I confess I find it delicious (somewhat unhealthy probably, but delicious).
It is something of a testament to current affairs that in all seriousness, I really don’t know whether it’d make sense to put the words “No offence” at the beginning of the previous sentence.
In any case, allow me for now to seek the perspectives of experts who I hope may be reading on some of the following quotes from an article on the Bak Kut Teh Controversy:
Ketua Penolong Pengarah Jabatan Kemajuan Agama Islam Malaysia (Jakim) Lokman Abdul Rahman berkata, bak kut teh tidak boleh dianggap halal kerana ia masih mengekalkan penggunaan nama yang haram mengikut hukum Islam.
“Walaupun mereka mungkin akan membuat permohonan, Jakim tidak akan meluluskan makanan bak kut teh halal itu kerana sudah jelas ia tidak mengikut hukum yang telah ditetapkan di dalam Islam,” katanya.
So, I have a few questions. Some I have some inkling of, others less so, but I wanted to get your views:
a) (For you Hokkien lang out there) If I were to use the word “Bak” or “Bak Kut” – is a specific type of meat implied in common usage?
b) What exactly is the hukum Islam referred to twice by saudara Lokman above?
I ask b), and the follow up questions that follow with full respect, and in the hopes that some lady or gentleman may perhaps enlighten me and increase my understanding of the issue.
So, is there a specific law that involves the haram or halal-ness of things with certain names? As in, perhaps, if I were to wrap a piece of perfectly halal plain bread with a wrapper that said “pork bun” or something would that technically make it haram to buy or eat?
Again, I hope there is absolutely no misunderstanding of my intent, which is asked fully respectfully in the spirit of inquiry.
I have always been interested in Islamic jurisprudence, and remember having plenty of technical questions I used to ask Nik Nazmi (waaaaaay) back in the day when we shared an office. Our conversations always enlightened me, and I hope to continue my journeys of discovery in the same spirit of learning.
Apologies in advance if I edit or delete overly contentious comments, trying not to spend Xmas in jail, ahaha :P :)
Nat, pork consumption is a very minor matter. Only in Malaysia, it is given a big deal. My sister would start spitting at the mention of the word pig or pork. The reason is because of the brainwashing done since young. It would be a waste of your time and effort to research on such a minor thing in Islam. There are bigger things that should be of concern. Perhaps i may recommend you to read books by Tariq ramadhan for contempory views on Islam.
please dont talk about halal/haram in islam if you are non-muslim. sensitive issue. peace.
hi there
i don’t speak for all muslims, but just wanna tell you why certain muslims can feel a bit slighted when people produce so called halal beers or bak kut teh
to borrow your example of packaging bread n calling it pork bun…let’s say to devout Hindus who never touched cow meat – we produce a soy meat and call it cow meat (it’s just a name eh?) would they want to eat it on a specially religious day?
personally i think it’s an assault to symbolism. it is an issue you don’t pay particular attention to here in your study about islam. it’s sometimes called ‘syiar’
if you understand this fine point, you will know why people dont package chocolate bars and name it ‘tahi manis’ :)
The direct translation from Hokien is ‘meat bone tea’ and it was supposed to be a description for meat attached to bones which could be from any part of the pig (original animal of the dish; any other version are derived from it) and include more specifically, spare ribs, cooked with distinctive herbs, which varies from stall to stall because the recipes are kept secret and people tried their own version to emulate. Traditionally, it goes with Chinese tea which was how Bah Kut Teh came about.
I think it is similar to the word ‘bacon’ which the English used the word to describe pork bacon traditionally. If we are particular, then bacon should not be used in hotels where beef bacon are served to cater for halal food.
Munirah,
My prejudice blinded my logic when I first heard about the Bah Kut Teh issue. You have made a valid point and I think it is good enough to let this matter to rest.
It is indeed nice to have people like you in this blog.
if they given the reason that muslims might get confused with wrong labeling, that i can accept.
but giving a lame reason that the name didnt follow “hukum yang ditetapkan dalam islam”, i guess even a muslim will be confused hearing such a thing.
There’s already chi-kut-teh herb spices for sale. I agree that hotels should not use the label beef bacon at their buffets, it has confused me many a time! Just like mince pies which has mince!
Oops..no mince, I meant. Nat, hv you tried the bkt stall at Lot 10 ? It’s delicious, from Klang I think, it’s got the thick black soup.
I meant no mince.
I always have bak kut teh, but I only used pheasants and not pork. I still called it bak kut teh. Malay muslims are getting really really dense, just like the fake malay Tee.