If we look at what Islam has prohibited, we will find that Islamic prohibitions are in the interests of both the individual and society as a whole.

All these prohibitions serve to safeguard the relationship between the slave and his Lord, and the relationship of the individual with himself and with his fellow human being. The following examples demonstrate this:

Islam forbids the eating of dead meat, regardless of whether it died by drowning, strangulation, shock or falling from a high place; eating blood, pork, and anything slaughtered in a name other than that of Allah; eating the flesh or drinking the milk of beasts that feed on filth and waste matter; eating the flesh of every carnivorous beast that has fangs and every bird that has talons; eating the meat of domesticated donkeys; killing animals by keeping them and throwing stones at them until they die, or detaining them without food until they die; slaughtering with teeth or nails; slaughtering one animal (for food) in front of another; or sharpening the knife in front of the animal to be slaughtered.

In the area of clothing and adornment, men have forbidden the extravagance of wearing gold. Muslims are forbidden to be naked or to expose their thighs; to leave their clothes too long (below the ankles) and trail them on the ground for the purpose of showing off, and to wear clothes that will attract attention.

Muslims are told not to eat the food that is directly in front of others or to eat from the center of the dish or platter; rather they should eat from what is directly in front of them or thereabouts because the barakah (blessing) comes in the middle of the food.

It is forbidden to drink from a broken edge of a vessel because this could cause harm, or to drink from the mouth of a vessel, or to breathe into it. It is forbidden to eat while lying on one’s stomach; to sit at a table where wine is being drunk; to leave a fire burning in one’s house when one sleeps.