Halal products on the occasion of Ramadan |
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Collection title
13 heures le journal
First broadcast date
08/21/2009
Abstract
Over 80% of Muslims living in France comply with the Muslim food rituals; this has not escaped the great distribution which sells hundreds of halal products to Muslim customers, increasingly numerous.
Production companies
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France 2 - Own production
Secondary themes
- Society and way of life / Religious Practices
Credits / Cast
- Corbard Nicolas - Journalist
- Souilem Amira - Journalist
Map locations
- France - Centre and Ile-de-France - Fontenay sous Bois
Context
Halal products on the occasion of Ramadan
Mayalen Zubillaga
The issue of halal food, in other words food Muslims are allowed by their religion to eat, is part of a wider problem of prohibited foods. Man being an omnivore, these prohibitions are not biological but cultural: they are identity markers, collective demonstrations proving group membership, the group being recognized by a particular food code.
Among Muslims, the moral requirements distinguish between what is lawful (halal) and what is unlawful (haram). The prohibitions mainly concern meat products (“You are forbidden to eat dead animals, blood, the flesh of a pig, and that which has been slaughtered in a name other than Allah, and those animals killed by strangling, or a violent blow, or by a head-long fall, or by the goring of horns and those from which a wild beast has eaten, except what you are able to slaughter before its death and those which are sacrificed on stone altars” - Quran V 3). The meat must come from animals which have had their throat slit while still alive, according to the principles embodied in Islam: the priest must pronounce the words "in the name of God, God is greatest", the animal must be bled facing Mecca, the blood must be evacuated and the sacrifice must be quick. This ritual slaughter, which goes back to Abraham (Ibrahim) sacrificing his son, an act celebrated every year during Eid al-Adha. During this celebration and during Ramadan, two key events in the religious calendar, Muslims demand halal meat more than at any other time of year.
In France, although workers have been coming from Islamic countries for many decades, until recently they only stayed a short time. It was not until the 1970s that emigrating for work became emigrating to live, with many Muslims in France becoming French citizens and settling down with their families. In addition since the 2000's many young Muslims have increased their religious practice, wanting to eat strictly halal food out of obedience to the requirements of Islam and, more generally, to their native culture. As with the "Islamic veil", this affirmation of Islam's food component has resulted in a surge of questions around the role of Islam, France's second religion but "transplanted" into a secular country with a Christian tradition, against a background of debate and controversy at the European level (animal welfare, consumer vigilance with regard to production methods and "traceability" of foods ...).
Since 1980 and especially since 1990 the revival of religious fervour has been accompanied by a considerable increase in beef and halal products. In France, the slaughterhouse is the only legal place for killing animals for consumption, but exception has been made for the ritual slaughter practised by Muslim priests, authorized by a religious organization which is recognized by the State. Particularly concerning the obligation to stun the animal before bleeding it (this is a specifically French). The increase in "halal business", at first simply shops run by North Africans (Muslim butchers in particular), drew the attention of public authorities, anxious to regulate this market while guaranteeing religious freedom. This increase in demand also quickly interested supermarkets, always on the look out for ways of winning new customers, using sectarian identity as a marketing tool. Thus, in and around major French cities, most supermarkets offer a range of halal products, even though the halal label is not subject to any regulation.
Bibliography :
Bergeaud-Blackler Florence, « Halal : d’une norme communautaire à une norme institutionnelle », Journal des anthropologues [En ligne], 106-107 | 2006, mis en ligne le 16 novembre 2010, consulté le 08 mai 2012. URL : http://jda.revues.org/1270
BRISEBARRE Anne-Marie, « Manger halâl en France aujourd’hui : des nourritures domestiques à la restauration collective », www.lemangeur-ocha.com, mise en ligne 4 octobre 2007 (consulté le 8 mai 2012).
Kanafani-Zahar Aïda, Mathieu Séverine, Nizard Sophie (Éds), A croire et à manger. Religions et alimentation, L’Harmattan/AFSR, collection Religions en questions, 2007.
Deux ex Machina. Religion, normes et marchés (ou les petites fabriques de religieux), le carnet d'enquête de Florence Bergeaud-Blackler, http://deusexmachina.hypotheses.org (consulté le 16 mai 2012).
