Is anything that is vegan haram?
November 14, 2017 4:47 AM   Subscribe

Is anything that is vegan haram?
posted by pompomtom to Religion & Philosophy (12 answers total)
 
If it contains alcohol of any kind, it would be haram. Otherwise I think it would be fine.

For those that are adhering strictly to halal, many types of vanilla and other baking flavourings are haram because they are alcohol based. If you’re baking,it’s better to use vanilla powder or vanilla sugar if you aren’t sure.
posted by scrute at 4:52 AM on November 14, 2017 [4 favorites]


I think vegan is fine. Is alcohol vegan? Alcohol is definitely haram.

Here is a list from this website. I've no idea how legit the website is but it's quite a clear list and as Muslim (albeit one who eats haram food all the time) nothing in it jumps out at me as incorrect:

"Basically, all food is halal except for the following:

Meat from swine
Pork-based products and by-products
Animals improperly slaughtered, or already dead before slaughtering is due to take place
Animals killed or sacrificed in the name of others than Allah (swt)
Intoxicants/alcohol
Most carnivorous animals, birds of prey and land animals without external ears (i.e., snakes, reptiles, worms, insects etc.)
Blood and blood by-products
Foods contaminated with any of the above products"
posted by Ziggy500 at 4:53 AM on November 14, 2017 [2 favorites]


Response by poster: I was thinking that alcohol wouldn’t be vegan, because yeast, but I’m on ask because I dunno.
posted by pompomtom at 5:24 AM on November 14, 2017


Response by poster: Actually, extending that may be the answer, probably opium is vegan, and as I understand, haram.

Am I wrong?

May I refine the question to food?

Oh, this is all so fiddly....
posted by pompomtom at 5:28 AM on November 14, 2017


Yeast is a classified as a fungus.
posted by drlith at 5:31 AM on November 14, 2017 [2 favorites]


Yeast are not animals. Nutritional yeast is enjoyed by many vegans for umami flavor and a sort of cheese substitute. It’s as vegan as any other fungus.
Vegans may follow subtly different codes but generally the deal is to not eat animal products.

As far as I know opium is just as vegan as any other plant juice.

Also: scrute already has the main pitfall at top; alcohol based food extracts are usually vegan but always haram.
posted by SaltySalticid at 5:32 AM on November 14, 2017 [2 favorites]


Response by poster: (For context: I just want to know the answer, inspired by a lip gloss which is labeled as “vegan and halal”. I’m not adapting a menu.)
posted by pompomtom at 5:33 AM on November 14, 2017


Beer and wine are sometimes processed with fish bladder, gelatin, and egg white, which are not listed on the label, so they are not always vegan. More here.
posted by FencingGal at 5:35 AM on November 14, 2017


For the purposes of cosmetics there could be alcohol derivatives, which are vegan because they do not contain any kind of animal product, and for lip products in particular those alcohol derivatives would have to be food-safe/edible which would mean ethanol, which is an intoxicant, which would be consumed in small quantities because it's worn on the lips, which would be haram because intoxicants are not allowed. There's also a slim chance that a lip product might contain vanilla extract, which would be the same problem.
posted by Lyn Never at 6:36 AM on November 14, 2017 [4 favorites]


The answer is no, nothing that is vegan would be haram, other than alcohol.

However, not being haram doesn't mean something is necessarily going to be acceptable as halal to someone observant: what they're looking for is the halal certification. So if this product has the certification, they are going to make sure you know it, as they paid for it, and it's a value add for some customers.

(Same thing why I can't serve any processed food to super observant Jewish friends unless it's got a specific kosher symbol on it, plus some certs are acceptable and some aren't, to some people: it gets extremely tiresome.)
posted by fingersandtoes at 6:40 AM on November 14, 2017 [4 favorites]


Best answer: According to some scholars, intoxicating spices such as nutmeg are haraam, even in small amounts.

An-Nahl 16:115 forbids that which has been dedicated to other than Allah, so, say, prasāda or communion wafers could be vegan and haraam.
posted by zamboni at 7:13 AM on November 14, 2017 [5 favorites]




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