This excerpt is taken from Dr. Yusuf Al-Qaradawi's book Halal and Haram in Islam, translated into Urdu by Muhammad Tahir Naqqash.
Halal and Haram in the Individual Life of Muslims
Foods and Drinks
The disagreement among nations and peoples regarding food and drink, especially animal-based foods, has existed since ancient times about which things are permissible and which are not.
As far as plant-based foods and drinks are concerned, the scope of disagreement is not wide. Islam has also declared alcohol forbidden, whether it is made from grapes, dates, barley, or any other substance. Similarly, it has forbidden those things that cause mental disturbance or numbness, as well as those that are harmful to health.
As for animal-based foods, there has been intense disagreement among nations and peoples on this matter.
The issue of slaughtering and eating animals according to the Brahmins:
Religious people like Brahmins and some philosophers have forbidden themselves from slaughtering animals and eating their meat. They sustain themselves on vegetarian food. According to them, slaughtering animals is a very cruel act.
But when we contemplate the universe, we reach the conclusion that the creation of these animals is not an end in itself because they have not been given the power of intellect and will, and their natural structure clearly shows that they have been subjugated for the service of humans. Just as humans benefit from their subjugation, similarly, if they benefit from their meat by slaughtering them, what is there to be surprised about? We also know this divine Sunnah that lower creatures have to be sacrificed for the higher creatures. Thus, green plants are cut down as fodder for animals. In this way, animals are slaughtered for human food, and even a human individual has to fight and be sacrificed for collective interests.
Then, even if humans refrain from slaughtering animals, they cannot save them from death or destruction. In such a case, either other animals will tear them apart and eat them, or they will die naturally, and sometimes this situation is more painful for the animal than having a knife run across its throat.
Forbidden animals according to Jews and Christians:
Among the religions with scriptures, Allah Almighty forbade many land and water animals for the Jews. The details of this are mentioned in the eleventh chapter of the Torah's "Sefer Leviticus." Some of the things forbidden to the Jews have also been mentioned in the Quran, and the reason for their prohibition is stated to be their oppression and disobedience:
وَعَلَى الَّذِينَ هَادُوا حَرَّمْنَا كُلَّ ذِي ظُفُرٍ وَمِنَ الْبَقَرِ وَالْغَنَمِ حَرَّمْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ شُحُومَهُمَا إِلَّا مَا حَمَلَتْ ظُهُورُهُمَا أَوِ الْحَوَايَا أَوْ مَا اخْتَلَطَ بِعَظْمٍ ذَلِكَ جَزَيْنَاهُمْ بِبَغْيِهِمْ وَإِنَّا لَصَادِقُونَ
"And We prohibited for the Children of Israel every animal with claws, and the fat of cattle and sheep, except what adheres to their backs or the entrails or is attached to a bone. That was because they disobeyed and were indeed defiantly disobedient."
Reference: Al-An'am : 146
This is the case of the Jews. The Christians are followers of them. The Gospel states that Jesus Christ (peace be upon him) did not come to abolish the law (Shariah) but to complete it, yet the Christians themselves abolished the law and considered permissible those things forbidden in the Torah which the Gospel had not annulled. Similarly, in matters of food and drink, they followed the commands of Saint Paul and only forbade the animal that was sacrificed to idols. Paul argued that for the pure, all things are pure, and that what enters the mouth does not defile a person, but what comes out of the mouth defiles them.
Based on this argument, they also permitted pork, even though there is a clear command in the Torah forbidding it, which has remained forbidden for them to this day.
According to the Arabs in the Age of Ignorance:
The Arabs, during the Age of Ignorance, considered some animals impure and filthy according to their own beliefs and declared some forbidden based on superstition or for the sake of idols. For example: Bahira, Sa'iba, Wasila, and Ham, whose explanations have been given earlier. In contrast, they permitted many impure things like carrion and flowing blood.
Islam Permitted Pure Things:
When Islam emerged, people were indulging in extreme excesses and deficiencies regarding animal food. Therefore, Islam addressed all humans and said:
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ كُلُوا مِمَّا فِي الْأَرْضِ حَلَالًا طَيِّبًا وَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا خُطُوَاتِ الشَّيْطَانِ إِنَّهُ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ مُبِينٌ
“O people! Eat from what is lawful and pure on the earth, and do not follow the footsteps of Satan. Indeed, he is to you a clear enemy.”
Reference: Surah Al-Baqarah: 168
In other words, Islam gave a general invitation for people to come and partake of the pure things from this vast table (earth) and not to follow the paths of Satan. In other words, do not fall into the pit of misguidance by declaring unlawful what Allah has made lawful. Then, addressing the believers specifically, He said:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا كُلُوا مِنْ طَيِّبَاتِ مَا رَزَقْنَاكُمْ وَاشْكُرُوا لِلَّهِ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ إِيَّاهُ تَعْبُدُونَ 173 إِنَّمَا حَرَّمَ عَلَيْكُمُ الْمَيْتَةَ وَالدَّمَ وَلَحْمَ الْخِنْزِيرِ وَمَا أُهِلَّ بِهِ لِغَيْرِ اللَّهِ فَمَنِ اضْطُرَّ غَيْرَ بَاغٍ وَلَا عَادٍ فَلَا إِثْمَ عَلَيْهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ
“O you who have believed, eat from the good things We have provided for you and be grateful to Allah if it is [indeed] Him that you worship. He has only forbidden to you dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine, and that which has been dedicated to other than Allah. But whoever is forced [by necessity], neither desiring [it] nor transgressing [its limit], then indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.”
Reference: Al-Baqarah: 172-173
Through this special address, Allah commanded the believers to eat pure things and to be grateful to their Benefactor by fulfilling the rights of His blessings. Then it was stated that apart from the four categories mentioned in the verse, Allah has not declared anything else unlawful. Accordingly, it was said:
قُلْ لَّاۤ اَجِدُ فِيْ مَاۤ اُوْحِيَ اِلَيَّ مُحَرَّمًا عَلٰى طَاعِمٍ يَّطْعَمُهٗۤ اِلَّاۤ اَنْ يَّكُوْنَ مَيْتَةً اَوْ دَمًا مَّسْفُوْحًا اَوْ لَحْمَ خِنْزِيْرٍ فَاِنَّهٗ رِجْسٌ اَوْ فِسْقًا اُهِلَّ لِغَيْرِ اللّٰهِ بِهٖۚ فَمَنِ اضْطُرَّ غَيْرَ بَاغٍ وَّ لَا عَادٍ فَاِنَّ رَبَّكَ غَفُوْرٌ رَّحِيْمٌ
“Say, ‘I do not find within that which was revealed to me [anything] forbidden to one who would eat it unless it be a dead animal or blood spilled out or the flesh of swine—for indeed, it is impure—or it be [that slaughtered in] disobedience, dedicated to other than Allah. But whoever is forced [by necessity], neither desiring [it] nor transgressing [its limit], then indeed, your Lord is Forgiving and Merciful.’”
Reference: Surah Al-An’am: 145
In Surah Al-Ma’idah, the details of these prohibitions are explained as follows:
حُرِّمَتْ عَلَيْكُمُ الْمَيْتَةُ وَالدَّمُ وَلَحْمُ الْخِنْزِيرِ وَمَا أُهِلَّ لِغَيْرِ اللَّهِ بِهِ وَالْمُنْخَنِقَةُ وَالْمَوْقُوذَة وَالْمُتَرَدِّيَةُ وَالنَّطِيحَةُ وَمَا أَكَلَ السَّبُعُ إِلَّا مَا ذَكَّيْتُمْ وَمَا ذُبِحَ عَلَى النُّصُبِ
“Prohibited to you are dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine, and that which has been dedicated to other than Allah, and [those animals] killed by strangling, or by a violent blow, or by a headlong fall, or by the goring of horns, and those from which a wild animal has eaten—except what you [are able to] slaughter [before its death]—and those that are sacrificed on stone alters.”
Reference: Surah Al-Ma’idah: 3
This verse mentions ten prohibitions, while the previous verse mentions only four. There is no contradiction between the two verses; rather, one verse explains the other. Because the strangled, beaten, fallen, gored, and those eaten by wild animals all fall under the category of dead animals, and this is their detailed explanation. Animals slaughtered on stone alters also fall under the category of those slaughtered in the name of other than Allah. Thus, the prohibitions are essentially four in summary and ten in detail.
