Halal and Haraam Food: A Quranic Perspective

The issue of what to eat and what not to eat has been an inherent part of daily lives for the majority of Muslims living in the West. Whether it is grocery shopping or planning to eat outside, significant efforts are made to check ingredient labels and inquire about the suppliers of any meat products, to ensure that they only consume food that is declared halal (permitted) and stay away from haram (forbidden) food, as per Muslim Sharia. For their satisfaction, they only buy food items that do not have certain specific ingredients; buy meat only from specific stores that sell “halal” meat; and eat only at specific restaurants that serve “halal” products. This practice is engrained in their strong belief that food rules are very strict in Islam and it is forbidden to eat any item that is not declared as halal in the Muslim Sharia.

Muslim Sharia has a long list of forbidden or haraam items that include, dead animals; all carnivorous animals; birds of prey; permitted animals but either sacrificed in the name of anyone other than Allah or the slaughtering procedure is not the same as prescribed in Sharia; reptiles and insects (land animals without ears); swine and its by-products; blood and its by-products; alcohol and alcohol-based products; and finally any food item that in any form contains any product or by-product of the above-listed “haraam” items. With the advancement of the food science, the Sharia list of haraam items has also extended to an advanced level including enzymes, proteins, bacteria and other biological and chemical species that are derived from the by-products of animals that fall under the haraam category listed above. Hence, any regular food items that otherwise be considered halal is declared haraam by the Muslim clergy, if it contains any such microorganism even in very minute quantity e.g. for food preservation.

Muslim Sharia has a long list of forbidden or haraam items that include, dead animals; all carnivorous animals; birds of prey; permitted animals but either sacrificed in the name of anyone other than Allah or the slaughtering procedure is not the same as prescribed in Sharia; reptiles and insects (land animals without ears); swine and its by-products; blood and its by-products; alcohol and alcohol-based products; and finally any food item that in any form contains any product or by-product of the above-listed “haraam” items. With the advancement of the food science, the Sharia list of haraam items has also extended to an advanced level including enzymes, proteins, bacteria and other biological and chemical species that are derived from the by-products of animals that fall under the haraam category listed above. Hence, any regular food items that otherwise be considered halal is declared haraam by the Muslim clergy, if it contains any such microorganism even in very minute quantity e.g. for food preservation.

Under pressure from rationalist Muslims, some Muslim religious scholars have tried to back up those claims using medical arguments, particularly for swine mean and related products, but failed to provide any logical explanation for the absence of any severe pandemic medical condition linked to the swine meat, which has been consumed by billions of people for generations. They also don’t have any logical explanation for the forbiddance of carnivorous animals, reptiles and insects, and the extracted chemical and biological species.

The predominant majority of Muslims strictly follow these Sharia rules of halal and haraam food without pondering on the reasoning behind these rules. Muslim clerics claim that these food items are forbidden by Allah and His Prophet, and this claim is perceived as an established fact by Muslim masses. For them, it is enough that their parents or Imam of the mosque or some other religious source has mentioned that these food items are forbidden in Islam and hence, no need to dig any further into details or try to verify the authenticity of this claim.

For something that is affecting their daily lives, a logical approach for Muslims would be to verify whether this long list of forbidden to eat items is indeed a decree from Allah or has it been altered by the clergy? What else would be the best source to verify it other than the Quran?

Quran uses different approaches when addressing various issues. For some issues, it provides general guidance, for some it provides bounding limits, while, few very specific issues are clearly defined in the Quran. One such issue in the haraam/halal food. As per Quran, only four types of food are forbidden: Animal that are already dead; blood; meat of Khinzeer (commonly referred as swine) and any food item dedicated/associated with other than Allah.

O you who believe, eat pleasant things that We have provided you, and thank to Allah if you obey Him. He has forbidden you already dead, and blood, and the flesh of swine, and anything that is associated/invoked to any other than Allah. Then whoever is driven by necessity, not desiring, nor exceeding the limit, there is no sin upon him. Surely Allah is protector and Merciful (2:172-173).

Only four! As the above verse describes very clearly, the food types forbidden by Allah are only four. However, Muslim clerics have brought arguments to justify their list of forbidden food items, which is substantially longer than the Quranic list. They argue that although the primary items forbidden by Allah are only four but Prophet Muhammad had also supposedly forbidden several items as per Hadiths. Later, religious Imams further extended the list claiming it to be based on Quran and Hadiths, and documented in Sharia manuals. However, an important question that has not brought by the Muslim clergy into this argument is, whether it is allowable for Prophet or any other human being to forbid something that is not forbidden by Allah. Quran has explicitly described that Allah has not granted the authority to anyone to declare anything forbidden that has not been forbidden by Allah.

Say: Who has forbidden the adornment of Allah, which He has brought forth for His servants, and good things from food? Say: These are for the believers in the life of this world, purely the Resurrection day. This way We make the verses detailed for people who know (7:32).

Even for Prophet Muhammad, Allah had not let him forbid something for his own self, which has not been forbidden by Allah, because he was the role model.

O Prophet, why do you prohibit what Allah has made lawful for you?(66:1).

Not only that as a Prophet he did not impose self-prohibitions of lawful things but he himself also confirmed, as per Quran that there are only four (above-mentioned) food items, which are forbidden by Allah.

Say: I do not find in that revealed to me forbidden for an eater to eat, except that is already dead, or blood spilled out, or flesh of swine — for that surely is unclean — or what is a transgression, other than Allah having been invoked on it. But whoever is driven to necessity, not desiring nor exceeding the limit, then surely thy sustainer is protector, Merciful (6:145).

Clear statements – without any ambiguity or confusion about the four food prohibitions set by Allah and confirmed by the Prophet. Thus, nothing is forbidden to eat other than these prohibitions. Please pay attention to the text in the above verse that states, Say: I do not find in that revealed to me forbidden for an eater to eat, except… When Prophet confirmed in Quran that he did not find anything forbidden to eat except those four items, then Muslim clergy’s claim that Prophet had forbidden other food items is baseless and false.

While, the food prohibitions are very limited, one is not bound to eat everything outside these prohibitions. Likes and dislikes for food are part of human nature and God knows it well. Thus, He gave us freedom to eat what we like (excluding forbidden items).

Eat pleasant things that We have provided you, and thank to Allah if you obey Him (2:172).

They ask you, what has been made halal for them. Say, “halal for you are pleasant things (5:4).

Then eat of what Allah has provided for you halal and pleasant. And be grateful for the favor of Allah. He has only forbidden to you dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine, and that which has been dedicated to other than Allah. But whoever is forced, neither desiring nor transgressing – then indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful. (16:114-115).

This day pleasant things have been made halal, and the food of those who were given the Scripture is halal for you and your food is halal for them (5:5).

Pay special attention to the last two verses. The verse (16:114-115) implies that everything that is not in the haraam list is lawful (halal) to eat. In other words, Allah has not provided any list of halal food items but rather He has provided a list of forbidden or haraam food items. Anything that He has not set as haram is lawful to eat. As per verse (5:5), the food of people with Scripture is declared halal for you, without any food specification. This implies that except for the four restrictions, any of their food can be eaten. Also to note that the people of scriptures is not restricted to Christians and Jews. All nations that received divine scripture in any part of the world fall under this category.

Some conditions related to animals are also provided in detail in the Quran.

Prohibited to you are dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine, and that anything that is associated/invoked to any other than Allah, and those killed by choking or by a violent blow or by a head-long fall or by the goring of horns, and those from which a wild animal has eaten, except what you slaughter, and those which are sacrificed on stone altars, and that you seek decision through divining arrows. That is grave disobedience (5:3)

They ask you, what has been made halal for them. Say, “halal for you are pleasant things and what you have trained of hunting animals which you train as Allah has taught you. So eat of what they catch for you, and mention the name of Allah upon it, and fear Allah.” Indeed, Allah is swift in account (5:4).

And permitted to you are the grazing livestock, except what is recited to you (22:30).

Clergy taking the charge to declare food permissions and prohibitions is not specific to Muslims. In earlier religions, priests did the same thing, as this is one way to keep masses under their authority. Such act is strongly denounced by Allah, Who also explicitly declared that anyone who claims to have the authority for food items prohibitions in the name of Allah, is a liar and wrong doer.

He has only forbidden to you dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine, and anything that is associated/invoked to any other than Allah. But whoever is driven by necessity, not desiring, nor exceeding the limit – then indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful. And do not say about what your tongues assert of untruth, “This is halal and this is haraam” to invent falsehood about Allah. Indeed, those who invent falsehood about Allah will not succeed (16:115-116).

Say, “Have you seen what Allah has sent down to you from food provision of which you have made halal and haraam?” Say, “Has Allah permitted you, or do you invent lie about Allah?” (10:59).

Lost are those who slay their children, from folly, without knowledge, and forbid food which Allah hath provided for them, inventing lies against Allah. They have indeed gone astray and heeded no guidance (6:140).

To summarize the discussion so far, four food prohibitions are listed in the Quran, which are final and permanent. Allah has not authorized anyone else to decide food prohibitions, hence, no additions and deletions are allowed to the Quranic list.

In the list of prohibited food items, first three are clear. The fourth prohibition, which is stated as, anything that is associated/invoked to any other than Allah, however, has some ambiguity. Muslim clergy has manipulated this condition to enforce what is called, the halal meat. This manipulation came through the interpret of this condition as, “any animal that is slaughtered without Allah’s name, is haram”. To support their argument, they then bring another verse,

And do not eat anything upon which the name of Allah has not been mentioned, for indeed, it is grave disobedience (6:121).

Again, this verse is interpreted by them as, “do not eat any animal that has been slaughtered without the name of Allah”. Then they used this as a basis to declare that since Allah’s name is not mentioned when the animals were slaughtered in regular slaughterhouses, thus, all regular meat is haraam. When they show these verses to common Muslims with their interpretations, the common Muslims get convinced that it is haram to eat the regular meat. However, there is a major manipulation, which is not obvious without a thorough check.

Let’s look at the actual Arabic text for the fourth food prohibition,

The word by word translation of this text is “And anything associated or invoked to any other than Allah”. In the original text, there is no word that corresponds to either “animal” or “meat”. The condition is for “any” food item, regardless of whether it is meat or grain or fruit or vegetable. Muslim clerics intentionally inserted the word “animal” in the interpretation and fabricated a condition specific to animals.

A similar manipulation can be found in the translations of 6:121. The actual Arabic text for the verse is,

Again, a word-by-word translation shows that in the original text, there is no word that corresponds to “animal” or “meat”. Similar to the above verse, this prohibition is for “any” food item regardless of whether it is meat or grain or fruit or vegetable. In another verse, it has been further emphasised to eat only those food items on which Allah’s name has been mentioned.

So eat anything upon which the name of Allah has been mentioned, if you are believers in His verses (6:118).

And why should you not eat anything upon which the name of Allah has been mentioned while He has explained in detail to you what He has forbidden you, excepting that to which you are compelled. And indeed do many lead astray through their inclinations without knowledge (6:119).

Similar to the earlier-mentioned verses, there is no specific mentioning of animal or meat in these verses. This insertion of the word “animal” in the interpretations is so widely spread that if you pick any standard translation of the Quran, the word animal is usually found inserted in brackets for these verses. This is a clear violation of Allah’s instruction not to declare something haraam to eat which Allah has not prescribed.

However, the general Muslim masses have taken the word of Muslim clerics as true Islam without any verification from Quran. Allah has clearly declared that He is the only authority to decide food prohibitions, and called any alteration to His food prohibitions list, a lie and a sinful act. However, by blindly follow clerics’ proclamations, we Muslims are technically supporting the lie they invented against Allah. As per the last part of verse (6:119), following the food restrictions blindly without knowledge may lead us astray.

The above verses show that Quran has greatly emphasised the mentioning of Allah’s name on food items. It has been set as a strict criterion for food restrictions, which is summarized as,

• Eat anything upon which Allah’s name has been mentioned
• Do not eat anything upon which Allah’s name has not been mentioned
• It is forbidden to eat anything that is associated to other than Allah

This raises a question about the significance of mentioning Allah name on food items, and consequently, its impact on us. As we all know, the mentioning of Allah’s name on a food item does not change its chemical composition. Hence, regardless of mentioning Allah’s name, the impact of that food item on our physical body remains the same. This implies that the impact of this act is psychological not physical. This issue needs further explanation.

In Quran, Allah has declared that for every living creature on this planet, He is the food provider.

And there is no creature on earth but that upon Allah is its food provision (11:6).

 And how many a creature carries not its food provision. Allah provides for it and for you (29:60).

As per this declaration, similar to all other creatures on this planet, it is the birthright of every human being to get food provisions. All food resources are provided by Allah whether they grow in land, come from water or roam on land. No one can claim the ownership of any of these resources; they are for the sustenance of everyone and provided by Allah. This fact is so beautifully described in Quran.

And have you seen that which you sow? Is it you who makes it grow, or are We the grower?  If We willed, We could make it debris, and you would remain in wonder (56:63-65).

And have you seen the water that you drink? Is it you who brought it down from the clouds, or is it We who bring it down? If We willed, We could make it bitter, so why are you not grateful? (56:68-70).

While humans share these resources with other living creatures, the distribution of these resources in the human world is very different from that in the animal world.  Unlike animals, humans live in a society, which bounds them morally and socially to support and fulfill each other’s needs. This is achieved through the sharing of responsibilities and rights. Family is a basic unit in a society, where the family head is typically responsible to bring bread and butter to the family. In this context, feeding the family is his responsibility not mercy on them. From family’s perspective, it is their right to be fed. This sharing of rights and responsibilities is also applicable to rich and poor people in a society, which bounds rich people to feed needy and poor people as their responsibility not as a mercy. Consequently, for poor, it is their right to be fed without a sense of humiliation that crushes one’s self esteem. Living under the feeling that one is on the mercy of other human being is a scar on human dignity. This is against Allah’s fundamental declaration that every human (irrespective of race, color or religion) is equally respectable.

And We have certainly honored the children of Adam (human race) (17:70).

Thus, feeding the dependants and needy is the obligation to fulfill Allah’s delegated responsibility, which is one of the fundamental pillars of human rights.

So how the phrase “Allah’s name” fits into this context. The Arabic word اسم, is commonly interpreted as “name”. However, the primary meaning of this word is characteristic and quality. In this context, the right of everyone to get food is one of the characteristics or qualities of Allah’s system. Thus, calling or mentioning the name of Allah on a food item is the declaration that this food item is provided by Allah and the receiver takes it as a right not mercy.  

The criterion for halal and haraam food, based on the above discussion, can be explained as follows,

• Whatever food item that you eat (except the explicitly forbidden items in Quran), declare before eating (loudly or in your heart) that this food is provided to me by Allah as my fundamental right and it is not a mercy of others.
• Do not eat any food that you do not declare as Allah’s provision.
• It is forbidden to eat any food that is provided to you with the declaration that it is provided to you because of other persons, as it violates the fundamental human right of sustenance. One should refuse to eat any food that crushes one’s self esteem and dignity.

No condition has been set by Allah to call His name when sacrifice an animal. There is no specific “halal” meat. One can eat any regular meat (except the meat of swine). The condition is that for any food you eat, declare Allah as the provider. It is also important to note that one is permitted to eat any forbidden item to save life (see 2:173; 6:145; 16:115).

In summary, the food restriction in Islam is clear and simple, which give substantial flexibility to Muslims living in any part of the world. This simple restriction has been made too complex by the Muslim clergy to establish their authority. It is up to the reader to decide, which food restriction they like to follow; the one declared by Allah or the one by clergy.

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Author: Kamran Siddiqui

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