difference but they are still your brothers in Islam. Muhammad(SAAWS) is not here for us to ask questions, so we rely on scholars and we recognize that differences exist. When you argue like this you are playing into the hands of the West who want us to be divided along these lines that are being argued in here. Also, stop insulting nationalities that is horrible for you to do. Do not generalize about Saudis or whoever, that is putting a nation above brotherhood, and is damaging to the Ummah. We are Muslims and we should act like it.
By the time the vanillin goes into your mouth the alcohol is long gone. Plus there is no way to get drunk eating bread with vanilin in it. So we are good with that. Also irresponsibly discussing jihad results in youth participating in terrorism thinking it is jihad.
Ya sheikh
every Era the ummah faces devian’ts and trials from Allah.
_Abu Bakr faced the Murtad who refused t pay zakat.
Ali faced khwarij
_imam ahmed faced the people who say quran is creation
_ibn taymia faced the mutazila
_Abdula wahab faced the sufis and shirk
Now we have people who their main goal is to take Allahs right (Hakimiyahh)away from Allah and give to the taghut and defend it.
this the issue that Ulama need to put their strengh on. and you need to address.
http://www.bloggernews.net/18595
This is how the west views us.
Furthermore, unless somebody is truly guilty of kufr let us not accuse them of such. Also, show respect for the people of knowledge.
And does anyone know if taking the census is haraam or not?
I do not like the idea of working for the US Government on any level, but this data seems like it is used for domestic things that would not harm the Ummah. I don’t know if this could relate to Yusuf(AS) on some level or not, so if someone would explain it to me I would appreciate it greatly.
Jazakallah khairan.
Asalamu Alaikum Shaikh Awlaki
Halaal and haraam has become increasingly commercialized by so called “experts” under the guise of jurists.Our diet as muslims is highly significant as it relates to our Ibadah.It is disconcerting to find that our halaal symbol is also being manipulated for selfish ends and that our products consumed are misrepresented for petty commercial gain.It has become a point of concern.Cheese is a point of debate in my country from time to time and your reserach will prove invaluable in determining the lawfulness of the various cheese products on our shelves.
Jazakallah
Hussein
South Africa
Haha Subhan’Allah I had never even thought to look into whether cheese could be halal or haram.
Jazak Allahu Kharian Alal Eye opener.
JazakAllah khair Sheikh for your insight into rulings on cheese. I knew 1 brother, he was salafi and everything, from Qatar, and he used to buy and eat meat from normal english butchers, saying that the meat of the people of the book is allowed. As christians dont say “in the name of Jesus” whilst slaughtering the animal. However from my understanding, I could be wrong, is that the animal must be slaughtered in a Halal way (slitting the throat), and in the name of Allah. Is’nt that true Sheikh?? I love Macdonalds to be honest, I know the foods trashy and unhealthy, but everytime I go to a muslim country I always look forward to eating Macdonalds, Big Macs, Qtr Pounders, Mchicken burgers, subhanAllah, and the maddest thing is, food from any Muslim country is much much better than any burgers or fries.
I would eat Kosher but obviously I feel uncomfortable walking into a Jew shop.
to muslimmaters. “the democrats”
your quote:
“Not for winning or loosing ”
So your intention is clearly to defeat muslims isnt it?
your winning and loosing mentality remind me of this
“Muslims can never be defeated by others. We Muslims are not defeated by
our enemies, but instead, we are defeated by our own selves.
(meaning within muslims i.e by the munafiqeen and The Taghout Governments).
by Sheikh Shaheed inchaAllah rahimahu Allah Heroe of the heroes Abdullah Azzam
Dear Bro & Sis,
Asalam Aleikhum,
There is heqmah (wisdom) from this message,this is not about Cheese only. Do not rush and waste time to post valueless comments. We are not watching soccer here, we are here to learn from the best, the matters related to Islam. The word “per se” has been mentioned,so try to break the code and evaluate your intelligence “akl” – the Andalus has been mentioned,(we bring back our sensitive history)and how Cruseders used to attacked Muslims.Today Scandinavians are major producers of Diary Products is this possible they learned from early Muslims in Andalus?
My dear bro/sis, when you visit this web, do you read the top – so this is not about disgracing one another,debate or post valueless comments, this is about seeking “The Right Path”.
So lets be serious about it and give our brother Anwar the respect he deserve by acknowledge his efforts and learn from him what Allah blessed him with.
May Allah purify us and grant us the knowledge that will benefit us in this dunia and akhera.
Salaam,
What a good article Sh. Anwar, we need a good lecture on haram vs halaal food in West. What do you think?
As-salaam Aleikum,
Ya shaykh, jazakallah khair for the nice topic. I really was skeptikal about cheese products.
abdurrahman.org, spubs.com, salafimanhaj.com, calltoislam.com, almuflihoon.com –> these are very madkhalee websites. They are spreading their bid’a through these very websites, and especially salafimanhaj.com has a 39 page report called “WHAT IS THE MANHAJ OF THE ‘IMAAM’ ANWAL AL-AWLAKI!” It’s so pathetic that those coward, murji’as put the word “imam” in quotes to be sarcasmic on your honor and belittle it. They also ridicule you and your students. That was the most stupid piece of work I read in my life, even though I did not know much about you then. Actually, that report made me love you more! Alhamdulillah, May Allah keep the light of Islam always shining and well-distinguished!
May Allah be sufficient for them for their lies, and confusion, and fitna. May Allah show them the truth for they decided to choose the side of the kuffar against their brothers in Islam. In their speech, they use all the terminology that the kuffar use to label muslims, such as “extremist”, “radical”, “terrorist”, etc.
If they stand in front of my journey to fulfillment of my duties before Allah, I WILL NOT not guarantee their safety. For me, they are just like those muslims who stayed back with the kuffar of quraish, and then got killed by the muslims in the battle.
as salamualaikum
what i understnd from the previous topic “cheese” and the response to it (people asking the sheikh to talk about jihad and not such trivial matters). I would say that he (the sheikh) is one of those scholars who explained us the whole history right from Adam (as) to Muhammad (sws) and then abu bakr and then umar (ra) and then a few gaps and then salahuddin ayyubi (ra) and then battle of hearts and minds deals with the present situation and in all these topics he had discussed the issues of aqeedah,fiqh,tafsir and almost everything dealing with the shariah. He did the two series on jihad (constants and mishari) now if someone wants more on jihad that would sound so stupid to me. The sheikh had spoken about jihad more than many of the sheikhs standing on the pulpits of the saudi masajids. In his lectures he has given us the basic rules of maths and now we have to apply it – (where to do jihad, which group to join, how to do jihad). The shiekh had spoken about what to do (constants)and how to do(mishari). Now the ones who wants to sit at home doing nothing but eating cheese the sheikh is decent enough to advice them to eat halal cheese atleast even if they r not doing what they are suppose to do.
Who said at first that cheese was haram. I am not knowledged but I am a student trying to learn more about current issues that are happening in this society. Skuukran.
@abu nabil
i apologize for the comment. i dint really get what you said about the jhdun nafs .
as salamu alaikum
Salam Wa Allekium,
Brother Anwar we love you here… Keep up the excellent work you are doing. This is such and important topic about what is permissible to eat and not to eat.
Jazak Allah Kheir for this enlightening blog.
When are you going to start a distances learning course for weekly sessions for us to subscribe to ?
I love you for the sake of allah , your brother in Islam.
-nael
Assalamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu.
ya muslimeen wal muslimaat… please for the sake of Allah azza wa jal do not show dis-respect or post negative comments,this is for no benefit of anyone. you can discuss wether you agree or disagree with the shaykh but please remember that the shaykh does not post these fatawa/lectures etc. for nothing else than to help,benefit and to please Allah soubhana wa ta’aala wa allahu alem.
jazakum allahu khair and baraka allahu feek ya shaykh, please keep up the good work,mashAllah it is so nice to have a knowledgeable shaykh who can spread islam to non arabic muslims.
may allah protect and forgive us all.
ghareebah
asalamu alaykum,
Jazakallah for this article. May Allah reward you and guide us all.
Good. So many people ask about cheese. Now we know. Ya Shaikh, you are a foodie indeed!
Salams. For those of you in Australia the best halal cheeses are Bega and Coon.
Thank You so much brother. This cheese issue has cleared up alot in my head and even within my family. By the way, I love cheese and always wondered if I can eat some types. Thanks again
Wow!
Asalamualaykum wr wb
Jizakallah kheir Sheikh for this, I love my chocolates and twix is one of my favorites, however I stopped eating it for about a year when I realised it had animal rennet in it, after reading this I thought yay, I can go back to my twix’s however do you think it would be bad for me to follow an opinion just because its convenient for me. I still dont think I should but then again the evidence is pretty clear, however I just dont know. Could you tell us about alocohol in perfumes, I chucked all my perfumes away when I was told they werent allowed (obviously I only wore them in the house) but since then Ive heard so many different opinions. Even my local Islamic shop has started selling perfumes with alcohol denat in them. Im just so confused. I know I should just avoid whatever is doubful but then again they do smell much better then the non Alcohol ones.
I prefer reading your articles then any other sheikhs because you use simple English and I can understand what your saying as apposed to the longggg vocabulary some people use.
Thats for being great and not watering down the religion. Its so hard to find a sheikh that speaks the truth these days.
As-salaamu’alaikum, Goat cheese is made from kid-goat rennet unless its microbial** Cheese made using cow miilk can use only CALF rennet. Allah has made it so that each species digest their mother’s milk. So, there is no such thing as swine-rennet in “cow-milk” cheese as this is not possible, i.e it would NOT help in the process of cheese making.
Secondly, hased on abu abdullah’s comment … we need to have the right intention for jihaad. But a hizb calling themslves salafi have hijacked the minhaj of the salaf; making it look like the true salaf us saleheen were like them! How can that be, just look at abu abdullah way of communication… no hikmah!! At the same time, most of those who oppose them are on the other extreme. Both are the same IN Essence … they are satisfied in their own hizb.
As Salaam Alaikum
though i can talk for eternity on food and its sources . i like to ask about the milk of pigs.
i have been vegetarian for a couple years now for medical reasons and im such a hefty meat eating lover so its very hard
but i find it very easy to find where and how pigs are used in food and non food products as well as insects in these products
as well as artifical food colors that cause high levels of irritation of respitory ailments especially in children related food items that are so conviently decorated with the cartoon facvorites that children go crazy for like dora and spiderman for example.
and also for sheikh i like ask u
if and when u have heard of the state of california suing in court the jewish community leaders for imposing a fraud on non food items with kosher food label tax symbol and in which they won and that opened the door to question the kosher food label that we automatic pay a tax for within the price of the food item we buy because alot food items with kosher symbol was pork ridden ingredients that couldnt be denied such as pork sausages etc….
but that court petition was never to be seen of or heard of again after a few months but it looked good while it lasted thats 4 sure
also the snapple and arizona company uses insects such as bettles for natural food coloring in their teas and juices in usa
a vegetarian sued the snapple comp. a few years back and won
just some food for thought