Aslam

Praise be to Allah.Allaah

has blessed His slaves by creating for them all kinds of provision on

earth, and He has permitted them to eat from that which is halaal

(permissible) and good; this includes very many things, it is not limited.

Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“O mankind! Eat of that which is lawful and good on the earth, and follow

not the footsteps of Shaytaan (Satan). Verily, he is to you an open

enemy.” [al-Baqarah 2:168]

Allaah

forbids a limited number of foods, as He says (interpretation of the

meaning):

“Say (O Muhammad): “I find not in that which has

been revealed to me anything forbidden to be eaten by one who wishes to

eat it, unless it be Maitah (a dead animal) or blood poured forth (by

slaughtering or the like), or the flesh of swine (pork); for that surely,

is impure or impious (unlawful) meat (of an animal) which is slaughtered

as a sacrifice for others than Allaah (or has been slaughtered for idols,

or on which Allaah’s Name has not been mentioned while slaughtering).”

[al-An’aam 6:145]

The

Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade the

eating of every carnivorous animal that has fangs, and every bird which

has talons. (Narrated

by Muslim, 6/60)

And

he forbade the flesh of (domestic) donkeys (narrated

by al-Mukhari in al-Fath, no. 4215).

Of

the foods which are to be found nowadays, some of them are clearly haraam,

such as dead meat [from an animal which has died naturally as opposed to

being slaughtered properly] and pork. Some foods may contain ingredients

and derivatives which come from haraam sources, so we have to find out

where they come from so that we may know what the ruling is concerning

them. The gelatin which was mentioned in the question may originate from

the skin, muscles and bones of haraam animals such as pigs. Hence gelatin

which is derived from collagen which comes from pigs is haraam, because it

is as if the pig had been turned into salt. The most correct view is that

it is haraam even if it has been changed, so long as it originally came

from a pig, which is haraam.

The

fats which are used in foods come either from vegetable sources or animal

sources.

If

they come from vegetable sources they are halaal, so long as they have not

been mixed with anything that is impure (najjis) or anything that could

contaminate them. If they come from animal sources, they are either from

animals that we are permitted to eat or animals that we are not permitted

to eat.

If

they come from an animal that we are permitted to eat, then they come

under the same ruling as the meat of that animal.

If

they come from an animal which it is haraam for us to eat – such as pigs

– then we look at whether they are used in foods or for other purposes.

If

they are usedfor non-food

purposes, e.g. many fats are used in making soap, then there is a

difference of scholarly opinion, but the most correct view is that they

are haraam.

If

they are used in foods, e.g., pig fat (lard) is used in making sweets and

other foods, this is haraam.

With

regard to cheese: if it is made from the milk of an animal which we are

not permitted to eat, then according to scholarly consensus it is not

permissible to eat it. If it is made from the milk of an animal which we

are permitted to eat, and it is known that it is made with rennet that has

been derived from an animal slaughtered according to sharee’ah andit has not been mixed with any najaasah (impurity), then it may be

eaten.

If

it was made with rennet derived from dead meat, there is a difference of

scholarly opinion as to whether we may eat it, but the most correct view

is that it is haraam.

If

it was made with rennet from a source which is inherently naajis (impure),

such as rennet derived from pigs, then it should not be eaten.

See

Ahkaam al-At’imah fi’l-Sharee’ah al-Islamiyyah by al-Tareeqi,

p. 482

In

many cases these matters are unclear to the Muslim (he does not know the

source of food ingredients). In this case, it is better to fear Allaah and

be cautious. Avoiding doubtful things may be preferable to using them in

these circumstances, as stated in the hadeeth narrated by al-Nu’maan ibn

Basheer (may Allaah be pleased with him) who said: I heard the Messenger

of Allaah

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say – and

al-Nu’maan pointed to hisears

– “That which is lawful is plain and that which is unlawful is plain,

and between the two of them there are doubtful matters about which not

many people know. Thus he who avoids doubtful matters clears himself in

regard to his religion and his honour, 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 Allaah’s sanctuary is His prohibitions. Truly in

the body there is a morsel of flesh which, if it is sound, all the body issound and which, if it is corrupt, all of it will be corrupt. Truly

it is the heart.”

(Narrated

by Muslim, 1599).

From

the above we learn that the basic principle concerning food is that it is

halaal, apart from those things for which there is clear evidence (daleel)

that they are haraam, such as dead meat, blood, animals sacrificed to

other than Allaah and meat over which the name of Allaah was not

pronounced at the time of slaughter. Concerning the foods mentioned in the

question: if it is proven that they contain ingredients derived from

haraam sources, it is necessary to avoid them, otherwise they need not be

avoided. If you are not sure whether they contain anything haraam or not

– without being paranoid or succumbing to the waswaas (insinuating

whispers of the Shaytaan) – then it is preferable to avoid them as a

precaution out of fear of Allaah.

And

Allaah knows best.