Muslim dietary laws

When eating meat, the followers of Islam may only eat meat that has been slaughtered in the name of Allah. Such meat is called halal.

Islamic law prohibits a Muslim from eating the meat of any animal which itself eats meat, such as pork, monkey, dog or cat. These animals are haram (unlawful). For the meat of an animal to be halal (lawful) it must be one of the declared halal animals, it must be slaughtered by a Muslim, and the animal may not be killed by being boiled or electrocuted. Some Muslim clerics have ruled that the animal does not have to be killed by a Muslim, but may be slaughtered by a Jew or a Christian. Thus, some observant Muslims will accept kosher meat (meat prepared in accord with Jewish law) as halal.

Some of these traditional dietary restrictions may have been created to prevent trichinosis, which can be caught from undercooked pork, and other similar diseases.