Ḥalāl Consumables

1 In foods, the default is permission. Nothing is forbidden without a proof forbidding it.

2 In meat, the default is prohibition. It becomes lawful only by valid slaughter.

3 What is forbidden to eat is forbidden to trade in, and its price is unlawful.

4 Necessity permits the forbidden, to the extent of the necessity and no further.

5 A small amount of what intoxicates in quantity is itself forbidden.

Carrion — whatever died of itself.

Flowing blood.

Swine, in every part and derivative.

What was slaughtered in a name other than Allah’s.

The strangled, the beaten, the fallen, the gored, and what a beast has partly eaten — unless reached alive and slaughtered.

Predators with canine teeth — lion, wolf, dog, cat.

Birds of prey with talons — eagle, hawk, owl.

Domestic donkeys.

Creatures commanded to be killed, and those forbidden to kill.

Sea life: all of it lawful per M, S and Ḥb, including what is found dead — “its water is pure and its dead are lawful.” Ḥ permits fish alone, excluding shellfish and crustaceans.

1 The slaughterer is Muslim, or of the People of the Book.

2 The name of Allah is pronounced over it.

3 A sharp blade, drawn swiftly — never a tooth or a nail.

4 The throat, the gullet and the two vessels of the neck are severed.

5 The animal is alive at the moment of the cut.

Stunning — permitted by many councils where it is reversible and the animal would live; rejected where it kills before the cut. Ask which is used.

Mechanical blades — the name must be said over each animal, or by one operator with continuous intent. A recording does not suffice.

Omitting the name deliberately — the meat is unlawful per Ḥ, M and Ḥb; S holds it lawful if forgotten or omitted.

Permitting — the verse is general; we are not charged with investigating what we did not witness, and the Companions ate the food of the People of the Book without enquiry. Say Bismillāh and eat.

Withholding — much modern slaughter involves no religious act at all, no name is said, and methods such as killing by electrocution or gas leave the animal dead before any cut. What is described in the verse is then simply absent.

The practical middle: where certified slaughter is available, take it. Where it is not, the traveller and the one under constraint have a valid opinion to rely on. Do not make this a cause of division.

Every intoxicant is khamr, and every khamr is forbidden — whatever its source, and whatever it is called.

Forbidden also: to sell it, carry it, serve it, press it, or take its price — ten are cursed in connection with it.

Vinegar — wine that has turned of itself is pure and lawful by agreement. Deliberately converting it is disputed: permitted per Ḥ, disliked or forbidden per the others.

Ethanol as a solvent — where it is not derived from khamr, is present in trace amounts, and leaves no effect, most contemporary councils permit it. This covers most flavourings, vanilla extract and mouthwash.

Foods cooked with wine — forbidden. Heat does not remove what was deliberately added, and the taste remains.

Gelatin — from pork skin or bone, unlawful per the majority. From cattle, lawful only if from valid slaughter. Fish gelatin is lawful without question. Some permit porcine gelatin on istiḥālah; most do not, holding the change insufficient.

Rennet — from the stomach of a calf. Lawful per Ḥ and many others regardless of how the calf was killed; S requires valid slaughter. Microbial rennet avoids the question.

L-cysteine (E920) — a dough conditioner. From feathers or synthesis it is lawful; from human hair it is impermissible on other grounds.

Carmine (E120) — from insects. Permitted per most contemporary councils; Ḥ and S hold insects impure.

Glycerin (E422) — lawful when vegetable or synthetic. Animal-derived follows the source.

Mono- and diglycerides (E471) — usually vegetable; verify with the manufacturer.

Seek treatment — Allah has not sent down a disease without sending down its cure. But do not seek a cure in what He has forbidden.

A forbidden substance becomes permitted in medicine when three conditions meet: the illness is real and serious, a qualified physician advises it, and no lawful alternative exists.

This covers porcine-derived insulin, heparin, and capsule shells where no substitute is stocked.

Vaccines — permitted by the major councils, including those cultured on porcine-derived media, the original substance having transformed.

Alcohol in perfume, sanitiser and topical medication is permitted by most contemporary scholars — it is not khamr and is not drunk.

Cosmetics carrying pork derivatives should be avoided where an alternative exists.

Nail varnish and anything forming a seal must be removed before wuḍū.