Halal - Meat From Christians and Jews

Meat From Christians and Jews

In Surah 5:5 of the Quran, it is written: "The food of the People of the Book is lawful for you as your food is lawful for them."

However, overwhelming majority of the scholars from the Muslim world agree that this verse speaks about the Christians of Prophet Muhammad's time and say that Christian methods of slaughtering and consumption has drastically changed over time as the diet played lesser importance in the daily practice of Christians. They also point to Deuteronomy chapter 14 verse 8 in the Bible which says that "Thou shall not eat of the swine nor shall you touch its dead carcasses." Matthew 15:11, though, notes, "What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.” In this passage, Christ downplays the importance of dietary law and instead impeaches the incongruence in faith between the Pharisees' overt religious practice and their lack of true commitment to God. Pork and pork related products, which are forbidden in Islam, are consumed by Christians and used widely in food and food products. Kosher meats, which are consumed by Jews, are permissible if no Halal meat is available. This is due to the similarity between both methods of slaughtering and the similar principles of Kosher meat which are still observed by the orthodox Jews today.