The Quran

Preface

اليَومَ أُحِلَّ لَكُمُ الطَّيِّباتُ ۖ وَطَعامُ الَّذينَ أوتُوا الكِتابَ حِلٌّ لَكُم وَطَعامُكُم حِلٌّ لَهُم ۖ وَالمُحصَناتُ مِنَ المُؤمِناتِ وَالمُحصَناتُ مِنَ الَّذينَ أوتُوا الكِتابَ مِن قَبلِكُم إِذا آتَيتُموهُنَّ أُجورَهُنَّ مُحصِنينَ غَيرَ مُسافِحينَ وَلا مُتَّخِذي أَخدانٍ ۗ وَمَن يَكفُر بِالإيمانِ فَقَد حَبِطَ عَمَلُهُ وَهُوَ فِي الآخِرَةِ مِنَ الخاسِرينَ

Yusuf Ali

This day are (all) things good and pure made lawful unto you. The food of the People of the Book¹ is lawful unto you and yours is lawful unto them. (Lawful unto you in marriage) are (not only) chaste women who are believers, but chaste women among the People of the Book,² revealed before your time,- when ye give them their due dowers, and desire chastity, not lewdness, nor secret intrigues if any one rejects faith,³ fruitless is his work, and in the Hereafter he will be in the ranks of those who have lost (all spiritual good).

The question is for food generally, such as is ordinarily “good and pure”: in the matter of meat it should be killed with some sort of solemnity analogous to that of the Takbir. The rules of Islam in this respect being analogous to those of the People of the Book, there is no objection to mutual recognition, as opposed to meat killed by Pagans with superstitious rites, (Cf. 6:139). In this respect the Christian rule is the same: “That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication.” (Acts. 15:29). Notice the bracketing of fornication with things unlawful to eat.
Islam is not exclusive. Social intercourse, including inter-marriage, is permitted with the People of the Book. A Muslim man may marry a woman from their ranks on the same terms as he would marry a Muslim woman, i.e., he must give her an economic and moral status, and must not be actuated merely by motives of lust or physical desire. A Muslim woman may not marry a non-Muslim man, because her Muslim status would be affected: the wife ordinarily takes the nationality and status given by her husband’s law. A non-Muslim woman marrying a Muslim husband would be expected eventually to accept Islam. Any man or woman, of any race or faith, may, on accepting Islam, freely marry any Muslim woman or man, provided it be from motives of purity and chastity and not of lewdness.
As always, food, cleanliness, social intercourse, marriage and other interests in life, are linked with our duty to God and faith in Him. Duty and faith are for our own benefit, here and in the Hereafter, (Cf. 39:65).