Why is pork forbidden in Islam?

Muslims who live in the West struggle with this problem a lot. It gets more difficult for them to find halal meat, determine whether animals were slaughtered according to the shariah and whether the food they purchase processed contains pork. In gelatin, processed pork can also be found in various other meals. Pork may appear to be « cleaner » after undergoing procedures like radiation, which is said to eradicate bacteria, but the flesh still originates from an animal that we, as Muslims, are prohibited from eating, so it’s wise to refrain from it entirely.

Why is pork forbidden in Islam?

There are forbidden or taboo foods in most cultures. Western societies often refrain from certain foods, like, meat from horses, cats, and dogs, whereas people in East Asia generally eat them. In India, beef is taboo because it comes from cows, and a cow is considered a holy animal. They often worship it or call it their mother cause they drink its milk. Similarly, in Muslim-majority nations, eating pork is considered a taboo cause; based on Islamic laws, it’s haraam (forbidden), and that’s why Muslims don’t eat pork. The main reason pork is forbidden in Islam is that it says in the Holy Quran that certain foods are allowed, while others are explicitly prohibited (haram); pork is one of those prohibited foods. Nevertheless, the Holy Quran correspondingly makes an exemption, stating that you may eat it if you are in dire need of food and have no other options but pork. This also aligns with Jewish belief, supported by their kosher meat-eating customs and laws. 

Because of the fats, toxins, and bacteria it carries, and the fact that pigs spend their entire lives rolling about in the muck and their own waste, pork is not considered dirty but impure and hazardous for human health. Scientists like Hans-Heinrich Reckeweg, who stated that western societies who eat pork carry more diseases than other populations who do not, have even demonstrated the precise point that pork is unhealthy for human consumption. 

Below we have listed why pork is haram – Things You Should Know About Pigs. 

• Quran explicitly prohibits pork consumption; we Muslims should adhere to this ruling. There are five verses in the Quran mentioning Pig ( خنزير ), one of which is cited below. 

حُرِّمَتْ عَلَيْكُمُ الْمَيْتَةُ وَالدَّمُ وَلَحْمُ الْخِنْزِيرِ …. 

« Forbidden to you (for food) are dead meat, blood, the flesh of swine . . . » 

(Qur’an, 5:3) 

• A pig will consume anything, including dirt, maggots, decaying vegetables, urine, waste, and excrement. They will eat even malignant growths on other pigs or animals. 

• Pig meat and fat act like a sponge that absorbs pollutants. Their meat might be 30 times more poisonous than any other widely eaten animal.  Because beef and venison take around 8 to 9 hours to digest, any toxins present in it are gradually induced into our systems and can be removed by the liver, whereas it only takes up to 4 hours to digest pork when consumed. As a result, our bodies accumulate more impurities in less time. 
• Toxins are removed from the body through perspiration; since pigs do not perspire or sweat, the toxins and impurities remain in their bodies, as well as their meat. 
• Swine are so contaminated that you can hardly kill them with strychnine or other poisons. 
• Often, farmers pen pigs into rattlesnake nests because pigs can eat rattlesnakes and won’t be hurt by the poison if bitten. 
• Worms and insects eat a swine’s flesh more quickly than any other animal’s when it is killed. A pig’s flesh gets covered in worms within a few days. 
• Over a dozen parasites, including trichinae, flukes, worms, and tapeworms, are present in swine and pigs. There is no safe cooking temperature for pork that will guarantee the elimination of all these parasites, their cysts, and their eggs. 
• Cows have a four-stomach digestive system, which is complicated. As a result, their vegetarian diet requires more than 24 hours to digest, which results in the food being cleaned of contaminants. Meanwhile, a swine’s stomach needs around 4 hours to digest its unclean diet and convert its contaminated and hazardous food to the flesh. 
• Roughly about 30 diseases carried by swine are easily transmitted to humans. We are supposed to abstain from even touching their carcass.  
• The swine trichinae worm is microscopic; it can settle in our bowels, muscles, spinal cord, or brain if ingested. This could result in Trichinosis. When symptoms appear, they are often misdiagnosed as other illnesses such as typhoid, arthritis, rheumatism, gastritis, MS, meningitis, rheumatism, gastritis, gallbladder issues, or severe alcoholism. 
• Nature created a sewer system or canal that runs down each leg of a swine and has an outlet in the bottom of its foot to ooze it out. But a swine’s body can’t get rid of the pus and dirt quickly enough; thus, some of this pus finds its way into the pig’s flesh. 
• Even Jewish Law prohibits pork consumption and other forbidden foods called « non-kosher » foods. Cows, sheep, goats, and deer are all considered kosher animals since they are ruminants and have split hooves; however, camels and pigs, who have only one characteristic of kashrut, are not. 
• Contemporary Christians are not very practicing, but even Bible prohibits pork consumption: 

« And the swine – he is unclean to you. Of the flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcass shall ye not touch; they are unclean to you. » (Leviticus, 11:7-8). A similar ruling is mentioned in Deuteronomy 14:8.

Conclusion

Even in the contemporary world, Muslims abstain from eating pork due to both religious reasons and the association between pork intake and several health consequences. Pork is generally considered harmful because it is considered an unclean animal and a scavenger that eats dead things. Eating pork exposes people to helminths, particularly the Taenia Solium, also known as the « pig tapeworm, » which is so virulent that it can harm every organ in the human body. This is the absolute justification for why a Muslim will often abide by the rule and abstain from eating pork even though they may not adhere to certain aspects of Islam.