Moral Teachings of Islam 9 – Diet Pork Religious Aspects

The name of God that benevolent the Merciful, the creator and Sustainer of the universe, peace and blessings forever upon his servant and messenger Muhammad amin, I bear witness that there was no God worthy of worship except the one true God. And I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger and servant of God, I greet you with the universal greetings of peace. The greetings that have been used by all of the profits from Abraham to Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon them all. Assalamu Aleikum, which means peace beyond to you? I'm your host, Hama Rashid, and today's program we have our ninth program in the series on moral teachings of Islam. We'll be looking today at the

prohibition on eating the eating of pork. I have joining me as usual on the program. Dr. Jamal Badawi of St. Mary's University brother Jamal assalamu aleikum wa Alaykum sidama before we go on in today's program, which I'm sure God Willing will be of interest to many of the viewers of our program. This topic in this discussion of the prohibition of eating of pork is one that is of interest to a number of people want to perhaps you could just take a few minutes to go back. And to summarize the main points that we talked about in our program last week. Last week, we were just continuing in our discussion of some of the prohibition in Islam, and more particularly the question

of dietary laws. And we cited the verse in the Quran that's in chapter five, verse three, that summarizes the main categories of prohibited foods, which included the animal that dies by itself, or dies as a result of falling from a height, or strangulation, or the animal that's beating to this or gored to death. The blood. And of course, this inverse include the prohibition of eating the pork also. And then we went on discussing some of the main reasons or possible explanations of the prohibitions of these categories, which involve both the question of cleanliness, protection of health, and we discuss some of the reasons behind some of those categories. And also, the question

of mercy

to animals, even those that are killed for food

that led us in our discussion to look into the etiquettes that Assam provides even for killing animals for food, like sharpening the knife, not being clever to the animal in terms of pulling it or something like that not killing an animal in front of another animal, and so on. So this fits altogether in terms of both procedures for diet as well as its background, or foundation of attitudes in general,

are coming to today's topic, which is the prohibition of the eating of pork, I wonder if perhaps you could tell us what the Quran says about the what are the injunctions against the eating of pork? I checked the concordance of the graph which shows the various verses dealing with particular subjects under specific words. And I found that prohibition of the swine meat is mentioned in Clause verses in the Quran, chapter two, verse 173, chapter five, verse three, which we cited in last program, Chapter 16, verse 15, and chapter six, verse 145. It's interesting to notice that in the first

three verses, I mentioned,

the address seemed to be given to Muslims addressed to Muslims. For example, I can five three tastes forbidden to you, at this year's Muslims, forbidden to art and then did meet blood and the flesh of the swine.

But the interesting thing is that in the last

of this four versus last hour that I mentioned them, that's in chapter six, verse 145. The address seem to be directed to all people not necessarily to Muslims. Let me get you exactly the citation. Color agito female Masha Allah Yamaha Rahman, Allah amen

tamo illa equina Matan Kodama Swan, Allah McKenzie is continuous, which means, say that say, Mohammed, I find not in the messages he lived by me, by inspiration. Any means forbidden to be eaten by one who wishes to eat, it doesn't say by a Muslim, or non Muslim, by one who wishes to eat any eaters, or anyone who's seeking food. And then it says, unless it's dead meat, or blood put forth, or the flesh

of swine.

That's an interesting difference from the first three verses, which indeed, gives a clear indication, at least to me, that the Quran asserts also that this prohibition did not really originate from the last revelation, the Quran, but was something that was revealed to previous prophets in the past. And that has been a general prohibition that applies to all

reveal this.

Light can go on in a few moments and talk a bit about the position of the other communities, particularly the Jews and Jewish Christian communities on this whole question of the prohibition of pork. But before we do, I'd like to get a little further clarification.

Many people wonder whether or not the prohibition on pork is,

is limited to the meat only or whether or not includes other kinds of things like lard, for example, and other edible portions of the pig is the prohibition only against the meter doesn't include the other things as well. No from head to toe, it's

to Taylor's to take in prohibition applies to all of them. In fact, in the English translation of the Quran, it's written as flesh forbidden, forbidden to you or prohibited you is the flesh of the spine. The original Arabic word is

which started to flesh. Lachman Arabic is used, at least in the Quranic usage to apply not only to the meat, but to all edible portions, like you said, of the of the pig. There is evidence of that in the Quran, for example,

in the Quran describing the development of the human fetus, for example, in chapter 23, verse 14, a similar one was in chapter two, verse 258, it talks about God closing the bones with flesh.

See, so that means everything.

The entirety of the body is included there. And the Quran also refers in chapter 35, verse 12, in chapter 16, verse 14, to fish,

as mentorian, lean meat

or line, so that applies again to all the fish.

In the Quran, also describing the animals to be sacrificed during the temperaments. In chapter 22, verse 37, for example, it says, again, Lenny, and Allah had a formula, God is not going to receive its blood or its flesh, but he receives piety from you in describing the meat, or delights in the Day of Judgment that's in paradise in chapter 56, verse 21, Chapter 52 and verse 36. Again, it talks about the meat that will be offered all types of meats for people who wish to enjoy the you know, that sense? So in that sense, then the Quranic usage is obviously

referring to Latin or meat to include everything, including course,

always had edible party. Now, I think many or if not all of the people who would be watching the program are familiar with the fact that

under Judaic law, pork is also prohibited venison and having a comment on the similarity between the prohibition in Islam and the prohibition and today's what to start with. He revealed the law to Moses is the same reveal or gave the gospel to Prophet Jesus peace be upon him. And he is the same for reveal the last scripture the Quran to Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon them all. That's that's the origin of that connection, all those faith, Muslim believes in, believes in the Prophet sent to those nations before Islam, and believes also that the basic revelation coming from the same God the same source, so that's the essence actually of the of the

revelation. But just to add a little bit to this,

with my limited familiarity with the Bible, I just like to refer to the Leviticus that's the third book in the

Old Testament. And in chapter 11,

verses seven and eight in particular, and just I just got that from the

King James Version. It says there, and the swine vokey divides the hoof and be clobbered footed. Yet he chooses not the cut. He is unclean to you. He is unclean to you, in verse eight, it continues, of this flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcass shall ye not touch, they are unclean to you.

So the statements are very clear, in the Old Testament, that not only is the swine, and unclean animal, but that its flesh is prohibited. And by the way, this is not the only reference in the Old Testament, prohibiting supposedly, both Jews and Christians because both believe in the Old Testament from eating pork. But we find, for example, in the book of Isaiah,

chapter 65, verse four, it discusses again, about God's anger against those and it says, which eat swines flesh and broth of abominable things, is in the vessels.

In the same book, just in the following chapters in Isaiah, chapter 66, and verse 17,

again, talking about God's anger against those that says, They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the garden, behind one tree in the middle, eating swine flesh,

eating swine flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse shall be consumed together, says, The Lord, will be consumed by the, by the fire. So what I mean with those clear statements in the Old Testament, one can understand

how

God really did not create the pig for food as it's consistently been prohibited in various scriptures, by the Quran, and I remember even reading an article A few years ago, that's in some other religions, even I think it was an article about Buddhism, then the swine fish is also forbidden, of course, whether people are still following that will have different interpretations, but it is universally

forbidden. To talk about the bit about Islamic prohibition was considered the position of the today community. I'd like to turn now to the question of the

Christian community. And I'm interested in getting your views based on your understanding of why it is that the Christian community feels that that the eating of Mark is permissible. Could you comment on that on your understanding of why it is viewed as being permissible by the Christian community? Well, I'd like at this point, just to make a reference here to a very interesting booklet, which was written by a Christian evangelist, see Leonardo's voice. It says,

de haut, should it be used for food. In fact,

the author's like I said, is an evangelist. So he's speaking not from a point of view of somebody who was stranger to the face or to Christianity.

And in this book,

he mentions and they've got from page 25, of that booklet,

he sits there.

not infrequently. The assertion is made, that the unclean animals were cleansed by the gospel probably traces some of the arguments, theological arguments for that. And it has been declared that the New Testament so teaches. Those who have made this subject study,

know that the New Testament teaches not

teaches nothing of this kind. They know too, that many honest sincere Christians are quoting scriptures, which they believe will liberate them to eat of old flesh.

And many of those scriptures have no reference at all, to clean or unclean meat. At the end of the day, it also continues. He says, it's marvelous to that some persons can advance the argument that the gospel of Christ changed the nature of the heart,

when there is no evidence that they have permitted us to change their own lives, if any can really believe the nature of the hug can be changed. What must they think its nature was

Before the change, that he adds, the gospel has not affected the hug. And then he puts it very clearly again, from a point of view of learned Christian

evangelist, he says the Bible so clearly, and definitely forbids the eating of pork. I don't think this is very strange, because as we caught it before the text of the Old Testament, is so decisive, so clear that it leaves no room, really to

know exactly when it's out. I'd like to add, however, to what Reverend voice mentioned about this. That is,

I also ran through a quotation from historical reference. But the title of that is lectures in Christianity by Khalid Abu Zahra, and he was quoting their eminent but the one of the

historians, especially robotica sanity. And he says that in the days of Constantine, when he claimed that he embraced Christianity,

many Jews were forced to convert to Christianity.

But many of the Christians of that time suspected that they really converted out of fear. So they suspected their true belief in Christianity.

So it said there that the Patriarch of Constantinople, went to Constantine, and said, I suggest that we cook

pork, and invite those newly converted Christians to eat raw meat. If they refuse to eat from it, then we know that they are still Jews at heart, because the Old Testament suffered it.

So Constantine said, but hell, why should we cook a cake and eat it and give it to, or feed it to other people if it's forbidden.

And again, the patriarch, apparently causing what appears in the New Testament. It's all the while but after all, it is not the thing that comes into into the mouths that really cause anybody to be unclean, but things that comes out of the mouth, which is actually an allegorical thing very, but doesn't really mean that anything that's dirty that comes into the mouth,

you know, is particularly good, it's to be disregarded.

Whether again, that particularly was the reason of it or not, I can't be sure. But one of the frequently referred references also which Reverend Forrest didn't mention also is that it is also said that St. Peter's once saw a dream. And he saw lots of animals that dream and he claimed that God appears to him in that dream. And he says, whatever you like sluttish, and kept visiting authors during the New Testament. Now, it is quite difficult, at least for me, to understand how could a dream by any person no matter how pious it could be, can be used as a basis for legislation and making things which were clearly according to what the chosen Christian believes to be the Word of

God, the Bible itself says, on the basis of a dream, just dream abrogate a clear and decisive law.

But this whole notion of claiming that after Prophet Jesus peace be upon him came that everything became cleansed, regardless of what

seemed to contradict also, the statement made, I think it's a mess up Prophet Jesus peace be upon him, when he was telling people that I can not to destroy or Think not that I came to destroy the law, or the prophets I came to fulfill.

So if you put this point all together,

quite frankly, I can see any foundation theological or otherwise, to justify permitting,

thought as digital tools for Christians are not only from my point of view, according to the some learned Christians, I think there are several Christian sects who

might not be the majority, but

it has some condition. In fact, the last reference that you made about the changing of the law, I think it's a pretty emphatic quotation, as I recall it,

it'd be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it would be for one particle of the law to be changed. And that's pretty, pretty clear doesn't leave much room for confusion of interpretation. Or going back to the question of prohibition of pork in Islam. I wonder if perhaps you could just comment on some of the reasons as you understand them behind the prohibition of pork? Well, the most important thing in answering that question, because I know many people approached answers in a variety of ways

is not to give any apologetic answer, but rather to start from basics, and to say, very clearly, honestly, that for the Muslim, the one who believes in God

The one who committed himself to the obedience of God was a call before loving, conscious submission to the will of God and his obedience.

Even if there's no other reason whatsoever,

other than the fact that God said that in the Quran, and prohibited that, that itself would suffice.

The thing that the Muslim also realizes, is that the Quran is not a statement made by some human being according to his own whims, it was revealed word. For word to Prophet monotheism is not Mohammed's word it is the word of God Himself, as revealed to the Prophet,

which means then it is not subject to any deficiency of human beings, that people who might do something or give commands that might not be valid at some other time, because God knows everything. The knowledge of God is not restricted to the past, or present, or future, he knows everything.

Okay, and when he made the decisive and clear, there must be some reasons for that.

But it is important also, that, to realize that, in Islam, a person, even if he has this conscious submission, does not take faith in a dogmatic way. Islam does not prevent people from thinking and as I said, in a different program, the first word even dividend the Quran was read or recite, encourage people to search. But you see, there is a difference between two types of attitudes and attitude that would say, hey, God, say, don't eat this. Well, I won't do it unless I find the reason. It sounds as if one is making blackmail to God or something, okay, unless I find the reasons I will obey you. That's quite different from an attitude of someone who says, All right,

God says that, I trust you said that I trust him. I am prepared to obey Him, I will obey Him.

But since he did not forbid me from researching and finding out I'd studied, try to find reasons, but not as a precondition to obey. If I discovered those reasons, it makes sense in my face and my heart. What if I fail to find those reasons? I say, all right, maybe in the future, might be able to find more is it two approaches are quite difficult. The second approach, in my humble opinion, is really the right one to take. That's why in one purse that I cited in a previous program, also,

oh, you who believe do not put your opinions or your inclination forward or ahead of what Allah and His Messenger teach. And describing in the third chapter in the Quran, the believers that those again,

that anything that comes to them, they say, we believe in it, it is all from our loads. So they this attitude of acceptance, acceptance. Interesting. I'd like to add to this also, that more specifically, to apply this principle, on the question of diet, we have already discussed some of the reasons why various categories could be harmful, like blood and all that we discovered, even from medical and scientific point of view.

So, since the swine comes under the same category, then there must be some harm whether we have fully found it.

That's another indirect evidence. Another point here is that in the Quran,

we find that there is a clear hint, even though it doesn't give all details particularly about the the pig meat.

It is called, for example, in chapter five, verse three, as impiety, that eating pig is an act of impiety. On the other hand, and that's an interesting point, in chapter six, in verse 145, which I cited early,

it says, After describing the forbidden things,

that TIG is,

in pious meat or this abomination. It means something unclean, or abominable. Which means then that there's some aspect of filth involved in the pig that next it's made unfit for human consumption. It is well known that the pig by its very nature is a scavenger. It's anything. In fact, I remember once in a public lecture, brother asked me, but why did God then create the tickets not for food? I told him jokingly, to eat the garbage.

What I really meant is that if we say why did God create the pig? All right, why did God create roaches, lizards, insects and all other raccoons? raccoons that think that not really for human consumption. Why do you got poisoned, right, exactly. It's not a very strong

but more specifically, that book

referred to earlier by Reverend verse

he describes there what happens in funds. When you have both poultry and pigs in pitch when, for example, he gives some detail of his own eyewitness observation that when the chicken dies, die, because they died, of course, the red chicken by 1000s. They put them in burlap sacks, until they meet threats, and becomes unbearable. And he said, then they take this

rotten meat to the pens where the pigs are. And he said, You should see their joy, enjoying themselves in eating this rotten meat.

In fact, in one other place, he says, You can only look

well, I just got directly it says, See him or see the pig in the very height of his glory, on top of a manure pile, with his head buried in the dung, from which exalted sight, he gives expression to his joy and satisfaction by his rhythmical grounds, the nature of the pig that's no wonder when people even use profanity against each other try to give an ultimate example of since they say it's as dirty as opaque as the pink so

this hint is there in the Quran. But again, we are finding more and more about the customs and habits in the hands of

the feminine. So we have remaining on today's program, I want you to comment about the

suggestion that chicken is also each filter. And you know why then is chicken permissible when the pig is prohibited? What if it's true that chicken might once in a while, you know, get involved in this kind of thing, but not really, there is a big big difference between chicken and pig. And there's some scientific foundation also for that. The chicken as you know has two stomachs. One is the glandular and the gizzard.

This provides them a digestive system, which is more capable of eliminating any impurities that the chicken might have swallowed. Even more than that, even in other animals that eat the cut, they have even silly stomachs they have

double or triple cleaning laboratory. On the other hand, strangely enough, in the pig in particular, unlike the other cat eating animals,

its stomach is quite poor and structure. And it takes according to authorities about three hours, roughly for it to digest whatever food it eats, which means then, that if the pig, for example, start eating, filth, manure, rotten meat, or whatever other impurities, within three hours, that trash

pass through a system is absorbed, it becomes part of his flesh. Which means if you kill that animal after three hours, and have a dish, like somebody puts it, you would have a dish actually of process.

So the difference is quite clear. And in addition to that, I might just add one more quick thing, that in Islam in Islamic law, if an animal that is eating like chicken, or even cows or sheep or any other thing like that, develop a habit of constantly and persistently eating filth, not just the kind of occasion I think

it becomes not permissible to eat, it's called an Islamic law. janella cannot touch it. Even if it's an animal that's living, you're not supposed to write it. And they say in edible animals. If this happens, it has to be isolated for an extended period of time until it's totally cleaned from that. But like I said, the occasion and things like that would not really affect considering the digestive system and the purification of food, a process that doesn't happen in the food digested by the light of day. But we'll leave it at that for today. We want to invite our viewers back next week when we'll continue our discussion on this prohibition of the eating of pork. We'll look at some of the

biochemical reasons the justifications for not eating pork as a source of food. That's our program for today. Thank you for watching. Assalamu alaikum peace be unto you