Comments on: May Orthodox Christians Eat Halal Food?

By: Rik Rose

Rik Rose — Fri, 15 Sep 2023 18:55:20 +0000

In reply to Catalog of Good Deeds. This article is just... wrong. Flat out not factual. Halal slaughter the point is for the animal to experience no pain. The knife has to be extremely sharp, not a single bump or dull spot on the blade, and the cuts is made directly on the jugular vein. Without blood flow to the brain the animal feels no pain. Just as someone wouldnt if they themselves were to be choked unconscious (only takes a few seconds for you to be blacked out from lack of blood flow). Weather youre christian, muslim or jewish Halal meat is slaughtered to the standards of your book(s). And P.S. Allah Is just God in Arabic, Arabic Christians use the phrase Allah hu akbar aswell.

By: Catalog of Good Deeds

Catalog of Good Deeds — Mon, 15 Jun 2020 13:15:03 +0000

In reply to Michael.

Dear Michael! Thank you for your question. We have answer on it from our author of articles John Nichiporuk:

“Difficult question. On the one hand, the Lord said whoever does not honor the Son, does not honor the Father either. Muslims clearly do not honor the Son as God, but as a prophet.

And on the other hand, in the understanding of the Muslims themselves, their God, Allah is the Creator of the world, the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. Christianity, Judaism and Islam are Abrahamic religions, which means that we can assume that we have one God. Although many do not agree with this.

Of course, this assumption does not negate the fact that we have significant differences in our understanding of faith and God.

As for the use of halal food – this is clearly not idolatrous. There are no idols or pagan deities in Islam. The apostle Paul wrote that everything can be eaten from the market without examining the faith of the one who prepared it. Because the world and everything in it belongs to God.

If you are not embarrassed by halal food, eat whatever you want. But if conscience is embarrassed, then it is better not to eat such food.”

By: Elisabeth Vale

Elisabeth Vale — Thu, 11 Jun 2020 15:51:24 +0000

As an age care worker I have come across clients of Arabic Christian culture who explained to me that Allah just means God and is not the name of a god as is often assumed by non Arab speaking people. Muslims pray to the Old Testament God not the Holy Trinity. When Arabic Christians say Allah they do mean the Holy Trinity God. So the words pronounced at the slaughter do not make it an act of idolatry. So the objection to halal slaughter is to do with the way the animal is slaughtered. In theory, although the animal is supposed to be conscious, the stipulation is that it has to be done with a very sharp knife in one motion, no sawing, and death should occur immediately. The animal is also not to witness the killing of others, nor smell their blood. I imagine that this would be hard to achieve in an abattoir.

By: Michael

Michael — Wed, 10 Jun 2020 14:31:25 +0000

I’ve been to an Antiochian Orthodox parish where much of the Liturgy is in Arabic. They say Allah, Bismillah, and Allahu Akbar – among others. French Christians say Dieu, Spanish Christians say Dios, English Christians say God, Arab Christians say Allah.

My question is this: To whom are Muslims referring when they say Allah? Is it the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, or something else? If it’s God as we (Orthodox) understand Him, why can we not eat halal foods? Especially if we bless it in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost before eating? If it’s something else (an idol), please list the reference(s) so I can read it/them. Thank you.