“No Pork” so OK lah, really?

Living in Malaysia can sometimes be quite exciting because you can never predict what issues people will bring to the fore.  I was taken a little by surprise when they brought up an issue with “No Pork” signs displayed in some restaurant. I’m not sure which is the actual issue but there are apparently two versions of this issue: one says that the sign may be misconstrued by Muslims. The other strand seems to imply that it is an intentional attempt to misguide Muslims. So one group is saying that this is simply a case of either ignorance of Islamic laws or apathy towards Islamic related regulations, or both but there is no malicious intent to deceive. The latter group seems to imply that there is a deliberate intent to deceive Muslims into patronizing these establishments. I resent the latter because it seems to imply that we Muslims are extremely easily deceived. How stupid do they think we are anyway? Perhaps they should give Muslims some credit. I don’t think that Muslims who go to eat at these “No Pork” establishment do so because they want to eat there and they are not quite concerned about the finer details of the Halalan Toyyiban rule.

Halalan Toyyiban, roughly translated means Halal and Good, goes far beyond mere absence of pork based products.Firstly,  A truly halal establishment means that other non-Halal meats and products are also not served there. As for meats, the meat served must have been slaughtered in accordance to Islamic rules. What is the correct way of killing animals? You might ask. Answering that question would take us into a different chapter of the Halalan Toyyiban issue this it is for another time. Secondly, the meats, food items and utensils at the establishment must not have been contaminated by contact with non-Halal meats. This however is not a big issue because the utensil can easily be washed using the Sertu / samak method. Thirdly, no non-halal items must be used in cooking the food at the establishment. This includes alcohol and things derived from pork. As for the toyyiban part, everything must be kept clean and clean here means exactly the same as it does everywhere else.

Taking this a step further, it can also be said that the food we eat and serve must be obtained in a halal way.  The food does not become haram if one buys it with stolen money or money obtained by other illegal means but consuming it is still considered haram.  Tasawwuf Ulamas would also argue about the barakah (or lack of it that comes from the food we consume). Non-Muslims may wonder why is it that we Muslims… well, most of us anyway… are so concerned with halal food. The answer is simple: (a) the food that we consume becomes the stuff that our bodies use to build and maintain our bodies – this is scientifically proven, (b) the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) teachers us that, I’m paraphrasing here, anything haram belongs in hellfire.

As for the restaurateurs, one has to wonder if they are really concerned about the sensitivities and sensibilities of their Muslims patrons. Simply putting a “No Pork” sign is really a cop out, or as we Malays say, “melepaskan betuk ditangga”. – it’s betuk which is a bird and not batuk which means to cough. I have had a look at the process of getting a proper halal certification, it is not that hard. Certainly nowhere near as hard as some make it out to be. It simply takes some effort and patience because the process involves a few bureaucratic and analytical steps.

As for the Muslims patrons, one has to wonder about their commitment to sticking to halalan toyyiban in the first place. If they are concerned about it, they would not patronize establishments that they are not totally convinced are halalan toyyiban in the first place. As for being deceived into thinking that the place is halal, I think that patron would be extremely simple-minded to be fooled so easily. I do not doubt that there are those who do fall into this category but I would like to think that their number is extremely small. It is more likely that the most of them do not hold on to the rule as strictly as the governmental bodies would like them to.

So, while it is heartening to know that the religious department is genuinely concerned about the religious well-being of Muslims in Malaysia. However, I find it a little troubling if the second strand of the issue is the predominant narrative being held by the people in the religious department.

Personally, I prefer to think that the local Muslims are well aware that “No Pork” simply means that there is no pork served which, of course, includes bacon, gammon, and all other pork related products. In addition, we can also be charitable and believe that they go to these establishments trusting that the proprietors are good enough to not use haram items in preparing their food.  Are they trustworthy? That is a question for the restaurant proprietors to answer.