Qur’an has everything for humans; law, moral, guidance and many more things. It declared certain things as ‘Haram’ which is forbidden and unlawful for Muslims. Pig and its meat ‘pork’ is one such haram thing. Muslims don’t eat pork and consider pigs as filth and avoid it.
“Forbidden to you (for food) are: dead meat, blood, the flesh of swine, and that on which hath been invoked the name of other than Allah.” [Al-Qur’an 5:3]
Pork is also forbidden in the earlier scriptures, though those scriptures are almost distorted but still some divine law is still there in those scriptures.
“And the swine, though he divide the hoof, and be cloven footed, yet he cheweth not the cud; he is unclean to you”.
“Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcass shall ye not touch, they are unclean to you.” [Leviticus 11:7-8]
Now, Science has also backed this law of Islam with proof that how eating pork is dangerous and harmful for humans. A large number of human populations consume pork and it is quite harmful for them but they eat it in ignorance.
Islam is from Allah and Allah knows what is beneficial for mankind and what is harmful for them. Science has also found that pig is harmful and dangerous for humans and is correctly labeled as ‘Haram’.
Here are 10 reasons that support the subject of discussion:
- The meat of the pig known as ‘pork’ contains toxins. These toxins produced by the body of pig are absorbed by the meat of the pig which means when it is consumed, the toxins will enter in the human body and that is really dangerous for humans.
- Pig/swine is a filthy animal and lives in a filthy habitat. They can be easily found at gutters eating garbage and muck. Pigs eat their own feces, drink their own urine.
It could be argued that in developed countries, pigs are bred in very clean and hygienic conditions. Even in these hygienic conditions the pigs are kept together in sties, and so the chances of them consuming filth are very high. - Pork contains poison and to a level that the biting of a rattle snake cause no harm to it. They cannot be killed with any poison or Strychnine. If pork is consumed it is definitely not going to benefit consumer’s body as it is poisonous.
- Pigs don’t sweat or perspire which means all the toxic secretion of a pig’s body is absorbed by the muscles of the pig. Surprisingly, Pig is the only animal which doesn’t sweat and perspire. Humans eat the contaminated pork, more frankly the waste of pig in form of meat.
- Pork contains twice fat, compared to the beef. Fats are harmful for human body and causes obesity.
- Pigs carry about 30 diseases which can be easily passed to humans. Eating pork can expose the individual to various helminthes (worms) like roundworm, pinworm and hookworm.
One of the most dangerous of worms is Taenia Solium, which, in lay man’s terminology is called the pork tapeworm. It harbors in the intestine and is very long. Its ova i.e. eggs, enter the blood stream and can reach almost all the organs of the body. If it enters the brain it can cause memory loss. If it enters the heart it can cause heart attack, in the eye it can cause blindness, and in the liver it can cause liver damage. It can damage almost all the organs of the body. - Pork causes Typhoid, Meningitis, Permanent gall bladder problem, Heart disease, Diabetes, Arthritis, Osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s, impotence and many other diseases. Virologists have long been aware that the pig is an ideal breeding ground for influenza, so it is no surprise that the latest threat, swine flu, originated in pigs.
- The pig is known to harbor parasites as well as bacteria and viruses. Cysticercosis is an infection caused by the pork tapeworm, Taenia solium. Infection occurs when the tapeworm larvae enter the body and form cysticerci (cysts). When cysticerci are found in the brain, the condition is called neurocysticercosis. This tapeworm in pigs is found worldwide but is most problematic in poor and developing countries were pigs are allowed to roam freely and often eat human faeces.
- One in six people in the US and Canada has trichinosis from eating trichina worms (roundworms), which are found in pork. These worms are found in the flesh of pig and the diseases caused by eating pork are incurable once it reaches beyond a certain stage.
- According to World Health Organisation (WHO), processed pork meat like ham, bacon, and sausage can cause cancer.
Prohibition of eating pork does not imply that pigs are evil. There is nothing in Islam that actually declares the animal to be evil, or anything of the sort. Not eating pork is a very simple means of showing our devotion to our Lord.
