Islamic and Jewish

 Islamic and Jewish dietary laws compared,

The Islamic dietary laws (Halal) and the Jewish dietary laws (Kashrut; in English, kosher) are both quite detailed, and contain both points of similarity and discord. While both are dietary laws from Abrahamic religions, they have different roots: an explanation of the Islamic code of law found in the Qur'an and a Jewish code of laws found in Leviticus.

Substance classification

Similarities

Swine are prohibited by both sets of laws.

Many animals permitted in kashrut are also Halal, such as bovines.

Kashrut forbids and Halal generally forbids the consumption of amphibians such as frogs.[citation needed]

Almost all insects are not kosher. The few kosher insects are specific types of locusts and grasshoppers which are not eaten today in most communities, since it is unknown which species is permitted (the exception being the Yemenite Jews, who claim to have preserved this knowledge). It is also a consensus among Muslim scholars that all insects are forbidden except for locusts.

To be kosher, aquatic animals must have scales and fins. Some Muslims (mostly the Shi'ites) also believe that only fish with scales and fins are Halal (but Shi'ites do make an exception with some crustaceans; shrimps and prawns are Halal). But many others believe in the interpretation that suggests that all creatures from the ocean or the sea are considered Halal. However, according to Jewish oral law all fish that have scales have fins, thus making all fish with scales kosher and thus the law being essentially the same as dhabiĥa halal.

Gelatin is only permissible if it comes from a permissible animal (usually kosher gelatin comes from the bones of kosher fish, or it is vegan).

Cheese is permissible so long as the rennet used to make the cheese is permissible.

[edit]Differences

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For a substance to be Halal, it must not contain alcohol of any kind. The strictness of this with regard to the presence of extremely small quantities of alcohol in cooked foods depends largely on individual commitment and interpretation. Except for grape wine and grape juice (which must be manufactured under Jewish supervision), Kashrut allows the consumption of any sort of alcohol, as long as it has no non-kosher ingredients (including any unsupervised grape extracts).

The list of animals forbidden by kashrut is more restrictive, as kashrut requires that, to be kosher, mammals must chew cud as well as have cloven hooves. Dhabiĥa halal only requires that an animal survive on grass and leaves. Thus, various animals, such as the camel, are permissible as per dhabiĥa halal, but not according to kashrut.

Kashrut prohibits shellfish, such as lobster, shrimp, clams, and oysters.[14] Sunni interpretations of halal permit the consumption of all seafood. Shia interpretations (following Ja'fari jurisprudence), however, follow the same prohibitions on shellfish as Kashrut (with the exception of shrimps and prawns).

Slaughter

Dhabiĥa is the method used to slaughter an animal as per Islamic tradition. Shechita is the ritual slaughter of mammals and birds according to Jewish law. Shechita requires that an animal be conscious and this is taken to mean the modern practice of electrical stunning before slaughter is forbidden. All Muslim authorities also forbid the use of electrical stunning.

Similarities

Both shechita and dhabiĥa involve cutting across the neck of the animal with a non-serrated blade in one clean attempt in order to sever the main blood vessels.

Both require that the spinal cord be avoided during slaughter.

Both require draining the blood of the animal.

Any sane adult Jew who knows the proper technique may perform shechita.[18] Similarly, Dhabiĥa, can be performed by any "sane adult Muslim… by following the rules prescribed by Shariah". Some Islamic authorities, though, state that dhabiĥa can also be performed by Jews

Differences

Dhabiha requires that God's (see Islamic Concept of God) name be pronounced before each slaughter. Some Muslims have accorded meat to be halal but not necessarily dhabiha; in other words, kosher meat is considered halal by some Muslims. This is according to the Hadith: "[I]t is narrated by Al Bukhari from Aisha the Prophet Muhammad's wife, that some people came to him and said, Oh God's Prophet, some people bring us meat and we do not know if they pronounced the name of God on it or not, and he said pronounce you the name of God and eat." Dhabiha meat by definition is meat that is slaughtered in the shariah manner and the name of God is said before the slaughter. In Shechita, a blessing to God is recited before beginning an uninterrupted period of slaughtering; as long as the shochet does not have a lengthy pause, interrupt, or otherwise lose concentration, this blessing covers all the animals slaughtered that period. This blessing follows the standard form for a blessing before most Jewish rituals ("Blesséd are you God ... who commanded us regarding [such-and-such]," in this case, Shechita). The general rule in Judaism is that for rituals which have an associated blessing, if one omitted the blessing, the ritual is still valid [see Maimonides Laws of Blessings 11:5]; as such, even if the shochet failed to recite the blessing before Shechita, the slaughter is still valid and the meat is kosher.

There are no restrictions on what organs or parts of the carcass may be eaten from a Halal-slaughtered and -dressed animal; as long as it was slaughtered and prepared according to the rules of dhabiha halal, the entire animal is fit for consumption by Muslims. However, Kashrut prohibits eating the chelev (certain types of fat) and gid hashoneh (the sciatic nerve), and thus the hindquarters of a kosher animal must undergo a process called nikkur (or, in Yiddish, porging) in order to be fit for consumption by Jews. As nikkur is an expensive, time-consuming process, it is rarely practiced outside of Israel, and the hindquarters of kosher-slaughtered animals in the rest of the world are generally sold on the non-kosher market.

Other comparisons

Similarities

After slaughter, both require that the animal be examined to ensure that it is fit for consumption. Dhabiĥa guidelines generally say that the carcass should be inspected, while kashrut says that the animal's internal organs must be examined "to make certain the animal was not diseased".

Both sets of religious rules are subject to arguments among different authorities with regional and other related differences in permissible foodstuffs.

Strictly observant followers of either religion will not eat in restaurants not certified to follow its rules.

Meat slaughtered and sold as kosher must still be salted to draw out excess blood and impurities. A similar practice is followed in some Muslim households, but using vinegar. This is done to remove all surface blood from the meat, in accordance to Islam's prohibition against eating blood.

Differences

During the Jewish holiday Passover, there is an additional set of restrictions, requiring that no chametz (sour-dough starter or fermented products from the five species of grains) be eaten. However this requirement is specific to the holiday, and nothing to do with the laws of Kashrut. This has no parallel in the laws of dhabiĥa halal, although it might be seen as a form of fasting.

Kashrut prohibits mixing meat and dairy products, as well as consuming or even profiting from them. Dhabiĥa halal has no such rules.

In Judaism, the permissibility of food accompanies a vast corpus of secondary factors. For instance, vessels and implements used to cook food must also be kept separate for dairy products and meat products. If a vessel or implement used to cook dairy is then used to cook meat, in addition to the thus contaminated food becoming non-kosher (according to various situation-specific rules), the vessel or implement itself can no longer be used for the preparation or consumption of a kosher meal. Depending on the material properties of the item (for example, if it is made of metal or of clay, if it is one piece or has joints, etc...) it may be rendered permissible ("kashered") by certain procedures or it may be irretrievably contaminated. In general, the same policy extends to any apparatus used in the preparation of foods, such as ovens or a stovetop. Laws are somewhat more lenient for modern cooking apparatuses like microwaves or dishwashers, although this depends greatly on tradition (minhag) or individuals' own stringent practices (chumrot). As a result of these factors, many Conservative and Orthodox Jews cannot eat dishes prepared at any restaurant that is not specifically kosher, even if the actual dish ordered uses only kosher ingredients. This level of stringency does not have an analog in Dhabiha Halal.

(source:wikipedia)