Pharma Expert
Mohammed Asif
Pharmacist
I would say first and foremost, I am just an ordinary Muslim, who is struggling hard to fulfil his desire to understand, absorb and live the Qur’an, which is a life-journey. The Qur’an, being the eternal guidance, given by the Ever-Living God Who has attributes of perfection is the path of self-surrender and of practising what it tells us. One must abandon totally, in thought and deed to whatever the Qur’an has to offer. My interest in halaal and haraam medicines goes back to more than 20 years ago, after I qualified as a Pharmacist, which was born out of certain abiding convictions. It will be useful to recall some of them here:
For Allah, The One Free of any Imperfections, addressing all the Muslims, says:
O you who believe (in the Oneness of Allah – Islamic Monotheism)! Eat of the lawful things that We have provided you with, and be grateful to Allah, if it is indeed He Whom you worship.2-172
This verse of the Qur’an shows how important it is to consume lawful and avoid unlawful food in order to have our worship accepted by Allah and it is through worshipping Him we express our thanks and gratitude to Him. Infact this is the same message Allah continually inspired to the best of mankind, the Messengers who stepped on this earth from the very first day:
O (you) Messengers! Eat of the Taiyibat [all kinds of Halal (lawful) foods which Allah has made lawful (meat of slaughtered eatable animals, milk products, fats, vegetables, fruits, etc.], and do righteous deeds. Verily! I am Well-Acquainted with what you do 23:51
Here again Allah connects the acceptance of righteous deeds with the consuming of halaal products. The next verse Allah warns us not to be tricked by Shaitan in belittling the importance of halaal food and consuming haraam products.
O mankind! Eat of that which is lawful and good on the earth, and follow not the footsteps of Shaitan (Satan). Verily, he is to you an open enemy 2:168
From my long experience as a pharmacist I find many Muslims taking haraam medicines when suitable alternative halaal medicines are available. Even people of knowledge, Practising Muslim doctors and Pharmacists are not immune from this trap of Shaitan. And yet I am moved by the fervent desire and imaan of a very few ordinary practising Muslims who will travel many miles from far and wide to come to my pharmacy just out of fear and hope to please their Lord, The Most Merciful and The Most Kind, and seek alternative halaal medicines. Sadly this is not the example of the majority of the Muslims who need educating, encouragement and advice to take this issue more seriously.
When one reads the above verses of the Qur’an, Allah is speaking to us. He is the Life-giver, He has given us lawful food and everything we need to live as human beings, should we not be grateful to Him and obey His commands and consume only that which is halaal and good?
Asif’s Pharmacy is at:
29 Alum Rock Rd
BIRMINGHAM,
B8 1LR
website: http://www.asifspharmacy.com/asp/index.html
Please contact us at info@behalal.org for any questions then phone Asif him please.
Health Specialists
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Environmental Health Practitioner
Ruksana Shain
Founder of behalal.org
Independent Environmental Health Practitioner BSc, MSc Environmental Health
Ruksana is passionate about improving standards for Halal consumables and understand the need for better information and advice for those in Industry and consumers wishing to follow a Halal/tayyab lifestyle to be able to make an informed choice. She has over 10 years experience of inspection and enforcement of legislation in local government.
She has been a member of the Food Standards Agency’s Muslim Organisations’ Working Group – Representing Birmingham Central Mosque since 2005.
Islamic Scholar
Imam Dr Mufti Abduljalil Sajid
Founding member of the mist representative umbrella body of British Muslims – Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), and is an outstanding British Muslim theologian, scholar on Islam and Contemporary British Muslims originaly from Pakistan. Imam Sajid has advised HRH Prince Charles and HRH Prince Hasan bin Talal of Jordon. He has met many wolrd leaders such as Her Magistey the Queen, Rt Tony Blair (Britiash Prime-Minster from May 1997 to June 2006), EU President José Manuel Barroso and has been deccribed as “the world’s leading authority on contemporary Islam” according to the Prime TV Pakistan.
Imam Dr Mufti Abduljalil Sajid is currently Chairman of the Muslim Council for Religious and Racial Harmony UK, Chairman Islamic Food and Nutrition Council – (IFANC) since November 1978; President of the UK Chapter of the World Conference of Religion and Peace, as well as Vice President of Europen World Conference of Religion and Peace, President of the National Association of British Pakistanis and a member of the Central Working Committee of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB). Imam Sajid is the Chairman of the Taskforce for the European Inter-cultural Dialogue. A member of the Imams and Mosques Council of UK, he is Deputy President and an International Secretary to the Executive Committee member of the World Congress of Faiths. A founding member of the Standing Conference of Jews, Christian and Muslims in Europe, he is consultant to many statutory and voluntary agencies on race, multicultural and religious issues.
Imam Sajid received the highest Islamic degree of Alim, Fazil, Kamil and Mufti from Jameul Uloom Uni Multan (Pakistan) in 1964; Master of Oriental Learning (MOL) from Punjab University (1967); MSc in Muslim Philosophy & Thought from Dhaka University (1968). He also studied at the London School of Economics and Kent University (1974-1976) and received a Ph.D. from the International Islamic University Islamabad (Pakistan) 1988. He acts as Muslim Chaplain at Brighton’s two universities and at the county hospitals. He was the founding Chair of the Brighton & Hove Interfaith Contact Group and is Secretary of the Ethnic Minorities Representatives Council in the City as well as Imam of the Brighton Islamic Mission.
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