|
Food
Prescriptions
"The
food of the People of the scripture is lawful for you, and
your food is lawful for them", says Allah in Quran Sura 5,
Al'Ma'ida, aya 5. This is not at all astonishing, as the
food prescriptions in Jewish-Christian law are in many points
equal to those in Islamic sharia. Let us first of all see what
the Qur’an tells the believers about their food: In Sura 2,
Al-Baqara, aya 172, Allah says: “O you who believe, eat
of the lawful things that We have provided you with, and give
thanks to Allâh, if you serve him.” So all the good things
Allah has given are allowed. The next aya gives further
details (173): “ He
only prohibited you from the dead and the blood and the flesh
of the swine and what has been dedicated other than
Allah…” In
Sura 5, Al-Ma’ida, aya 3, we also find as forbidden the
strangled, the dead through beating, the dead through falling
from a height, that which has been killed by horns, that which
has been killed by horns, and the devoured of wild beasts. It
would lead too far to list up all the food prescriptions of
the Old Testament here in detail. Some quotations shall
suffice us. In Leviticus (3rd book of Moses) 14.8 we read:
“…. And the swine, because it
parts the hoof and is cloven-footed but does not chew the cud,
is unclean to you. Of their flesh you shall not eat, and their
carcasses you shall not touch, they are unclean to
you.”
Of significance for us is only the prohibition of
swine flesh, not the reasons given for it. Isaiah 65.
2-4
says:
“I spread out my hands all the day
to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good,
following their own devices; a people who provoke me to my
face continually, sacrificing in gardens and burning incense
upon bricks; who sit in tombs, and spend the night in secret
places; who eat swine's flesh, and broth of abominable
things is in their vessels;”
And Isaiah 66.17:
“Those
who sanctify and purify themselves to go into the gardens,
following one in the midst, eating swine's flesh and the
abomination and mice, shall come to an end together, says
the LORD.”
Very clearly we note the abominable character of
eating swine’s flesh which here is mentioned alongside with
eating broth and mice and sacrificing to other gods. Adherents
to the Jewish law still keep this Biblical prohibition today,
and therefore their food is lawful for the Muslims. Now, what
about the Christians? The Christians claim that they believe
in and love for Christ yet they replace the law. They found
this statement on the teachings of Paul like 1st
Corinthians 8 1-13 or Galatians 3 19.29. All this,
however, openly contradicts the verse cited above (Matthew
5. 17-19)
“Think not that I have come to
abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish
them but to fulfil them. For truly, I say to you, till
heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will
pass from the law until all is accomplished. Whoever then
relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches
men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but
he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in
the kingdom of heaven.”
As we know from Qur’an, Sura 3, Al-Imran, aya
50, Jesus has brought some changes to the law of Moses and
allowed some things to the Jews which had been forbidden to
them before, but on the whole he verified the Torah and did
not question the validity of the law. About the changes
afterwards entered into the spirit of the teaching of Jesus by
Paul, we will hear more in the chapter on the unreliability of
Biblical transmission. We will then be aware that today’s
Christianity is rather a heir of Paul than of
Jesus.
[Next:
The harmfulness of consuming
alcohol]
[return to
top]
|