Monoglycerides and diglycerides

Question

Assalamu Alaikum,

I had two questions I wanted to ask you:

  1. It has recently been pointed out to me that there is a halal/haram issue in regards to mono and di-glycerides. I wasn’t aware of this before, but if I were to go through the groceries in my fridge, 90% contain this. Also, some products have mono and di-glycerides listed in the ingredients, yet they’re also clearly marked kosher. Could you please clarify this?

  1. If a woman marries a man who has children from a previous marriage, are his sons and son-in-laws mehraam for his new wife?

Jazak’Allah Khair for your time, I hope I haven’t inconvenienced you, in sha Allah,

Answer

 بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

الجواب حامدا ومصليا ومسلما

The answers to your queries may be found below:

1) Monoglycerides and diglycerides are derived from plants as well as animals. Those which are derived from plants are halal. The latter are also halal provided that they are taken from halal animals which have been slaughtered according to Islamic principles.

The Qur’an permits us to eat from the animals slaughtered by the ahl al kitab (the people of the book) i.e. the Jews and the Christians, provided that they take the name of Allah when slaughtering. However, it has been confirmed by Christian scholars that in the Christian religion, no such dietary laws exist today. According to the Jewish faith, it is not necessary to take God’s name on each and every animal, rather it is sufficient to take His name once at the beginning of every shift of slaughtering. Therefore, having a kosher symbol does not necessarily mean that the product is halal.  

In conclusion, monoglycerides and diglycerides are halal if they are vegetal based or are known to have been taken from halal animals. If there is doubt about a certain product, the company should be contacted for further information.

Note: Based on our current research, in the USA and Canada monoglycerides and diglycerides are generally derived from plants. Thus, one would not be required to always enquire about their source. However, the more cautious approach would be to research the source of the ingredients in each product.

2) Once a woman gets married, her husband’s son becomes her mahram. However, the son in-law of her new husband will not. He will be regarded as a non-mahram to her just as he was before the marriage.

والله اعلم

Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala knows best.

Taha Abdulkareem

Approved by Mufti Husain Ahmad Madani