Is Horse Meat Halal?

Despite it not being all that popular, for years I’ve loved horse jerky.

It’s not easy to get, but when you find a supplier you like—I really believe it’s totally worth it!

I had a Muslim friend around for coffee the other day when we got talking about snacks, and I mentioned the jerky.

He said he’d never even heard of eating horse meat before, so wasn’t sure if it was halal.

So, I decided to do some research.

Is horse meat halal?

Horse meat is permissible, and therefore halal. It is considered makruh, however, which means it is not preferred and eating is disliked. Muslims are permitted to eat horse meat, but they should do so in moderation, and not eat too much of it unless they have no other choice.

So, a bite or two of jerky wouldn’t have been a problem.

However, horse is unlikely to be widely consumed by Islamic communities since there are other, more readily available meats that are totally halal.

Let’s look further into this question.

Is horse meat halal or haram in Islam?

You might almost say that it was somewhere in the middle.

It’s not haram, certainly, and given that it is essentially permissible, we could say it’s halal.

Eating it is not outright forbidden or considered taboo in any way.

That said, it isn’t exactly looked on with great enthusiasm, either.

Makruh means that it is permissible, but not all the time or in large quantities.

Muslims, by Islamic tradition, are permitted to eat horse meat, but in a way, the implication is that they had no other choice at the time.

So, if we look at some other foods we can see the difference.

Pork, for example, cannot be halal, and it is never permitted for a Muslim to eat any flesh from a pig.

Pig is haram.

Chicken or poultry, on the other hand, is totally halal, and you can eat it as much as you like.

So, horse meat is not forbidden in the same way that pork is, but it’s also not totally permissible as more commonly eaten meats.

So, why is this?

Why is horse meat makruh?

We are talking about a millennia old religious tradition seeped in centuries of tradition, taboo and belief, so saying exactly why is very difficult.

Essentially, Muslims view horse meat as not a sin but eating it is disliked by God.

The reasons stated for this in scripture are often broad, all-encompassing rules forbidding a lot of different things, without much specific reason as to why.

In general, the reason horse meat is less commonly consumed around the world is because horses serve a great many other functions than food.

If you are eating a horse, you are essentially saying that you have no other animal to eat.

It’s a sign of desperation.

This is part of the reason horse meat is considered taboo in many places, and certainly played a part in horse meat’s role in Islam.

But, what do all these terms actually mean?

What is halal, haram and makruh?

Halal is the most commonly heard, and just means permissible.

For a meat to actually be halal, the animal still has to be slaughtered in a certain way. But some animals are halal and some are not, and all it really means is that eating it is allowed.

Makruh means disliked.

This is where horse meat falls.

Eating it is not forbidden, but it is considered that God dislikes eating these meats, and so you should only do so when you have no other choice.

Haram means forbidden, and that eating anything haram is a sin.

Again, pork is the most well-known example. Eating pork is strictly forbidden and a sin.

Is horse meat legal?

In most places, yes.

In the United States, raising and slaughtering horses for meat is not legal; however, owning horse meat is, if it is shipped from elsewhere.

In much of the Islamic world, there are no specific laws governing horse meat consumption, but it is generally not eaten by Muslims for these cultural reasons mentioned.

So, even in Islamic law, there is no specific rules against keeping horse meat.

It is the consuming of it yourself that is the problem.

If you want to sell it to others, that is most likely not a problem.

So, there’s no outright rule in Islam about eating horse meat.

It is certainly not haram, and therefore there are situations in which it is permissible.

Generally, modern scholar’s interpretation of the prohibition is simply that it is a general sense that horse meat is a less clean and nutritious meat, so its consumption should be limited.

Broader, theological reasons for this are harder to pin down in so few words, but taking a reductive, simple view of it, horse meat is halal in Islam.