08
Column
@Halal | may-june. 2020
Role
of Halalan Toyyiban
consumption
It safeguards one’s honour,
morality and decency
Halal consumption as a means
to worship God (Allah)
Ramadhan is the month for Muslims
to perform the obligatory
fast from dawn to sunset. Ramadhan
is also the month of the
Qurán where the month provides
a golden opportunity for Muslims
to reflect more on the Quránic teachings.
With most of the world under some form of
movement restriction or stay at home order
to break the Covid-19 pandemic chain, this
gives an added opportunity to reflect on the
message of the Qur’an.
There are many ways that God (Allah)
conveys messages in the Qurán. There are at
least nine Quránic styles (usluub-al-Qurán)
about which the Islamic teachings and
virtues are conveyed from God to humanity,
and of them, is related to stories, including
the stories of Prophets, Messengers, and
their generations. These Quránic styles
help us to understand God’s messages and
to fulfil our servitude to God, as the whole
life of a human is meant for worshipping
God (Qur’an, 51:56).
Worshipping God takes many different
forms. Indeed, every daily human activity
can be a form of worship. Whatever we are
doing, with sincere intention and within
the scope of goodness, are indeed our servitude
to God. For example, our daily eating
and drinking are forms of worship and not
merely to overcome hunger. What we eat,
when we eat, how we eat, how much we eat,
is accepted by God as a form of worship if we
perform the eating with sincere intention.
The matter of consumption is not newly
regulated. Instead, the guidelines for consumption
started since the time of the first
human being, Prophet Adam PBUH.
And We said, “O Adam, dwell, you and your
wife, in Paradise and eat there from in (ease
and) abundance from wherever you will. But do
not approach this tree, lest you be among the
wrongdoers.”
[Qur’an, 2:35]
A few lessons, although not exhaustively
listed, can be derived from the incident:
• Eating and drinking are forms of obeying
and worshipping GOD, subject to compliance
with guidelines.
• The prohibition of approaching a specific
tree in this passage shows the test given
to mankind, and it has been laid under
the divine reason as well.
• It shows that to approach the forbidden
(haram) things will lead one to do the
prohibited acts.
• Anyone who transgresses the permissible
limit drags his self to be wrongdoer,
uncivilized citizen and disobedient to
God.
The prohibition of approaching the
tree is a great symbol of a test. Mankind is
provided with abundant permissible (halal)
choices, material consumption and moral
Dr Betania Kartika
and
Prof Dr Hamzah
Mohd Salleh
conducts. Food and beverages are examples
of the former. The abovementioned passage
had clearly stated that Prophet Adam
PBUH and his wife were provided with an
abundance of lawful foods to eat when and
where they preferred. And that they should
not approach a specific tree which was
created by God as a test, failing which will
make them among the wrongdoers.
How halalan toyyiban
consumption relates to
righteous deeds
Muslims are aware that eating is not solely
to satisfy hunger; rather, it is a divine
prescription that has its own inherent
and distinct worth – Halalan Toyyiban
consumption. It becomes clear that not
consuming Halalan Toyyiban and consuming
the unlawful (haram) instead may be a
possible way of following the steps of Satan
(Qur’an, 2:168), and will result in undesirable
consequences. A perfect example is the
story depicting the incident when Satan
caused Adam and Eve to slip out of it (by
being successful in provoking them to eat
from the forbidden tree) and removed them
from the condition they had been (Qur’an,
2:36).
Halalan Toyyiban creates the capacity
within the individual to act righteously.
It creates an appetite to be upright and
righteous. A very long prophetic tradition
stated that, “O people! Allah is toyyib (pure)
and, therefore, accepts only that which is pure”
(Sahih Muslim, hadith no. 1015). The prophetic
tradition continues mentioning that God
commanded His Messengers by saying: “O
Messengers! Partake of the things that are toyyib
(pure, clean, wholesome), and act righteously. I
know well all that you do” (Qur’an, 23:51) and
“O you who believe, eat from the good things
which We have provided for you…. (Quran, 2:172).
Then, the prophetic tradition ended with
the mention of a man who travelled far,
becoming dishevelled and dusty, and he
raises his hands to the sky, saying, “O Lord!
O Lord!” while his food is unlawful, his
drink is unlawful, his clothing is unlawful,
and he is nourished by the unlawful, so how
can he be answered?
Muslims are
aware that
eating is not
solely to satisfy
hunger; rather,
it is a divine prescription
that has its own inherent
and distinct worth
– Halalan Toyyiban
consumption. It becomes
clear that not consuming
Halalan Toyyiban and
consuming the unlawful
(haram) instead may
be a possible way of
following the steps of
Satan (Qur’an, 2:168), and
will result in undesirable
consequences.”
Consuming Halalan Toyyiban and
avoiding suspicious things safeguard one’s
religion and honour. “Both legal and illegal
things are evident but in between them there
are doubtful (suspicious) things and most of the
people have no knowledge about them. So whoever
saves himself from these suspicious things saves
his religion and his honour….” (Sahih Bukhari,
hadith no. 50).
Consuming Halalan Toyyiban promotes
good morality and decency. It has a strong
relationship with servitude to God. God
forbade prophet Adam PBUH and his wife
from approaching the tree so that they
would always be obedient, and not to
commit immorality. It conveys the message
that keeping oneself within the limit
of permissible (halal) things shows one’s
submission and modesty. The first example
of human error that went beyond the realm
of permissible (halal) has been recorded
in the Qur’an (7:22 and 20:121). These two
passages establish the nexus or connection
between halal food and modesty. The less
Halalan Toyyiban consumption, the lower
the level of the modesty will be reached, and
in the contrary, the more Halalan Toyyiban
consumption, the higher the level of the
modesty will be attained. Thus, the highest
level of morality, which is the perfection of
a person’s good disposition as the manifestation
of excellence is achieved.
Notes:
* PBUH = peace be upon him
* In the Islamic narrative, Adam and his wife
contravened God, regretted,requested for forgiveness
and God pardoned them. Both Adam and
his wife had to suffer the consequences of their
conducts by living a mortal life on earth.
Prof Dr Hamzah Mohd. Salleh
Professor & Dean
International Institute for Halal Research &
Training (INHART)
International Islamic University Malaysia
Asso Prof Dr Betania Kartika
Head of Halal Awareness, Information &
Outreach,
INHART
International Islamic University Malaysia