Dr. Yusuf Al Qardawi, Qatar
Islam Permits What Is Wholesome
This was the state of the world in relation to the eating of food at the advent of Islam. At one extreme every kind of meat was permitted and at the other all meat was prohibited. Then Allah addressed all human beings saying:
O mankind! Eat of what is permissible and good on earth, and do not follow the footsteps of Satan; truly he is an open adversary to you. (2:168)
Thus He speaks to all the people on this globe, calling on them to eat of the good things which He has provided for them on this vast, outspread table, the Earth, and not to follow the ways of Satan, who has made it alluring to some people to prohibit for themselves various wholesome things which Allah has made halal, thus leading them toward the pitfalls of self-destruction. Then Allah addressed the Believers in particular saying:
O you who believe! Eat of the good things that We have provided for you, and be thankful to Allah if it is He alone whom you worship. Indeed, what He has forbidden to you is the flesh of dead animals and blood and the flesh of swine, and that which has been sacrificed to anyone other than Allah. But if one is compelled by necessity, neither craving (it) nor transgressing, there is no sin on him; indeed, Allah is Forgiving, Merciful. (2:172-173)
In this particular message to the Believers, Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala tells them to eat of the good things of His providing and to give thanks to Him for His favors. He then explains that no food is haram to them except the four kinds mentioned in the ayah. The same four kinds, with some further details, are mentioned at other places in the Qur’an:
Say: I do not find in what is revealed to me anything prohibited to an eater in his food unless it be (the flesh of) that which is dead, or flowing blood, or the flesh of swine, for that is indeed foul, or the abomination which has been dedicated to anyone other than Allah. But if one is compelled by necessity, neither craving (it) nor transgressing, then, indeed, thy Lord is Forgiving, Merciful. (6:145)
And in even greater detail:
Forbidden to you are the flesh of dead animals and blood and the flesh of swine, and that which has been dedicated to any other than Allah, and that which has been killed by strangling or by beating or by falling or by being gored, and that which has been (partly) eaten by a wild beast except that which you make lawful by slaughtering (before its death), and that which has been sacrificed to idols…. (5:4 (5:3))
There is no contradiction between this verse, which lists ten prohibited categories, and the previous verse which lists four, since animals which are killed by strangulation, by a blow, by a fall, by being gored, or which are partly eaten by wild animals all belong in the category of dead animals. Similarly, what is sacrificed to idols falls into the category of that which is dedicated to anyone other than Allah. Accordingly, the foods which are prohibited fall into four broad categories which may be reclassified into ten detailed categories, as follows:
The Prohibition of Eating What Is Dead and Its Wisdom
- The first thing mentioned in these verses concerning prohibited foods is the flesh of “dead animals,” that is, the beast or fowl which dies of natural causes, without being slaughtered or hunted by men. There are obvious reasons for this prohibition:
a. Eating the flesh of a dead animal is repugnant to civilized taste and is considered by thinking people in all societies to be contrary to human dignity. We also observe that all peoples possessing a revealed scripture have prohibited it and that they do not eat the flesh of an aunless it is slaughtered. However, the methods of slaughter may vary.
b. In whatever he does, the Muslim acts with a set purpose and intention; he neither use a thing nor reap its benefit without directing his intention, aim, and effort towards it. The significance of slaughtering, which is a purposeful act, the intention of which is to take the life of the animal in order to use it as food, is to remove the slaughtered animal from the category of “dead animals.” Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala does not desire that man should eat of what he did not intend or think of eating, as is the case with the dead animal; conversely, slaughtering an animal or hunting it as game both require an intention followed by effort and subsequent action.
c. If the animal died a natural death, it is quite likely that it died of some acute or chronic disease, through eating a poisonous plant, or other similar causes; hence eating its flesh would probably be harmful. The same is the case when the cause of death is old age or starvation.
d. By prohibiting the flesh of a dead animal to human beings, Allah in His Mercy provides source of food to animals and birds, who, in the words of the Qur’an, constitute an ummah (nation) like themselves. The truth of this is demonstrated by the fact that the carcasses of animals lying out in the open are devoured by birds and animals.
e. This prohibition encourages the owner of an animal to guard it from disease and malnutrition lest it die and be wasted. Accordingly, in the case of disease, he will be quick to seek a cure for it or will hasten to slaughter the animal.
The Prohibition of Flowing Blood - The second prohibition relates to flowing or liquid blood. Ibn Abbas was asked about the spleen and he replied, “You can eat it.” The questioners said, “But it is blood.” He answered, “Only flowing blood is prohibited to you.” The reason for this prohibition is both that the drinking of blood is repugnant to human decency and that it may likewise be injurious to health.
During the period of jahiliyyah, a person who felt hungry might jab a bone or sharp object into the flesh of his animal, and collect and drink the flowing blood. It was concerning this that the poet al’Ashi said: Never approach animals that are dead, Nor take a sharp bone to pierce the live one.
Thus, since piercing the flesh of a living animal injures and weakens it, Allah Ta’ala prohibited such a practice.
Pork - The third prohibited food is pork, that is, the flesh of swine. Since the pig relishes filth and offal, its meat is repugnant to persons of decent taste; moreover, recent medical research has shown that eating swine-flesh is injurious to health in all climates, especially hot ones. Scientific research has also shown that pork carries a deadly parasite (trichina), among others, and no one can say what science may discover in the future which will shed more light on the wisdom of this prohibition. Allah the Almighty spoke the truth in describing His Messenger, Muhammad (pbuh), as the one who
“makes unlawful what is foul.” (7:157)
In addition to this, there are also some scholars who say that eating pork frequently diminishes the human being’s sense of shame in relation to what is indecent.
That Which Is Dedicated to Anyone Other Than Allah - The fourth prohibited category refers to an animal which is dedicated to anyone other than Allah, that is to say, one which is slaughtered with the invocation of a name other than the name of Allah—for example, the name of an idol. When slaughtering an animal, the Arab polytheists would invoke the names of their idols, such as al-Lat or al-Uzza. Such a practice is a devotional act addressed to someone other than Allah and is a form of worship in which His glorious name is not mentioned. In this case the reason for the prohibition is entirely related to faith: to safeguard the belief in the Oneness of Allah, to purify worship, and to fight shirk and polytheism in whatever form they may be expressed.
Indeed, it is Allah who created man and gave him control over everything on the earth, subjecting the animal to his power and permitting him to take its life for food on the condition that His name be pronounced at the time of slaughter. Pronouncing the name of Allah while slaughtering the animal is a declaration that one is taking the life of this creature by the permission of its Creator, while if one invokes any other name, he has forfeited this permission and must be denied the use of its flesh.
Types of Dead Animals
The preceding are the four principal categories of prohibited animal foods. As revealed in the verse of Surh al-Maidah (5:4 (3)), to these four are added five more categories which pertain to further classifications of the “dead animal,” as follows: - The strangled: an animal which has been strangled, for example, by a rope around its neck, or suffocated, as for instance by putting its head into something which produces suffocation.
- The beaten: an animal which has been beaten to death by a club or similar object.
- The fallen: an animal which dies as a result of a fall from a high place, or by falling into a gully or ravine.
- The gored: an animal which dies as a result of being gored by the horns of another animal.
- That which has been (partly) eaten by wild beasts: an animal which has been partially devoured by wild animals and dies as a result.
After naming these five categories, Allah makes an exception of “that which you make lawful by slaughtering,” meaning that if one comes upon such an animal while it is still alive, slaughtering renders it halal as food. The correct understanding of “still alive” is that some sign of life remains in it. ‘Ali ibn Abu Talib said, “If you can slaughter the beaten, the fallen or the gored animal while it (still) moves its hoof or leg, you may eat it.” Commented al-Dahak, “The people of the time of jahiliyyah used to eat them (dead animals); then Allah prohibited them in Islam, excepting what is slaughtered. If it is slaughtered while it (still) moves a leg, its tail, or an eye, it is halal.
Reasons for the Prohibition of the Foregoing Categories
We need not repeat the reasons stated in the preceding discussion concerning dead animals, with the possible exception of the danger to health, which is not clear in such cases. However, we wish to emphasize again the significance of prohibitions 5 through 9 above. The All-Wise Law-Giver wants to teach people to be kind to the animal and to protect it from harm. One should not neglect it so that it can be strangled, fall from a high place, or be gored in a fight with other animals, nor torture it by severe beating, possibly resulting in its death, as vicious herdsmen, particularly hired ones, sometimes do, even goading animals such as two bulls or sheep to fight each other until one wounds or gores the other to death.
It is solely for this reason that Islamic jurists have prohibited the eating of the flesh of an animal which has been gored to death, even if it was wounded by the horns of the other and its blood has flowed; this prohibition holds even if the blood flowed from a wound in the usual site of slaughter, the throat. According to my understanding, the purpose behind this is to penalize the owner of such animals who has left them unattended to gore each other to death; he is not to be rewarded for this negligence by being permitted to make use of their flesh for food.
The reason for prohibiting the eating of animals partially devoured by wild beasts is to preserve human dignity; a Muslim is not to degrade himself by eating the leavings of animals. The people of the period of jahiliyyah were in the habit of eating what had been left by wild animals, wolf sheep, camel or cow, but subsequently Allah prohibited this to the Believers.