Halal food by default !? (in Dubai)

To be sure, just look for a kosher restaurant in Dubai. :):)

As far as I know, all kosher food is also 'halal' - unless it contains alcohol, which is highly unlikely.

• posted by the Dubai Rabbinate. :):)

Salam everybody,

and thank you all for your both useful and off-topic answers. Now I have better idea about the situation regarding food in Dubai.

But FYI, according to Shia fatwas:
Generally, food in a Muslim community is assumed Halal unless you have some evidences against it and food in non-Muslim communities is non-Halal unless you find some proofs against it.
Meat of some animals is totally non-Halal or Haram (e.g. animals that eat meat) but meat of other animals could be Halal if they get killed according to Sharia instructions (no matter where it locates!) Most of birds are also Halal and most of fishes are Halal too if they don't die inside the water, no need to kill them.

Regards,
- Ali

Kosher food and halal food have similarities but are not the same.

aliamiri - can you confirm that all the US fast food meat in Dubai is 100% halal ? ?

There are many rules regarding food (although not as many as Kosher) but its fairly
straight forward .

In a dire emergency, a muslim can eat anything, including pork.

I'm curious now. :)

From what I've heard, all kosher food - especially meat - is also halal, except if there happens to be alcohol in it. Is this true?

However, not all halal is kosher since, as Mesha says, kosher food is subject to many more and stricter dietary laws.

I have heard that observant Muslims look for and eat kosher food in non-Muslim countries in the absence of any halal certification.

Well its all to do with degrees of observation etc.

You can find muslims and Jews who only observe the 'no pork' rule yet at the
other end of the spectrum you will find muslims and jews who scrutinize the packets of biscuits
and jellies and all kinds of other products before purchase and consumption to see if there is any
animal fats included.

You are right a1 - there are muslims who in the absence of halal products opt to buy kosher because thats
the closest thing and they can at least be certain that there is no cross contamination with pork and its a
religiously handled product.

Islamic dietary laws are relatively simple compared to the Rabbinical laws which are more varied, specific
and more complicated (or else it seems that way to one who doesn't usually follow those rules) ie dairy
produce with meat and shell fish etc.

The basic rule with halal food is that when the animal is slaughtered certain religious words must be spoken
and the blood must be drained completely from the animal. This is the main concept.

This thread was on "Get Stuffed" several weeks ago:
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=1641736&tstart=60

I thought I understood all this but am lost now. If fish eat other fish (which quite alot do) how can they be halal?