List of haraam & halaal food
Mu' meneen Brothers
and Sisters,
As Salaam Aleikum wa
Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be
upon all of you)
One of our
brothers/sisters has asked this question:
where can i find a
book or a website about which food is haraam or hallal, and is turkey, mukroo,
or haram?
(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)
Answer:
In the name of Allah, We praise
Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none
can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright.
We bear witness that there is no one (no idol,
no person, no grave, no
prophet, no imam, no dai,
nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that
Muhammad(saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.
The list of halaal or
permissible foods in Islam in endless!
Allah and His Messenger (saws) have listed the foods which are haraam or
forbidden. The law or principle in
determining whether a food is halaal or haraam, the believers must look in the list of the haraam foods, and if not found in that list, the food will be considered halaal for the
believers.
Allah Says in the Holy
Quran Chapter 5 Surah Maidah verses 3-4:
3 Forbidden to you (for food) are: dead meat,
blood, the flesh of swine, and that on which hath been invoked the name
of other than Allah, that which hath
been killed by strangling, or by a
violent blow, or by a headlong
fall, or by being gored to death; that which hath been (partly) eaten by a
wild animal; unless ye are able to slaughter it (in due form); that which is sacrificed on stone
(altars); (forbidden) also is the
division (of meat) by raffling with arrows: that is impiety. This day have those who reject faith given
up all hope of your religion: yet fear them not but fear Me. This day have I perfected your religion for
you completed my favor upon you and have chosen for you Islam as your
religion. But if any forced by hunger
with no inclination to transgression Allah is indeed Oft-Forgiving Most
Merciful.
4 They ask thee what is lawful to them (as food):
say: Lawful unto you are (all) things
good and pure: and what ye have taught
your trained hunting animals (to catch) in the manner directed to you by Allah;
eat what they catch for you but pronounce the name of Allah over it: and fear
Allah; for Allah is swift in taking account.
5 This day are (all) things good and pure made
lawful unto you. The food of the People
of the Book is lawful unto you, and
yours is lawful unto them.
Allah Says in the Holy
Quran Chapter 7 Surah Aaraaf verse 157:
157 Those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered Prophet (Mohamed (saws)) whom
they find mentioned in their own (Scriptures);
in the law and the Gospel; for
he commands them what is just and forbids them what is evil: he allows them as lawful what is good (and
pure) and prohibits them from what is bad (and impure); he releases them from their heavy burdens
and from the yokes that are upon them.
So it is those who believe in him honor him, help him, and follow the
light which is sent down with him, it
is they who will prosper."
Thus, in light of the above Aayahs of the Holy Quran and the various
authentic narrations of the Messenger of Allah (saws), here is the list of the haraam foods:
The meat of any animal that dies
of itself or is not slaughtered (including fall, strangling, gored to
death, etc.)
The flesh of swine
The food on which any name other
than Allah Subhanah’s has been invoked
The food that is slaughtered by
any other than the believers, Jews or
Christians.
The Messenger of Allah (saws)
forbade the believers to eat the meat of any animal which hunts with its
fangs. (eg. Lions, tigers, cheetahs,
etc.)
The Messenger of Allah (saws)
forbade the believers to eat the meat of any bird which hunts with its claws. (eagles,
crows, etc.)
All the impure animals and
insects. (rats, cockroaches, pests, etc.)
The Messenger of Allah (saws)
also forbade the believers to eat dogs and domestic donkeys.
If the food does not fall in the
list of the haraam, it will be
considered halaal and permissible for the believers as food.
It is practically impossible to
name each and every halaal food, as the
list is endless. But we will try to
compile a list only as an indication.
The following are absolutely halaal for the believers.
All vegetation is halaal food.
All animals and birds that are
not listed in the haraam list, are
halaal as food for the believers provided they fulfill the requirements of
slaughter.
All sea-food is halaal, whether it be fish, crabs,
lobster, prawns, etc.
The turkey is not listed in the
haraam list, and thus it’s meat is
perfectly legal and halaal as food for the believers, provided its slaughter has met the requirements of Shariah.
Whatever written of Truth and
benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error
is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He
is the Only Source of Strength.
Your Brother in
Islam,
