Islamic dietary laws are dietary laws that
Muslims
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...
follow. Islamic jurisprudence specifies which foods are ''
'' (, "lawful") and which are ''
'' (, "unlawful"). The dietary laws are found in the
Quran
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...
, the holy book of
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
, as well as in
collections of traditions attributed to
Islamic prophet
Prophets in Islam ( ar, الأنبياء في الإسلام, translit=al-ʾAnbiyāʾ fī al-ʾIslām) are individuals in Islam who are believed to spread God in Islam, God's message on Earth and to serve as models of ideal human behaviour. So ...
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...
.
Herbivores
A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example foliage or marine algae, for the main component of its diet. As a result of their plant diet, herbivorous animals typically have mouthpart ...
or cud-chewing animals like cattle, deer, sheep, goats, and antelope are some examples of animals that are halal only if they are treated like sentient beings and slaughtered painlessly while reciting the
Bismillah and
Takbir
The Takbir ( ar, تَكْبِير, , "magnification f God) is the name for the Arabic phrase ' (, ), meaning "God is the greatest".
It is a common Arabic expression, used in various contexts by Muslims and Arabs around the world: in formal Salah ...
. If the animal is treated poorly, or tortured while being slaughtered, the meat is haram. Forbidden food substances include
alcohol, pork, carrion, the meat of carnivores and animals that died due to illness, injury, stunning, poisoning, or slaughtering not in the name of God.
Regulations of food
Halal (permissible, lawful)
Quranic verses which have information regarding halal foods include:
Q2:173,
Q5:5, and
Q6:118–119, 121.
Permissible meats and animals
Livestock or cattle, i.e. grazing beasts, are lawful except those that are explicitly prohibited. However, hunting is prohibited during "the pilgrimage" (Quran 5:1).
This means that most
herbivores
A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example foliage or marine algae, for the main component of its diet. As a result of their plant diet, herbivorous animals typically have mouthpart ...
or cud-chewing animals like cattle, deer, sheep, goats, and antelope are considered halal to consume.
Animals hunted by trained birds and animals are also permitted according to the Quran 5:4.
Permitted method of slaughter
![Huxi Mosque - Butcher Shop](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Huxi_Mosque_-_Butcher_Shop.jpg)
In
Islamic law
Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the ...
, ' ( ar, ذَبِيحَة) is the prescribed method of slaughter for
halal
''Halal'' (; ar, حلال, ) is an Arabic word that translates to "permissible" in English. In the Quran, the word ''halal'' is contrasted with '' haram'' (forbidden). This binary opposition was elaborated into a more complex classification k ...
animals. It consists of a swift, deep incision to the throat with a very sharp knife, cutting the
wind pipe
The trachea, also known as the windpipe, is a cartilaginous tube that connects the larynx to the bronchi of the lungs, allowing the passage of air, and so is present in almost all air-breathing animals with lungs. The trachea extends from the ...
,
jugular vein
The jugular veins are veins that take deoxygenated blood from the head back to the heart via the superior vena cava. The internal jugular vein descends next to the internal carotid artery and continues posteriorly to the sternocleidomastoid mu ...
s and
carotid arteries
In anatomy, the left and right common carotid arteries (carotids) (Entry "carotid"
in
spinal cord
The spinal cord is a long, thin, tubular structure made up of nervous tissue, which extends from the medulla oblongata in the brainstem to the lumbar region of the vertebral column (backbone). The backbone encloses the central canal of the spi ...
intact.
[ ufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani, "The Islamic Laws of Animal Slaughter", White Thread Publishers, CA, USA/ref>
The carcass should be hung upside down for long enough to be free of blood.]
Slaughtered animals must be acknowledged as sentient beings and slaughtered painlessly while reciting the Bismillah and Takbir
The Takbir ( ar, تَكْبِير, , "magnification f God) is the name for the Arabic phrase ' (, ), meaning "God is the greatest".
It is a common Arabic expression, used in various contexts by Muslims and Arabs around the world: in formal Salah ...
.[ The butcher is required to call upon the name of Allah" ('' Bismillah'') individually for each animal.][ If the animal is treated poorly, or tortured while being slaughtered, the meat is haram.][
Conversely, animals slaughtered for food may not be killed by being boiled or electrocuted.][ Animals strangled or beaten to death, or which died by falling or due to a wild animal are also expressly forbidden in the Qur'an 5:3.]
Game of Sea
Game of water, i.e. fish and other sea creatures, is generally permitted in most of the schools of Islam based on their interpretation of the Quran 5:96. However, the Hanafi
The Hanafi school ( ar, حَنَفِية, translit=Ḥanafiyah; also called Hanafite in English), Hanafism, or the Hanafi fiqh, is the oldest and one of the four traditional major Sunni schools ( maddhab) of Islamic Law (Fiqh). It is named a ...
school of Islamic jurisprudence forbids consumption of seafood other than "fish" and considers other sea food such as Crustacean
Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group can ...
''makruh
In Islamic terminology, something which is ''makruh'' ( ar, مكروه, transliterated: ''makrooh'' or ''makrūh'') is a disliked or offensive act (literally "detestable" or "abominable"). This is one of the five categories (''al-ahkam al-kham ...
''. Fishing is permitted during pilgrimage.
Scholars disagree about whether prawn
Prawn is a common name for small aquatic crustaceans with an exoskeleton and ten legs (which is a member of the order decapoda), some of which can be eaten.
The term "prawn"Mortenson, Philip B (2010''This is not a weasel: a close look at nature' ...
s/ shrimp are "fish", but in agreement that crocodiles, crab
Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" (abdomen) ( el, βραχύς , translit=brachys = short, / = tail), usually hidden entirely under the thorax. They live in all the ...
s, lobsters, and mollusk
Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is e ...
s are not. al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya, 5/289–291, Bada’i al-Sana’i, 5/35–39 and Radd al-Muhtar, 304–308.
In Shia hadith there is also a prohibition on eating eels
Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...
.[Al-Kafi 2:11116:1]
Food of People of the book
Food of Jews and Christians (other than those explicitly forbidden) is lawful for Muslims.
Haram (forbidden)
A variety of substances are also considered as unlawful (haram
''Haram'' (; ar, حَرَام, , ) is an Arabic term meaning 'Forbidden'. This may refer to either something sacred to which access is not allowed to the people who are not in a state of purity or who are not initiated into the sacred knowle ...
) for humans to consume and, therefore, forbidden.
Certain animals are considered haram, including land animals without blood, including all insect
Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...
s except locust
Locusts (derived from the Vulgar Latin ''locusta'', meaning grasshopper) are various species of short-horned grasshoppers in the family Acrididae that have a swarming phase. These insects are usually solitary, but under certain circumstanc ...
s. Surah al-A’raf, V: 157; Sunan Abu Dawud, no: 3806. Most reptiles are also considered haram, as well as most pests (''hasharat al-Ardh'') such as mice and rats. Surah al-A’raf, V: 157.
Differences of opinion exist as to whether the consumption of horse
The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million y ...
s, mules, and donkeys is permitted. In the Quran, one finds this verse: "And (He has created) horses, mules, and donkeys, for you to ride and use for show; and He has created (other) things of which you have no knowledge." Surah al-Nahl, V: 8. Which some scholars have interpreted as limiting these animals for riding and show and not permitting their consumption. Musnad Ahmad, 4/89, Sunan Abu Dawud, no: 3790, Sunan Nasa’i and Sunan Ibn Majah; Sahih al-Bukhari, no: 5202, 5205, and 5208. Predatory animals, such as lions and tiger
The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus '' Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on u ...
s, and birds of prey, such as falcon
Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, though closely related raptors did occur there in the Eocene.
Adult falcons ...
s and hawks are forbidden to consume. Sahih Muslim, no: 1934.
However, a person would not be guilty of sin in a situation where the lack of any alternative creates an undesired necessity to consume that which is otherwise unlawful.
Intoxicants
Alcoholic drinks
An alcoholic beverage (also called an alcoholic drink, adult beverage, or a drink) is a drink that contains ethanol, a type of alcohol that acts as a drug and is produced by fermentation of grains, fruits, or other sources of sugar. The cons ...
are generally prohibited in Islamic thought, with the Quran
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...
including several verses that admonish the consumption of ''khamr
Khamr ( ar, خمر) is an Arabic word for wine; intoxication; the plural form, Khumūr ( ar, خمور), is defined as alcoholic beverages, wine; liquor. In fiqh, it refers to certain forbidden substances, and its technical definition depends on ...
'', an Arabic term meaning intoxicants that is interpreted to include most forms of alcohol and psychoactive drugs:
There is some debate about whether the prohibition extends to dishes in which the alcohol would be cooked off or if it would be practically impossible to consume enough of the food to become intoxicated.
Substances which contain intoxicants but are not consumed are not prohibited as such. For example, alcohol can be used as a disinfectant or for cleaning.
The Alevi
Alevism or Anatolian Alevism (; tr, Alevilik, ''Anadolu Aleviliği'' or ''Kızılbaşlık''; ; az, Ələvilik) is a local Islamic tradition, whose adherents follow the mystical Alevi Islamic ( ''bāṭenī'') teachings of Haji Bektash Veli, w ...
Muslims of Turkey permit alcohol, unlike many other denominations. The Zaidi and Mutazili
Muʿtazila ( ar, المعتزلة ', English: "Those Who Withdraw, or Stand Apart", and who called themselves ''Ahl al-ʿAdl wa al-Tawḥīd'', English: "Party of ivineJustice and Oneness f God); was an Islamic group that appeared in early Islamic ...
sects believe that the use of alcohol has always been forbidden and refer to the Qur'an
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , sing. ...
Ayah (4:43) as feeling of sleepiness and not to be awake.
Carrion
An animal which dies by itself i.e., carrion
Blood
Blood
Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood in the cir ...
and its by-products are forbidden in Islam, in the Quran, surah 5, al-Maʼidah, verse 3: also and its by-products are forbidden in Islam, in the Quran, surah 5, al-Maʼidah, verse 3:
Pork
Consumption of pork and products made from pork is strictly forbidden in Islam. The origin of this prohibition is in Surat al- Baqarah:
Animals dedicated to other than God
Animal dedicated to or slaughtered in the name of a human being or saint is prohibited.
Horses, mules and donkeys
In both Sunni and Shia hadith the meat of mules is prohibited but horse meat is allowed in Sunni sources.
Horse meat is especially popular among the Muslims of Central Asia
Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...
, due in part to their nomadic heritage.
According to Shia hadith the use of horses for food is prohibited.
Donkey
The domestic donkey is a hoofed mammal in the family Equidae, the same family as the horse. It derives from the African wild ass, ''Equus africanus'', and may be classified either as a subspecies thereof, ''Equus africanus asinus'', or as a ...
meat is prohibited according to one hadith.
Animals with fangs
Predator animals possessing fangs are prohibited (e.g. cats, dogs, bears, lions, wolves).
Birds of prey
Birds having talons are prohibited (e.g. owls, eagles, hawks).
Other prohibited animals
Lizard is prohibited.
Likewise snake
Snakes are elongated, Limbless vertebrate, limbless, carnivore, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales. Ma ...
s, scorpion
Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always en ...
, and mice are prohibited.
Eating monkeys is prohibited in Islam. According to Shia hadith metamorphosed animals to which a disobedient, irreverent, or arrogant pre-Islamic nation was converted as a punishment, such as (ape
Apes (collectively Hominoidea ) are a clade of Old World simians native to sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia (though they were more widespread in Africa, most of Asia, and as well as Europe in prehistory), which together with its sister g ...
s and monkey
Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incomple ...
s) are prohibited.
Islamic dietary laws during Ramadan
Ramadan, the ninth month on the Muslim calendar, is considered the holy month of fasting. Ramadan begins and ends with the appearance of the new moon. During the month of Ramadan, God delivered the Quran
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...
to the prophet Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...
as guidance for the people. During Ramadan, Muslims take time for introspection, prayer, and reading of the Quran. For those who observe Ramadan with fasting, prayer, and faithful intention; God forgives their past sins. During this period, Muslims focus on self restraint or ''sawm
In Islam, fasting (known as ''Sawm'', ar, ; . Or ''Siyam'', ar, ; , also commonly known as Rūzeh or Rōzah, fa, روزه in non-Arab Muslim countries) is the practice of abstaining, usually from food, drink, smoking, and sexual activity. ...
'' (Arabic: to refrain) which is one of the five pillars of Islam
The Five Pillars of Islam (' ; also ' "pillars of the religion") are fundamental practices in Islam, considered to be obligatory acts of worship for all Muslims. They are summarized in the famous hadith of Gabriel. The Sunni and Shia agree o ...
. Ramadan emphasizes ''sawm'', when worshippers have to abstain from food, drink, sexual activity, and immoral behavior between dawn and dusk. After dusk, Muslims break their fast during a meal called ''iftar
Iftar ( ar, translit=Iftar Ramadan, إفطار رمضان), also known as (from , , 'breakfast'), (), is the evening meal with which Muslims end their daily Ramadan fast at sunset. They break their fast at the time of the call to prayer ...
'' with family and friends. ''Sawm'' can be negated by breaking fast, however, the lost can be made up with one extra day of fasting. The end of the Ramadan fast is the celebration of Eid-al-Fitr (Feast of Fast-Breaking), one of the two major religious holidays on the Muslim calendar.
Food certification
Since the turn of the 21st century, there have been efforts to create organizations that certify food products as halal for Muslim consumers in the USA.
Since 1991, some mainstream manufacturers of soups, grains, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, prepared foods, and other products, as well as hotels, restaurants, airlines, hospitals, and other service providers have pursued the halal market. These companies purchase halal-certified products. This can allow companies to export products to most Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
ern countries and Southeast Asian countries. The oldest and most well-known halal certifier in the United States is called the Islamic Services of America.
In Europe, several organizations have been created over the past twenty years in order to certify the halal products. A survey recently published by a French association of Muslim Consumers (ASIDCOM) shows that the market of halal products has been developed in a chaotic way in Europe. The European certification organizations do not have a common definition of "halal" nor agreed upon control procedures and traceability. The controls implemented by individual agencies are all very different: they can go from an annual audit of the slaughterhouse, to checking each production with permanent controls in place and on-going independent monitoring.
In South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
, most chicken products have a halal stamp. The South African National Halal Authority (SANHA) issues certificates and products bearing this logo range from water, snacks, and even meat-free products (which may contain non-halal ingredients). The South African National Halal Authority also licenses the usage of the Halal logo in restaurants where the food is halal, in addition to no alcohol or pork products being served.
In Singapore, halal certification is managed by Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura (MUIS), also known as the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore. They are the sole custodian of Halal Certification in Singapore.
In Malaysia, the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM) is the agency responsible for halal certification in Malaysia.
Availability of halal food in non-Islamic regions
Many apparently meat-free dishes, and even some desserts, contain pork, such as most kinds of gelatin, or other non-conforming substances. There is some disagreement about food additives such as monosodium glutamate
Monosodium glutamate (MSG), also known as sodium glutamate, is the sodium salt of glutamic acid. MSG is found naturally in some foods including tomatoes and cheese in this glutamic acid form. MSG is used in cooking as a flavor enhancer wi ...
(MSG) that may use enzymes derived from pig fat in the production process. It is difficult to avoid such additives when eating out since they are usually not listed on restaurant menus. Some Muslim organizations compile tables of such additives.
The halal market is now estimated to be 26% of world food trade and is growing. Companies from Europe and North America that would like to access the growing Halal market must get their consumable products Halal certified. The Global Halal Institute has a list of Halal certifiers that are approved by most Muslim countries with dietary import restrictions.
Americas
The first USDA approved Halal Food Company in the USA is Midamar Corporation. The company began producing halal beef, chicken, lamb and turkey products for domestic and international consumption in 1974 and is based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa which is home to one of the oldest Muslim communities in America and the longest standing mosque in America. In Dearborn, Michigan, the home of one of the largest Muslim and Arab populations in the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, some fast-food restaurant chains such as the McDonald's Corporation
McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hamburger s ...
have introduced halal chicken nugget
A chicken nugget is a food product consisting of a small piece of deboned chicken meat that is breaded or battered, then deep-fried or baked. Invented in the 1950s, chicken nuggets have become a very popular fast food restaurant item, as ...
s and chicken sandwiches.
Europe and Asia
In the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
, Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
, or Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
, halal fried chicken restaurants having thousands of outlets, some but not all of which, serve halal foods such as the Kentucky Fried Chicken, Nando's
Nando's (; ) is a South African multinational fast casual chain that specialises in flame-grilled peri-peri style chicken. Founded in Johannesburg in 1987, Nando's operates over 1,200 outlets in 30 countries. Their logo (also seen as a sort of ...
, Brown's Chicken, and Crown Fried Chicken companies. In Arab, North African and Middle Eastern countries meat and food is mostly halal, even from foreign fast food chains.
Benefits
The halal way of slaughter has been considered to be healthier and more hygienic. Research claims the method of quickly severing windpipe, jugular vein and carotid artery in one quick move without giving the animal time to panic does have an effect on quality of meat. When animals face trauma or stress the glycogen in their body is converted to lactic acid. This affects the pH level of the meat, lower pH resulting in lighter coloured meat and higher pH resulting in darker meat. This makes the meat tougher and also hard to chew. The halal way of slaughtering ensures the method is virtually less traumatic for the animal. According to the Humane Society Institute for Science and Policy, in a 1980 study on the effects of stress on livestock and meat quality, it was found that stunning creates more anxiety due to the stress experienced between the stunning and the bleed out of the animal. The halal slaughter method does not encounter this, as the swipe of the knife directly correlates to the loss of blood supply.
“By cutting the windpipe and the carotid artery, the flow of blood to the nerve in the brain that causes the sensation of pain, is stopped,” says Mufti Obaidullah Qasmi, former teacher at Darul Uloom, Deoband, India. “This leads to reduced pain.” The animal may appear to struggle and kick but that is due to the contraction and relaxation of muscles deficient in blood rather than pain.
In addition, draining out all the blood post slaughter produces softer meat. Blood left in could clot and cause the meat to spoil faster and harbour growth of microorganisms.
See also
* Comparison of Islamic and Jewish dietary laws
The Islamic dietary laws (''halal'') and the Jewish dietary laws (''kashrut''; in English, '' kosher'') are both quite detailed, and contain both points of similarity and discord. Both are the dietary laws and described in distinct religious te ...
* Christian dietary laws
Christian dietary laws vary between denominations. The general dietary restrictions specified for Christians in the New Testament are to "abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from meat of strangled animals". Some Christian denominat ...
* Dhabihah
In Islamic law, ' ( ar, ذَبِيحَة; '; ), also spelled zabiha, is the prescribed method of slaughter for halal animals (This does not include fishes, which are exempt from this requirement). It consists of a swift, deep incision to the throa ...
* Dietary laws
Some people do not eat various specific foods and beverages in conformity with various religious, cultural, legal or other societal prohibitions. Many of these prohibitions constitute taboos. Many food taboos and other prohibitions forbid the mea ...
* Halal
''Halal'' (; ar, حلال, ) is an Arabic word that translates to "permissible" in English. In the Quran, the word ''halal'' is contrasted with '' haram'' (forbidden). This binary opposition was elaborated into a more complex classification k ...
* Hechsher
A hechsher (; he, הֶכְשֵׁר "prior approval"; plural: ''hechsherim'') is a rabbinical product certification, qualifying items (usually foods) that conform to the requirements of halakha.
Forms
A hechsher may be a printed and signed certi ...
* Kashrut
* Kosher foods
* List of diets
An individual's diet is the sum of food and drink that one habitually consumes. Dieting is the practice of attempting to achieve or maintain a certain weight through diet. People's dietary choices are often affected by a variety of factors, incl ...
* Makruh
In Islamic terminology, something which is ''makruh'' ( ar, مكروه, transliterated: ''makrooh'' or ''makrūh'') is a disliked or offensive act (literally "detestable" or "abominable"). This is one of the five categories (''al-ahkam al-kham ...
* Mushbooh
* Muslim Consumer Group (MCG)
* Religious restrictions on the consumption of pork
Pork is a food taboo among Jews, Muslims, and some Christian denominations. Swine were prohibited in ancient Syria and Phoenicia, and the pig and its flesh represented a taboo observed, Strabo noted, at Comana in Pontus. A lost poem of Hermesia ...
* Ritual slaughter Ritual slaughter is the practice of slaughtering livestock for meat in the context of a ritual. Ritual slaughter involves a prescribed practice of slaughtering an animal for food production purposes.
Ritual slaughter as a mandatory practice of sla ...
* Taboo food and drink
Some people do not eat various specific foods and beverages in conformity with various religious, cultural, legal or other societal prohibitions. Many of these prohibitions constitute taboos. Many food taboos and other prohibitions forbid the mea ...
* Word of Wisdom
The "Word of Wisdom" is the common name of an 1833 section of the Doctrine and Covenants, a book considered by many churches within the Latter Day Saint movement to be a sacred text. The section defines beliefs regarding certain drugs, nutritious ...
References
External links
Laws of Islam concerning food
Is conventional meat Halal/Zabiha? Green Zabiha
List of Haram and Doubtful Ingredients
Learn More: Halal Knowledge Centre
{{DEFAULTSORT:Islamic Dietary Laws
Diets
Food law
Halal food
Religion-based diets
Sharia