All of us love to go to the restaurant, we love to be served and we love to eat different food, and there is nothing wrong with it; in fact, this is something that all of us like to do, regardless of whether we are talking about a restaurant which is fast food chain, or a luxurious restaurant that we want to go on a romantic date.
There, if we have to avoid certain food due to some health causes, we can easily do it, as we can simply look at the menu or speak to the waiter.
But what happens when our religious beliefs dictate our food, besides some other things, and then eating out can be fairly challenging.
Here we are mostly speaking of halal and kosher restaurants or foods that are aligned with the Islamic or Jewish religion, and we can see that the majority of them offer such food, including vegan choices, or alike.
But we cannot say that this is the case in every country since the majority of them have their own rules, and a certain product in one country is not the same in some other.
So people must be very careful when they are following a particular diet.
Some food places offer amazing choices while others are more limited, and both cases are common, but as the market expands more and more restaurants are offering a wider menu that accommodates all groups.
Here, we would take a look is IHOP belongs to those food places that are seen as halal, or which belongs to places that are strictly forbidden for people of the Islamic religion.
All religions around the world have their unique practices and attempt to manage the lives of their devotees to some extent, and it can go from a smaller impact to the bigger one.
When it comes to the Islamic religion, there their regulations are communicated via the phrases halal and haram, as the first one is, as you might know, allowed and according to Islamic regulation, and the other is strictly forbidden, as the holy Book of all Muslims, Quran has proclaimed a certain action or a certain food item forbidden, as it’s for instance, its consumption leads to sin, like for example, consumption of alcohol.
IHOP means International House of Pancakes and it is most famous for it, but also it has not just expanded its menu over the years it has also expanded the number of restaurants around the world.
Read here more about this topic.
Is IHOP halal or haram in Islam?
There are many people in the Muslim community who are wondering if they can consume food in IHOP, as it is one of the most popular food places in the USA especially, but also in some other countries.
IHOP is the most popular place where you will go to taste some of the best pancakes, but not only that, you can here eat all day breakfast, and there are many dishes and different food options to choose from.
It is a relaxed place where many people, including entire families.
In it, as you may expect, some meals are clearly haram, as they have pork, and meats that are not permitted according to the Islamic rules.
There you can order omelets, sandwiches, and also burgers, but they often have the addition of ham or some other pork meat, and it is what makes it not edible for members of the Islamic community.
This is why many Muslim people do not visit these restaurants very often – even if on the menu there are some food items which is not haram, they do not want to go to such places, and also there is a chance that food that is considered to be halal, be in contact with food which is haram, and therefore it is unsafe for them to eat.
But, also, those who are more liberal in such regard, are going to such places, if they can find their food which is halal; regardless of other circumstances.
If it is food that is made out of halal products, then it is ok to consume it.
What are possible choices in IHOP that could be halal?
They are crispy potatoes, milkshakes, and fruit plates, for example, maybe waffles and pancakes.
So, you can find food here that falls under the halal category – and therefore you can find here food that is suitable for Islamic believers.
But additional advice is that all should speak to the person in the restaurant and find the right options for their halal diet.
Also, different countries have different menus, and for example, IHOP in Pakistan is adapted to that local market, and it has halal certification for the meat dishes it serves.
These and similar IHOP restaurants in countries served beef bacon and turkey ham.
So, this is a place where they can consume halal meals, and they do not have to worry at all.
Recently, several associates of IHOP located in the USA are offering halal food – it all started when IHOP in California started offering a halal menu, during Ramadan in the year 2009, as the owner of the restaurant was Muslim himself.
On the menu, there was turkey bacon, which was followed by other halal food items.
This was then, and later on, this practice continued even more, and these halal items have stayed on the IHOP menu regularly.
More about IHOP restaurants
These restaurants are famous for the fact that they are open all day and all night and are very famous and the Muslim community loves to go there, as there are many dishes they can choose from.
IHOP has many restaurants across many countries – among them, there are Pakistan, India, the United States, Guatemala, Peru, Ecuador, the Middle East, Canada, and Mexico.
The first restaurant was opened in the late 50s in LA, California.
Ihop was founded in 1958 in Los Angeles.
Primarily this was the restaurant which has served only pancakes, hence the name, and as time passed, they expanded their menus, and they are also famous for their breakfast that they serve the entire day.
Numerous IHOP restaurants are open, but some of them have shorter working hours.
Conclusion
The easiest way to know when you are going into a certain restaurant that it is halal approved is to look at whether it has a halal certificate obtained from a proper institution.
And for example, if we take a look at things that are strictly banned like alcohol, all types of drugs, pork, and also pork by-products then it is easy to know that these are foods that could not find their place on the Muslim table.
In Muslim counties it is rather easy to follow these rules, but what happens when a person travels in some other country and when an Islamic believer lives in a country where the Muslim residents are not the majority?
Then choosing food can pose a problem for them.
Also in some places, data on the halal rate of food is more easily seen, and in others, it poses a challenge.
In these circumstances, people are recommended to question the source of the food or to review components.
Furthermore, if there is a suspicion that some components are not halal, it is advised to abstain from consuming them.
Recently, not only Muslim believers eat such food, but also many non-Muslim people like to consume it, seeing it as healthy, and clean.
It tastes better as some like to say, and it does not have any additives, as it can happen that such foods have additives that come from some haram source.
When it comes to IHOP restaurants, we can say that they are more or less safe for consumption – it is seen as halal, as there are many dishes to choose from, and some IHOP restaurants are located in countries that have the Muslim majority and they are declared as halal.
Also, in two California IHOP restaurants, there is an entire halal menu that is available for the entire year, not just during Ramadan.
There are also meats and nonmeat dishes that are halal.
Some other IHOP restaurants in the USA and some other countries, that do not have a majority of Muslim people have more haram food items on their menus, and there are foods that have pork, but there is a little but present halal alternative there also to choose from.
Some see this menu as acceptable, while others still prefer to bypass it due to the potential of mixing with haram food during the process of preparation of the food, as it occurs in the same kitchen and with the same tools.
But advice for all is to check and ask for the people who are working inside of a restaurant, in the case when they do not know if the restaurant sells halal food.
Consequently, it is securest ever to ask if the meals on the menu are secure for a halal diet.
