Dietary Restrictions of Islam

 الحمد لله وكفى وسلام على عباده الذين اصطفى وسلام على النبي المصطفى

Allah Most High says concerning the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم

وَیُحِلُّ لَہُمُ الطَّیِّبٰتِ وَیُحَرِّمُ عَلَیۡہِمُ الۡخَبٰٓئِثَ

[He] allows for them the wholesome and forbids upon them the filth

(Juz 9, Surah 7, Ayah 157)

This statement in the holy Quran is the basis for the entire dietary code of the Islamic Shari’ah. While in the text of the Quran the only animal that has been explicitly named as forbidden to eat is the pig, it is well known that there are many animals that are forbidden to eat in the Shari’ah based on the principle of it being forbidden to eat al-khabā’ith. From the various traditions reported from the Prophet صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم we know that apart from pork, the meat of carnivorous animals with sharp teeth, birds of prey with talons, and animals that feed on filth known as al-jallālah are all totally forbidden to eat, and it is also forbidden to drink their milk. Vermin and bugs, which are called hisharat al-ard are likewise forbidden to eat because they clearly fall under the category of filthy things. The Quran declares al-maytah forbidden too. This term encompasses any meat from an animal that was not properly slaughtered, and therefore necessarily the meat of all those creatures which are not possible to slaughter in the Islamic method. Insects and all sea creatures fall under the category of al-maytah. Fish is also technically maytah, but it being an exception to the general prohibition is established from both the Quran and the Hadith. Locust is the only exception to the general prohibition of eating insects and bugs, for the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said:

أُحِلَّتْ لَنَا مَيْتَتَانِ الْحُوتُ وَالْجَرَادُ

“For us two dead meats have been permitted: the fish and the locust” (Sunan Ibn Majah)

The implication is that all other maytah are forbidden from among the sea creatures and insects of the Earth.

Although the camel is permissible to eat in our Shari’ah, because it was forbidden in the Torah and in the Mosaic Law for the children of Israel, it is narrated that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم enjoined ablution upon a person who ate camel meat or drank its milk, perhaps as an acknowledgment of its earlier prohibition.

However, the meat of the donkey is totally forbidden in the Shari’ah, a prohibition that was announced during the expedition of Khaybar. Concerning the horse and the mule, the narration of Khalid bin Walid رضى الله عنه indicates that they are prohibited too:

عَنْ خَالِدِ بْنِ الْوَلِيدِ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم نَهَى عَنْ أَكْلِ لُحُومِ الْخَيْلِ وَالْبِغَالِ وَالْحَمِيرِ

Khalid bin Walid narrates that the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم forbade eating the meat of the horse, the mule and the donkey (Sunan Abi Dawud)

Because this particular narration is considered weak, many Fuqaha don't consider horse meat forbidden but only disliked. Concerning the lizard, although initially the Prophet عليه السلام permitted it for Khalid bin Walid رضى الله عنه it appears that he later prohibited it altogether:

عَنْ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ شِبْلٍ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم نَهَى عَنْ أَكْلِ لَحْمِ الضَّبِّ

Abdir-Rahman bin Shibl narrates that the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم prohibited eating the meat of the lizard (Sunan Abi Dawud)

It therefore appears that essentially all reptiles are forbidden. They fall in the category of carnivores with sharp teeth, or maytah or the filthy things of the Earth hisharat al-ard.

Concerning the animals which are permissible to eat, is the entire body permissible, with all its various organs, or are something forbidden to eat from even a halal animal? It appears that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم hated seven things from even the halal animal and therefore they must not be consumed:

عَنْ مُجَاهِدٍ أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ كَرِهَ مِنَ ‌الشَّاةِ ‌سَبْعًا الْمَثَانَةَ وَالْمَرَارَةَ وَالْغُدَّةَ وَالذَّكَرَ وَالْحَيَاءَ وَالْأُنْثَيَيْنِ

Mujahid narrates that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم hated seven things of the sheep: the bladder, the gallbladder, the glands, the penis, the vulva and the testicles (al-Marasil lil-Imam Abi Dawud; p.226)

This narration is supported by another narrated by Ibn Umar رضى الله عنهما

كَانَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَكْرَهُ مِنَ ‌الشَّاةِ ‌سَبْعًا الْمَرَارَةَ وَالْمَثَانَةَ والمحياة وَالذَّكَرَ وَالْأُنْثَيَيْنِ وَالْغُدَّةَ وَالدَّمَ

The Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم hated seven things from the sheep: the gallbladder, the bladder, the vulva, the penis, the testicles, the glands, and the blood (Mu’jam al-Awsat, #9480)

These seven parts of the halal animal, because they are in the category of al-khabā’ith are therefore forbidden to eat according to the Hanafi school. However, this particular narration from Ibn Umar is considered weak due to the weakness of the narration Abdur-Rahman bin Zayd bin Aslam.