'Halal' Food in the Qur'an

Qur'anic Commandments- 4

Let man consider the food he eats! We pour down abundant water and cause the soil to split open. We make grain grow, and vines, fresh vegetation, olive trees, date palms, luscious gardens, fruits, and fodder: all for you and your livestock to enjoy. (80:25-33)

'It is He who produces both trellised and untrellised gardens, date palms, crops of diverse flavours, the olive, the pomegranate, alike yet different. So when they bear fruit, eat some of it, paying what is due on the day of harvest, but do not be wasteful: God does not like wasteful people. [He gave you] livestock, as beasts of burden and as food. So eat what God has provided for you and do not follow in Satan’s footsteps: he is your sworn enemy. (6:142-143)

‘Lord, send down to us a feast from heaven so that we can have a festival– the first and last of us– and a sign from You. Provide for us: You are the best provider.’ (5:115)

The food that we consume affects our physical well being, internal disposition and external conduct in such subtle yet profound ways that it requires deeper consideration for its implications on our morals and manners. Historically and spiritually, the criterion of discrimination between the bad and the good, the unlawful and the licit, has been Divinely-ordained for the knowledge and guidance of man from the dawn of civilization. Hence, dietary restrictions and regulations are found in almost all religions of the past. Indeed, the Islamic tradition of ‘Halal’ is the quality process of purity and wholesomeness that makes something lawful and appropriate for consumption and beneficial enjoyment. 

The Holy Qur’an offers vital guidance on the lawful and the unlawful when it comes to consumption of food. The Word of God points to the intimate connection between the consumption of food and the spiritual disposition, urging believers to remain within the confines of the lawful, and to shun the evil of excesses and immoderation. To keep the Satanic impulses in chains, it is important to avoid the consumption of the unlawful, including the intoxicants. Whereas certain harmful foods and deviant/idolatrous practices are to be avoided under the Shariah, all good foods are licit in moderation. Further, the Qur’an addresses issues of healthy eating and community dining, attacking tribal prejudices and facilitating social interactions around shared food.  Reproduced below are Qur’anic verses that speak of dietary regulations:

Messengers, eat good things and do good deeds: I am well aware of what you do. (23:52)

‘O Adam! Live with your wife in Paradise and eat freely from it anywhere you may wish. Yet do not approach this tree (of evil) lest you become wrongdoers.’ (2: 36)

‘Eat the good things We have provided for you.’ (2:58)

‘Eat and drink the sustenance God has provided and do not act wrongfully in the land, creating disorder’. (2:61)

‘You who believe, eat the good things We have provided for you and be grateful to God, if it is Him you worship.  (2:173)

‘Entre this town and eat freely there as you will, but enter its gate humbly and say, “Relieve us!” Then We shall forgive you your sins and increase the rewards of those who do good.’ (2: 59)

'Children of Adam, dress well whenever you are at worship, and eat and drink [as We have permitted] but do not be extravagant: God does not like extravagant people. (7:32)

They ask you, Prophet, what is lawful for them. Say, ‘All good things are lawful for you.’ [This includes] what you have taught your birds and beasts of prey to catch, teaching them as God has taught you, so eat what they catch for you, but first pronounce God’s name over it. Be mindful of God: He is swift to take account. Today all good, pure foods have been made lawful for you. Similarly, the food of the People of the Book is permissible for you and yours is permissible for them. (5: 5- 6)

‘People, eat what is good and lawful from the earth, and do not follow Satan’s footsteps, for he is your sworn enemy. He always commands you to do what is evil and indecent, and to say things about God that you do not really know.’ (2:169)

‘You who believe, intoxicants and gambling, idolatrous practices, and [divining with] arrows are repugnant acts– Satan’s doing–shun them so that you may prosper. With intoxicants and gambling, Satan seeks only to incite enmity and hatred among you, and to stop you remembering God and prayer. Will you not give them up?’ (5:91-92)

‘Livestock animals are lawful as food for you, with the exception of what is about to be announced to you. You are forbidden to kill game while you are on pilgrimage...but when you have completed the rites of pilgrimage you may hunt.’ (5: 2-3)

‘You who believe, do not kill game while you are in the state of consecration [for pilgrimage]’. (5:96)

'It is permitted for you to catch and eat seafood– an enjoyment for you and the traveller– but hunting game is forbidden while you are in the state of consecration [for pilgrimage]. Be mindful of God to whom you will be gathered'. (5:97)

'He has only forbidden you carrion, blood, pig’s meat, and animals over which any name other than God’s has been invoked. But if anyone is forced to eat such things by hunger, rather than desire or excess, he commits no sin: God is most merciful and forgiving. (2: 174)

‘You are forbidden to eat carrion; blood; pig’s meat; any animal over which any name other than God’s has been invoked; any animal strangled, or victim of a violent blow or a fall, or gored or savaged by a beast of prey, unless you still slaughter it [in the correct manner]; or anything sacrificed on idolatrous altars…. If any of you is forced by hunger to eat forbidden food, with no intention of doing wrong, then God is most forgiving and merciful.’ (5: 4)

We forbade for the Jews every animal with claws, and the fat of cattle and sheep, except what is on their backs and in their intestines, or that which sticks to their bones. (6:147)

'So [believers] eat any [animal] over which God’s name has been pronounced, if you believe in His revelations. Why should you not eat such animals when God has already fully explained what He has forbidden you, except when forced by hunger? But many lead others astray by their desires, without any true knowledge: your Lord knows best who oversteps the limit. Avoid committing sin, whether openly or in secret, for those who commit sin will be repaid for what they do, and do not eat anything over which God’s name has not been pronounced, for that is breaking the law. (6:119-122)

‘Eat from the good things We have provided for you, but do not overstep the bounds, or My wrath will descend on you. Anyone on whom My wrath descends has truly fallen. Yet I am most forgiving towards those who repent, believe, do righteous deeds, and stay on the right path.’ (20:82-83)

[Prophet], say, ‘In all that has been revealed to me, I find nothing forbidden for people to eat, except for carrion, flowing blood, pig’s meat– it is loathsome– or a sinful offering over which any name other than God’s has been invoked.’ But if someone is forced by hunger, rather than desire or excess, then God is most forgiving and most merciful. (6: 146)

So eat of the good and lawful things God has provided for you and be thankful for His blessings, if it is Him that you worship. He has forbidden you only these things: carrion, blood, pig’s meat, and animals over which any name other than God’s has been invoked. But if anyone is forced by hunger, not desiring it nor exceeding their immediate need, God is forgiving and merciful. (16:115-116)

'No blame will be attached to the blind, the lame, the sick. Whether you eat in your own houses, or those of your fathers, your mothers, your brothers, your sisters, your paternal uncles, your paternal aunts, your maternal uncles, your maternal aunts, houses you have the keys for, or any of your friends’ houses, you will not be blamed: you will not be blamed whether you eat in company or separately. (24:62)

‘You who believe, do not forbid the good things God has made lawful to you– do not exceed the limits: God does not love those who exceed the limits– but eat the lawful and good things that God provides for you. Be mindful of God, in whom you believe. (5:88-89)

Allah has not made (lawful in the Shariah a cattle dedicated to idols),such as a Bahirah, a Sai’ba, a Wasila or a Ham. (But disbelievers fabricate lies against Allah and most of them do not have sense). (5:104)

Say, ‘Think about the provision God has sent down for you, some of which you have made unlawful and some lawful.’ Say, ‘Has God given you permission [to do this], or are you inventing lies about God?’ (10:60)

When they come to you [believers], they say, ‘We believe,’ but they come disbelieving and leave disbelieving– God knows best what they are hiding. You [Prophet] see many of them rushing into sin and hostility and consuming what is unlawful. How evil their practices are! Why do their rabbis and scholars not forbid them to speak sinfully and consume what is unlawful? How evil their deeds are! (5:62-64)

For earlier articles in the series, click here and 2 and 1