Wa `alaykum As-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. =)
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
(The above thread is about calf rennet and not rennet of any other animal. )
Thanks for your question dear sister, and we implore Allah to guide us all to that which is lawful and pure and to keep us away from that which is unlawful and impure.
As far as eating food containing animal rennet (rennet refers to a solidifying substance used- it is found in the stomach lining of some calves) is concerned, we cannot judge any food as haram unless it contains unlawful ingredients. In addition, one of Islamic juristic rules states: Permissibility is the original rule for everything until the contrary is proven.
Moreover, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is reported to have said, “Allah has prescribed certain obligations for you, so do not neglect them; He has defined certain limits, so do not transgress them; He has prohibited certain things, so do not do them; and He has kept silent concerning other things out of mercy for you and not because of forgetfulness, so do not ask questions concerning them.”
I did some research to get some evidence and this was what i found out..
Rennet is an enzyme used in the food industry by curdling milk. Rennet extracted from the stomach of a calf or animal whose meat is Halaal (lawful) after slaughtering in accordance with Islamic Thabh is unanimously Halaal (permissible) for consumption. If the above mentioned animals were not slaughtered in accordance with Islamic law then there is a view that the rennet itself is Halaal but its consumption would be Haraam (unlawful) because of its contamination with impure moisture etc. found in the stomach of the animal. Rennet is fluid or viscous [running] and because of the penetration and saturation of impure moisture it would be impossible to purify it, therefore such rennet would remain Haraam.
The permissibility of rennet, therefore, is not really dependent on the slaughterer being Muslim or non-Muslim but upon whether there is life in rennet or not, and whether it absorbs the impurities found in the stomach of a newly born slaughtered calf.
However there is another viewpoint. According to Imaam Abu Hanifah the rennet of Halaal (permissible) animals which have not been slaughtered according to Islamic law is Ja’iz (permissible for consumption). Thus the animal which has been slaughtered by a non-Muslim is also one which has not been slaughtered according to Islamic law and therefore the rennet extracted from such an animal is Ja’iz.
Another reason for not consuming rennet is because the impure moisture found in the stomach of the animal can become pure products only because of chemical changes in industries. Thus to me it is inclined to accept the view that animal rennet is permissible as it is usually subjected to complete chemical process of transformation by which the ruling of impermissibility changes.
Based on this, it is allowed to eat food containing animal rennet. If you want to exercise caution, it is your choice.
I hoped i was able to help u sister. I myself found out alot when i did the extra research. If u wish to futher clarify maybe you would like to visit these websites.
http://www.islamonline.net/livefatwa...ewquestion&id=
“He hath forbidden you only carrion, and blood, and swineflesh, and that which hath been immolated to (the name of) any other than Allah. But he who is driven by necessity, neither craving nor transgressing, it is no sin for him. Lo! Allah is Forgiving, Merciful” (2:173).
Anyway dear sister if we were saying it is haraam it aint really worth looking with microscopes for the smallest molecule, since if you'd do so, you would find that anything and everything is haram, besides things are haram because they are bad for the health and not good for the person, but in trace amounts like that they have no effect really. For example ordinary milk has a small amount alchohol in it, but we all drink it anyway. There is a saying of the prophet (saw), i am not sure of the correct wording, but it goes something like, dont dig to much or everything will become haraam.
;)