QUESTION:

What do the scholars and muftis of the noble Shari’ah say regarding the following matter; why is the consumption of pork forbidden in Islam? Please list some reasons in light of modern research.       

Questioner: Abdullah from UK

ANSWER:

بسم اللہ الرحمن الرحیم
الجواب بعون الملک الوھاب اللھم ھدایۃ الحق والصواب

The primary reason for Muslims not consuming pork is the command from Allah ﷻ and His Messenger ﷺ. Pork is haram (forbidden) by explicit textual evidences. Due to this, every Muslim abstains from pork. Allah ﷻ states in the Noble Qur’an:

اِنَّمَا حَرَّمَ عَلَیۡکُمُ الْمَیۡتَۃَ وَالدَّمَ وَلَحْمَ الْخِنۡزِیۡرِ وَمَاۤ اُہِلَّ بِہٖ لِغَیۡرِ اللہِ۔

Translation: “He has made unlawful for you only the dead animals and blood and the flesh of swine and the animal over which, whilst sacrificing, the name of someone other than Allah has been invoked.” [Surah al-Baqarah, 173]

The swine is inherently unclean. Thus, the Qur’an calls it rijs (filth), as mentioned in the following verse:

لَحْمَ خِنۡزِیۡرٍ فَاِنَّہٗ رِجْسٌ

Translation: “… flesh of swine, for it is filthy …” [Surah al-An’am, 145]

Islam commands to stay away from such filthy and impure substances. There are many scientific and medical reasons for not consuming pork. Some of them are mentioned below:

1) It is a very filthy animal and consumes any dirty substance. It is such a dirty animal that it drinks its own urine and eats its own excreta. Human faeces are its desirable feed. Due to this, its meat is an aggregate of germs. According to a scientific research, the consumption of pork may cause more than 70 diseases in a person.

2) Pork absorbs poisonous substances. Therefore, its meat and fat contain toxic substances 30 times more than those of other animals. Pork is 30 times more toxic than other meat. It is the only mammal that does not sweat. Due to this, toxic substances are not thrown out of the body, and thus get accumulated inside. It is so toxic that dangerous poison does not act upon it. Even a snake-bite does not affect it. By this, you may guess the amount of toxins present in its body. There is a hole in its hooves by which germs enter its body, further intoxicating it.

3) Pork has a very high amount of fat which increases cholesterol and causes heart diseases.

4) There are 30 different types of diseases in a single pig. Consuming its meat may cause many deadly diseases in human beings. For example, diarrhoea, typhoid, urinary tract infection, heart attack, etc.

5) It is proven by a modern scientific research that a special type of tapeworm gets transmitted from pigs to human beings. This tapeworm reaches the brain and starts eating it. Scientists have named it ‘Pork Tapeworm’ due to its association with the pig. “It’s mainly the pork tapeworm that’s the main brain one,” says Helena Helmby from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. When pork is under-cooked, the eggs of this worm are present in it. When they enter the human body, they reach the intestines and hatch there. The worms then enter the nervous system and finally reach the brain. This worm is present in larval form in the faeces of pigs. People present near pigs can be attacked by the worm directly. Thus, according to Islam, it is impermissible to even touch this animal. When the worm enters the brain, many diseases of the brain are caused. For example, hypertension, epilepsy, paralysis, etc. If the worm enters the eyes, it causes blindness and if it enters the heart, it causes heart attack.

The above is a summary of the researches done by nutritionists and doctors. It can be found on various websites.

Other than this, the swine is an utterly shameless animal. When it comes to sexual satisfaction, it does not distinguish between male and female. They do not abstain from incestuous relations too. Shamelessness and immodesty has reached to an extreme level among them. Scientific research has proven that food directly affects the personality and a person behaves according to what he eats.

واللہ تعالی اعلم ورسولہ اعلم صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم
کتبہ ابو الحسن محمد قاسم ضیاء قادری

Answered by Mufti Qasim Zia al-Qadri
Translated by the SeekersPath Team

Read the original Urdu answer here: [Q-ID0521] Why are Muslims forbidden to eat pork in Islam?

Also see:

[Q-ID0521] Why are Muslims forbidden to eat pork in Islam?

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