Short answer
No, though they are close cousins. Both forbid pork, blood and carrion, and both pour out the blood at slaughter. Kosher law forbids more: camel, hare, shellfish, certain fats, the thigh sinew, and meat with milk. Islam forbids wine, which kosher law allows. Islam commands God's (﷾) name over each animal. Most Muslim scholars require it unless it is forgotten. Most Muslim scholars hold kosher meat lawful (Qur'an 5:5), but Jewish law does not accept halal meat. Jewish law says its extra food laws bind only Jews. The Qur'an says all food was lawful to Israel's children before the Torah. A 2nd-century rabbi held that unclean animals were still permitted to Jacob's sons. The Qur'an adds that God (﷾) later lifted some of Israel's extra laws, through Jesus and then Muhammad (ﷺ). That is why Muslims eat camel. Jews keep kosher law as a calling to holiness, and Muslims should respect it.
| Food or rule | Halal | Kosher |
|---|---|---|
| Pork | Forbidden | Forbidden |
| Blood and carrion | Forbidden | Forbidden |
| Camel | Lawful | Forbidden |
| Shellfish | Allowed by most scholars | Forbidden |
| Meat with milk | No rule | Forbidden |
| Wine | Forbidden | Allowed |
| God's (﷾) name at slaughter | Required by most scholars, unless forgotten | A blessing is said, but the meat is kosher without it |
| The other's meat | Kosher meat is lawful, for most scholars | Halal meat is not kosher |
Full explanation
What kosher law forbids, in the Torah's words
Leviticus 11, in the Torah (the Jewish law book given through Moses), permits every animal that both parts the hoof and chews the cud. The camel chews the cud but does not part the hoof. So the Torah calls it "unclean unto you". The rock-badger and the hare are forbidden for the same reason. The pig is forbidden for the opposite one. It parts the hoof but does not chew the cud. Near its close the chapter gives the reason Jews give for keeping these laws: "be ye holy; for I am holy". Observant Jews keep kashrut, the kosher laws, as a daily act of holiness and obedience to God (﷾).
“Speak unto the children of Israel, saying: These are the living things which ye may eat among all the beasts that are on the earth. Whatsoever parteth the hoof, and is wholly cloven-footed, and cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that may ye eat. Nevertheless these shall ye not eat of them that only chew the cud, or of them that only part the hoof: the camel, because he cheweth the cud but parteth not the hoof, he is unclean unto you. And the rock-badger, because he cheweth the cud but parteth not the hoof, he is unclean unto you. And the hare, because she cheweth the cud but parteth not the hoof, she is unclean unto you. And the swine, because he parteth the hoof, and is cloven-footed, but cheweth not the cud, he is unclean unto you. Of their flesh ye shall not eat, and their carcasses ye shall not touch; they are unclean unto you.”
“For I am the LORD your God; sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy; for I am holy; neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of swarming thing that moveth upon the earth.”
What Islam forbids, and God's (﷾) name over the animal
Islam forbids carrion (an animal that died by itself), blood poured out, pork, and meat offered to anything besides God (﷾). It forbids wine and other intoxicants. It also commands God's (﷾) name over each animal: "Eat not of (meats) on which Allah's name hath not been pronounced". Most scholars of Islamic law make this a condition. Abu Hanifa (d. 767) forbids the meat if the name was left out on purpose. If it was forgotten, the meat is lawful. Malik (d. 795) and Ahmad (d. 855) held the same, in their best-known view. These three founded schools of Islamic law. Al-Shafi'i (d. 820), who founded a fourth, held the name recommended, not a condition. So for him the meat is lawful either way. Islam has no rule on meat and milk. Most scholars allow seafood, though Abu Hanifa's school allows only fish.
“Say: "I find not in the message received by me by inspiration any (meat) forbidden to be eaten by one who wishes to eat it, unless it be dead meat, or blood poured forth, or the flesh of swine,- for it is an abomination - or, what is impious, (meat) on which a name has been invoked, other than Allah's". But (even so), if a person is forced by necessity, without wilful disobedience, nor transgressing due limits,- thy Lord is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful.”
“O ye who believe! Intoxicants and gambling, (dedication of) stones, and (divination by) arrows, are an abomination,- of Satan's handwork: eschew such (abomination), that ye may prosper.”
“So eat of (meats) on which Allah's name hath been pronounced, if ye have faith in His signs.”
“Eat not of (meats) on which Allah's name hath not been pronounced: That would be impiety. But the evil ones ever inspire their friends to contend with you if ye were to obey them, ye would indeed be Pagans.”
Ibn Kathir records three views on meat slaughtered without God's name. Some forbid it whether the name was left out on purpose or by forgetting; this is reported from Ibn Umar, al-Sha'bi and Ibn Sirin, and in one report from Malik and from Ahmad. Al-Shafi'i and all his followers hold the name recommended, not a condition, so the meat is lawful either way; one report from Malik and one from Ahmad agree. The best-known view of Malik and Ahmad, which Abu Hanifa and his followers also hold, forbids the meat only when the name was left out on purpose.
Kosher slaughter: the cut, the checks, and a blessing
The Torah forbids eating blood and commands it poured out "upon the earth as water". It also says the animal is to be killed "as I have commanded thee". Rabbi Judah the Prince explains this phrase. He edited the Mishnah, the earliest code of Jewish law, in the late 2nd century. Moses, he says, was commanded here to cut the gullet and the windpipe. The Talmud, the record of the rabbis' law and debate, preserves his teaching. Jewish law then checks the animal's organs. An animal with certain defects, such as a pierced lung, is called terefah and is forbidden. The meat is rinsed, soaked and salted to draw out the blood. No verse of the Torah requires God's (﷾) name to be said over the animal. Jewish practice adds a blessing before slaughter, which names God. But the Shulchan Aruch, the standard code of Jewish law (16th century), rules that meat slaughtered without it is still kosher. The Mishnah (c. 200 CE) rules that an animal slaughtered by a non-Jew is not validly slaughtered. The Shulchan Aruch holds this even of a non-Jew who worships no idol. So Jewish law does not treat halal meat as kosher, however carefully it was slaughtered.
“Only be stedfast in not eating the blood; for the blood is the life; and thou shalt not eat the life with the flesh. Thou shalt not eat it; thou shalt pour it out upon the earth as water.”
“If the place which the LORD thy God shall choose to put His name there be too far from thee, then thou shalt kill of thy herd and of thy flock, which the LORD hath given thee, as I have commanded thee, and thou shalt eat within thy gates, after all the desire of thy soul.”
Halakha. A baraita: Rabbi Judah the Prince (late 2nd century) reads "as I have commanded thee" (Deuteronomy 12:21) as teaching that Moses had been commanded about the laws of slaughter: to cut the gullet and the windpipe, the greater part of one of them in a bird, and of both in cattle.
Halakha. It lists the defects that make a domestic animal terefah, forbidden even after valid slaughter. Among them are a pierced gullet, a severed windpipe, a pierced brain membrane, a heart pierced to its chamber, a broken spine with the cord cut, and a pierced or defective lung. An animal that fell from a roof or was mauled by a wolf is also terefah. The rule: any injury such that the animal could not go on living.
Halakha, in the laws of salting and rinsing meat. Meat must be rinsed before it is salted. Isserles' gloss advises soaking it in water for about half an hour first. It is then left to drip, so that the water does not dissolve the salt before the salt draws out the blood.
The one who slaughters must first say the blessing "who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us concerning slaughter". If he slaughtered without the blessing, the animal is kosher. One blessing covers all the animals and birds he slaughters (19:2). Maimonides rules the same (Laws of Slaughter 1:2): the meat is permitted whether the blessing was left out by mistake or on purpose.
Halakha on who may slaughter. All may slaughter, and their slaughter is valid, except a deaf-mute, a person without understanding and a minor, unless others supervise them. An animal slaughtered by a non-Jew has the status of nevelah, an animal not validly slaughtered, and may not be eaten by Jews.
Halakha. An animal slaughtered by a non-Jew is nevelah, not validly slaughtered, even if he is a minor, even if he worships no idol, and even if others watch him. Isserles' gloss gives as an example a resident non-Jew (ger toshav), one who keeps the Noahide laws.
Meat and milk: one verse, and the rabbis' wider rules
The Torah says three times, "Thou shalt not seethe a kid in its mother's milk". The school of Rabbi Ishmael, 2nd-century teachers quoted in the Talmud, reads the three verses as three bans. They forbid cooking meat in milk, eating it, and any benefit from it. The Talmud also reads "kid" as any domestic animal. The Mishnah adds fowl, and keeps cheese off the same table. In the same chapter Rabbi Akiva, a 2nd-century rabbi, says wild animals and fowl in milk are "not from the Torah". So much of the separation of meat and milk is law the rabbis built around the verse. Abraham set "curd, and milk, and the calf" before his guests. Rashi (d. 1105), a medieval Jewish commentator, says Abraham brought each dish as it was ready. But a midrash, a rabbinic teaching on Scripture, has God (﷾) tell the angels that they ate meat with milk at Abraham's table. Orthodox and Conservative Jews hold kashrut binding. Reform Judaism leaves it to each person's choice.
“The choicest first-fruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in its mother’s milk.”
Halakha. A teaching of the school of Rabbi Ishmael (2nd century): "Thou shalt not seethe a kid in its mother's milk" is written three times (Exodus 23:19, 34:26 and Deuteronomy 14:21). Once it forbids eating meat cooked in milk, once any benefit from it, and once cooking it. Earlier in the tractate (113b) the Talmud reads "kid", where no verse says "of the goats", as including a calf and a lamb.
Halakha on meat and milk. All meat may not be cooked in milk, except fish and locusts, and meat may not be brought to the table with cheese. For fowl, the school of Shammai allows it on the same table but not to be eaten with cheese; the school of Hillel forbids both.
Halakha on the scope of the Torah's command. Rabbi Akiva (2nd century) says that wild animals and fowl in milk are "not from the Torah" (einam min ha-Torah), since the verse names a kid three times. Rabbi Yose the Galilean excludes fowl, which has no mother's milk. Elsewhere the Talmud records that in Rabbi Yose the Galilean's town they ate fowl with milk (Shabbat 130a; Hullin 116a).
“And he took curd, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.”
On "the calf which he had dressed", Rashi writes that whatever Abraham prepared first, he brought before his guests first. He also notes that no bread is mentioned, and reads "they did eat" as "they seemed to eat".
Aggadah. When Moses went up for the second tablets, the angels objected that Israel had already broken "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me". God answered that they were always accusing Israel. Yet when they came down to Abraham, they ate meat with milk (basar be-chalav), as Genesis 18:8 says. An Israelite child, given bread, meat and cheese by his mother, tells her his teacher taught him "Thou shalt not seethe a kid in its mother's milk".
Can a Muslim eat kosher food?
The Qur'an says "the food of the People of the Book is lawful unto you". The People of the Book are the Jews and Christians, who received scripture before Islam. Ibn Kathir (d. 1373), a leading commentator on the Qur'an, reports that the scholars agree this means their slaughtered meat. His reason is that they slaughter to God (﷾) alone and name only Him. The Jewish slaughterer blesses God (﷾) before he begins, though one blessing may cover many animals. So kosher meat is widely held lawful for Muslims, though some prefer halal meat where it can be had. Wine is another matter. The Torah lets the tithe, a tenth of the year's harvest, be turned into money and spent "for wine, or for strong drink". It is spent to eat and rejoice before the LORD. Kosher law permits wine. So a kosher label on a drink or a sauce does not make it halal.
“This day are (all) things good and pure made lawful unto you. The food of the People of the Book is lawful unto you and yours is lawful unto them. (Lawful unto you in marriage) are (not only) chaste women who are believers, but chaste women among the People of the Book, revealed before your time,- when ye give them their due dowers, and desire chastity, not lewdness, nor secret intrigues if any one rejects faith, fruitless is his work, and in the Hereafter he will be in the ranks of those who have lost (all spiritual good).”
Ibn Kathir reports from Ibn Abbas, Mujahid, Sa'id ibn Jubayr, Ikrima, Ata, al-Hasan and others that "the food of the People of the Book" means the animals they slaughter. He says the scholars agree that their slaughtered meat is lawful for Muslims, because they hold slaughter for anything besides God forbidden and mention only God's name over it. He notes that the followers of Malik did not allow Muslims to eat what Jews themselves hold forbidden in their slaughter, such as certain fats, while the other schools allowed it.
The one who slaughters must first say the blessing "who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us concerning slaughter". If he slaughtered without the blessing, the animal is kosher. One blessing covers all the animals and birds he slaughters (19:2). Maimonides rules the same (Laws of Slaughter 1:2): the meat is permitted whether the blessing was left out by mistake or on purpose.
“And thou shalt bestow the money for whatsoever thy soul desireth, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul asketh of thee; and thou shalt eat there before the LORD thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou and thy household.”
“O ye who believe! Intoxicants and gambling, (dedication of) stones, and (divination by) arrows, are an abomination,- of Satan's handwork: eschew such (abomination), that ye may prosper.”
Kashrut is for Israel, not for every nation
Judaism does not ask non-Jews to keep kosher. After the flood God (﷾) gave Noah "every moving thing that liveth" for food. He forbade only flesh with its life-blood. Maimonides (d. 1204), a 12th-century rabbi and legal scholar, rules on what binds the descendants of Noah, that is, all non-Jews. They are bound by seven commandments, and kashrut is not among them. So a Muslim who eats camel breaks no law that Judaism holds binding on him.
“Every moving thing that liveth shall be for food for you; as the green herb have I given you all. Only flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.”
Maimonides lists six commandments given to Adam: against idolatry, cursing God, murder, forbidden unions and theft, and to set up courts. To Noah was added the ban on flesh from a living animal (Genesis 9:4), making seven, and so it stood for the whole world until Abraham. Abraham was commanded circumcision; Isaac set aside tithes; "Jacob added the sinew of the thigh" (gid ha-nasheh); in Egypt Amram received further commandments; until Moses came and the Torah was completed through him. The seven Noahide commandments are what Jewish law asks of non-Jews; kashrut is not among them.
Before Sinai: Jacob and the thigh sinew
Genesis explains one food rule by an event in Jacob's life, long before the Torah was given at Mount Sinai. After he wrestled at Peniel, "the children of Israel eat not the sinew of the thigh-vein". In Hebrew it is the gid ha-nasheh. "Unto this day" is the narrator's own time, not a date before Sinai. The Mishnah records a dispute over when the rule began. Rabbi Judah (bar Ilai), a 2nd-century rabbi, says it was forbidden to the sons of Jacob. Unclean animals, he says, were still permitted to them. The Sages, the majority in the Mishnah, answer that it was stated at Sinai and written in its place. Jewish law (halakha) follows the Sages. Neither side in this dispute says unclean animals were forbidden before Sinai. Maimonides' law code counts the sinew among Jacob's additions before Moses. His commentary on the Mishnah adds that Jews keep it because God (﷾) commanded it through Moses, not because of Jacob.
“Therefore the children of Israel eat not the sinew of the thigh-vein which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day; because he touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh, even in the sinew of the thigh-vein.”
Halakha on the sinew of the thigh (gid ha-nasheh). The Sages rule that it applies to clean animals, not unclean ones. Rabbi Judah (Yehudah bar Ilai, 2nd century) says it applies to unclean animals too. His reason: the sinew was already forbidden to the sons of Jacob, while unclean animals were still permitted to them. The Sages answer: "it was stated at Sinai, but written in its place" (be-Sinai ne'emar, ela she-nikhtav bi-mkomo). The halakha follows the Sages.
Maimonides lists six commandments given to Adam: against idolatry, cursing God, murder, forbidden unions and theft, and to set up courts. To Noah was added the ban on flesh from a living animal (Genesis 9:4), making seven, and so it stood for the whole world until Abraham. Abraham was commanded circumcision; Isaac set aside tithes; "Jacob added the sinew of the thigh" (gid ha-nasheh); in Egypt Amram received further commandments; until Moses came and the Torah was completed through him. The seven Noahide commandments are what Jewish law asks of non-Jews; kashrut is not among them.
Maimonides rules that the halakha is not as Rabbi Judah. He calls the Sages' answer, "it was forbidden from Sinai", a great principle. Whatever Jews keep or avoid today, they keep only by God's command through Moses, not because God said it to the prophets before him. Jews avoid flesh from a living animal because of Moses' command, not Noah's, and circumcise because of Moses' command, not because Abraham did. "So too the sinew of the thigh: we do not follow the prohibition of Jacob our father, but the commandment of Moses our teacher."
The Qur'an: all food was lawful to Israel before the Torah
The Qur'an says all food was lawful to the children of Israel before the Torah came down. The one exception is what Israel, that is Jacob, made unlawful for himself. The Qur'an does not name what he gave up. Al-Tabari (d. 923), an early commentator on the Qur'an, reports what the early commentators said. Jacob suffered from 'irq al-nasa, the sciatic nerve. He vowed to give up the veins ('uruq), or camel meat, or both. Al-Tabari notes that the Jews of his day still kept away from both. The Qur'an itself does not say Jacob forbade the sinew. That link is the commentators'. And the Qur'an appeals to the written Torah itself: "Bring ye the Law and study it". The Torah bears out the Qur'an's order of events. Noah was given every moving thing for food. The sinew rule is told in Jacob's story. A rabbi of the Mishnah, Rabbi Judah, held the same: one rule began with Jacob, while unclean animals were still permitted.
“All food was lawful to the Children of Israel, except what Israel Made unlawful for itself, before the Law (of Moses) was revealed. Say: "Bring ye the Law and study it, if ye be men of truth."”
Al-Tabari records that Jacob (Israel) suffered from 'irq al-nasa, the sciatic nerve, which kept him awake at night, and vowed that if God healed him he would give up something he ate. Ibn Abbas, Mujahid and Qatada say it was the veins ('uruq); Ata and Abdallah ibn Kathir say camel meat and its milk; al-Hasan says camel meat; another report from Ibn Abbas names both the veins and camel meat. From Ibn Abbas and Qatada he reports that for this reason the Jews remove the veins from meat. Al-Tabari prefers the report naming both the veins and camel meat, because the Jews agree to his day in forbidding them. He reads the verse to mean that no food was forbidden to Israel's children by revelation before the Torah, except what their father had forbidden himself.
Halakha on the sinew of the thigh (gid ha-nasheh). The Sages rule that it applies to clean animals, not unclean ones. Rabbi Judah (Yehudah bar Ilai, 2nd century) says it applies to unclean animals too. His reason: the sinew was already forbidden to the sons of Jacob, while unclean animals were still permitted to them. The Sages answer: "it was stated at Sinai, but written in its place" (be-Sinai ne'emar, ela she-nikhtav bi-mkomo). The halakha follows the Sages.
“Every moving thing that liveth shall be for food for you; as the green herb have I given you all. Only flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.”
“Therefore the children of Israel eat not the sinew of the thigh-vein which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day; because he touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh, even in the sinew of the thigh-vein.”
The Qur'an names the Torah's own bans (6:146)
The Qur'an lists what God (﷾) forbade to "those who followed the Jewish Law". It names every animal with undivided hoof, and the fat of the ox and the sheep. Al-Tabari reports from the early commentators Ibn Abbas, Mujahid and Qatada what "undivided hoof" means: the camel and the ostrich. That matches the Torah's own list. The camel "parteth not the hoof", and the fat of ox, sheep and goat is forbidden. The Qur'an calls these God's (﷾) laws, given to Israel.
“For those who followed the Jewish Law, We forbade every (animal) with undivided hoof, and We forbade them that fat of the ox and the sheep, except what adheres to their backs or their entrails, or is mixed up with a bone: this in recompense for their wilful disobedience: for We are true (in Our ordinances).”
Al-Tabari explains kull dhi zufur, "every (animal) with undivided hoof", as beasts and birds whose foot is not split, such as the camel and the ostrich. He reports this from Ibn Abbas, Mujahid, Qatada and al-Suddi; Ibn Zayd says the camel alone. On the fat of the ox and the sheep, he says all of it was forbidden to them except what the verse excepts: fat on the back, on the entrails, or mixed with bone.
“Speak unto the children of Israel, saying: Ye shall eat no fat, of ox, or sheep, or goat.”
“Speak unto the children of Israel, saying: These are the living things which ye may eat among all the beasts that are on the earth. Whatsoever parteth the hoof, and is wholly cloven-footed, and cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that may ye eat. Nevertheless these shall ye not eat of them that only chew the cud, or of them that only part the hoof: the camel, because he cheweth the cud but parteth not the hoof, he is unclean unto you. And the rock-badger, because he cheweth the cud but parteth not the hoof, he is unclean unto you. And the hare, because she cheweth the cud but parteth not the hoof, she is unclean unto you. And the swine, because he parteth the hoof, and is cloven-footed, but cheweth not the cud, he is unclean unto you. Of their flesh ye shall not eat, and their carcasses ye shall not touch; they are unclean unto you.”
Why the Qur'an says some good foods were forbidden to Israel
The Qur'an gives a reason for some of these laws that the Torah does not give. It says: "For the iniquity of the Jews We made unlawful for them certain (foods) good and wholesome which had been lawful for them" (4:160). It calls this "recompense for their wilful disobedience" (6:146). This is the Qur'an's own claim, and Muslims hold it as revelation. Its verbs are in the past tense. The verses around 4:160 tell Israel's history from Moses' time on. Moses rebuked his own people in the same way: "ye have been rebellious against the LORD". The Qur'an does not say that Jews who keep kashrut today are being punished. The same Qur'an calls the Torah "guidance and light". It praises People of the Book who stand for the right. It never calls kashrut unholy. It calls these laws God's (﷾) commands to Israel, kept in obedience to Him.
“For the iniquity of the Jews We made unlawful for them certain (foods) good and wholesome which had been lawful for them;- in that they hindered many from Allah's Way;-”
“For those who followed the Jewish Law, We forbade every (animal) with undivided hoof, and We forbade them that fat of the ox and the sheep, except what adheres to their backs or their entrails, or is mixed up with a bone: this in recompense for their wilful disobedience: for We are true (in Our ordinances).”
“Remember, forget thou not, how thou didst make the LORD thy God wroth in the wilderness; from the day that thou didst go forth out of the land of Egypt, until ye came unto this place, ye have been rebellious against the LORD.”
“It was We who revealed the law (to Moses): therein was guidance and light. By its standard have been judged the Jews, by the prophets who bowed (as in Islam) to Allah's will, by the rabbis and the doctors of law: for to them was entrusted the protection of Allah's book, and they were witnesses thereto: therefore fear not men, but fear me, and sell not my signs for a miserable price. If any do fail to judge by (the light of) what Allah hath revealed, they are (no better than) Unbelievers.”
“Not all of them are alike: Of the People of the Book are a portion that stand (For the right): They rehearse the Signs of Allah all night long, and they prostrate themselves in adoration. They believe in Allah and the Last Day; they enjoin what is right, and forbid what is wrong; and they hasten (in emulation) in (all) good works: They are in the ranks of the righteous. Of the good that they do, nothing will be rejected of them; for Allah knoweth well those that do right.”
Why Muslims may eat camel: the Qur'an says God (﷾) lifted it
The Qur'an has Jesus say he came to confirm the Torah. He came also "to make lawful to you part of what was (Before) forbidden to you". Al-Tabari reports early commentators who name camel meat and certain fats among these. The Qur'an describes Muhammad (ﷺ) as the prophet who "releases them from their heavy burdens". It says God (﷾) gave each community a law and a way. Muslims follow the law brought by the last prophet (ﷺ). The Qur'an names camels among the cattle God (﷾) provided, and among the offerings made in His name.
“"'(I have come to you), to attest the Law which was before me. And to make lawful to you part of what was (Before) forbidden to you; I have come to you with a Sign from your Lord. So fear Allah, and obey me.”
Al-Tabari says Jesus believed in the Torah as from God and acted by it, differing from none of its rulings except where God lightened in the Gospel what had been made hard in the Torah. He reports from Qatada, al-Rabi' and Ibn Jurayj that the things made lawful were Torah prohibitions such as camel meat, certain fats, and some fish and birds. From Wahb ibn Munabbih he reports that Jesus followed the law of Moses, kept the Sabbath and faced Jerusalem in prayer.
“"Those who follow the messenger, the unlettered Prophet, whom they find mentioned in their own (scriptures),- in the law and the Gospel;- for he commands them what is just and forbids them what is evil; he allows them as lawful what is good (and pure) and prohibits them from what is bad (and impure); He releases them from their heavy burdens and from the yokes that are upon them. So it is those who believe in him, honour him, help him, and follow the light which is sent down with him,- it is they who will prosper."”
“To thee We sent the Scripture in truth, confirming the scripture that came before it, and guarding it in safety: so judge between them by what Allah hath revealed, and follow not their vain desires, diverging from the Truth that hath come to thee. To each among you have we prescribed a law and an open way. If Allah had so willed, He would have made you a single people, but (His plan is) to test you in what He hath given you: so strive as in a race in all virtues. The goal of you all is to Allah; it is He that will show you the truth of the matters in which ye dispute;”
“Of camels a pair, and oxen a pair; say, hath He forbidden the two males, or the two females, or (the young) which the wombs of the two females enclose? - Were ye present when Allah ordered you such a thing? But who doth more wrong than one who invents a lie against Allah, to lead astray men without knowledge? For Allah guideth not people who do wrong.”
“The sacrificial camels we have made for you as among the symbols from Allah: in them is (much) good for you: then pronounce the name of Allah over them as they line up (for sacrifice): when they are down on their sides (after slaughter), eat ye thereof, and feed such as (beg not but) live in contentment, and such as beg with due humility: thus have We made animals subject to you, that ye may be grateful.”
Could Islam's own law be lifted in the same way?
A Jewish reader may turn the argument round. Islam too has changed rulings: the Qur'an says God (﷾) replaces one verse with another. The difference lies in the texts. Those changes came in the lifetime of the prophet who brought them, by the same revelation. The Qur'an calls Muhammad (ﷺ) "the Seal of the Prophets", that is, the last of them. It also says the religion was perfected. The Torah never calls Moses the last prophet. It promises one to come, with God's (﷾) words in his mouth. The page on Deuteronomy 18:18 answers the Jewish reading of that verse. Maimonides made a point of a similar shape, though he drew the opposite conclusion. Jews keep the sinew law, he wrote, because God (﷾) commanded it through Moses, not because Jacob kept it. In his view the law that binds comes from the later prophet, Moses. Maimonides himself ruled that no prophet may change the Torah (Foundations of the Torah 9:1). Whether God (﷾) sent one after Moses is the question in dispute. Muslims keep Abraham's faith by the law God (﷾) gave through the last prophet (ﷺ).
“None of Our revelations do We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, but We substitute something better or similar: Knowest thou not that Allah Hath power over all things?”
“Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but (he is) the Messenger of Allah, and the Seal of the Prophets: and Allah has full knowledge of all things.”
“This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion.”
“I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee; and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto My words which he shall speak in My name, I will require it of him.”
Maimonides rules that the halakha is not as Rabbi Judah. He calls the Sages' answer, "it was forbidden from Sinai", a great principle. Whatever Jews keep or avoid today, they keep only by God's command through Moses, not because God said it to the prophets before him. Jews avoid flesh from a living animal because of Moses' command, not Noah's, and circumcise because of Moses' command, not because Abraham did. "So too the sinew of the thigh: we do not follow the prohibition of Jacob our father, but the commandment of Moses our teacher."
Halakha. It is clear and explicit in the Torah that it is a commandment standing for ever, with no change, no subtraction and no addition, as it says, "thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it" (Deuteronomy 13:1). From "It is not in heaven" (Deuteronomy 30:12) he learns that no prophet may now introduce anything new. So if a man, whether from the nations or from Israel, gives a sign and a wonder and says the LORD sent him to add a commandment or remove one, to explain a commandment in a way not heard from Moses, or to say that the commandments were only for a time, he is a false prophet (navi sheker), because he comes to deny the prophecy of Moses.
The Jewish replies, answered
Leviticus 3:17 — Torah, Vayikra, chapter 3, verse 17
“It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings, that ye shall eat neither fat nor blood.”
Cited for
The Torah calls the ban on fat and blood "a perpetual statute throughout your generations". A law God calls perpetual cannot be lifted by any later prophet. Maimonides cites this very phrase to rule that no prophet may change the Torah.
The response
Islam keeps the blood half of the verse: blood poured out is forbidden to Muslims too. On fat, the Qur'an agrees it was forbidden to Israel. The question is the Hebrew word olam, "for ever". It does not by itself mean without end. A servant who chooses to stay with his master serves him "for ever". Rashi, a medieval Jewish commentator, follows the Talmud and the Mekhilta, an early rabbinic commentary on Exodus. He reads it "until the Jubilee", the fiftieth year. Leviticus 3, where this verse stands, sets out the peace offerings. Leviticus Rabbah, an early rabbinic commentary on Leviticus, records rabbis of the 3rd and 4th centuries. In the time to come, they say, all offerings will cease, except the thanks offering. A late midrash records one view that God (﷾) will then permit the unclean animals, and another that He will not. A Jew will reply that these speak of the age to come. Even so, the first view allows that God (﷾) may change what He forbade. The Torah itself promises a prophet to come, with God's (﷾) words in his mouth. If God (﷾) speaks through him, that is God's (﷾) own limit.
Where it lands — "Perpetual" does not settle whether God (﷾) may lift a law He gave. That turns on whether He sent the prophet the Torah promised.
Deuteronomy 13:1 — Torah, Devarim, chapter 13, verse 1
“All this word which I command you, that shall ye observe to do; thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.”
Cited for
The Torah says "thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it". Maimonides rules that anyone who says a commandment was only for a time is a false prophet. So no prophet may lift the ban on camel.
The response
The verse forbids Israel to add or take away by its own hand. It does not bind God (﷾), and the Torah records God (﷾) changing a food law. Adam was given plants for food. Noah was given "every moving thing that liveth", "as the green herb". Rav, a 3rd-century Babylonian rabbi, says the same in the Talmud: meat was not permitted to Adam, but was permitted to Noah's sons. Maimonides' ruling, like the rabbis' before him, is a reading of these verses. The verse itself speaks to Israel. Deuteronomy 13 tests a prophet by whether he calls to other gods (13:3). Islam calls to the God (﷾) of the Shema, the Jewish declaration that God (﷾) is One.
Where it lands — The Torah shows God (﷾) Himself changing what may be eaten. Whether He did so again turns on whether He sent the prophet the Torah promised.
Mishnah Hullin 7:6 — tractate Hullin, chapter 7, mishnah 6
Halakha on the sinew of the thigh (gid ha-nasheh). The Sages rule that it applies to clean animals, not unclean ones. Rabbi Judah (Yehudah bar Ilai, 2nd century) says it applies to unclean animals too. His reason: the sinew was already forbidden to the sons of Jacob, while unclean animals were still permitted to them. The Sages answer: "it was stated at Sinai, but written in its place" (be-Sinai ne'emar, ela she-nikhtav bi-mkomo). The halakha follows the Sages.
Cited for
Jewish law follows the Sages, not Rabbi Judah: the sinew law was stated at Sinai. So a food rule dating from Jacob rests on a view the Mishnah rejects.
The response
The Qur'an's claim does not need Rabbi Judah. It says only that all food was lawful to Israel's children before the Torah, except what Israel took on himself. The Sages hold that even the sinew law was stated at Sinai. Neither side in the Mishnah's dispute says unclean animals were forbidden to Jacob's sons. Genesis itself ties the sinew to Jacob's injury, and Maimonides' law code counts it among Jacob's additions. The Qur'an does not name the sinew; that link is the commentators'.
Where it lands — Rabbi Judah says outright that unclean animals were permitted to Jacob's sons, and the Sages do not say otherwise. Before Sinai the camel was lawful to them, as the Qur'an says.
Mishnah Kiddushin 4:14 — tractate Kiddushin, chapter 4, mishnah 14
Aggadah. At the close of the tractate Rabbi Nehorai (2nd century) says he would teach his son only Torah, which guards a man in his youth and gives him hope in old age. He ends with Abraham, blessed in his old age: "we find that Abraham our father performed the whole Torah before it was given", citing Genesis 26:5, where Abraham kept God's "charge", "commandments", "statutes" and "laws".
Cited for
The Mishnah says Abraham our father kept the whole Torah before it was given. So the patriarchs and Jacob's sons did not eat camel, and the Qur'an's claim fails.
The response
That line is aggadah, a teaching that is not law. It is Rabbi Nehorai, a 2nd-century rabbi, praising Abraham's piety. It is not a ruling on what was lawful. In the legal dispute of Hullin 7:6, Rabbi Judah says unclean animals were permitted to Jacob's sons. The Sages do not deny it. Jacob married two sisters, which Leviticus forbids, so the patriarchs did not live under the Torah's law. A midrash even has God (﷾) tell the angels that they ate meat with milk at Abraham's table. The Qur'an asks why the People of the Book dispute about Abraham, when the Torah came after him.
Where it lands — Keeping a law by choice is not the same as its being forbidden. Before Sinai, the camel was permitted.
Qur'an 5:3 — Surat al-Ma'ida (The Table), verse 3
“This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion.”
Cited for
If a later prophet can lift the Torah's food laws, a still later one could lift the Qur'an's. Islam's argument undoes its own claim to be final.
The response
The answer lies in each book's own words. The Torah never names Moses the last prophet. It promises one to come, whom Israel must hear. The Qur'an names Muhammad (ﷺ) the Seal of the Prophets and says the religion was perfected. Anyone later claiming to be a prophet would contradict the Qur'an's own text. A prophet after Moses, by contrast, fulfils the Torah's promise. Islam's own changes of ruling came in the lifetime of the Prophet (ﷺ), by the same revelation.
Where it lands — The Torah leaves the door open to a prophet to come; the Qur'an closes it. The difference is in the texts themselves.
Leviticus 11:44 — Torah, Vayikra, chapter 11, verse 44
“For I am the LORD your God; sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy; for I am holy; neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of swarming thing that moveth upon the earth.”
Cited for
Kashrut is holiness, not punishment: "be ye holy; for I am holy". To call it a penalty for sin insults the Torah and the Jews who keep it.
The response
The Qur'an never calls kashrut unholy. It calls the Torah "guidance and light", and these laws God's (﷾) commands to Israel. It adds a reason for some of them, as its own claim, much as Moses rebuked his people in Deuteronomy. A law can be both a discipline and a path of holiness. A late midrash gives a similar reason: God (﷾) forbade these animals to see who would accept His word. The Qur'an says God (﷾) gave each community a law "to test you in what He hath given you". A Jew who keeps kashrut today keeps what he believes God (﷾) commanded. Muslims should respect that, and serve Jewish guests food they can eat.
Where it lands — The Qur'an and the Torah agree that these were God's (﷾) laws for Israel. They differ on whether the laws were meant for every age.
Qur'an 3:93 — Surat Al 'Imran (The Family of Imraan), verse 93
“All food was lawful to the Children of Israel, except what Israel Made unlawful for itself, before the Law (of Moses) was revealed. Say: "Bring ye the Law and study it, if ye be men of truth."”
Cited for
The Qur'an says "Bring ye the Law and study it". But the Torah does forbid the camel and does record the sinew rule, so the challenge proves nothing.
The response
The verse asks what was lawful before the Torah came down, and the Torah itself answers. God (﷾) gave Noah "every moving thing that liveth" for food. The sinew rule is told in Jacob's story. The camel is forbidden only in the law given through Moses.
Where it lands — The Torah confirms the verse's order: food was lawful from Noah on, one rule came from Jacob, and the camel was forbidden at Sinai.
Leviticus 11:2-8 — Torah, Vayikra, chapter 11, verses 2-8
“Speak unto the children of Israel, saying: These are the living things which ye may eat among all the beasts that are on the earth. Whatsoever parteth the hoof, and is wholly cloven-footed, and cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that may ye eat. Nevertheless these shall ye not eat of them that only chew the cud, or of them that only part the hoof: the camel, because he cheweth the cud but parteth not the hoof, he is unclean unto you. And the rock-badger, because he cheweth the cud but parteth not the hoof, he is unclean unto you. And the hare, because she cheweth the cud but parteth not the hoof, she is unclean unto you. And the swine, because he parteth the hoof, and is cloven-footed, but cheweth not the cud, he is unclean unto you. Of their flesh ye shall not eat, and their carcasses ye shall not touch; they are unclean unto you.”
Cited for
God Himself called the camel unclean. A Muslim who eats it eats what God called unclean.
The response
The Torah says "unclean unto you": to Israel. Deuteronomy repeats it: the camel, the hare and the rock-badger "are unclean unto you". Jewish law agrees that non-Jews, the descendants of Noah, may eat them, since kashrut is not among their seven commandments. The Qur'an names camels among the cattle God (﷾) provided, and among the offerings made in His name.
Where it lands — Judaism itself does not forbid camel to non-Jews. The only question is whether a Jew who follows the last prophet (ﷺ) may eat it, and the Qur'an says God (﷾) lifted that burden.
Perspectives
Orthodox Judaism
Kashrut is the Torah's law, given at Sinai and binding on every Jew in every generation. It is a path of holiness, not a punishment. Non-Jews are not bound by it. The sinew law is written in Jacob's story, but it binds because it was stated at Sinai. No later prophet may lift a law of the Torah for ever.
The Torah forbids the camel because it does not part the hoof, and calls Israel to holiness through these laws.
Rebuttal
True, and Muslims respect it. The Torah calls the camel "unclean unto you", to Israel, and Jewish law does not bind other nations by it. The Qur'an agrees these were God's (﷾) laws for Israel, and says He later lifted some.
The ban on fat and blood is called "a perpetual statute throughout your generations".
Rebuttal
Muslims keep the blood half. And the Hebrew olam, "for ever", need not mean without end. Rashi, a medieval Jewish commentator, reads a servant's "for ever" as until the Jubilee, the fiftieth year. A midrash records a view that God (﷾) will one day permit the animals He forbade. Whether He has lifted this law turns on whether He sent the prophet the Torah promises.
Jewish law (halakha) follows the Sages. The sinew law, they hold, was stated at Sinai and written in its place in Jacob's story.
Rebuttal
Granted: the Sages date the sinew law to Sinai. But neither side in the Mishnah's dispute says unclean animals were forbidden before Sinai, and Rabbi Judah says they were permitted. The Qur'an makes the same claim: food was lawful before the Torah.
Non-Jews are bound by the seven Noahide commandments, not by kashrut.
Rebuttal
Granted, and it bears out the Qur'an: the Torah's extra food laws were Israel's law, not every nation's. A Muslim who eats camel breaks no law Judaism holds binding on him.
Meat slaughtered by a non-Jew is not kosher.
Rebuttal
True for Jews, and Muslims respect it. It does not bind Muslims, whose Qur'an makes the food of the People of the Book lawful to them.
The Torah forbids adding to or taking from its commandments. Maimonides rules that one who says a commandment was only for a time is a false prophet.
Rebuttal
The verse forbids Israel to add or take away. It does not bind God (﷾), who changed food law from Adam to Noah. Maimonides' ruling, like the rabbis' before him, is a reading of the verse. The verse itself speaks to Israel. Deuteronomy 13 tests a prophet by whether he calls to other gods, and Islam does not. Whether God (﷾) spoke again turns on whether He sent the prophet Deuteronomy promises.
The Islamic perspective
Halal and kosher share their roots in the law God (﷾) gave Abraham's descendants. The Torah's extra food laws were God's (﷾) law for Israel, for a time. Jesus lifted part of them, and Muhammad (ﷺ), the last prophet, lifted the heavy burdens. So Muslims eat camel, with God's (﷾) name.
All food was lawful to the children of Israel before the Torah, except what Israel forbade himself.
The Qur'an names two of the Torah's own bans. One is on the animal with undivided hoof, and one on the fat of ox and sheep.
Rabbi Judah, a sage of the Mishnah, held that one food rule began with Jacob while unclean animals were still permitted. The Qur'an also says food was lawful before the Torah, apart from what Israel made unlawful for himself.
God (﷾) lifted part of Israel's food law through Jesus, and its heavy burdens through Muhammad (ﷺ).
The meat of the People of the Book is lawful to Muslims, because they slaughter in God's (﷾) name.
The Torah's word olam, "for ever", does not by itself mean without end.