The Islamic religion has many restrictions on food that all worshippers must adhere to. These restrictions are in keeping with Halaal – dietary laws. Islam followers celebrate the birth of the Prophet Mohammed sometime around the end of February and early March. This is known as Ramadan which is a Holy month. Within this time Muslims are not allowed to eat between the time that the sun comes up and goes down. There are obvious exceptions to this rule including young children, the elderly, the sick and pregnant women, however, it depends on the home owner as to whether they allow any exceptions.
These food restrictions include:
o Any animal that has died of natural causes rather than being slaughtered in line with Islamic beliefs cannot be eaten by any member of the Islamic faith.
o Muslims cannot eat any animal that has been slaughtered by anyone of any religion other than Islam, Christian or Jew.
o They can however, eat any dead sea animal – they don’t have to be slaughtered according to Muslim beliefs. But, any sea animal that doesn’t have scales or fins is unwanted by many Muslims.
o Pork meat, in any form, is forbidden to all Muslims at all times.
o Muslims cannot eat any meat that has been slaughtered under the name of anyone other than Allah.
o They are restricted from eating the meat of any beast or bird of prey. This means that they can’t eat the meat of animals such as lions or dogs or eagles and vultures.
o It is also forbidden for them to eat domestic donkeys.
o They cannot eat any meat off an animal that feeds on ‘filthy things’, this is until the animal has been singled out and quarantined and fed ‘clean’ food for a long enough period of time.
o All types of alcohol is forbidden along with any food that contains chemicals that can be harmful to the body.
o All of these products are forbidden to all Muslims, lard, gelatine, whey and vanilla extract – this can contain up to 50% alcohol.
Any meat that can be eaten by Muslims can only be eaten if it has been slaughtered and prepared according to Halaal guidelines. Any utensils that are used to prepare Halaal foods must be kept separately from any other utensils – even after washing – Halaal equipment cannot be contaminated with any other.
Halaal is one of the main and strongest beliefs that Muslims follow. One that you may find a little strange and confusing is that they don’t celebrate Christmas; so as you’re rushing around to do your Christmas shopping and getting all the supplies ready for the big day, Muslims go about daily life as usual until February. As stated before, Muslims celebrate the birth of the Prophet Mohammed and although they see Jesus as a prophet of God, they do not believe that he was God. However, in the Qur’an there are many mentions of the baby Jesus and his virgin birth, it also speaks of his amazing teachings and the miracles he performed, however they do not mark his birth as a holiday.
This article was written by Islam follower and shop owner Shabnam Gohil who would recommend you shop for any Islamic supplies at www.islamshoppingcentre.com.