By Yahia Abu Zakariya, IOL Correspondent
STOCKHOLM, September 18 (IslamOnline.net) – Swedish dictionaries have introduced a new word now ringing a bell all across the country.
“Halal” could be checked in the dictionary along with a simple explanation in Swedish that it stands for food and drink allowed for Muslims under Islamic dietary laws.
Tens of Swedish major food chains in the country have been increasingly trade in meat of animals slain according to Shari’ah (the Islamic law) and to serve the demand of the half a million community members.
The halal food is sold alongside other foodstuffs in big stores of the major cities in the country and even small areas in the south – much to end a main concern for Muslims here.
Islamic rulings stipulate that other than seafood, Muslims may only eat meat that has been slaughtered in a specific manner, over which the name of anything other than God cannot have been pronounced.
Halal meat is prepared by slaughtering the animal with a cut to the throat to allow the blood to drain from the animal.
This is the most painless method of slaughter that the sudden loss of blood from the head means the animals feel virtually nothing.
Ubiquitous
Moving across stores of the capital, one can see how prevalent halal food is.
“Halal food has a place to be displayed there,” one saleswoman pointed to a special section in one store’s corner.
Muslims in the country had suffered deeply to find a halal food in stores, let alone making sure that its preparation confirms with Shari’ah.
Numeir El-Sayyed said his company is one of some others preparing and distributing halal food to stores dotting Europe.
“The firm owns special farms and markets halal meat all over northern Europe and also provide major Swedish stores and others owned by Arabs and Muslims with such meat,” El-Sayyed said.
No wonder, observers and analysts say, halal has thus found a place in most of the Swedish dictionaries along with a simple explanation of the term.
Three Kinds
There are three types of companies marketing halal food in Sweden and other European states.
Some companies offer 100 percent halal meat, as they seek the supervision of representatives of Muslim scholars over the slaughtering process.
These companies rent slaughtering equipment from companies in Sweden, Holland or New Zealand and purify them with disinfectants.
However, these companies cannot meet the needs of markets of Muslims in Europe, estimated at 20 million people.
As for the second type of companies, they only market halal meat after importing them, with less concern about its abiding by Shari’ah tenets.
The third type is that of fraudulent companies that provide Muslims with meat of animals killed with bullets, despite their claims it is halal.
These companies use expired meat, hot dogs and chicken bought from major stores at half their original prices, before marketing them on claims they are halal products.
They exploit the high demand on halal food in Sweden and other European states to distribute these products.
Eating out at restaurants still poses a problem for many Muslims. But governments and companies are coping.
In July, the council of Cardiff, the capital of Wales, has passed an amended motion put forward by a political party, offering Muslim students across the British principality halal school lunches.
McDonald's restaurants in Detroit, Michigan, offers halal Chicken McNuggets.
Local schools in the United States have also responded to Muslim parents' demands that halal food be served in school cafeterias.