Lesson video

Hello and welcome, students.

Once again, it's me, Mr. Latif, teacher of R.

E.

And today in our learning, we've been learning about "What is Halal?" A really misunderstood thing at times so really important for us to understand what it actually is and what it consists of.

Now, a key thing I just need to let you know before our learning today.

Please be aware that today's learning contains a discussion of animal slaughter.

So, if this is a sensitive subject or topic for you, please ensure that you speak to a trusted adult or carer and to ask them to join in the lesson with you.

Now if this is not an issue, let's continue on and today in your learning we'll be investigating the approach to the use of animals in Islam, and also to understand what the Halal slaughter is.

And the dietary needs for Muslims in reference to the Shariah.

Now there's five things you need as always.

Please ensure before our learning today that you have your exercise books and blank paper, a black or blue pen, a different colour pen for any corrections, those attentive ears and that curious brain.

Now, once you have those five things, let's get into our learning for today.

So, now let's look at what Halal is.

Now, Halal is actually mentioned in the Qur'an.

And Halal means that which is permissible or lawful.

So, Allah mentioned in the Qur'an what's permissible and lawful which consists of actions itself and also that of dietary needs as well.

Now, Halal consists not only of dietary needs but also actions which is really important.

So, Allah says in the Qur'an what actions are deemed are deemed permissible and lawful to do which follows his divine law.

But, on the counter you have this term, Haram.

And Haram deems or refers to the definition of that which is not permissible and that which is not lawful.

So, you can find in the Qur'an in a moment when we investigate it together, Allah says food that is Haram.

Allah says what is the Halal slaughter and Allah says what Haram is and what Halal is in terms of actions itself.

So, it's not just something which is limited to dietary needs and food.

It also considers a wide, wide part of religion as well.

What is permissible and what is not permissible.

So, the term Halal can be found in the Qur'an, and this Qur'an, as a reminder, is the direct and divine word of Allah.

And Halal and Haram also consists of certain parts of Shariah.

Now, Shariah, is the divine law of Allah, in which Allah explains what is Halal and Allah explains what is deemed as Haram.

So, let's look at that together in our learning today.

So, before, we just get into learning what the Qur'an says about Halal and Haram, I'd like for you to spend three minutes doing the following.

As I disappear, here we go, I'd like for you to spend three minutes on this task to write down what does Halal mean, what does Haram mean, and Halal can be found where.

So, could I please ask you to pause the video just now, and I'll see you in three minutes.

So, welcome back.

The answer that you should have had is the following.

Halal means that which is permissible and lawful, whilst Haram means that which is not permissible or lawful.

Whilst in Islam it does refer to the dietary needs, it also consists of actions as well.

Evidence and references to Halal can be found in the Qur'an and the Shariah of Allah, which is divine law.

So, you should have hose two key things there in the final part of your answer.

Now, if there's any corrections I do advise for you to do them now.

Just pause the video.

But if not, let's continue on.

So what does the Qur'an say and what is Haram in reference to dietary needs? So, let's look and investigate together.

The Qur'an in verse five, line three says the following, "Prohibited to you are dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine, and that which has been dedicated to other than Allah.

And those animals killed by strangling, or by a violent blow or by a headlong fall, or by the growing of horns.

And those from which a wild animal has eaten, except for what you are able to slaughter before it's death, and those which you sacrifice on stone altars, and prohibited is that you seek decision through divining arrows.

That is grave disobedience.

So, what I'd like for you to do now, is to pause he video after I disappear and I'd like for you to just to jot a point down what is deemed as Haram by Allah when it refers to dietary needs.

So, there I go.

And now could I please ask for you just to jot down what is deemed Haram.

Welcome back.

Let's see what was deemed Haram in the Qur'an in chapter five, first line.

So, dead animals, they're not allowed to eat.

They're seen as Haram, they're not permissible.

Animals with blood that has not been drawn out.

And the reason for that, blood contains and carries diseases so if it's eaten.

Or you're eating blood or animals with their blood have not been drawn out, you are potentially carrying certain diseases and illnesses.

Swine, which is pork.

Pork is strictly forbidden in Islam in the dietary needs and we're going to investigate later on why.

Anything that has been sacrificed not in the name of Allah, animals that have been killed by strangulation, falling, or through fighting one another.

Animals that have been eaten by another wild animal.

So these eight things are deemed Haram in that verse.

Now, if there's anything that we're missing please ensure you add them.

If not, let's continue on with the next task.

So, now what I'd like for you to do is actually, to write down a paragraph and what I'd like for you to write down what does the Qur'an state is Haram in four sentences? So you've got the bullet points there to help you with this next task.

Once I disappear, there we go, can you please pause the video and I'll see you in five minutes.

So welcome back the answer you should have had is the following.

In the Qur'an, in verse5:3, many things are considered as Haram.

These are listed which include dead animals, animals with blood, pork, anything sacrificed that is not in the name of Allah, animals killed by strangulation and falling or fighting another, and animals that have been eaten by another wild animal.

Only in a life or death circumstance is it permissible to eat these permissible to eat these type of animals.

This is a key thing that we find in the Qur'an in terms of Allah's mercy upon humanity.

These type of animals can be eaten in a life or death situation, but generally, and regularly these are seen as not permissible.

So, you can see how later on, Allah allows, through his mercy, in a life or death situation to eat this type of animal if it means that you have to survive.

So what was mentioned before is pork, and pork being Haram.

Now, a good way that I remember or try to teach my students to remember, The Muslims would say, "No pork on my fork." that's a good way to remember is pork is deemed as Haram.

So why is pork deemed as Haram? It's really clear.

Allah declares in the Qur'an for it to be so.

So, a part of the Qur'an being his direct and divine authority, if he declares for something to be not permissible, it's deemed not permissible.

And it's also 'cause pigs are viewed as filthy animals.

Pigs consume their own poo.

Pigs can eat through a human as well, even to the bones and to the hairs and they're seen as filthy animals.

Pigs thrive off muck and dirt.

An example also is that actually pork was actually deemed as forbidden in the previous scriptures.

So if you did the lesson on the Holy Books you may remember there are previous revelations which linked to the People of the Book which refer to the Jews and the Christians.

And also we can find today, still in those revelations, pork is forbidden in the Old Testament of the Bible and it's also forbidden in the Torah in Judaism.

So, we see the links there between the Abrahamic religions.

So, pork is seen as swine, which is another term for pig, just to let you know.

And it's seen as a filthy animal, and as it's seen as a filthy animal it's commanded by God not to eat pig or pork.

So, what then is actual considered as Halal? So, Halal may consist of the following eight things: domestic animals, cattle, sheep, goat, camels, rabbits, chicken, which is the most consumed meat in the world, fish and shellfish depending on the school of thought.

Depending on the school of thought or what type of Muslim you are regardless if that's a school of thought within the Shariah tradition, or the Sunni tradition, or Sufi tradition.

Or Ismaili or Ahmadiyya, depending on the school of thought, shellfish is a different ruling.

But these are the majority of the animals which are deemed as permissible to eat and deemed as the meat to be Halal.

But what consists of Halal? So, in terms of the preparation of the Halal meat, there has to be certain conditions for that Halal meat to be consist as Halal, to get the symbol of Halal or to be signed off as Halal.

So, number one.

The animal should live in a place where it's alive and it's healthy, there should be a good environment for that animal.

So, in terms of free range is really important for many Muslims today.

Now, that animal, in terms of where they get their meat, comes from a free range source.

Number two.

There is a Bismilah prayer said over the animal before it is sacrificed and this is to thank God and this is to remind Muslims that the only thing that comes from God is a blessing and it's a gift.

Now, after, which is before the sacrifice of the animal.

It is Sunnah for the animal to face the Qibla and the Qibla is the direction of the Kaaba seen as the house of God.

Number four is really important.

The blade should not be shown to the animal.

'Cause the animal may be fearful what's going to occur and the blade should be sharp.

Now, some of you may be thinking why should it be a sharp blade? The reason for that is 'cause you don't want to be hacking the animal and the animal to be in severe pain and for the death of the animal to be prolonged.

The blade should be sharp so it should be a quick and easy cutting of the jugular vein.

So, the jugular vein of a human is here, in the neck, and that's the main artery.

Now, once the main artery is slit and cut the gushing of the blood occurs and the reason why it happens at the jugular vein is 'cause Allah permits it.

And also, once the jugular vein is cut, and the main artery is cut, the animal can no longer feel any pain.

It should also be an individual slaughter.

So, if I am a person who owns a slaughter house and I have many cattle, I should take one cow away from the rest of the cattle so that other animals do not hear it or they do not see it out of fear.

And here should also be the quick draining of the blood, as the consumption of the blood is Haram.

Now, all of these things are the protocol and the procedure for the Halal slaughter and this Is what makes meat Halal.

The really important thing there is the Bismilah prayer.

So, it's said in the name of God, so there's a blessing said just before the slaughtering of the meat itself.

So, all of these things occur in order for something to be deemed as Halal.

So, once this is done, the meat is now allowed to be sold and consume for Muslims under the Halal symbol or sign.

And you may have seen the Halal sign in certain restaurants and certain chicken shops up and down the country.

And this indicates actually, the meat that is being sold has gone through the Halal procedure.

And this is mentioned in he the Qur'an.

"This day all good foods have been made lawful, and the food of those who were given the Scripture is lawful for you and your food is lawful for them." So, this is a really important part of the concept and ideas of dietary needs.

Muslims are allowed to eat the meat of the people.

"Ahl Al-Kitab." The People of the Book.

The People of the Scripture.

And that refers to the Jews and the Christians, so they are able to eat Kosher.

So, the Muslim lives in a country where there is no Halal meat.

They are able, as the Qur'an says, to eat the meat of those of a Christian country or of those of Jewish country or of those of a Christian community or a Jewish community.

It is permissible for them to eat that.

So, for example, many Muslims, or some Muslims in this country today may get their meat from Morrissons or Tesco, whether that's in the Halal section or whether that's in the non Halal section 'cause this is deemed as a Christian community or a Christian country.

Many Muslims that live in Lebanon where you've got a mix of Muslims and Christians.

Many may deem and get their meat from the Christian butchers 'cause the Qur'an permits them to do so.

So, we can see that Muslims are not limited to eating Halal They are also permissible and allowed by Allah in the Qur'an to eat the meat from the People of the Book.

Ahl Al-Kitab which refers to the Christians and the Jews.

So what I'd like for you to do now is the following.

I'd like for you to make a flow chart to show the steps of the Halal slaughter.

And for this task, I'd like to give you 10 minutes.

Now, I have a Halal word bank there just at the bottom just there.

And this to remind us of the key things that occur.

And I'd like for you to try and remember the correct order of the steps of the Halal procedure.

Now, once I've disappeared, there we go, you may pause the video and spend 10 minutes, and I'll see you in 10 minutes.

So, welcome back.

Let's go over this task together.

So, number one.

The animal should be alive, and it should be healthy and it should be treated well during it's lifetime.

Number two.

The Bismilah prayer is said over the animal.

Number three.

A Sunna to face the Qibla in terms of before sacrificing the animal.

Number four.

The blade is to be sharp so it's going to be a quick death and it's not to be shown to the animal.

Number five.

The blade is to be taken to the jugular vein of the animal.

Rather than hacking the animal in different places like it's legs, it's body etc.

Number six.

It should be an individual slaughter away form the other animals.

And number seven , which is very important.

The draining of the blood.

And this consists of the Halal slaughter.

So, if there's any correction that you need to do I've just disappeared.

It's an opportunity now for you to amend and make any corrections.

If not, let's continue on.

So we've looked at the use of animals in terms of Halal, dietary needs and then in terms of eating animals.

But animals can be used for other things as well in Islam.

So, Allah permits animals not only to be useful for consumption but also for other matters.

So, let's look at this verse in the Qur'an, "It is Allah who made for you the grazing animals upon which you ride, and some of them you eat" so, animals can be used as a means of transportation and this has occurred historically within history.

We find many Muslims use animal for livestock, either to sell or to use to get from one place to another whether that's of a camel or that of a donkey we find it in the time of the life of Prophet Muhammad where he would go from one place to another whether it was on the back of a donkey or that of a camel.

Now, also Muslims are reminded actually, that many of the prophets were actually shepherds so many of the Prophets during their lifetime are Shepherds and this develops certain characteristics.

It reminded them, actually, that to be a good shepherd you have to look after your flock, you have to look after them, show them kindness and you have to care for them.

If one of your flock are missing, you have to go search for it and look after it and you have to find it, you have to investigate it as well.

And from this of being a shepherd, it actually taught them how to look after humanity.

It taught them to treat humans with kindness and actually that we should guide humans towards the message.

So, this is the key thing here, many of the prophets were shepherds and it tells Muslims actually, the qualities that are needed to look after not only animals but also that of humans as well.

And Muslims are reminded that animals are apart of Allah's creation.

So, kindness to animals is really important.

It is believed in Islam, though that animals do not have souls, but that animals will be a witness on the day of judgement.

In terms of, for example, if I treated an animal very badly that animal will speak out against me on the day of judgement.

So, it's really important that Muslims are reminded to care and to look after animals.

The treatment of animals you'll also find in the Hadiths which are the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad.

So, let's look at these two Hadiths.

"The Prophet forbade beating animals on the face." Number two.

"I heard Allah's messenger saying an ant bit a Prophet amongst the Prophets, and he orders the place of the ants to be burnt.

So, Allah inspired him, "is it because one ant bit you that you burnt a nation amongst the nations that glorify Allah?" So, this is really important.

Animals are seen as very important and very special for many reasons.

Just like humans, they glorify Allah.

Just like humans, they worship God.

Just like humans, they obey God.

And there's a key thing that you may remember from the lesson on Ramadan and that's Sawm, which is the act of fasting.

On Lailat al Qadr which is known as the night of power, It is believed that all of God's creation worship and obey him, including the animals and including the trees.

Now, the key thing here with the first verse as well.

Now, the Prophet forbade the beating of animals on the face is seen as Haram, is seen as forbidden.

Is seen that animals should be treated with love and respect.

So, there's much that we can learn from the treatment of animals from these Hadiths.

Now, from this Hadith as well, let's look at it.

Abdullah reported that the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, stopped in a place and then someone took a bird's eggs and the bird began to beat it's wings around the head of the head of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.

He asked, "Which of you has taken its eggs?" A man said, "Messenger of Allah, I have taken the eggs." The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Return them out of mercy to the bird." So, look what the Prophet Muhammad says here in terms of the bird and the eggs that the bird has.

A man takes the bird's eggs and the bird goes to the Prophet Muhammad and is beating its wings around the Prophet Muhammad and the Prophet Muhammad asked, "Who took these eggs" And the man says, "It was me." The Prophet Muhammad says, "Show mercy towards that bird.

Take back it's eggs." 'Cause remember the eggs are going to be its newborns, so it should be that we show care and compassion towards animals as to do so.

So, what I'd like for you to do now, in a moment, I'd like for you to spend seven minutes, and we've got all these Hadiths, so I'd like for you to write down what do the Hadith tell us about how the Prophet Muhammad showed how Muslims should treat animals.

And just a reminder there, I've got three Hadiths.

The Hadith on the ants, the Hadith on the beating of the animals, and the Hadith on the eggs of the bird.

So, once I've disappeared, there we go, can I please ask for you to pause the video, and I'll see you in seven minutes to answer that question.

What does the Hadith of the Prophet show about how to treat animals? So, welcome back, and let's of over this answer together.

SO, Hadith which are the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, tell and encourage Muslims to care for and to look after animals.

The Hadith of the ants reminds Muslims that all of Allah's creations glorify him and that their homes should not be destroyed.

The Hadith on the beating of the animals tells Muslims it's Haram to mistreat and abuse animals.

And finally the Hadith of the bird's eggs, encourages Muslims to show mercy to animals as the Prophet Muhammad commanded them to do so.

Now, if there's any corrections you need to make please make sure that you pause the video.

If not, let's continue on.

So, time for a bit of true and false.

Let's see what we can remember from today's learning.

True or false.

Haram is not mentioned in the Qur'an.

Five seconds.

And the answer you should have had is false.

The Qur'an clearly mentioned what is Haram.

Next question.

The Bismilah prayer must be said over the animal as part of the Halal slaughter.

True or false? And the answer is true, in order for something to be deemed as Halal, the Bismilah prayer must be said and it reminds Muslims that all thing are seen as a blessing and done in the name of God.

Any knife can be used to slaughter the animal.

True or false? and the answer you should have had is false, not any knife can be used, it must be a sharp knife and the reason for this is to ensure that the slaughter is quick and in the best ability of the person doing it with limited pain for the animal.

Pork is Halal.

True or false? No pork on my fork, as the Muslims say.

It is false, pork is forbidden in Islam 'cause it is deemed as a dirty animal.

There is no Hadith writings on animals.

True or false? And the answer is false.

And we looked on many of them.

The Hadith of the birds, the Hadith of the beating of animals, and the Hadith of the ants.

Animals are Allah's creation.

True or false? And the answer is true.

Muslims are reminded that animals are apart of Allah's creation and they should be cared for and looked after and treated with respect.

Ahl Al-Kitab means People of the Meat.

True or false? And the answer is false.

It means People of the Book which refers to those that receive previous revelations, the Christians and the Jews.

Many Prophets were shepherds.

True or false? And the answer is true.

And remember there's many qualities that they learn in terms of how to look after, look and care for animals which also helped and supported them when it came to the revelations that they were given.

True or false? It is Halal to brand an animal on it's face.

Three seconds.

And it is false.

Remember the Hadith which says that this should not be done.

Next question.

Halal means permissible or lawful.

True or false? This should be quite easy.

And it is true.

Halal does mean permissible or lawful as found in the Qur'an.

Halal is not part of Shariah Law.

True or false? And this is false, it is part of God's divine law.

Haram consists of more than just what you are not allowed to eat.

True or false? And it is true.

It's also actions that are deemed as Haram such as stealing, lying, and murder.

So, in summary.

Today, we have learned about what Halal is in terms of its definitions and how they're both mentioned in the Qur'an.

We've also been able to understand, actually, what the Halal procedure is of slaughter and what is done before something is deemed as Halal meat.

And according to Muslims this is the most humane way done because it is quick, it is done with a sharp knife and the draining of the blood as well to ensure that no blood is eaten as blood contains diseases and carries diseases.

Now we've also been able to understand the Hadiths and the writings on the use of animals and how the Qur'an says that animals can be used to travel on but the importance and significance of looking after and caring animals as well.

Now, just one final thing as always.

Yes, that final reminder as always.

Please ensure that you're able to share your work with Oak National @OakNational #LearnwithOak on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram with the permission of your parent or carer.

And one final thing, there is a quiz left for you to do, so please ensure you do your exit quiz and I'll be really hoping that you get a five out of five for learning today.

And on that note, it's a goodbye from me.

See you soon.