Assalamu alaikum,

I read your fatwa about what is permissible and what should be avoided, and al-hamdulillah, I benefitted. One concern is about 'animal rennet' and 'whey' because most cheeses, candy bars and dairy porducts contain either or both of them. Kindly explain the ruling regarding these ingredients since you mentioned that the Sahabah used to eat the cheese of the Zoroastrians.

Jazak Allahu khair for your efforts.

Al-hamdulillah, the enzymes taken from pancreatic secretions are used in trivial amounts to accelerate chemical reactions, and rennet is used for this purpose in the making of cheeses. The Sahabah (Companions) ate from the cheese of the Zoroastrians, and it is known that even when they slaughter, their slaughtered animals are still treated as unslaughtered carrion (“dead” meat: al-maytah). They must have based their action on the fiqh principle: "Trivial matters are exempt" (not explicitly formulated at the time, yet implicitly understood). Whey is one of the constituents of milk, and it is halal to obtain it from animals whose meat it is permissible to eat.

And Allah knows best.