Brunei Darrussalam: Overseas Halal Dining Briefing For Students

Brunei: MUSLIM students who are pursuing their studies overseas should not be worried about dining in restaurants as long as they avoid places that serve non-Muslim customers, said a religious officer yesterday.

Hamdani Othman, Religious Student Officer, who was also an invited speaker from the Halal Food Control Unit at MoRA said this during a lecture for 33 students who are under the Ministry of Education’s scholarships on the concept of Halal food in Islam at the Islamic Da’wah Centre.

Students can dine in restaurants or fast-food eateries that do not have the official Halal labels provided they are certain that the eateries have food that are non-meat, he said.

“If you want to eat at McDonald’s and you order non-meat dishes like Fillet-O-Fish, you don’t have to worry about the cooking oil or the frying pan,” said Hamdani.

“However, if you believe that the restaurant’s kitchenware is used to fry pork meat, then you can just avoid eating in that particular restaurant,” he added.

A student asked whether it is allowed in Islam to dine in restaurants that serve pork but chose to eat vegetable dishes only.

Hamdani pointed out that students can dine in the restaurant as long as they do not eat the meat.

On whether students should demand to know the ingredients of the restaurants’ menus that have Halal labels outside, he responded by saying that restaurants with Halal labels should not be questioned.

Hamdani explained that students should not be prejudiced and concerned about restaurants with Halal labels because they have undergone filtration process prior to receiving the Halal certificate.

“It is not your job to get worried. Your job is to have that confidence that the food you are eating are Halal. If you think it’s Halal, that’s it. You can dine in that restaurant. If it’s not, do not dine in that restaurant,” he stressed.

The course gives students opportunity to discuss and share the experiences throughout their period of studies overseas, said Dk Hj Ida.

The Islamic Da’wah Centre plans to increase the number of students to attend the course in the future.

Students will also learn the methods of ablution, perform mass prayers, aqidah (belief) and also lectures on deviant teachings throughout the four-day course.

Shared from: bt.com.bn/