Halal and Haram

Lately, there's been a slew of tweets, FB posts and blog posts highlighting the halal haram of certain establishments or certain products.

From my observation, most of these posts came from people who didn't bother doing their research properly. Hence, the news became viral, spreading uncontrollably from screen to screen. By the time said establishment or company issues a statement to declare their innocence (or give any type of confirmation) it's already too late. Funnily enough, these same people either don't bother spreading the truth when it comes out or just don't care to know about it at all.

I once looked up the ingredient stated in a particular product which so-called made it 'haram'. I really don't remember which ingredient it was, but I do remember that the product was a soft drink and said ingredient konon2nya had pig fat in it.

When I looked it up, I found out (unsurprisingly) that this ingredient DID NOT CONTAIN ANY TYPE OF FAT AT ALL, PIG OR OTHERWISE. Obviously, I sent the info to the person who was spreading the message at the time, but what about the others who had already told all of their friends? The damage had been done, and all because people refuse to look up a few simple facts.

Come on, people. We live in the age of Google and Wiki. Use them.

As for these establishments, spending less than 10 minutes verifying that they're halal by browsing JAKIM's website or better yet, calling them up really is worth the hassle.

Then no one can accuse you of fitnah, right? And you can rest easy and be assured that the establishments you frequent are indeed halal, and the food and drinks are safe for your consumption. Isn't that better than listening to the grapevine and causing damage to innocent people?