Is this meat halal?

It was one hour to Zuhr and we were exhausted. Nubli, who had no real breakfast in the morning, was now starving, insisting that we should make our way to a restaurant as soon as possible. We stopped at a restaurant Izzudin recommended, found ourselves seats, and started scanning the menu. I read it again and again. Unfortunately, at no point did it make me any sense.

We were attended by the same man who was at the cashier desk, who seemed very polite at first. However, as I should warn all other Bosnian shop-owners, Nubli and I make a very challenging pair to any businessman who wishes to sell us anything. We loved to take our time before making up our minds, and that could take ages to these people- indeed it is a test of patience! It is even worse if we first needed to exactly know what we were getting. The man at first stood beside us and tried answering our questions to no avail, because he knew no English (or rather, we understood no Bosnian!). When he had had enough, seeing no hope in helping us read through the menu, he simply walked away. His strategy worked.

"Iz-vini-te.." The word came out of my mouth inconfidently. It was supposed to mean 'excuse me' in English, but I really had no idea whether or not I pronounced it correctly. Usually my brain could appreciate and store words better if I've seen and heard its pronunciation back-to-back. I gathered my senses to detect any response from the waiter, but found none. Maybe I wasn't loud enough. Or perhaps it wasn't the right word. "Excuse me!" I raised my voice slightly. This time it did not fail me.

While 'enjoying' our lunch (a word that seemed to fit Nubli better for this occasion), we couldn't help but discuss about the issue of halality in Bosna. If you're not familiar with the word yet, you are going to be now. Halal food, as far as I'm concerned, always finds its way to make itself a key issue in any thriving Muslim community. From a majority Muslim-led country like mine in the East, to the minorities in the West, this issue receives unabated attention. For a meat to be halal, or simply permissible, according to traditional rulings, the animal has to be slaughtered by a believer in the name of God, with some specific methods as authentically traced back from the Prophet's exemplary practices. The codes of conduct in such action can be very detail, which includes an admonition from sharpening one's knife in front of the animal to be slaughtered, not to mention slaughtering one in front of another or using a not-sharp-enough knife. Its cutting through the arteries in the neck, a major requirement, diminishes the chance of systemic contimation after the animal becomes lifeless. Most importantly though, it is an act of obedience to God, a humble servitude, and a great show of thanks to the bounty He has provided His creation.

Obviously, there is a 50-50 chance of our source of meat to be from the non-Muslims. When talking to Izzudin earlier, Nubli asked him this question, wanting to know the Bosnians' attitude towards halality issues. Izzudin simply replied, "What is halal can be found in alcohol-free restaurants. Indeed, how can you say its food is halal if the restaurant sells alcohol?" We nodded. I smiled.