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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To serve these foods to muslim friends

603 replies

MissMildred · 04/08/2018 19:03

Hi - posting here for traffic but also because I don't want to BU. I invited some new school friends and their parents for a bbq in a couple of weeks and two of the families are muslim and mentioned they only eat halal.
I want to make an effort to make them feel comfortable, and it has also been very interesting learning all about what is halal or haram. Obviously no pork will be served. However, some of the guidance on the internet is not clear, so I wondered if anyone with this diet could help me with these items and whether it would BU to serve them up:

Vinegar - if I served this in eg. a coleslaw, are all types of vinegar fine? (Eg is the vinegar not seen as alcohol anymore?)
Butter - Am I overthinking this? Would you eat butter?
Alcohol - I know you wouldn't drink this, but is it acceptable for others in the group to be drinking a glass of wine?
Halloumi - I can't figure out if this is okay or not.

Also - any tips you might have would be great, especially if there are brands of crisps, bread, butter etc....you might use.

Thank you!

OP posts:
harshbuttrue1980 · 05/08/2018 17:00

Its factually wrong to say that only a small proportion of halal meat is not stunned. Fullfact.org (a reputable fact checking organisation) says that "the Food Standards Agency say that in 2012 of those animals slaughtered in the UK according to halal rules 84% of cattle or calves, 81% of sheep and goats, and 88% of poultry were stunned before slaughter."
So, if you eat UK halal lamb, there is a 19% chance that the animal was strung upside down and had its throat cut while it bled to death, fully conscious. There are no figures about animals from abroad, so this could be even higher.
I'm vegan and think all meat is cruel, but there is clearly a distinction between stunning an animal before hanging it upside down and slitting its throat and doing so when it is fully conscious. Being sensitive to other cultures and faiths shouldn't stop people acting against disgusting cruelty.
Stunned halal is no crueler than non-halal, so I don't understand why all animals aren't stunned.

SavvySaver24 · 05/08/2018 17:07

Fair enough. In that case say each to their own and bring your own meat or go vegetarian if so bothered by it all. Nobody's forcing you to eat it. Whereas you'd be forcing your "don't want to so Muslim's can't eat meat either" attitude on others if saying that meat shouldn't be halal.
That way everybody happy. At least you'd think

So tell muslims to bring their own meat too!! What is the difference!?

rainbowsandsmiles · 05/08/2018 17:11

So tell muslims to bring their own meat too!! What is the difference!?

Will break down for you.

They. Can't. Eat. For. Religious. Reasons. You. Can. But.Just. Don't. Want. To.
Why. Would. You Want. To. Cut. Off. Them. From. Eating Meat. By Insisting. The Whole. BBQ. Isn't. Suitable. For. Them?

YeTalkShiteHen · 05/08/2018 17:15

rainbowsandsmiles there was a pretty nasty and very telling reply a few pages back that that particular poster was “fed up with people pandering to minorities”.

SavvySaver24 · 05/08/2018 17:17

As someone who apparently isn't religious in any way, you DO have the same rights as you can eat whichever way you choose to without being shackled to a way of eating!
You can eat halal, non halal, whatever.

No questioning whether or not they can choose to eat halal or non halal. Of coutse they can. The issue here is that appatently some people think they need to inform muslim guests thay the meat is halal but it is appatently ludictous and racist to inform non muslim guests that the meat IS halal. I'm saying both sides should know what they are eating!!

YeTalkShiteHen · 05/08/2018 17:19

I wouldn’t have people with attitudes like yours anywhere near my house so it’s pretty irrelevant.

SavvySaver24 · 05/08/2018 17:22

They. Can't. Eat. For. Religious. Reasons. You. Can.But.Just. Don't. Want. To.
Why. Would. You Want. To. Cut. Off. Them. From. Eating Meat. By Insisting. The Whole. BBQ. Isn't. Suitable. For. Them?

No no this is where YOU miss the point. They CAN. Nothing is going to happen to them, they will not DIE. They just have a religious preference NOT to. This is absolubtely NO different to my PERSONAL belief to NOT eat halal meat.

YeTalkShiteHen · 05/08/2018 17:23

This is absolubtely NO different to my PERSONAL belief to NOT eat halal meat

It is. But you cannot and will not understand that. It doesn’t make it less true, it makes you extremely intolerant and ignorant. HTH.

derxa · 05/08/2018 17:25

I'm vegan and think all meat is cruel, but there is clearly a distinction between stunning an animal before hanging it upside down and slitting its throat and doing so when it is fully conscious. Being sensitive to other cultures and faiths shouldn't stop people acting against disgusting cruelty. I agree and it's not often I agree with vegan posters on here.

YeTalkShiteHen · 05/08/2018 17:26

derxa you didn’t read the link I posted did you? They reckon 36% of pigs are not stunned before they are slaughtered due to human error. More for chickens, non halal slaughter.

rainbowsandsmiles · 05/08/2018 17:29

rainbowsandsmiles there was a pretty nasty and very telling reply a few pages back that that particular poster was “fed up with people pandering to minorities”

Sad Missed that. Says it all really then if so.
Not exactly sure how Muslims are a minority either.

rainbowsandsmiles · 05/08/2018 17:31

No no this is where YOU miss the point. They CAN. Nothing is going to happen to them, they will not DIE.

Of course they won't die. Hmm Their religion says they can't eat non halal though. Are you this intolerant to other faiths and their beliefs too?

YeTalkShiteHen · 05/08/2018 17:34

Says it all really then if so

Sadly it does indeed.

peadarm · 05/08/2018 17:43

I agree that the animal-welfare differences between halal and non-halal meat are insignificant.

However, it would be irresponsible to assume that anyone who thinks otherwise is a DM reader or racist.

Nor is it respectful to assume that religious beliefs are superior to secular beliefs.

YeTalkShiteHen · 05/08/2018 17:48

However, it would be irresponsible to assume that anyone who thinks otherwise is a DM reader or racist.

Only the shouty ones who can’t give a reason for hating it because it would out them as a bigot as happened upthread.

Nor is it respectful to assume that religious beliefs are superior to secular beliefs

But the secular beliefs being touted on this thread involve prioritising their beliefs over others so hardly particularly tolerant.

I’m an atheist, for the hundredth time, and other people’s faiths don’t affect me personally. They also don’t affect the people shouting the loudest on here no matter how much they pretend that they do.

rainbowsandsmiles · 05/08/2018 17:49

Nor is it respectful to assume that religious beliefs are superior to secular beliefs

If you're secular though, you can eat what you like. You're not tied to eating the halal meat.
Don't get why some would happily exclude people just because they don't want to eat what they are. If it means that much to you how your animal has been killed or what it's had sung or played to it, you'd bring your own or go veggie.
I'd want everyone to be able to eat.

rainbowsandsmiles · 05/08/2018 17:53

The issue here is that appatently some people think they need to inform muslim guests thay the meat is halal but it is appatently ludictous and racist to inform non muslim guests that the meat IS halal. I'm saying both sides should know what they are eating!!

But why the fuck do you CARE if you're not religious?! You wouldn't give a shiny shit! Muslims do care. They can't eat it. So it's polite to tell them if it's not halal.
Whereas you don't need to know as you CAN eat it. You just don't want to. It's meat.

derxa · 05/08/2018 17:56

you didn’t read the link I posted did you? And nor will I read wild propaganda.

YeTalkShiteHen · 05/08/2018 17:59

Ah ok, so you’ll never read anything you think you might disagree with? Grand, good to know.

By the way, the statistics weren’t from a vegan webpage, they were from welfare agents assessing slaughterhouses. But don’t let a little thing like facts get in the way eh?

PastaRedWine · 05/08/2018 18:00

I am saying extra prayers over many posters on this thread.

commonarewe · 05/08/2018 18:01

Are you this intolerant to other faiths and their beliefs too?

Why are you so intolerant to people who want nothing to do with religion? Who are you to dictate what people are allowed to care about? Once more, the desire not to eat ritually-slaughtered meat is just as valid as the desire to eat it. Despite your terminal inability to understand or accept the point.

OftenHangry · 05/08/2018 18:02

Way to ruin what could have been nice, educative threat🙄
I was expecting some recipe sharing rather than this s**t...

YeTalkShiteHen · 05/08/2018 18:05

Why are you so intolerant to people who want nothing to do with religion?

What a ridiculous statement. Your beliefs are your own, it’s when you start slating other people’s beliefs because of your own that you become intolerant. Which is what you’ve been doing all along so calling anyone else intolerant is very ironic.

It’s perfectly possible to be an atheist without being fucking nasty to everyone who isn’t.

JennieLee · 05/08/2018 18:10

I think all meat that's on sale in the UK is ritually slaughtered in the sense that it is follows a set of procedures. (Non-ritually slaughtered meat would just involve some random act of violence.)

commonarewe · 05/08/2018 18:10

Your beliefs are your own, it’s when you start slating other people’s beliefs because of your own that you become intolerant. Which is what you’ve been doing all along so calling anyone else intolerant is very ironic.

Your reading comprehension is dreadful. I haven't slated anyone else's beliefs - they can believe and for that matter eat whatever they like. The only thing I don't accept is that those who do not follow and do not accept religion should have the religious practices of others forced upon them. Can't make it clearer than that.

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