Comparison of Islamic and Jewish dietary laws

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There are some noteworthy similarities between Jewish dietary laws and Islamic dietary laws. Both are meticulously descriptive and have like-minded concepts, but there are also several differences. In Judaism, dietary guidelines are primarily extracted from the Torah and the Talmud. In Islam, dietary guidelines are primarily extracted from the Quran and Muhammad's lifestyle.

Contents

Permissible foods and drinks are classified as kosher in Judaism and as halal in Islam, while non-permissible foods and drinks are classified as treyf in Judaism and as haram in Islam. Many Muslims consider kosher products to also be halal, with the exception of alcoholic beverages, which are forbidden in Islam. Religiously observant Jews, however, cannot consume anything that is not explicitly kosher. [1]

The two religions have a particular slaughter method (shechita in Judaism and dhabiha in Islam) that requires the animal to be sacrificed in the name of God and killed in a way that drains blood, which is not permitted for consumption. If these guidelines are not followed, the animal's meat is rendered treyf or haram. Jews and Muslims are also prohibited from consuming an animal that was slaughtered by a non-believer (though some Muslims may exempt "People of the Book") or without due attribution to God. Additionally, the meat and by-products of certain animals—those that are designated as ritually unclean, such as pigs and predators—cannot be made kosher or halal at all.

In addition to kosher animals, Islam permits consuming some animals that are not permissible in Judaism, such as camels. With regard to seafood, guidelines differ between Sunni Islam and Shia Islam, with the latter being more on par with Jewish restrictions than the former. Islam also does not share the Jewish taboo on mixing dairy and meat. Both religions forbid the consumption of all insects except for the locust, which can qualify as kosher and halal.

Permissibility of foods and drinks

Similarities

[5] Twelver Shia Muslims however consider that only sea creatures that have scales are halal, but make an exception with some crustaceans; shrimp and prawns, but not lobsters. [6] This is similar to the Jewish law with the exception of fins.

Differences

Method of animal slaughter

Shechita is the ritual slaughter of mammals and birds according to Jewish law. Dhabihah is the method used to slaughter an animal in Islamic tradition. Shechita requires that an animal be conscious and this is taken to mean the modern practice of electrical, gas, or percussive stunning before slaughter is forbidden. Most Muslim authorities[ who? ] also forbid the use of electrical, gas, or percussive stunning.[ citation needed ] However, other authorities state that stunning is permissible so long as it is not the direct cause of the animal's death. [19]

Similarities

Differences

Other aspects of diet

Similarities

Differences

See also

Notes

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  4. 1 2 Halal page at central-mosque.com
  5. Newsletter Archived 2006-09-23 at the Wayback Machine , September 2002.
  6. "Meat - Question & Answer - The Official Website of the Office of His Eminence Al-Sayyid Ali Al-Husseini Al-Sistani". www.sistani.org.
  7. "الجيلاتين | الدليل الفقهي". www.fikhguide.com. Archived from the original on 2019-06-14. Retrieved 2020-05-25.
  8. "حكم بعض أنواع اللحم و الحيوانات و المشروبات". ibnamin.com. Retrieved 2020-05-25.
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  10. Amar, Zohar (2002). "The Eating of Locusts in Jewish Tradition After the Talmudic Period". The Torah U-Madda Journal. 11: 186–202. ISSN   1050-4745. JSTOR   40914692.
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  12. "UOS". uos.co.za.
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  14. Food Management article Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine
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  17. 1 2 3 Fieldhouse, Paul (April 2017). Food, feasts, and faith : an encyclopedia of food culture in world religions. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN   9781610694117. OCLC   959260516.
  18. Ö. Evered, Emine; T. Evered, Kyle (March 3, 2020). "Chapter 5: Between promotions and prohibitions: The Shifting symbolisms and spaces of beer in modern Turkey". In Ernst, Waltraud (ed.). Alcohol Flows Across Cultures: Drinking Cultures in Transnational and Comparative Perspective. Routledge. p. 82. ISBN   978-0-203-73203-8.
  19. Fatwa on Stunning Animals Archived December 2, 2012, at the Wayback Machine at organic-halal-meat.com
  20. 1 2 3 4 5 "Islamic Guidelines Slaughtering Animals". Shariahprogram.ca. Retrieved 2011-12-02.
  21. Maimonides' Code, Laws of Shechita 2:12[ non-primary source needed ]
  22. Rasheeduddin, Syed (2003-05-26). "Is Kosher Meat Halal? Not Really". Albalagh.net. Retrieved 2011-12-02.
  23. Maimonides Laws of Slaughter 1:2 and commentaries ad loc.[ non-primary source needed ]
  24. "What Parts of a Halal Animal are Haram to Eat? | daruliftaa.com". www.daruliftaa.com. 4 February 2010. Retrieved 2018-05-21.
  25. "What is Halal?". Isaiowa.org. Archived from the original on 2011-10-06. Retrieved 2011-12-02.
  26. 1 2 [ dead link ] at rabbinicalassembly.org
  27. Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De'ah Laws of Koshering Utensils [ non-primary source needed ]