Q: I live in India, in a non-Muslim area. I have a lot of issues with vegetarian diet; bloating, excessive passing of gases, tinnitus increasing, stomach discomfort, skin issues etc.
I have always eaten mostly meat-based diet, and it (Alhamdulillah) suits my health. I’ve been eating a mix of halal and non-halal meats (beef, mutton, chicken only, never pork). Unfortunately fish here is really toxic. My situation is such that I can have home cooked halal food once or maybe sometimes twice a day, but many a times I have to order food, and eat outside with people etc.
I was feeling guilty for eating non-halal meats so I tried to stop eating non-halal meats. It’s been a couple of weeks since I lowered my meat intake to just the halal meat I am able to have cooked at home, and eating vegetarian at other times, and my health issues have become worse; lot of tinnitus, stomach issues, skin problems, lot of gas etc.
I’m trying to leave the area I live in, once (Insha’Allah) I get an employment in an area where more halal options are there. But till then, can I go back to eating a mix of halal and non-halal meats (no pork) due to health issues?
A: Just as eating pork is haraam, similarly, eating non halaal meat is also haraam. You should refrain from eating this haraam meat and make sincere tawbah to Allah Ta'ala for eating this haraam meat in the past.
Eating haraam will destroy your deen and it will cause you to be enticed towards committing all types of haraam actions.
In the Quraan Majeed, Allah Ta’ala has commanded the Ambiyaa and their ummats to consume halaal food and do halaal actions.
The Ulama explain that the link between both these commands (i.e. consuming halaal and doing halaal actions) is that the food one consumes assists one in either doing halaal actions or doing haraam actions.
If one consumes halaal, then the halaal food will assist him in doing halaal actions. On the contrary, if one consumes haraam, then the haraam food will cause him to do haraam actions.
In essence, the food one takes in is like the fuel for the body. Halaal food produces halaal actions and haraam food produces haraam actions.
And Allah Ta'ala (الله تعالى) knows best.
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