Waleed Basyouni – Is Cross-Contamination in Restaurants Haram – Islamic Ruling on Eating Out
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AI: Transcript ©
Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.
We have a question.
He says if it's permissible to eat from
a restaurant, obviously the halal meat or meat
that is like beef or chicken, is it
okay if there is what he calls cross
-contamination, which means that they use the same
utensils and pots that they cook pork with.
Is it halal to eat in these restaurants,
or should you ask if this takes place,
and what is the case in this situation?
Yeah, I mean, this is a good question.
It's a common question.
For instance, if you go to a subway
and you want to buy a sandwich, okay,
he just made a sandwich, turkey, but made
a ham.
The same knife they cook, they cut the
ham, they use it to cut the turkey,
use it to cut the tuna sandwich.
You know, that will contaminate.
It will make it haram.
Obviously, this is a very, very insignificant amount
of touch.
The residues of pork.
Yeah, yeah.
It will not make it haram.
It will make it dislike.
But also, usually what they do, they wipe
the knife.
Yeah, or you can ask them to do
that.
Or you can ask them to do that
if you have access to the person.
Just wiping it, it will be enough.
Right.
But the grill, they just cook in there
a bacon.
You know, I ask people in restaurant business,
they said usually we do mix things together.
Like in the grill, this area for bacon,
this area for this.
But if that's the case, that's easy.
But what if no?
Some people don't do that.
That one grill, small, everything else.
You know, for them, sometimes they take that,
what do you call that?
The spatula.
What is it?
The spatula.
Spatula.
Yeah.
So they use it to clear the fat
or the crumble on the side.
That will be enough to clear that when
the heat exists for your beef to be
cooked.
All this area, it is not haram.
And I'm worried if, especially you live in
a non-Muslim country, and this is, the
possibility of this is so high.
Something like, something is very hard to avoid.
Yes.
And unless you see with your eyes, you
know for sure that this is something haram.
It is not allowed.
Like for example, they tell you, you know
what?
We fried the sausage with the fish together
in the same fry pan.
In this case, I don't eat it.
Yeah, this is because the oil has already
been contaminated, and it's probably a big percentage.
A big percentage, and it is.
But you know what?
Just assuming that, you know, maybe like in
the microwave, the smoke of the meat comes
to meet with the chicken when you put
it to heat it.
Or maybe there is some, you know, bubble
from the, you know, the oil of the
bacon fly and drop on the, at least
if you're going to open this door, you're
not going to be able to eat anything.
I'm worried that's going to create some kind
of...
Yeah, the splashing of the oil.
Yeah.
And some people think this is wara.
You know, al-wara is not to look
into these details.
Al-wara is to stay away from it.
But going to these details, I don't consider
this as wara, like being avoiding.
I think this has become more of open
the door for being, you know...
Maybe a wiswas.
Wiswas, some kind of...
You're going to think of so many details,
it can create sometimes disorder, you know, for
the person.
And compulsive disorder.
And you worry about everything and create phobia.
And create, like, a situation that's not healthy.
Al-wara is to say, you know what,
I don't want to be in that door.
I don't want to think about details or
anything like that.
I just want to go for something 100
% I'm very comfortable with.
You know, in this case, that's fine.
So I hope this is clear to differentiate
between the two concepts.
As for all these details and, you know,
unless you know for sure this is something
in front of your eyes happened to be
haram.
Right.
That's one thing.
You don't know.
It's not, you know, been asked to investigate
into the details.
Yeah.
But there are certain things simple.
Ask them, hey, can I have things to
be grilled by itself?
You know, can you please make sure that
you clean them?
Whether they did it or not, you did
your job.
Alhamdulillah.
Yes.
So basically, if you go to a restaurant,
you're sitting down, you're ordering fish, for example.
I want salmon.
Right.
And it's obviously halal.
And then you don't ask.
They bring you salmon.
Oh, how they grill it.
Did they have before that a bacon?
No, you're not supposed to.
Yeah, you don't have to.
You don't have to.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala made it so
easy for us, alhamdulillah.
So if you know for sure, then you
avoid it.
Yes.
But if you don't, you don't have to
ask.
Yes.
Right.
Jazakallah khair.
Thank you.