Halal and Haram: Food, Drink and Riba

Guidance for everyday life

Halal means permitted under Islamic law; haram means forbidden. These terms are often associated with food, but they also apply to conduct and financial decisions. Choosing what to eat or how to borrow money can therefore be an expression of Muslim identity and faith.

The laws draw on the Qur’an, which Muslims believe is Allah’s revelation, and the Sunnah, the example and practice of Muhammad. Muslim scholars interpret these foundations and apply them to everyday circumstances. Muhammad is also a model of good manners: living faithfully involves positive conduct, not merely avoiding forbidden things.

Muslims understand this guidance as a blessing. Following it expresses obedience to Allah, helps people live well and prepares them for accountability to Allah and the life to come.

Five categories of action

Islamic law distinguishes between actions that must be done, actions that are encouraged, actions left to personal choice, actions discouraged and actions forbidden.

An obligation can belong to each individual, called fard ‘ayn, or to the community, called fard kifaya. Required prayer is an individual obligation. Funeral prayers are a communal obligation that a group can fulfil on behalf of the community.

Halal is not a sixth category alongside these five: it is the broader contrast with haram. Something being permitted does not necessarily mean that it is required or particularly recommended. There is considerable room for personal choice within Islamic guidance.

Scholars may disagree about an action’s classification, especially in the middle categories. For example, some classify smoking as makruh, while others consider it haram because of its serious harm to health. Such differences concern how guidance applies; they do not mean that people are free to reverse a clear command from Allah.

Food: what is forbidden and what is permitted?

The Qur’an identifies pork, blood and carrion as forbidden foods, including in Surah 2:173 and Surah 5:3. Carrion is meat from an animal that has died through causes such as disease or an accident, rather than being lawfully slaughtered. The prohibition on blood includes foods made from blood, while avoiding pork also means avoiding ingredients derived from pigs.

These rules affect shopping as well as meals. Sweets may contain gelatine from a haram animal source; bread or cakes may contain lard or other animal fats from a forbidden source. A product that does not look like meat can therefore still raise questions about whether it is halal. Checking ingredients or looking for halal certification helps Muslims make informed choices.

Vegetables, fruit and ordinary plant foods are generally halal. This does not make harmful intoxicating substances permissible merely because they come from plants. Muslims can also choose a vegetarian diet without claiming that eating meat permitted by Allah is itself forbidden.

Obedience to Allah is the fundamental religious reason for these rules. Their authority does not depend on whether a person can identify a health benefit from following them.

Meat, slaughter and care for animals

For permitted land animals, the method of slaughter also matters. Surah 6:118–121 connects eating meat with mentioning Allah’s name. Halal slaughter involves invoking Allah’s name, a swift cut to the throat by a skilled person and allowing the blood to drain.

Care for the animal matters before slaughter too. Animals should be reared humanely, given food, water and rest, and kept from seeing or hearing other animals being killed. The intention is to minimise distress and suffering. Animals belong to Allah’s creation, so killing them simply for sport is forbidden.

There are differences in how Muslim scholars apply dietary rules to seafood. Many permit seafood broadly, while others apply narrower rules about which fish or sea creatures may be eaten. This shows why two Muslims may share the commitment to eating halal but make different choices about a particular food.

Alcohol and drink

Alcoholic drinks are haram. Surah 5:90–91 is a central basis for this prohibition. Avoiding alcohol expresses obedience to Allah, and the prohibition also connects with concerns about its harmful effects on conduct, relationships and religious duties.

The rule affects more than drinking: alcohol used in cooking also raises a religious concern. An alcohol-based medicine would be avoided where a suitable alternative is available. These examples show how religious commitments can influence ordinary decisions about restaurants, recipes and products.

Riba: applying guidance to money

Riba is a prohibited increase associated with lending or debt, often translated as usury. In pre-Islamic Arabia, a borrower unable to repay a debt could receive more time but face a doubling of the amount owed. If repayment failed again, the debt could double once more. Someone already unable to pay could become trapped in an ever-growing debt.

The prohibition therefore connects religious obedience with concern about exploitation. A lender should not become wealthier by trapping a vulnerable borrower in debt. High-interest payday loans offer a modern example of why this concern matters: borrowing to cover basic needs can produce repayment demands that become increasingly difficult to meet.

Muslim scholars differ over the scope of the prohibition. Most understand riba to include all interest, whatever the rate. They therefore reject interest-based borrowing and lending, not only unusually expensive loans. Some interpret riba as usury or exploitative interest, distinguishing this from ordinary interest that they do not consider exploitative. Both interpretations reject exploitation, but they can lead to different decisions about the same financial arrangement.

Living by these principles today

In the UK and elsewhere, Muslims may encounter interest through bank accounts, loans and credit cards. Someone following the majority interpretation may seek to avoid receiving interest or taking an interest-bearing loan. Where the surrounding financial system operates on interest, putting that commitment into practice can be difficult.

The issue also has wider significance. Debt repayments can take money away from a poorer country’s spending on education, healthcare and infrastructure. Islamic objections to riba challenge financial arrangements that enrich lenders at the expense of those already in need.

Food and financial rules are therefore connected by a common purpose: bringing everyday choices into line with Allah’s guidance. The effort to make those choices can strengthen taqwa, awareness of Allah and of being accountable to him.