Home – Laws of Religion, Judaism and Islam

Next – 16. Eating Game When on Pilgrimage

Table of Contents – Food Laws of Islam

Index – Food Laws of Judaism and Islam

Laws of Religion

Laws of Islam Concerning Food

15.  Food from Gambling or from Non-Muslims

from the Holy Qur’an, major hadith collections

and Islamic jurisprudence

Food from Gambling or from Non-Muslims

From Islamic Source Documents: Qur’an and Hadith

The Qur’an forbids the consumption of meat obtained by gambling.[1] (Editor’s note: The mention of arrows in Qur’an 5:3 is a reference to gambling and some English translations clarify that it specifically means gambling for meat.) Food obtained from People of the Book (referring to Jews and Christians and sometimes certain others) is lawful to eat.[2]

Muhammad ate meat from a sheep that was purchased from a polytheist[3]. (Editor’s note: This does not mean, however, that he would have eaten meat or other food obtained from a polytheist, but only that meat from the animal so obtained was eaten.) Skins of animals obtained from pagans must be tanned to purify them before food or drink that they hold can be consumed.[4] Plates, drinking vessels, etc., obtained from the People of the Scripture[5] or People of the Book[6] (which include Jews and Christians) should be used only when there is no alternative, and they must be washed before they are used for food.

Muhammad purchased grain from a Jew by mortgaging his armor[7] because he had nothing to feed his family[8]. He also ate meat from a sheep cooked by a Jewish woman who had poisoned the meat, resulting in a lasting effect on the palate of Muhammad’s mouth.[9] After the battle of Khaibar, Muhammad received, and ate, a gift of poisoned meat from Jews. When he questioned the Jews about this, they said that they were testing him to see if he was a true prophet, in which case he would not be harmed by the poison.[10]

Muhammad permitted some of his companions to solicit charity or borrow food on collateral from Ka'b bin Al-Ashraf,[11] who is identified as a Jew[12]. The real purpose of this was to gain access to him so he could be killed, which was done because he spoke ill of Allah (God) and Muhammad.[13]

Food from Gambling or From Non-Muslims

From Islamic Jurisprudence (fiqh/sharia^§):  Reliance of the Traveller

According to Reliance of the Traveller, using containers or utensils of non-Muslims for food or drink, or wearing their clothes, is offensive (but not unlawful.)[14]

_________________

^§The specific derived laws of fiqh summarized here are often referred to by the more general term sharia law.

_________________

Home – Laws of Religion, Judaism and Islam

Next – 16. Eating Game When on Pilgrimage

Table of Contents – Food Laws of Islam

Index – Food Laws of Judaism and Islam

Abbreviations used in footnotes:

QR:   Qur’an, with surahs (chapters) and ayahs (verses) numbered as in most modern translations, including those found here, here and here.

BK:    Hadith collection of al-Bukhari as found here (USC/CMJE website) and here (ebook download). In a few instances, the hadiths on the USC website differ from those in the ebook download, either by having slightly different numbering of the hadiths or because the hadith appears only on the USC site and not in the ebook download. Such cases are noted in the footnotes by putting either “(USC)” or “(ebook)” after the relevant hadith number when it applies to only one of these two sources. Part or all of the hadith collections of al-Bukhari, with somewhat different numbering systems, can also be found here, here and here.

ML:    Hadith collection of Muslim as found here and here. Part or all of the hadith collection of Muslim, with somewhat different numbering systems, can also be found here and here.

DJP:  The Distinguished Jurist’s Primer, by Ibn Rushd, translated by Imran Ahsan Khan Nyazee, published by Garnet Publishing Ltd, Reading, UK. Volume 1, 1994. Volume 2, 1996. Full text online and download for Volume 1 are here and here and for Volume 2 are here and here.

RT:    Reliance of the Traveller: A Classic Manual of Islamic Sacred Law by Ahmad ibn Naqib al-Misri, translated by Nuh Ha Mim Keller, revised edition 1994, published by Amana Publications, Beltsville, Maryland, USA.  Reliance of the Traveller can be found here and here.

SR:    al-Shafi‛i’s Risala: Treatise on the Foundations of Islamic Jurisprudence, translated by Majid Khadduri, Second Edition, published by The Islamic Texts Society.

●  The sources cited are described on the page Source Texts Used for Laws of Islam.