Similarities, Differences, and Challenges Exist Between the Two
Many people think that Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are very different. In fact, however, they have many shared beliefs, customs, and traditions. For example, they consider Abraham (‘alayhi as salam) a prophet of God and believe in philanthropy, cleanliness, and each other’s religious dietary laws such as kosher and halal (Editor’s note: Christianity has no dietary laws).
Quran 5:5 refers to Jews and Christians as the People of the Book, for they have a special place in Islam because of their similar beliefs, “This day are (all) things good and pure made lawful unto you. The food of the People of the Book is lawful unto you, and yours is lawful unto them (5:5).
However, much has changed over time. Today, only about 24% of Conservative Jews say they keep kosher in their homes. According to another report, Kashrut (ritual suitability) regards their wines kosher and people consume kosher alcohol on special holidays and occasions such as Shabbat, Hanukkah, and Passover. Hence food items and drinks, despite displaying the kosher symbol, may contain alcohol and therefore are not halal.
Halal and kosher are based on the principles of each faith’s dietary laws, along with the specific slaughtering methods to identify allowed and prohibited animals, and how they should produce and handle certain foods. The requirements of halal are embodied in the Islamic concepts of halal (the permitted life practices), tayyib (pure, wholesome), and haram. Kosher (Hebrew: “fit and proper” or “properly prepared”) foods comprise into meat, dairy, and pareve (all other kosher foods, including fish, eggs, and plant-based foods). Trief corresponds to haram.
Kosher and halal describe a wide range of foods and beverages, but here we are focusing more on meat.
Background Information
In olden days, people knew how local animals were raised, blessed, and slaughtered. Today, our food comes from the global marketplace. The global demand for halal and kosher products continues to rise primarily due to population increase, urbanization, and increasing income, despite some countries banning the relevant slaughtering methods as “cruel.” As globalization continues, food producing companies compete via producing more products in less time and at cheaper costs. This has resulted in the use of vertical integrated farming, concentrated animal feeding operations becoming the predominant method of food animal production, and slaughtering and processing establishments using faster production lines.
Much has changed in the past half century, including the working of certification organizations. In the absence of large, dedicated halal slaughtering and processing establishments, Muslim countries continue to import meat and poultry products from non-Muslim countries that produce halal meat and poultry products on an as-needed basis. The complexities of modern food manufacturing and international trade have caused importing countries to require halal certification.
Individual halal and kosher certification organizations, not the USDA or some other national body, certify halal or kosher meat and poultry products. In the U.S., its logo is applied only after the animals have passed the USDA’s ante-mortem and post-mortem inspections and received the “USDA Inspected & Passed” stamp. This indicates that the product is wholesome, prepared under sanitary environments, properly packaged, labeled, and is fit for human consumption. The halal and kosher certification organizations’ logos go beyond those steps by certifying that all of the relevant religious requirements have been met as well.
However, the certification industry is self-regulated and certification requirements vary from organization to organization. Thus, no overall entity has the authority to enforce uniformity, verify traceability, and hold a producer to account.
For example, according to a 2023 ResearchGate.net study, halal certification and labeling are abused. And according to Ab Talib et al., “most of the companies implement halal certification for the competition with their rivals, not for the motivation of the assurance of halal food authenticity. Therefore, a clear understanding of halal certification system is needed.”
A nearly similar situation exists in the kosher certification sector. A 2005 article in the OU Kosher states, “Many food products that were never-before kosher certified are now appearing with kosher symbols. An unfortunate side effect of this proliferation has been an increase in the number of products that are misrepresented to the public as being kosher certified.” For example, as far back as 1925, the New York City Department of Markets estimated that 40% of the meat sold as kosher in the city was non-kosher.
A 2024 article in the “Cornell Chronicle” states, “in the United States Jews account for roughly 2% of the total U.S. population. Yet, some 40% of packaged food and beverages in a typical supermarket are certified kosher. While Muslims account for about 1% of the U.S. population and have relatively less impact on American markets.”
Similarities Between Halal and Kosher
The most singled out similarity – animals must be alive, not stunned, prior to being slaughtered – is the reason for banning these slaughtering methods in certain European countries. The Humane Methods of Slaughter Act (1958) and similar laws elsewhere require that animals be stunned before slaughter. However, animals slaughtered in accord with religious dietary laws are provided “religious exemption.” Nevertheless, some groups and politicians target these methods as “cruel” in the belief that they cause pain to animals.
Both methods consist of completely draining the slaughtered animal’s blood by a swift, deep incision with a very sharp knife on the throat, cutting the esophagus, trachea, jugular veins, and carotid arteries of both sides, but leaving the spinal cord intact. This results in a profuse instantaneous bleeding and loss of blood, which ensures a quick drop in blood pressure to the brain and an almost complete loss of sensibility. Curiously, so much emphasis is placed on using pre-stunning methods (captive bolt gun, electrical, and CO2 gas), while neither they nor halal and kosher methods are completely free of stress or pain (Religious Exemption is No Bar to Animal Welfare, Islamic Horizons, March/April 2018).
Other similarities are that animals with cloven (split) hooves and/or those that chew their cud are allowed, animals with fangs are prohibited, and consuming pork and blood is prohibited in both
Differences Between Halal and Kosher
And yet their many small differences cause them to diverge in profound ways. For example, kosher prohibits meat and dairy pairing – halal does not. Camels and rabbits are halal but not kosher as they chew the cud but do not have cloven hooves. Sea animals that have no fins and scales are prohibited (Deuteronomy 14:3-10), whereas in Islam they may be consumed. Kosher slaughtering (shechitah) is carried out by a Shochet, trained in the laws of kashrut, whereas any able-bodied Muslim man can be a butcher; the shochet is required to make one blessing when doing a day’s worth of work, whereas, a Muslim butcher must say the “tasmiah” before killing of each animal. The Jewish inspectors (bodeks) examine certain organs, including blowing up the lungs to see if they will hold air – if they can, the meat is kosher, and to be ‘glatt kosher’ the animal’s lungs must be smooth and adhesion-free – not so in Islam.
Furthermore, an animal’s hindquarters are not considered kosher because it contains forbidden fats and the sciatic nerve. Removing this nerve is time consuming; Islam does not require this. However, both slaughtering methods face the same set of challenges.
Challenges
A 2009 headline from The Independent (U.K.) read, “End ‘cruel’ religious slaughter, say scientists – Beasts should be stunned before their throats are slit, Jews and Muslims are told.” In October 2017, Lancashire (U.K.) became the first council to ban un-stunned halal meat in state schools. On Feb. 27, 2019 the EU’s highest court ruled that halal and kosher meat cannot be labeled organic if the animal was not stunned before being slaughtered.
In 2017 and 2018, two of Belgium’s three regions banned slaughter without stunning, saying that it was cruel to animals. According to a 2021 report in Times of Israel, “Jewish leaders in Europe say the EU is not only banning some methods of kosher and halal slaughter, but also telling them how to practice their religions.”
Kosher Isn’t the Same as Halal
Kosher and halal carry a different meaning and spirit. While some kosher products can be halal, halal products cannot be kosher unless they are certified kosher.
In terms of Quran 5:5 one must understand that preceding the permission is a reiteration of “All good things have been made lawful to you.” This indicates that if the food and beverages of the People of the Book include things prohibited to Muslims, then the latter should avoid them.
Consumers should carefully read the ingredient statement on the halal – as well as kosher-certified products, acknowledge the differences to ensure respect for individual beliefs, and work together to preserve the “religious exemption” – a good example of non-interference in religious matters in a multi-religious society.
Mohammad Abdullah, DVM, who retired after serving 29 years with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, the agency that regulates the meat industry, is the author of “A Closer Look at Halal Meat from Farm to Fork” (2016).