Agriculture Reference
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concerning food. Nevertheless Eratos-
thenes mentions the absence of pigs among
the domestic animals of the region.
became important to define Islam as
against Judaism.
The mass of Jewish prohibitions con-
cerning food led to the emphasizing of the
fact that Allāh does not wish to impose
too many burdens on His faithful peo-
ple (II, 286). It seems that the urān is
sometimes criticizing Judaizers or
anīfs
who imposed on themselves excessive
restrictions (VI, 118 ff.) and who wanted
to influence the Prophet to do the same
(VI, 116). The Jewish prohibitions (rather
inexactly defined in VI, 147/146) are
explained as a Divine punishment of the
sins of the Israelites (IV, 158; XVI, 119).
This is proved by the fact that they were
not imposed on them before the revelation
of the Torah, except for a prohibition, not
of divine origin, which Isrāīl (Jacob) had
imposed on himself (III, 87/93), a refer-
ence to the prohibition of the sciatic nerve
after the struggle of Jacob and the angel
(
Gen.
, XXXII, 33). They were more-
over partially lifted by Jesus (III, 44/50).
“Today” (V, 7) these forbidden foods are
therefore permitted. We have here ideas
taken from the Christian polemic against
the Jews, particularly as exemplified
by the Syriac writer of Iran, Aphraates
(4th century A.D.). Only a limited num-
ber of prohibitions were retained: blood
(and consequently “strangled” meats),
mayta, i.e.
, the flesh of a dead animal or
one not killed specially for meat, pork,
animals consecrated to a pagan divinity
(II, 168/173; V, 4/3; VI, 146/145; XVI,
116/115). In addition, during the Pilgrim-
age it was forbidden to those in a state of
ritual purity to kill or (
a fortiori
) to eat game
(V, 1, 95/94 ff.), while fish was permitted
(V, 97/96; cf. XVI, 14). It was necessary
only to invoke (
akara
) the name of Allāh
on lawful foods (VI, 118 ff., 139/138;
XXII, 35/34). Involuntary infringements
of these rules, through force majeure or
compulsion, are moreover regarded by
iii.—Regulations
concerning food in early
Islam
Muammad's reforms were made
under the influence of a milieu in which
each religious community was distin-
guished by its own regulations concern-
ing food. We have seen how in the pagan
milieu the situation was rather cha-
otic, and there was the influence of the
Noachic code, imposed on proselytes by
the Jews and coinciding more or less with
the original Christian code. The Revela-
tion in this respect also was to put an end
to ignorance and errors and the Prophet
was to declare lawful (
alāl
) “good” foods
(
al-ayyibāt
) and unlawful (
arām
) unclean
foods (
al-abāi
; urān, VII, 156/157).
But the urān insists above all on the
beneficial nature of food in general. Food
is one of the greatest of Divine blessings
(often in the Meccan
sūra
s: LXXX, 24;
XVII, 72/70; XVI, 74; XIV, 37/32, etc.),
which, however, must be used with mod-
eration (VII, 29, Medinan) and which must
not be rejected except in specific circum-
stances. The word “eat (
kulū
) . . .” occurs
nearly thirty times. Muammad is said to
have obliged two newly converted ufīs
to eat heart, taboo in their tribe, with-
out which their conversion would have
been incomplete. The urān inveighs
against men who arbitrarily deprive
those who listen to them of certain foods
II, 163 f./168 f.; V, 89 f./87 f.; VI, 118 ff.;
VII, 30/32; XVI, 117/116, texts which
seem to belong to the beginning of the
Prophet's stay at Medina). In some cases
it is certain that the adversaries aimed
at are pagans observing the prohibitions
described above (II, 165; VI, 139-51/
138-50; X, 60/59); but at Medina it
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