Dear Brothers in Islam,
السَّلاَمُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ
All praise is for Allah, the Exalted; may He send peace and blessings on the prophet Muhammad (S.A.W), his family, and his companions.
May Almighty Allah be pleased with you. May He have you benefit from the mercy and blessings of this month that are prepared for the virtuous servants of Allah.
وهو شهرٌ اوله رحمةٌ، واوسطه مغفرةٌ، واۤخره عتق من النار.
“This is such a month that the first part is dominated by the mercy of Allah.” We are surrounded by the mercy of Allah alhamdulillah! “The middle of this month is dominated by the forgiveness of the sins.” We all have wrongdoing in the past, and we have so many shortcomings. As we keep fasting, Almighty Allah forgives us our sins by the middle of this month. “The last part of this month is freedom from the hellfire.” Almighty Allah will say, “O My servant! You have fasted in Ramadhan, I have forgiven you and freed you from the fire.” It is for those who fasted in Ramadhan properly.
As you know that we have started to commemorate the World Halal Day on every 17th of Ramadan since 2013. It is a day for blessing and it is an opportunity to spread the Halal Word and wisdom to the mankind.
World Halal Day is a gift from World Halal Council (WHC) to the World.
Allah orders us in Qur’an :
وَاعْتَصِمُوا بِحَبْلِ اللَّـهِ جَمِيعًا وَلَا تَفَرَّقُوا ۚ وَاذْكُرُوا نِعْمَتَ اللَّـهِ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذْ كُنتُمْ أَعْدَاءً فَأَلَّفَ بَيْنَ قُلُوبِكُمْ فَأَصْبَحْتُم بِنِعْمَتِهِ إِخْوَانًا وَكُنتُمْ عَلَىٰ شَفَا حُفْرَةٍ مِّنَ النَّارِ فَأَنقَذَكُم مِّنْهَا ۗ كَذَٰلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ اللَّـهُ لَكُمْ آيَاتِهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُونَ ﴿١٠٣﴾
“And hold firmly to the rope of Allah all together and do not become divided. And remember the favor of Allah upon you – when you were enemies and He brought your hearts together and you became, by His favor, brothers. And you were on the edge of a pit of the Fire, and He saved you from it. Thus does Allah make clear to you His verses that you may be guided. “ (Al Imran 103).
So let’s being united, being huge, being alive and hold tightly to the rope of Allah and remember our responsibilities for the Halal bite. This way we can contribute to our societies and clear our lives from non-Islam is not a simple act of pray. It is a whole life system prepared by Allah for the good of people. People have also the right of choice. Consumers of Halal choose Halal because they know this is good for their body and spirit and more important this is what Allah permits.
There are people (Muslim or non-Muslim) who don’t know or care about Halal. It is our responsibility to awaken those people, give them the options and world halal day is a chance for this awakening. If they might go ahead for non-Halal, then it is their choice.
What was the reason to select 17 Ramadhan as World Halal day?
Fiqh Ulamas jointly declared that the first ayat on Halal was Ayat 69 of Sura Anfal ((8:69). This ayat was revealed in 17th Ramadan in 624 (A.H. 2) during (or after) Battle of Badr, the first battle between Islam and kufr.
فَكُلُوا مِمَّا غَنِمْتُمْ حَلَالًا طَيِّبًا ۚ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّـهَ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّـهَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ ﴿٦٩﴾
“So consume what you have taken of war booty [as being] lawful and good, and fear Allah . Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.” (Anfal 69)
So we believe it is a good start to select 17 Ramadan to celebrate as World Halal Day. This will not mean that our activities for Halal will be limited to this particular day; but we shall give special importance to World Halal Day as millions of Muslims do not have the slightest idea of what they have been consuming.
As a probable and expected result of our collective efforts with other Halal Certifying Bodies and stakeholders, more Muslims will be enlightened and will understand the necessity for Halal and Halal certifying.
This year, 22 of June (C.E) is the 17 Ramadan and we, at GIMDES, will do our best to observe it.
We do hope that 17 Ramadan will be a day for Unity of Muslims and we will see that it will be celebrated with great enthusiasm among all Muslims inshaAllah.
Messenger of Allāh, may Allāh’s blessings and peace be upon him, say:
“Do the good deeds that Almighty Allah is pleased with and pay your servitude to Allah as you are expected in the best way.” Do not be unaware!
May Allah keep us in His straight path.
Best Regards,
Dr. Hüseyin Kami Büyüközer
GIMDES President
WHC Patron
