Why “Muslims” don’t eat (PIG MEAT)
sister asked "I grew up on farms with pet pigs. I know for a fact that pigs are clean, they do not eat there own poo. They are intelligent and easy to train. Please answer my question because every born Muslim friend I have says we don't eat pork because they eat there own poo ! Is there a real reason.
Assalaamu Alaykum
Your question demonstrates a fault in the way people are answering not just this questions but many other questions and the enemies of Islam have exploited this. InshaAllah i explain this along with answering the question.
In the last 40 years I have seen the challenges that the Muslims have faced in the west and in the world and how we dealt with them.
One challenge we have faced and face even more now is questions about every aspect of Islam from non Muslims. I even herd non Muslims saying why do you eat with your hands. It isn't asked much now but 30 years ago it was asked a lot. I remember the Muslim shopkeeper saying oh salts in the hand are released and it adds to the taste of the food. Subhanallah , how ridiculous that Muslims feel that they have to defend themselves for eating food with hands. This is how inferiority complex Muslims had with the non Muslims in the west. Instead of saying to her why you do not eat food with your hands he tried to explain something from a scientific point which was ridiculous. This is the fear and inferiority complex Muslim who were not born in the west (or brought up from early childhood) had and still have of the non Muslims in the west. "oh no he she is going to have a bad image of us because we eat food with our hands"
Anyhow as I came to England as a child I disliked seeing Muslims having an inferiority complex. So I thought why don't these kaffirs eat with their hands. So began researching and came across some book but i wont mention exactly what was said as i cant seem to find the reference. But it was to do with someone disliking washing hands.
As Muslims we cannot lie about Islam. Whenever people resort to lying it is usually because they lack to defend their point. It is extremely difficult to defence falsehood. The Christians have tried defending trinity but they can never do it no matter how many complex theories they come up with.
As Muslims we have the truth and to defend the truth is easy. Whenever we cant defend anything authentic in Islam it means we lack the ability to defend it. Sometimes people lack the knowledge and other times they simply lack the ability to debate or they think they are too clever and they think their theories are so wonderful.
For instance one of the most frequently asked questions by non Muslims is why do you Fast in Ramadan?
Now many scholars have said oh its so we can feel the pain of those starving and the kaffirs have said cool. And the Muslims have said see the wisdom of the scholar. See my amazing scholar. Don't you just want to kiss the hand of their great scholar.
Firstly it is not the reason we fast and secoundly it is not an amazing answer because when i was around 15-16 years of age I was asked this question by non Muslims kids from my school. . In those days we didn't have internet, in our town there were very few books on Islam in English and most of those were by very deviant people and I didnt even go to the Masjid except maybe few days a year. So I had only basic knowledge of Islam just like most Muslim kids that time. So out of panic I started to think what can i say to him and i started saying these exact things. Told them about how so many poor and starving people, how we feel their pain and appreciate the food we have and so on. A few year latter when I was in collage studying science and reading body building Magazines I would add to that and talk about free radicals and all sorts. This was a lot more complex than what the answer the scholars were to come out with 5-10 years latter.
By the time these fatwas had come out I had started reading about Quran and Hadith and had rejected this explanation and released Ramadan was about obedience to Allah not about how the poor feel or getting fit. Alhamdulillah some good scholars like Sheik Munajjid also realised the problems these explanations were wrote against them.
I will get into the serious problems these causes in a while later.
Reality is that we now even have Muslims who demand to know why something must be done and why something is halal or haram.
The late 80's was the beginning of dawah. There was success but their were mistakes made and we have (or should have) learnt from those mistakes and now correct them and have dawah move to a new stage.
So to answer any question we have to first go to the sources of Islam which is the Quran and the Authentic hadith unlike in the 90's were people went first to the mind and then to Quran and hadith or even left out the Quran and Hadith.
So with regards to this question what does Allah and his Prophet peace be upon him
In a Hadith recorded by Imam Ahmad, that Abu Hurayrah said that Allah's Messenger said:
O people! Allah is Tayyib (Pure and Good) and only accepts that which is Tayyib. Allah has indeed commanded the believers with what He has commanded the Messengers, for He said: "O (you) Messengers! Eat of the Tayyibat and do righteous deeds. Verily, I am well-acquainted with what you do" (23:51), and: "O you who believe! Eat of the lawful things that We have provided you with" He then mentioned a man, who is engaged in a long journey, whose hair is untidy and who is covered in dust, he raises his hands to the sky, and says, `O Lord! O Lord!' Yet, his food is from the unlawful, his drink is from the unlawful, his clothes are from the unlawful, and he was nourished by the unlawful, so how can it (his supplication) be accepted'' It was also recorded by Muslim and At-Tirmidhi
Allah says
Forbidden to you (for food) are: Al-Maytatah (the dead animals - cattle-beast not slaughtered), blood, the flesh of swine, and the meat of that which has been slaughtered as a sacrifice for others than Allah, or has been slaughtered for idols, etc., or on which Allah's Name has not been mentioned while slaughtering, and that which has been killed by strangling, or by a violent blow, or by a headlong fall, or by the goring of horns - and that which has been (partly) eaten by a wild animal - unless you are able to slaughter it (before its death) - and that which is sacrificed (slaughtered) on An-Nusub (stone altars). (Forbidden) also is to use arrows seeking luck or decision, (all) that is Fisqun (disobedience of Allah and sin). This day, those who disbelieved have given up all hope of your religion, so fear them not, but fear Me. This day, I have perfected your religion for you, completed My Favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion. But as for him who is forced by severe hunger, with no inclination to sin (such can eat these above-mentioned meats), then surely, Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
They ask you (O Muhammad ) what is lawful for them (as food ). Say: "Lawful unto you are At-Tayyibat [all kind of Halal (lawful-good) foods which Allah has made lawful (meat of slaughtered eatable animals, milk products, fats, vegetables and fruits, etc.)]. And those beasts and birds of prey which you have trained as hounds, training and teaching them (to catch) in the manner as directed to you by Allah; so eat of what they catch for you, but pronounce the Name of Allah over it, and fear Allah. Verily, Allah is Swift in reckoning."
(Quran 5:3-4)
Muslim recorded that Buraydah bin Al-Husayb Al-Aslami said that the Messenger of Allah said "He who plays Nardshir (a game with dice that involves gambling) is just like the one who puts his hand in the flesh and blood of swine"
Ibn Kathir said It is recorded in the Two Sahihs that the Messenger of Allah said" Allah made the trade of alcohol, dead animals, pigs and idols illegal. The people asked, "O Allah's Messenger! What about the fat of dead animals, for it was used for greasing the boats and the hides; and people use it for lanterns'' He said, No, it is illegal.
Allah says
O you who believe (in the Oneness of Allah - Islamic Monotheism)! Eat of the lawful things that We have provided you with, and be grateful to Allah, if it is indeed He Whom you worship.
He has forbidden you only the Maytatah (dead animals), and blood, and the flesh of swine, and that which is slaughtered as a sacrifice for others than Allah (or has been slaughtered for idols, etc., on which Allah's Name has not been mentioned while slaughtering). But if one is forced by necessity without wilful disobedience nor transgressing due limits, then there is no sin on him. Truly, Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful
(Quran 2:172-173)
Narrated Ibn umar:"Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) prohibited eating or drinking the milk of the animal which feeds on filth (Al-Arba'a except An-Nasa'i reported it. At-Tirmidhi graded it hasan)."
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah said:
The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) forbade the milk of an animal that feeds on filth or impurity, but if the animal is detained until it becomes pure, then it is halaal according to Muslim consensus, because before that the effect of the impurity could be seen in its milk, eggs and sweat, so it gave off a rotten and evil stench. Once that is removed, it becomes taahir (pure). If the ruling is established for a reason, it ceases to apply once that reason is no longer present. End quote.
Majmoo al-Fataawa, 21/618
So what we learn from Quran and hadith is that Allah only wants us to eat what is Tayyib and Pig meat is not Tayyib. Also the eating or drinking the milk of the animal which feeds on filth is also prohibited. It does not explicitly say that the pig is prohibited because it feed on filth. The fact is pig is prohibited whether it eats filth or not.
So why is Pig meat haram to eat. Answer is because Allah says so.
Now some may say but i want to know why Allah says it is not Tayyib for me to eat.
One way would be to get angry and start hitting the who ever asks questions after this. But that would not be the right thing to do even though some may have even nearly done that
The other is what people adopt the scientific or behavioural evidences. Which is very very popular amongst those who are non scientists especially those who never did science even in school.
As a pharmacology graduate I know the complications of science and its limitations. I mentioned this in previous emails.
But its ok to mention sometimes scientific data but support are argument but we must have to take care it is not turned back on us. Which eventually it will be.
Non Scientist hear things and yipee they are experts in science more than even those who actually studied science. For instance we were in a dawah lecture at University and it was full of Muslims. There's me a Pharmacology Graduate and there's about 5 or more Science PHD students were all listening attentively to the lecture and thinking Mashallah the brothers done such a great job but during the question and answer session some brothers who haven't even done GCSE biology instead of asking a question will start giving his own lectures about science thinking the Brother missed out some essential dawah material.
Out of interest we could study the pig at many different levels for instance one brother quoted even molecular level data about triglycerides and the other would be to study say its behaviour.
The sister said that she grew up on farms with pet pigs and they didn't eat their own filth. This is her finding but there are other findings were non Muslim pig farmers have been interviewed and they said that pig farming was profitable because they could feed pigs anything. Other studies have said those pigs who are free to roam about , as is what happens in south American countries they do get infected with Pork tapeworm and people who eat pork from such countries or pork meat imported from those countries can get affected by pork tapeworm which can even be deadly in some cases. In one video I saw it was mentioned that 50 million people across the world are infected by this kind of tapeworm. The pigs get this tapeworm through contact/ingestion of this filth.
So we can at least conclude that pig meat at least have the potential to cause Tapeworms in humans. So that itself is not good.
Now although this is quite interesting facts we cant be sure that this is why or the only reason why Allah forbade Pig meat.
It may be a reason , it may be only one of many reasons why Allah forbade pig meat. But we do not know and cannot case but it is interesting.
The reason we have to be careful is that say shaytaan comes and says we will breed pigs in the Laboratory with only Halal say plants and water for so many months and at the end we will even test it for tape worm . Then if it is free will you eat it?
Allah has told us not to eat Pig meat. He has not said why we cannot eat it. So Pig meat is be haram for Muslims forever.
However if a chicken were eating filth then we would not eat that particular chicken or as sheik ul Islam says until it has become pure again.
So this data about pigs (at least free range ones) eating their own poo are facts but we can only theorise it being a possible reason as to why Allah made pig Haram. We cannot treat it as fact. So people have to be careful to make sure that they say this is only a theory not fact. Otherwise people will say see no poo eating pig so have dig in and eat. Some who are bit brain dead will start eating.
As I said this question answers many questions.
There have been many incidences were some have been asked questions and they have tried to explain the reason why such and such a thing is prohibited in this way. The answers have been taken as HARD facts WHEN IN REALITY THEY ARE JUST A THEORY OF THAT PARTICULAR SCHOLAR OR GROUP OF SCHOLARS.
So what's happened after that is the enemies of Islam , kaffirs and munafics and also some deluded Muslims have come along and used this theory to make things which Allah has forbidden as lawful.
Many enemies of Islam have tried to make theories or use theories to over right things prohibited in the two sources of Islam (i.e Quran and hadith).
Obviously in some instances you will find hard scientific or behavioural facts which help us understand say a Hadith or Quranic ayat. But the problem is some people do not recognise facts from theories.
So I think in this case especially it would be best to say
Each society has different morals. For non Muslims in west it may be fine to eat pork but not dogs. Whereas Non Muslims in Korea or China may like eating dogs.
There are even some humans on earth that are cannibals.
As human beings we have to find out how did we get here and who created us and what our creator wants from us.
As Muslims we realise that all other religions are false and only Islam is the true religion of God
Evidences I have explained on www.muslimconverts.com/islam
As Muslims we realise Allah wants from us total submission and surrender our wills to him in peace (ie, without arguing )
So as a Muslim we have to surrender peacefully not unpeacefully. One who surrenders unpeacefully to someone he tries to fight physically, or argue, shout, protest or try to always look for ways to rebel.
Its a peaceful surrender, happily surrendering, saying i belong to you , order me to do whatever you want and I will do it to the best of my ability and happily.
The beauty of this surrender and submission is that we are surrounding and submitting our selves and letting go for what we may have thought is right for what Allah knows is right for us.
Our decisions are filled with errors and mistakes
Just look at how many non Muslims drink alcohol and argue that that it is not bad for them. They even say that it helps them live longer. Well it didnt help the guy they ran over live longer.
Dress badly and sometimes they are harmed and still dont realise that wearing Islamic dress is best for a women's self dignity and protection even from haram.
Allah is perfect and his laws are perfect for man kind to live on this earth.
what we learn from Quranic ayats and hadith's above is that Allah only wants us to eat what is Tayyib and Pig meat is not Tayyib. Also the eating or drinking the milk of the animal which feeds on filth is also prohibited. It does not explicitly say that the pig is prohibited because it feed on filth. The fact is pig is prohibited whether it eats filth or not.
It is up to Allah to make lawful whatever he wants and make unlawful whatever he wants. We have no say in the matter. If we dislike anything and tries to deny his existence or choose some one else as a God then the reality will still remain that Allah is our creator and no one else and we are going to return to him and even if all the jinn and mankind gathered together with all their nukes to haram Allah they could not do anything to Haram him. And if the whole of mankind and jinn gathered together and tried to save someone from Allah's punishment they will not be able to.
So our Job should be to please Allah on this earth and in return Allah, out of his mercy and love for those who obey him , Allah will InshaAllah give us heaven were there is everlasting happiness.
So our job should should be to try and find out what does Allah want us to do. What does he want us to stay away from.
The role model Muslims which were the sahabah. They asked the Prophet peace be upon him questions but very few. We have huge books on Hijab alone. We read one book and then another on it. But When the order for Hijab came they Muslimahs They just did it because that Order came from their creator. because of their conviction and their understanding of who Allah and his messenger (peace be upon him) were.
So with regards this question what we learn from Quranic ayats and hadith's above is that Allah only wants us to eat what is Tayyib and Pig meat is not Tayyib. Also the eating or drinking the milk of the animal which feeds on filth is also prohibited. It does not explicitly say that the pig is prohibited because it feed on filth. The fact is pig is prohibited whether it eats filth or not.
I think this should be enough for us. if somebody wants to contemplate of the beauty of Allahs laws then that is a good thing.
But I think learning about the reason why pig is Haram was not an important issue otherwise the Sahabah would have asked the Prophet peace be upon him and we would have known the exact reason.
Their success as being the best Muslims was in finding what was Haram and Halal rather than their reasons. in depth. You obviously didn't want an in depth reason just to find out if there was a reason But I wanted to give people an idea of how to answer questions for those who will not be satisfied by a short answer.
