Things Muslims are not allowed to eat, according to Surat Al-Maidah : 3 and other things:
- Pork - this one you've probably heard of. The reasoning for this (besides the science that I can't really prove because I am 90% sure it's pseudo science) is that pig meat is roughly the most similar kind of meat to human flesh, meaning to eat it would be similar to commiting cannibalism. There's an incident mentioned in the Quran where a bunch of guys did something they weren't supposed to and got turned into, well, pigs and monkeys. That and the general consensus of 'pigs eat anything and everything' which is sort of true given the fact that pigs can eat their own shit if they wanted and have you seen Red Dead Redemption 2? Bodies in the pig pen? Yeah, they aren't opposed to people either, you get the picture.
- Corpses - what do I mean by this? Anything rotted. Meet that is not preserved and therefore has rotted.
- Anything that has died from falling, being crushed, stabbed, part eaten, left over or previously hunted by an animal that wasn't a designated hunting animal, i.e. eagles, falcons, and dogs.
- Anything with claws - predators, like aforementioned dogs, birds of prey, bears, lions, wolves, ect.
- Anything that wasn't slaughtered in God's name - this is flexible. Mostly. Because we can eat things that weren't slaughtered by having their heads decapitated by a very sharp knife (to reduce the suffering and make it quick) facing the direction of Ka'bah or the kiblat. I think this might also refer to, you know, a sadistic killing or killing for the sake of one's own mad pleasure?
- Animals that were slaughtered in sacrifice to another god.
- Animals that live simultaneously on two planes - meaning both land and water, i.e. frogs, toads, salamanders(?).
- Blood - just....no. That means black pudding, blood broth, and the likes are a no go. If it's like residue on a piece of cooked meat, it's okay (the cooks at my school would occasionally miss a spot inside the meat) but we try to avoid it.
Exceptions are made though. All of the above will be considered halal and their consumption forgiven under the dire circumstances of: there is nothing else/ famine, you have tried all you could, you are starving/dying and you know what? Self preservation matters more than the rules because even if you do sin, it's better to do that and live than to die knowing you could have survived to live another day. You can always ask for forgiveness after (tobat), the main thing is that you did it for survival and most people wouldn't harangue you for it if you mention/explain the circumstances.
Also: fish? Sharks? Sea urchins? All fair game. Everything, and I mean everything, under the sea that lives there 24/7 7 days a week 365 days in the year is all Halal. Sea turtles I'm not quite sure, but just to be safe, avoid them because they might fall under category 6 just for hatching on land and coming up every few seasons to lay their eggs. Other than that, well, go ahead.
But just because you can, doesn't mean you should. There's a hadits (which are like collections of anecdotes or tips people have received from the Prophet Muhammad S.A.W or things people have seen him doing, all of which much be fact checked and traced to their origin with background checks before they can be declared, well, actually true and usable) and verses that warn not to overindulge in anything lest you know, you become a glutton and take food away from people who should also have it.
Disclaimer though, some of the things up here will have varying degrees of people actually conforming to them depending on, well, culture. Now mind, sometimes islam is it's own culture, but most of it derives from the middle east. After the Prophet died and his friends expanded the religion outwards outside of the middle east, sometimes they had to negotiate and mingle with other cultures in order to be excepted. In Indonesia, if you came in ala crusade we would have beat your asses flat in good old 600, which is why the Sunans spread the religion through art and education like math and things as well as human rights instead of more....direct methods. They mingled, they adapted, and some rules were bent whilst other things became intertwined and redesigned to fit the culture. That be Asia. So you know, research a bit if you want muslims who originate a bit further east to the sea because let me tell you there are a LOT of things we deviated from from the older Islamic teachings. Not in too big ways, but details.
Sorry if, again, this isn't coherent or I missed anything. These are just my takes, as a moderate Muslim in a Southeast Asian community.
{Also also; alcohol? I had a teacher once say it depends on whether the intent was to get drunk or for something else. If you must for propriety's sake, like my mom in her corporate days drinking the occasional scotch with the Big Shots because Lawyer™, or in general respect of a culture that is very insistent on it, then, again, go, you can always ask for forgiveness after - heck, you can give God the 'I am so sorry' face internally as you're drinking and I'm sure our almighty all seeing creator won't give you hell for it. At least, I think so.}
Oh, and eating utensils/accoutrements? As long as they're clean and made from sensible materials (i.e. not compounded camel shit or crusted in dried blood or anything as fantastically gross as those), they're fine, we can eat from them. You guys mentioned glass plates and I smiled a little because we used to eat with glass plates all the time. They're used practically everywhere, most times in lower end restaurants that cater more to traditional food and lower income people, though overtime I think porcelain became more favorable - and plastic, because durability.
