Islam
In Islam several animals are considered unclean and their consumption is sinful (haraam), except in case of necessity; while others are permitted (halaal), as long as they are slaughtered in the proper manner and with blessings given to God.
The Qur'an expressly forbids consumption of "the flesh of swine" There are no other "impure animals" explicitly named in the Qur'an. If someone converts to Islam, Allah "allows them as lawful what is good and prohibits them from what is bad; he releases them from their heavy burdens and from the yokes that were upon them".
For other animals, great importance is given to the manner of its death: forbidden are blood and carrion ("dead meat"), and any animal that has been "killed by strangling, or by a violent blow, or by a headlong fall, or by being gored to death". Also forbidden is any animal that has been eaten by a wild animal, unless the person is able to slaughter it before it dies.
Finally, the Qur'an forbids food on which has been invoked a name other than Allah, which has been sacrificed on stone altars, or has subjected to the pagan practice of raffling with arrows. Food slaughtered by an idolater is forbidden, but food that is acceptable to Jews and Christians is allowed to Muslims as well.
On the other hand, in Islamic tradition there are many animals that are not considered good for eating, and therefore haraam. These include lions, tigers, eagles, crows, vultures, kites and scorpions. Fish, seafood and locusts are allowed (even if not properly slaughtered), as are camel and rabbit meat.
Read more about this topic: Unclean Animals
Famous quotes containing the word islam:
“The exact objectives of Islam Inc. are obscure. Needless to say everyone involved has a different angle, and they all intend to cross each other up somewhere along the line.”
—William Burroughs (b. 1914)
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—Bernard Lewis, U.S. Middle Eastern specialist. Islam and the West, ch. 8, Oxford University Press (1993)