# What is the name of the Islamic system of dietary laws?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-the-islamic-system-of-dietary-laws/688419>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 14, 2014, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-the-islamic-system-of-dietary-laws/688419 "2014-05-14T08:13:58Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Angua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8baadc/32.png) [@Angua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angua)\
**Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-the-islamic-system-of-dietary-laws/688419/21 "2014-06-14T21:28:09Z")

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> [@Hector\_St\_Clare](#):
>
> [How Caviar Turned Out to Be Halal | H.E. Chehabi – Gastronomica](http://www.gastronomica.org/how-caviar-turned-out-to-be-halal/)
> 
> This article says that seafood without scales is _generally_ prohibited for Shia Muslims, which backs up my experience in East Africa.

Like I say, news to a) my Shia Twelver family, and b) the rest of my Shia Ismaili family. YMM of course, vary.

And of course, “generally” is a very forgiving term. 😉

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**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\
**Post date:** [June 15, 2014, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-the-islamic-system-of-dietary-laws/688419/22 "2014-06-15T17:09:37Z")

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The only thing I know is that our local Indian restaurants (which are mostly owned by Pakistanis and, in any case, cater to them as well as Hindus) do serve dishes with shrimp.

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**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\
**Post date:** [June 15, 2014, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-the-islamic-system-of-dietary-laws/688419/23 "2014-06-15T18:53:30Z")

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> [@Hari\_Seldon](#):
>
> The only thing I know is that our local Indian restaurants (which are mostly owned by Pakistanis and, in any case, cater to them as well as Hindus) do serve dishes with shrimp.

Judaism had (pretty much) centralized laws back in talmudic times (say, 100 BCE - 400 CE), although there is still some regional variation on technical bits. Islam never centralized halal practices, so there is enormous regional/national variation. Your Pakistanis could be from an area that allows shrimp, or it could be a non-halal restaurant.

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