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Muslim dietary laws provide a set of rules as to what Muslims eat in their diet. These rules specify the food that is halal, meaning lawful. They are found in Qur'an, the holy book of Islam, usually detailing what is unlawful, or haram. The main references include 2:173, 5:3, 5:5, 6:118, 6:145, 16:115, to name a few. There are some more rules added to these in fatwas (which are not often held to be authoritative by most Muslims) by Mujtahids with various degrees of strictness.

Islamic law prohibits a Muslim from consuming alcohol, eating or drinking blood and its by-products, and eating the meat of a carnivore or omnivore, such as pork, monkey, dog or cat. For the meat of an animal to be halal it must be properly slaughtered by a Muslim or a Person of the Book (Christian or Jew), while mentioning the name of God (Allah); for instance, the animal may not be killed by being boiled or electrocuted, and the carcass should be hung upside down long enough to be bloodfree. According to some fatwas, the animal must be slaughtered only by a Muslim. However, other fatwas dispute this, and rule from the orthodox Qur'anic position, that according to verse 5:5 of the Qur'an (which declares that the food of the People of the Book to be halal), the slaughter may be done by a Jew or a Christian . Thus, many observant Muslims will accept kosher meat, especially if halal options are not available.

Some of these traditional dietary restrictions may have been created to prevent trichinosis, which can be caught from undercooked pork, and other similar diseases.

See also

• Kosher foods
• Taboo meat
• Clean animal
• Unclean animal
• Kashrut
• Hechsher

• Diets
• Islamic law