"Halal or Haram?" We all knew! We knew the horsemeat scandal sweeping through Europe would inevitably come to Turkey.

"Halal or Haram?" We all knew! We knew the horsemeat scandal sweeping through Europe would inevitably come to Turkey. (HD).By Aylin Öney Tan.

Officially, horsemeat is not eaten in Turkey. Not that it is illegal, but it is sort of a taboo, the horse being a very respected animal that is not permissable for consumption by Islamic law. It’s simply not a part of the culinary culture, let’s say...

But who in Turkey can swear to having never eaten horsemeat?I guess nobody! 
It is true that we do not have fancy horse steaks sold in butchers, but anyone who has eaten ever eaten sucuk (Turkish sausages) or pastırma (Turkish cured-dried meat) or lahmacun (Turkish, meat-topped flat bread), or döner (the ubiquitous vertically revolving kebab) or whatever non-vegetarian grub, might well have had a taste of the horse. The recent news is that there has been a series of tests on suspected meat that proved to contain horse. Many are outraged by the fear of having eaten a part of a horse, but nobody seems to be totally surprised. The horsemeat controversy reveals the split personality of Turks: Turkishness vs. Islamic identity.
Horse milk was the source of the first-ever national drink. Kımız or koumiss, fermented mare’s milk, was supposedly the former favorite drink of the Turks long before rakı, the anise-flavored knock-over spirit of distilled grapes.
Horsemeat was the ultimate protein of Turkish warriors back in the steppes, believed to reinforce them with unbeatable strength.
Yes, our mighty ancestors were true horse-eaters! So horsemeat indeed has a forgotten place in our culinary culture.
But then, there was a change. The acceptance of Islam brought Turks to crossroads of a culinary choice: Giving up on eating horses! According to Islamic law, religiously allowed halal meat has to be from animals with four legs, even-toed ruminant mammals – funnily, exactly like the Jewish kosher meat. However, in the Turkish interpretation of Islam, horsemeat was never frowned upon like pig and was sometimes even fondly named as lamb with a horseshoe.
Once the Turkish nationalistic movement’s motto was “We are as Turkish as Mount Tengri (Tien Shan) and as Muslim as Mount Hira.” The obvious question would be which is mightier? Tien Shan, also named as Tanrı Dağı in Turkish (God’s mountain) surpasses the mountain of the Prophet by a great deal. In that respect, Turkishness might overcome Islamic identity, and one can expect some to convert back to eating horses.
Real Istanbulites at least have definitely savored horse in pides and kebabs unknowingly, especially in the old days when horse-carts almost outnumbered cars in Istanbul back in the 1950s or 1960s. Those were the years when the Istanbul city walls were turned into ad-hoc unofficial slaughterhouses for the not-so-efficient-anymore historical companions of Turks – ailing horses.
Oh yes; any meat-eater must surely have eaten lots and lots of horsemeat in Turkey; why should we abstain from eating some more in the future!Read the full story here.

Related: Ikea pulls meatballs from 14 European countries on horse meat tests

Being of a curious nature i 'Google d' a bit for Haram - Halal and HorseMeat:

This is the result 'According To TurnToIslam.

Ruling on eating horse meat.

Praise be to Allaah.

The majority of scholars are of the view that it is permissible to eat horses, because of the sound ahaadeeth that have been narrated concerning that.

It was narrated from Jaabir ibn ‘Abd-Allaah (may Allaah be pleased with him) that he said: On the day of Khaybar, the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade eating the flesh of domestic donkeys, but he granted a concession with regard to horses. Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 3982; Muslim, 1941.

It was narrated that Asma’ bint Abi Bakr (may Allaah be pleased with her) said: At the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) we slaughtered a horse and ate it. Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 5191; Muslim, 1942.

It was narrated that Jaabir (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: We traveled with the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and we used to eat the flesh of horses and drink their milk. Narrated by al-Daaraqutni and al-Bayhaqi. Al-Nawawi said: with a saheeh isnaad.

Other scholars – including Abu Haneefah and his two companions – are of the view that it is makrooh to eat horse meat. They quoted a Qur’aanic verse and a hadeeth as evidence for that.

The verse is as follows (interpretation of the meaning):

“And (He has created) horses, mules and donkeys, for you to ride and as an adornment”

[al-Nahl 16:8]

They said: He did not mention eating them, but He mentioned eating an’aam animals (camels, cattle etc) in a previous verse (verse 5).

The scholars responded to that by noting that mention of riding and adornment does not mean that their benefits are limited to that, rather these two are singled out for mention because they are the uses to which horses are put in the majority of cases. This is like the verse in which Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “Forbidden to you (for food) are: Al‑Maitah (the dead animals — cattle — beast not slaughtered), blood, the flesh of swine” [al-Maa’idah 5:3]. Here flesh is mentioned because that is what is usually eaten in most cases. The Muslims are unanimously agreed that the fat, blood and all other parts of the pig are also forbidden, and they said: hence Allaah does not mention carrying load on horses, although He says with regard to an’aam animals (camels etc), “And they carry your loads” [al-Nahl 16:7]. This does not imply that it is haraam to carry loads on horses. End quote from al-Majmoo’.

The hadeeth that they quote is that which was narrated from Khaalid ibn al-Waalid, that he said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade the flesh of horses, mules and donkeys, and every wild animal that has fangs.” Narrated by Abu Dawood, al-Nasaa’i and Ibn Maajah.

This hadeeth is da’eef (weak), and was classed as such by al-Albaani in Da’eef Abi Dawood.

Al-Haafiz Moosa ibn Haroon said: This is a weak hadeeth. Al-Bukhaari said: This hadeeth is subject to further investigation.

Al-Bayhaqi said: This is a mudtarab (faulty) isnaad, and in addition to that it contradicts the ahaadeeth of trustworthy narrators, which say that the meat of horses is permitted. Al-Khattaabi said: There is something wrong with its isnaad. Abu Dawood said: This hadeeth is mansookh (abrogated). Al-Nasaa’i said: The hadeeth which says that it is permissible is more sound. It is more likely, if this is saheeh, that it has been abrogated, because of what it says in the saheeh hadeeth, “Permission was given to eat the flesh of horses,” indicates that.

End quote from al-Majmoo’, 9/7-5

And Allaah knows best.

Sigh Now i'm getting confused, luckily an article in the "Financial Times": 'Horsemeat scandal companies can learn from Halal" telling us WE Should Label ALL Products with 'Halal' certification.

Halal certification means that food has been put through approved processes that guarantee to consumers that nothing in the food has any forbidden components.Offf course 'Forbidden' means WHICH source you 'Follow.'