French term
être halal (applied to a person)
Sentence: "La consommation de viande halal fait l'objet d'un intérêt important pour les musulmans, qui l’identifient de plus en plus au simple fait d’être musulman : être musulman, c’est être halal (par opposition à « haram »)."
My question is about whether the term "to be halal" could be applied to a person in the same way in English. For me it is something only used to decribe produce, not people.
I'm not sure that it's even standard in French. Perhaps it should be used with quotations?
Does the phrase "to be Muslim is to be halal" seem too odd or is this something an English-speaking Muslim person might say?
Thanks for your help!
Oct 5, 2016 11:26: Jennifer White changed "Level" from "PRO" to "Non-PRO"
Oct 7, 2016 03:01: Yolanda Broad changed "Level" from "Non-PRO" to "PRO"
PRO (4): philgoddard, Daryo, Tony M, Yolanda Broad
Non-PRO (4): writeaway, Sandra & Kenneth Grossman, Jennifer White, David Hayes
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Proposed translations
Psychologist, Court-certified legal
Native in: English 
Works in: French to English
being Muslim means being halal
The improtant thing to retain here is the essence of the intention of the French. I see no other reading but that they are synonymous. The choice of "être" for a person is deliberate and I think that near personification with the verb is the key to an accurate rendering of the original.
Also, it works equally well in English, en toute simplicité anyway, as far as I can see :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halal
"Halāl (Arabic: حلال ḥalāl, "permissible"), also spelled hallal or halaal, is any object or action which is permissible to use or engage in, according to Islamic law. The term covers and designates food and drink as well as matters of daily life.[1] It is one of five Ahkam—fard (compulsory), mustahabb (recommended), halal (allowed), makruh (disliked), haram (forbidden)—that define the morality of human action in Islam.[2] Mubah is also used to mean "permissible" or "allowed" in Islam."
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Note added at 51 mins (2016-10-05 10:58:54 GMT)
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As something which is "halal" designates, in French or in English, not only objects, but also actions, then of course "être" is highly evocative of behaviour but goes further in that it strieks at the essence of one's being (behaviour, actions, what one says, what one does, what one eats, the way one dresses, etc.).
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halal
Dans l'Islam, le mot ḥalāl (arabe : حلال [ḥalāl], « permis », « licite ») désigne tout ce qui autorisé par la charia, la loi islamique1. Cela ne concerne pas seulement la nourriture et les boissons, mais également les habitudes de vie, la « morale musulmane2 ».
Généralement, dans l'islam, toute action est considérée comme permise à moins qu'elle ne soit interdite par les Écritures islamiques3,4. Dans ce cas, elle est dite harām.
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philgoddard
: I tried "I am halal", and it got plenty of hits. One was "I am halal in the kitchen and haram [forbidden] in bed".
1 hr
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Haha!
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Daryo
: ".. as well as matters of daily life" => the simplest literal translation works perfectly well, no need to go wandering off on a tangent trying to avoid non-existing false friends ...
2 hrs
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B D Finch
2 hrs
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Tony M
: Yes, I have heard my Muslim friends use the expression in exactly this way.
8 hrs
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| agree |
David Hayes
1 day 19 hrs
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Will do!
Native in: Portuguese (Variant: European/Portugal)
Works in: English to Portuguese, French to Portuguese, German to Portuguese, and 1 more.
follow the halal (dietary) rules/guidelines/principles
eat halal
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Note added at 39 mins (2016-10-05 10:47:33 GMT)
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or in a broader sense yes, "be" halal maybe
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Tony M
: t's nothing to do with what the people eat, but what they themselves ARE; haram = unclean in the Biblical sense
8 hrs
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observing the rules of Islam in all things
"This is just some advice from one sister to another, to every girl who has non-Mahram "friends" with whom she freely chats to; every girl who sincerely wants to marry for the sake of Allah, but has found herself falling in to the haram in her quest; to all my sisters out there who make excuses as to why they can't keep it halal. "
https://islamictext.wordpress.com/dogs-in-the-maliki-madhab/
"The problem is balconies are still kind of in your house so is is Haram or halal to keep a puppy in a (attached to house/part of house garage) garage or balcony."
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Note added at 47 mins (2016-10-05 10:55:09 GMT)
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halal
"Halāl (Arabic: حلال ḥalāl, "permissible"), also spelled hallal or halaal, is any object or action which is permissible to use or engage in, according to Islamic law. The term covers and designates food and drink as well as matters of daily life.[1] It is one of five Ahkam—fard (compulsory), mustahabb (recommended), halal (allowed), makruh (disliked), haram (forbidden)—that define the morality of human action in Islam.[2] Mubah is also used to mean "permissible" or "allowed" in Islam."
Also see https://goo.gl/kYbtcY
Australia
To seize the 'point' beyond the words
Native in: French
Works in: Japanese to English, Japanese to French, French to English
...is to be a practicing believer
il ne reste plus qu'à définir ce qu'embrasser cette religion implique pour vraiment y appartenir (condition sine qua non d'après la définition donnée) c.a.d. b) "s'acquitter des observances que cette religion exige"
Dans ce cas, "to be a practicing believer" suffit à définir le statut b) de façon succinte, quitte à en développer le thème par la suite...
Qu'en pensez vous? :-)
Reference comments
fyi, hth
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halal#Lifestyle_and_tourism
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philgoddard
1 hr
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| agree |
Daryo
7 hrs
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Tony M
8 hrs
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Discussion