In addition to the five basic pillars of Islam, Muslims follow a code of ethics that dictates what is halal (lawful) and haram (unlawful), as well as what falls in between — makruh (discouraged). Halal is most often associated with food and drink, similar to the Jewish kosher, but also encompasses other aspects of life.

O mankind! Eat of that which is lawful and wholesome in the earth (2:168).

Forbidden unto you [for food] are carrion and blood and swine flesh, and that which hath been dedicated unto any other than Allah, and the strangled, and the dead through beating, and the dead through falling from a height, and that which hath been killed by [the goring of] horns, and the devoured of wild beasts, saving that which ye make lawful [by proper slaughter], and that which hath been immolated unto idols (5:3).

Halal Foods: Fish, legumes, nuts, grains, milk, vegetables, fruits and plants that do not cause intoxication. Also the meat of cows, goats, sheep, deer, moose and fowl (chickens, ducks, game birds, etc.) if slaughtered by a Muslim who says a prayer, like a rabbi conducting kosher slaughter. Muslims may eat kosher if halal meat is not easily available.

Haram Foods: Pork and its byproducts, carnivorous animals (those that tear their food apart with claws, such as lions), almost all reptiles and insects, animals that died before being properly slaughtered, blood, and all alcoholic or intoxicating drinks.

Makruh Foods: Lobsters, crabs and most shellfish, excluding shrimps, which are permitted. Also discouraged is smoking, since it is addictive.

Haram Lifestyle: Gambling, including lotteries; all drugs that cause intoxication, alter sensory perception (hallucinogens) or affect one’s ability to reason and make sound judgments; and paying and accepting interest.

Like the Bible, the Qur’an bans usury — interest on money.

Allah has cursed usury and blessed alms giving (2:276).

That which you give in usury so that it may increase...will not increase with Allah (30:39).

Muslims take the injunction seriously, even though not all Muslims follow the edict. But there is an increasing trend worldwide to patronize financial institutions that avoid interest altogether and charge a service fee instead, giving a return on investments in halal businesses (no stocks in liquor, tobacco, pornography, armaments or casinos).

The Dow Jones offers nearly fifty Islamic Indexes, which avoid the “sin stocks” and have consistently outperformed the stock market by 5 percent. Muslims wanting to avoid the standard mortgages or car loans turn to co-ops in the US, Canada and Europe, which

Music Halal or Haram?

Conservatives consider music to be haram (thus the Taliban ban on singing and dancing, even painting) but others do not. The singer Cat Stevens, upon his conversion to Islam in 1977, gave up music but thirty years later, in 2006, released a secular CD, An Other Cup, saying it was now his understanding that music was permissible.