To serve these foods to muslim friends

[MissMildred]

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!

Feeling the love for @BertrandRussell

Great answers!

Why do i need to justify saying no.

Why do i need to justify saying no

You don’t need to justify anything. There’s a big difference between asking for justification and asking why. Nobody has been able to provide a sensible answer for why.

YeTalkShiteHen, how arrogant are you to think it is upto you to decide what is sensible

Hmmmmmm

Why does it matter if my choice to say no to something meets someone else's criteria of sensible.

What if I said no to a cup of tea? Do I need to provide a sensible reason?

What if I said no to a cup of tea? Do I need to provide a sensible reason?

Only if you're non-religious. If you are religious, then any old reason is acceptable. If you're not, you have to pass a self-appointed committee that considers "Hmmmm" to be an adequate substitute for rational argument.

Nobody has been able to provide a sensible answer for why.

By what logic is "religion" a sensible reason for something? And I'm not interested in what the law says, I mean from a rational perspective, why is it okay to have pointless requirements if it's part of a mass religion, but not otherwise?

Well, if you say "yuck-nasty Muslim tea, not drinking that!" then you might be called upon to explain yourself........

I think doing anything for religious reasons is seriously bonkers-but then I like rationality. I accept that religious people are not rational in some parts of their thinking and for reasons of the law, good manners and general sensitivity to others, I am prepared to put up with their particular faith driven quirks insofar as they do not impact on me. I expect rationality from non religious people in such matters, though, and refusing to eat halal meat, when it is of the same welfare standard as non halal, and when you are prepared to eat other prayed over meat is just not rational.

But that is the essence of commonarewe's argument. That she should be just as entitled to make her irrational decisions as religious people are. If we must respect one, we must respect the other.

I also think expecting all non-religious people to be rational about all things is a very optimistic outlook.

Well said, Diego, well said. Give us equal rights to be either rational or irrational, not this bizarre double standard.

Name change fail - same point anyway!

For me as a Muslim eating halal is logical
I believe in a creator and that we begin everything in his name , and that the slaughter of animals must be done in as responsible and humane a manner as possible , including how livestock is kept and treated beforehand (for this reason some Muslims won't meat eat at all as they are not always kept ethically ). This is what defines 'halal'. It is about remembering god, being humane , and hygienic. As we believe in the Christian and Jewish god as being the same thing , we also eat Jewish and Christian meat . It is also 'halal' ( but as I've explained , many believe the Uk is not a Christian country in practise so won't eat the meat here but will eat kosher for e.g).
I've yet to hear a logical reason why you would just not eat halal meat, other than being islamophobic .

For me as a Muslim eating halal is logical
I believe in a creator and that we begin everything in his name

So the fact I DON'T believe in that and DON'T want to eat halal meat means I am supposedly illogical, but you believing in that creator is totally logical. Hmmmm OK.

Actually that’s a fair point, during my research I discovered that even if animals are slaughtered according to halal protocol, if the animal is mistreated during its life or death it ceases to be halal, even if the prayers are said.

For me as a Muslim eating halal is logical

Well, that's a subjective opinion. I'm sure the people who don't want to eat halal meat think they're decision is logical too!

I've yet to hear a logical reason why you would just not eat halal meat, other than being islamophobic

Me either.

I don’t know if protocol is the right word, but you get the gist.

So the fact I DON'T believe in that and DON'T want to eat halal meat means I am supposedly illogical, but you believing in that creator is totally logical. Hmmmm OK.

Can you at least give a reason why you don't want to eat halal meat ? Even if it is 'subjectively logical ', I'm yet to hear you talk through your thoughts processes , other than a whole load of hysteric nonsense that includes racist terminology like 'pandering to minorities '.

Well, that's a subjective opinion. I'm sure the people who don't want to eat halal meat think they're decision is logical too!

That's great , so let's hear the reasoning then, other than the tantrumming and the 'i just don't want tooooo'

It isn't my fault you cannot read BadTeacher. I have outlined my reasons incredibly clearly (if you scroll back they are even listed points 1 and 2 just to help you out as you are clearly struggling...)

For me as a Muslim eating halal is logical

And that's absolutely fair enough; even if they don't agree with it, no-one should deny you your view or your right to decide what to consume. Both of these are for you to decide and frankly nobody else's business as long as they stay within the law

Should the same consideration not be extended to those who prefer not to eat halal meat, even if some find their choice inexplicable?

Should the same consideration not be extended to those who prefer not to eat halal meat, even if some find their choice inexplicable?

Apparently not because unless you are doing it for religious reasons, according to some idiots on this forum anyway, your opinion is irrelevant.

I would never eat halal meat.

So cruel. And in the name of what exactly?

@SavvySaver24 I still think it's silly as a non religious person to not want to eat halal because if you're not religious then it should be completely meaningless.

And if you eat non halal meat but won't eat halal because it's "cruel" I think that's completely ridiculous because all animal slaughter is cruel.

Some people just like to be awkward.