Is it permissible for a Muslim to be vegetarian or vegan?

A Muslim may simply choose not to eat meat — out of taste, health, cost, or difficulty finding trustworthy halal meat — and there is no sin in that, because eating meat is permitted, not obligatory, except where a specific act of worship involves it (such as eating from one's own udhiyah, which is recommended). What is not allowed is to declare lawful meat to be forbidden, or to hold that abstaining from it is inherently more pious or spiritually superior, for Allah says, "O you who believe, do not forbid the good things which Allah has made lawful for you, and do not transgress" (Quran 5:87), and He addressed even His Prophet ﷺ over forbidding himself something lawful (Quran 66:1). Allah also directs the one who offers a sacrifice to eat from it: "So eat of them and feed the needy" (Quran 22:36). And of those who renounced lawful pleasures thinking it greater worship, the Prophet ﷺ said, "Whoever turns away from my Sunnah is not of me" (Sahih al-Bukhari 5063). So keep it as a personal preference, not a religious rule, and never criticise other Muslims for eating what Allah has permitted.

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