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At the same time the first international Halal products conference was held in Mashhad, scientific-specialized panels were set up around the themes of ‘Sharia and halal products’, ‘economy and halal products’, and ‘research and technology and halal products’ with the presence of experts and authors of top articles sent to the conference. 15 Selected Articles Presented In the Panel ‘Sharia and Halal Products’ According to the news headquarters of the international halal conference, in the area of ‘Sharia and Halal products’ a total of 15 top articles were presented and discussed a selection of which will be presented in the following section. Scientific and Fiqhi evaluation of ‘alcohol’ and ‘alcoholic products’ Dr. Nourmohammadi, faculty member of Tehran University of Medical Sciences, investigated alcohol and its products scientifically and based on Islamic law (Fiqh) and stated that alcohol is a chemical that is frequently used in various nutritional, pharmaceutical, industrial and hygienic sections. He said: “the ruling (hukm) to apply alcohol in edible products is a key issue in Fiqh that is highly disputed in the Shi’a Fiqh”. Posing the question ‘which type of alcohol the title ‘intoxicant (musker) in Fiqh refers to and what is its authorized dosage in food and pharmaceutical products’ he said: “we have done research in this regard and came to the conclusion that highly concentrated pure ethanol is a major cause of poisoning and the concept of intoxicant in Fiqh does not apply to it”. Head of medical and nutritional department in the Institution for Identifying Themes of Islamic Juridical Rulings added: “when the concentration of alcohol decreases to a set point, it can be intoxicant. Reviewing the literature and taking a cautious approach to this issue, we can take 10 milliliter of alcohol as its intoxication limit and regard products with this amount of alcohol in them as intoxicants. In this conference, Abbas Emadi, secretary to the medical and nutritional department in the Institution for Identifying Themes of Islamic Juridical Rulings stated that alcohol is a chemical that was discovered centuries ago. He said: “despite being discovered for a long time, alcohol was not applied widely. In the past, alcohol was only used in alcoholic beverages, but as human knowledge progressed, applications of alcohol were also diversified”. He added: “alcohol is used in making hygienic and cosmetic products and in making drugs. In medicine, its disinfectant or preservative feature has various uses. In food industries, alcohol is used as a solvent.” “Many people in the society including producers, distributors and consumers deal with alcohol. This poses many Fiqhi questions, especially in religious communities in which people are committed to observe rulings of Sharia. These questions mainly concern tahara (ritual purity) or najāsa (ritual dirtiness) of alcohol or being halal (permissible) and haram (forbidden) to produce it. Role of Muslim scholars in development and enhancement of halal industry Elaborating on part of his article titled ‘role of Muslim scholar in the halal industry’, Zishan Abdul-Aziz, member of Pakistan International Halal Center said: “due to being aware of the Quran and religious resources and Fatwas, a Muslim scholar has a crucial role in this regard”. Pointing that various organizations throughout the world issue Halal certificates, he believes that the presence and supervision of Muslim scholars in the process of issuing these certificates and the producers’ compliance with these certificates is necessary. He said: “the Muslim scholar plays the role of a witness and should thus supervise all stages of production from producing raw materials to final production”. Member of Pakistan International Halal Center referred to the process of production of food additives and ambiguities that arise in this regard; he said: “the Muslim scholar can propose alternatives in the process of producing halal products and make people aware of such alternatives”. He pinpointed the importance of Muslim scholars’ interaction with nutritionists and said: “this interaction can help enhance both parties’ knowledge and improves the quality of halal products”. Halal is a divine ruling (hukm) which must be implemented Briefing a report on his article titled ‘halal in Shia and Sunni Fiqh’, Mohammad Alvan Al-Avati from Oman besides referring to the concept of halal and its necessity from the eye of Quran (Al-Baqarah, 168; An-Nahl, 11; Al-Ma’idah, 87-88) discussed the principle of helliat (being permissible) in Shia and Sunni Fiqh and said: “Sharia rulings fall into one of five categories: mandatory (farḍ or wājib), recommended(mandūb or mustaḥabb), reprehensible (makrūh), forbidden (ḥarām) and permissible (halal) among which halal as a divine ruling is highly important”. He added: “rather than just proposing a theory, the Holy Quran refers to application of halal and it refers not only to halal foods but also to the conditions to earn a halal property and how to use it”. Pointing to the globalization of halal products and concentration of a considerable portion of international productions on halal products, Head of Oman Halal Center criticized the passivity of Islamic countries in competing with non-Muslim producers and said: “with regard to dispersion of Muslim minorities in different countries of the world and their concern about halal nutrition, it is necessary that Islamic countries set the grounds to produce reliable halal products and distribute them among people”. Pointing to the halal conference held in Mashhad, Mohammad Alvan Al-Avati said: “Iran is not the first country to target this issue, Muslim and non-Muslim countries such as Brazil, Russia, Germany, U.A.E, Saudi Arabia, etc. have also focused on the issue”. He added that more than 33 percent of Brazil’s production is halal production and measurements have been taken for Muslim tourists to have access to halal food. Moreover, Head of Oman Halal Center mentioned turnover of halal products throughout the world in 2009 and said: “a 578 billion dollar business of these products implies enormous potentials for this industry in global commerce, while Muslim countries contribution to this business is very small”. Transgenic agricultural products and their effects on Fiqh Elaborating on his article, Dr. Mohammad Mehdi Ouji, member of Institution for Identifying Themes of Islamic Juridical Rulings referred to various methods of producing agricultural products and application of modern science and said: “use of genetically modified products is very controversial today and despite much research, there are still suspicions about whether to use them in the process of making products”. He said: “although due to the increase in the population of earth the need to more food and high quality agricultural products is felt, the rush to achieve products and profits generated by them affects the time and precision needed for health tests; one example is transgenic products”. Referring to transgenic products and their negative effects member of Institution for Identifying Themes of Islamic Juridical Rulings said: “ambiguities that arose in the area of transgenic products led Europe to ban their import from 2008”. He added that detailed research in Argentinean fields revealed that these products are cancerous and herbal pests resist poisons (details of these findings are presented in an article titled ‘identifying themes and Fiqhi evaluation of transgenic agricultural products).
As a plurality of themes were put forth in these panels, a list of important points is presented: -the distance between Muslim scholars and nutritionists should be lessened and their interaction should be enhanced; -there is legal vacuum in the laws of producing halal products and some regulations are not consistent enough; -our supervisors in livestock and poultry slaughterhouses do not have the necessary knowledge of Fiqh; -halal themes have not extended beyond theory and are not practical; -the upcoming challenges on the way of operationalizing halal themes should be dealt with; -the government should support and constantly monitor production of halal products; -being halal does not apply to foods only and applies to income, too; -halal themes are being discussed for a long time in many countries. Brazil is an example that founded the related establishment from 1949 and besides issuing rulings it makes products. The same is true for Germany and Russia; -in some countries ‘halal tourism’ is a quite familiar term and there are special hotels for this purpose; -halal is not Muslims’ concern only. Non-Muslims have also understood its benefits and the issue of halal should be discussed more seriously following this conference. Workgroups with the theme of halal should be formed; -various dimensions of halal such as Sharia, economy, research and technology should be investigated simultaneously and seminaries should lead and monitor the issue of halal; -a common problem of producers and Islamic scholars is that they do not interact with each other (synergy should be developed between Fiqh and production); -producers should be strictly supervised, and incentives or punishments should be considered. The supervision should not be confined to halal brand; rather, it should be continuous. -the issue of halal is important because it affects all social, economic and political areas of life; -halal nutrition protocols should be developed. Religious propositions are mainly practical; therefore, they can be used to develop Islamic protocols. -as halal brand is not known enough to consumers, the halal plus brand should be created; -Iran’s share of halal business is 0.2 percent of the global commerce; -laboratories and research in the area of halal should be enhanced. There is not consistency in the area of halal. |