all food
lawful before giving of
Torah except those the Israelites forbade,
Âl 'Imran 3:93.
In other words, before the Torah was given, all food was lawful.
But for those food that the Israelites restrictedly placed
themselves on, it was unlawful.
This reveals an element of voluntariness, and also that all food,
by its nature, is not unlawful.
(Incidentally, this verse also
say that such a voluntary restriction was also mentioned in the Torah,
which was not to be found in the Bible.)
Often, Muslims asked why Christians do not observe the food laws
in the Old Testament or those of the Muslims.
The truth atttested by Âl 'Imran 3:93 was given by the teaching of
Jesus and in a vision to the Apostle Peter :
Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen to me,
everyone, and understand this. Nothing outside a man can make
him `unclean' by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out
of a man that makes him `unclean.'" After he had left the crowd
and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable.
"Are you so dull?" he asked. "Don't you see that nothing that
enters a man from the outside can make him `unclean'? For it
doesn't go into his heart but into his stomach, and then out
of his body." (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods "clean.")
He went on: "What comes out of a man is what makes him `unclean.'
For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual
immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit,
lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils
come from inside and make a man `unclean.'"
(Mark 7:14-23)
About noon the following day as they were on their journey and
approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. He
became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal
was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw heaven opened
and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its
four corners. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as
well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air. Then a voice
told him, "Get up, Peter. Kill and eat." "Surely not, Lord!"
Peter replied. "I have never eaten anything impure or unclean."
The voice spoke to him a second time, "Do not call anything
impure that God has made clean." This happened three times,
and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.
(Acts 10:9-16)