Halal Assurance

The hotel you stay in is probably the place that you will spend a considerable amount of time on your trips and probably have a number of meals. As such it is best to choose a Hotel that has a certified Halal restaurant. Here you will be fully assured that the food served is Halal. When a Halal certifying authority certifies a restaurant, it general means that both food and beverages served in the restaurant is Halal. In our Hotel listing the icon on the left indicates that the Hotel's restaurant is Halal certified.

The next best option is to find a Hotel which at least has a Halal Certified Kitchen. In this case at least some of the restaurants of the hotel, if not all, will be served by this kitchen. Since it is only the kitchen which is certified Halal, this generally also means that the Hotel may serve alcoholic beverages in the restaurants. Hotels which have a halal certified kitchen are highlighted with this icon in our Hotel listing.

Certfiying restaurants and kitchens Halal are mainly widespread in countries like Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa, UK, etc. In the Middle Eastern countries, this type of certification is not fully practiced. In most Middle Eastern countries, usually the controls for halal assurance are done when the food enters the country. It is assumed the food is Halal given the controls implemented at the country level. The icon on the left is placed in our listing, in such places where the Hotel does not have an external Halal certification, but assures the food is Halal.

In such Hotels it is also ways good to check with the Restaurant Management how comfortable they are with their Halal assurance.

Then there are Hotels which say that meat items like beef, lamb, chicken etc. they procure are Halal certified. Since we are unable to fully verify this we do not highlight such features of hotels.

For Hotels which do not serve Halal food we posed a question to Mufti Jakhura whether one could eat vegetarian food in such Hotel restaurants and the answer was as follows:

"In principle, if the vegetarian food does not have any haram ingredient, nor has it been contaminated with impure utensils and cutlery or haram meat products and ingredients, it would be permissible to consume the vegetarian foods available. However, as the possibility of contamination is high, especially if the meals are prepared in the same kitchen, one should ensure that such contamination does not take place and that clean utensils and halal ingredients are used in the preperation of the vegetarian meal prior to consuming the same.

As such, care should also be taken on vegetarian and seafood items as well, that they do not include any haram ingredient and that there is no contamination with meat products.

And Allah Ta'ala Knows Best, Was Salaam," Mufti Shafiq Jakhura.

Halal Food only Hotels

There are many Hotels, specially in some Muslim countries, which serve only Halal food and beverages. Some of them serve Alcohol, but all the food is assured Halal. In our Hotel listing the Hotels which provide such services are highlighted by the following icons.

This indicates that all the food and beverages in the Hotel are assured Halal. Halal assurance icon in the listing will indicate how the Hotel assures the food is Halal (certified restaurants/kitchen or self assurance).

This indicates all the food in the Hotel are assured Halal. In this case the Hotel may serve Alcohol. Halal assurance icon in the listing will indicate how the Hotel assures the food is Halal (certfied restaurants/kitchen or self assurance).

Halal Food services in Hotels

You could also look at the following icons in the Hotel listing for other Halal food facilities and services in and around the Hotel:

These icons mean the Hotel has one or more restaurants serving Halal food. As for how it is assured Halal, you need to look at the three Halal assurance icons mentioned earlier in the Hotel's listing.

This indicates that the Hotel can serve Halal breakfast on request. This service is only highlighted if the Hotel does not have a restaurant serving Halal food. Some hotels are able to provide a selection of Halal breakfast on request. In this case , generally, prior request needs to made.

This icon in a hotel listing indicates that the hotel can provide a list of restaurants serving Halal food in the vicinity.

These icons indicate that in the vicinity of the Hotels there are restaurants serving Halal food.

Conclusion

We will Insha Allah continue to work on proviiding as accurate information as possible for the Halal conscious travellers. If you have any comments or find any errors in our hotel listing please let us know and we will do our best to correct them.

Please also do not forget, if you are not sure of finding Halal food in the destination you are travelling to, you can always take with you ready to eat halal food packages that can be found now in the supermarkets.

"O mankind! Eat of that which is Halal and Tayyib on the earth....." Quran 2:168