Can Gelatin be Eaten? Could you comment on the concept of Halal food and non-Halal food? Gelatin is the ground hoofs of pigs I believe, but the Quran only mentions the flesh of pigs being forbidden. Does this mean Muslims can eat Gelatin? Reply For the basic concept of Halal (allowed) and Haram (prohibited) food, please refer to one of my previous replies . As far as the allowance or prohibition of Gelatin is concerned, it is quite obvious from your own statement that it is not a matter related to the direct teachings of the shari`ah. It is rather a matter of the application of one of the directives of the shari`ah. The first thing that must be ensured in this case is whether Gelatin is really made of the material that you have stated. No decision should be taken on unconfirmed information. It seems from your statement that you are not sure about it either, you write "I believe", which gives me the idea that you are not absolutely sure about it. I would suggest that the first thing that you must do is get a confirmation from a dependable source, in this case that might be the manufacturer of the product, and only after your "belief" is confirmed to be true, should you consider taking any action. I do agree with you that one of the things that the Qur'an has prohibited from among the things which have generally been used for eating is the flesh of pig. Now, it is for us to decide, whether or not should we consider the ground hooves of pigs as nearer to the things that Allah has disallowed or vice versa. In my opinion, if your "belief" is confirmed to be true, it would be better to refrain from eating the referred product. My opinion is based on one of the sayings ascribed to the Prophet (pbuh) in which he is reported to have said: There are things which are clearly prohibited by Allah, you should consider them to be prohibited; there are things which are clearly allowed by Allah, you should use these; then there are things about which you may not be certain whether they are allowed or not; in such cases, the attitude of taqwah (fear of Allah and conscientiousness regarding His laws and likings and dislikings) would be to refrain from these things. My dear brother, I or anyone else does not have the authority to say that anything besides the ones mentioned in the Qur'an is haram, but I do think that in cases where a person is not satisfied about the allowance or otherwise of a particular thing, the correct the thing to do would be to refrain from it, in the hope that Allah shall accept and reward us for our actions. I hope this helps. The Learner