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pigs. A parallel to this is if an otherwise lawful animal is found to feed on rubbish as a major proportion of its diet, then its meat automatically becomes forbidden except one retrains it, and it has fed on clean feed for at least three days.

Other miscellaneous prohibited meats include those from fanged beasts of prey, birds with talons, and meat from animals that were slaughtered as a sacrifice to idols.

The meat and food of the Christians and Jews are permissible for Muslims provided the slaughtering was as described above (Quran 5:5), however some scholars differ with regards to this because of the conditioning of mentioning Allah's name before slaughtering.

Alcohol and Other Intoxicants

All forms of alcoholic beverages are explicitly prohibited for the Muslims (Quran 5:90, 2:219). The wisdom behind this is because of the well known harmful effects of alcohol; robbing man of his senses and leading to sometimes fatal consequences, numerous medical conditions and so on. Though some people may point out some medical benefits in a little alcohol, its harm far outweigh any benefit and these so called benefits can be achieved by other lawful means. A principle in the Islamic legal code is that if something is prohibited in its usual amounts then it is still prohibited in small amounts and hence Muslims cannot eat foods which have been prepared with alcohol. Again another shari'ah principle is the general prohibition of substances which are harmful to man and so likewise cigarette smoking and other drugs of abuse are considered prohibited even though no direct texts exists for such.

Moderation in Eating

The Quran clearly exhorts Muslims to avoid excesses in eating and not to be wasteful (Quran 7:31, 32). One of the sayings (Ahadith) of the prophet of Islam tells us to fill only a third of our stomach with food, another third with water, and leave the remaining third for breathing.

The dietary laws for Muslims seek to clarify those foods that are forbidden for them, it doesn't provide a detailed list of permissible foods instead it allows one to use his discretion to eat from all the pure and good things on the earth. Most of the texts concerning these laws can be found in the first few verses of suratul mai'dah (chapter 5 of the Noble Quran).

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