A common problem with Muslims who are travelling or living in a foreign country is the ability of obtaining halal food. In general, I feel that it is safe to say that us students in Minnesota are fortunate enough to be able to go to Holyland or some other store to purchase halal meat. In addition, there has been an increase in meat-less products out there which uses soy bean and other beans to substitute meat. Recently, Cub Foods is stocking up on halal meat and meat-less products which they purchased from Holyland, so that if you are too lazy to go to Central Ave, you can do all your groceries in one place for a little extra pay. In short, there's really no problem in obtaining halal meat.

Now why am I talking about this now?
Well recently, I've been seeing quite a lot of Muslims both Malaysians and non-Malaysian Muslims who are being very lenient on their eating habits, some are making it seem as if they are proud that they are going against the words of God and making it known that they 'katok'.. Sure it's up to you what you eat cause at the end of the day you'll be in your own grave and whatever happens next will all be weight on you, sure you wanna try that new t-bone steak in the menu of your favourite restaurant.. but no matter what excuse you give you should also remember that life here in this world is just a temporary journey towards the eternal life there beyond. My parents reminded me once that I should make sure that I'd eat halal food cause later in the akhirat the meat that is formed from the haram meat that you eat will leave dark spots on your body for the rest of your life then. Of course there's a lot more religious reasons not to disobey Allah the All Mighty..

Menurut riwayat yang dikeluarkan oleh at-Thabarani daripada Ibnu al-'Abbas katanya : " Pernah aku membaca di hadapan Rasulullah sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam ayat ini iaitu ;

Tafsrirnya : " Hai sekalian manusia ! Makanlah barang yang halal yang baik dari apa yang ada di bumi ". Maka Sa'ad bin Waqqas pun berdiri seraya berkata : " Ya Rasulullah ! Aku bermohon kepada Allah supaya aku dijadikan sebagai orang yang diperkenankan doanya, Lalu Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam bersabda :

Maksudnya : " Hai Sa'ad ! Baguskanlah makanan engkau nescaya adalah (orang yang ) diperkenankan permintaan, dan demi ( Allah ) yang diri Muhammad ditanganNya, sesungguhnya seorang hamba yang memasukkan sesuap makanan haram keperutnya, tiada diterima Allah amal darinya empat puluh hari. Dan seseorang hamba yang tumbuh dagingnya dari yang haram, maka api neraka lebih layak dengannya".

What's in the past is in the past and you can stop and start afresh.. I'm not writing this cause I thought that I'm good and tries to change everyone else so that we're all like me.. but I'm writing this as a reminder to myself and to those who needs reminding. Yang Haram tu tetap haram, we have no right to oppose this law and 'mengharamkan yang halal or menghalalkan yang haram.' My intentions are pure, I hope this reminder would benefit you as much as possible. Even if my life ends today, in the context of afterlife 'tomorrow never dies'.