“In every religion and denomination there are rules, the observance of which is useful not only for spiritual reasons. We hope that their study will help broaden our general horizons and better understand other people different from us,” writes Diana Nagai, columnist of belief.cabar.asia.
In every nation, culture and religion, great attention is always paid to food. Among Muslims and Jews, the choice of food is no less serious and reverent. Allowed food products are indicated by special terms that are familiar even to a simple layman: “halal” and “kosher”.
Today we will consider a few points (and there are many more) about what are common between these concepts and what are their differences:
1) The word “kosher” is of Hebrew origin, and “halal” is Arabic. Both words mean “permitted, correct, permitted” according to the holy books of the Qur’an or the Torah. Although for Jews and Muslims, the concepts apply to almost all areas of life (behavior, life, and even financial management), they are more often considered in the context of food.
2) In the preparation of meat, much attention in both religions is given precisely to the slaughter of cattle. Kosher slaughter does not include pronouncing the name of God over every animal. Jews believe that mentioning the Lord out of context too often is unreasonable. As for the postulates of Islam, halal obliges Muslims to pronounce the name of Allah over every slaughtered animal, only then will its meat be blessed.
3) Islam allows an adult to slaughter an animal. Judaism is stricter in this respect – only a specially trained rabbi can do this.
4) At the same time, in both religions, the animal should be slaughtered in a humane and quick way for the animal. Blood is released and not suitable for use by both Jews and Muslims. In addition, the Jews also do not use the back of the carcass due to the ban on eating the sciatic nerve. Also in both religions, it is not allowed to eat carrion meat.
5) For Muslims, cattle and sheep meat will be considered halal if it is obtained in accordance with the requirements of Islam. For Jews, kosher is the meat of herbivorous ruminants, whose hooves are bifurcated and have a deep cut. For example, both religions do not accept pork meat, but horse meat is also forbidden to Jews.
6) The differences between halal and kosher apply to alcohol consumption. If Islam strictly prohibits the use of intoxicating alcohol in any form, then kosher laws allow Jews to drink wine (under certain conditions).
7) The basic requirements for the production of halal and kosher products are similar: only healthy animals are used, all internal organs are checked, antibiotics and hormones must not be used when growing them, feed must be natural.
In general, around the world, products under the halal and kosher signs are often associated with environmentally friendly and more useful products. Many people opt for such products, including for non-religious reasons.