Question for the Professor: Series 2 - On Food

Adam has now started to ask about Halal and Haram food and drinks. It is quite challenging to argue with him.

A: Mama, makanan halal tu apa?

M: Makanan halal means it is suci, bersih and lembu (or lamb or chicken) yang disembelih secara Islam [slaughtered the Muslim way]. You remember the time when we balik kampung and you saw how the cow was slaughtered?

A: Yes, I remember.. it went "krohhhhh... krohhhhh" at the end.

M: Yeah. It drains out all the blood from its body and make it less painful for the cow to die (err... I'm not too sure about this actually, but I'm trying to make it less gory for him)

A: Makanan haram tu apa?

M: Makanan haram tu is like.. err.. unslaughtered cow or chicken. That means they don't baca doa before they slaughter the animals.

A: Tapi orang Christian pun ada doa jugak Ma.

M: Yes, but for sembelih, they have to baca doa Islam for it to be halal. Pork is also not halal you know. We can't eat pork.

A: Why?

M: Because they are dirty animals and they carry a lot of penyakit with them (swine flu, nipah virus, etc.). They also like to roll around in dirt.

A: But what if we bathe them in antiseptic and give them antibiotics to kill all the viruses. Can we eat them?

M: No!

A: What if we sembelih them secara Islam? Can we eat them?

M: No!

A: But why?

M: Because the Quran says so.

A: But we don't understand what the Quran says.

M: That's why you need to learn your Bahasa Arab.

A: Mama, pork tu sedap tak?

M: ???

This is why I'm never meant to be a teacher.

Next: Question for the Professor: Series 3 - on drinks pulak.