Cheese

“I once asked abu Ja‘far (a.s.), about cheese. He (the Imam) said, ’You have asked me about a food that is attractive to me. 5 He (the Imam) then gave a dirham to the boy and asked him to bring cheese. He (the Imam) asked for lunch which was brought. He (the Imam) ate and we ate with him (the Imam). When we finished lunch I asked, ‘What do you say about cheese? 5 He (the Imam) asked me, ‘Did you not see me eating it with you? 5 I replied, ‘Yes, I saw you but I like to hear it from you. 5 He (the Imam) said, ‘I will tell you about cheese and other things. Whatever has lawful in it as well as unlawful is lawful for you, until you learn that it particularly is unlawful, then you must leave it.’”

“About cheese abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘Everything is lawful for you until two witnesses testify before you that it is dead animal.’”

“A man once asked abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about cheese. He (the Imam) said, ‘It is an illness for which there is no cure.’ When it was al-‘Isha’ (evening) the man came to abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), and looked at cheese on the table-spread and said, ‘I pray to Allah to keep my soul in service for your cause. At lunchtime, I asked you about cheese. You said to me that it is an illness for which there is no cure and now I see it on the table-spread.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘It is harmful at lunch and useful in dinner and it increases the water of one’s back.’ It is narrated that harmfulness of cheese is in its crust.”