Why is pork forbidden in Islam?

Question

Is there a reason behind pig/pork/boar being forbidden in Islam?

What is this reason? How is it justified, and what are the benefits of it in day-to-day life?

Answer 1

Many people will talk about diseases and medical research and all that sort of thing, but the simple fact is that we were never given a reason. Like many things, Muslims are expected to submit to Allah's will in this matter, after all the word Islam means "submission".

Answer 2

I have always been told a variation of the below:

1. Because it says so in the Quran
2. Because pigs are seen to be dirty animals (often eating their own excrement)
3. Because they don't have a proper neck, therefore cannot be made Halal
4. Because their DNA structure is very similar to that of a human being, Islamically, we cannot eat another human being so the concept would be the same

Answer 3

The answer is that Pigs are, by nature, scavengers. This means they eat what they can find, be it fresh or old. Because they have evolved to eat this sort of food they can handle the toxins and bacteria that come along with that diet.

However much an animal is domesticated and fed clean processed food it is still able and inclined to scavenge, so there can be no guarantee that it will be halal.

Why mention Pigs specifically? Well for one, they are large domesticate-able animals that provide a lot of meat. Other scavengers such as rats and pigeons don't fall into this category. As well as this, if they are left undomesticated the pig will revert to it's natural function as a scavenger. The fact it's haram should not rely on man domesticating it and feeding it vegetation and clean food alone.

Answer 4

Why don't Muslims eat pork:

The real reason Muslims don't eat pork is that the Qur'an says so:

He has only forbidden to you dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine, and that which has been dedicated to other than Allah . But whoever is forced [by necessity], neither desiring [it] nor transgressing [its limit], there is no sin upon him. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.
_{Qur'an 2:173}

Along with Qur'an 5:3, Qur'an 6:145, and Qur'an 16:155.

Why does Allah not allow us to eat pork?

I think the only honest answer to this is we simply don't know for sure. For example:

At first, one might wonder what harm could come from pork, a product eaten in many parts of the world, and the fact that pork contains parasites and diseases harmful to man may spring to mind as a justifiable reason for abstaining. However, when analysing why Muslims are forbidden to eat pork, this becomes a secondary reason.
_{Aisha Stacey, Why Pork is Forbidden in Islam, 2001, IslamReligion.com}

We have some idea based on:

Say, "I do not find within that which was revealed to me [anything] forbidden to one who would eat it unless it be a dead animal or blood spilled out or the flesh of swine - for indeed, it is impure - or it be [that slaughtered in] disobedience, dedicated to other than Allah . But whoever is forced [by necessity], neither desiring [it] nor transgressing [its limit], then indeed, your Lord is Forgiving and Merciful."
_{Qur'an 6:145}

From this, we can surmise it's not good for us, in some way. But this verse is not specific, and is translated in a variety of ways. IslamAwakened has more translations; in addition to "impure", we have "loathsome", "foul", "abomination", "unclean", etc., as translations for رجس.

Popular guesses

I looked online for popular guesses as to why pork is forbidden. Two popular ones are "disease" and "low-quality diet".

Diseases

The most popular guess is that pork meat is dangerous because of diseases.

Research has shown correlation between pork consumption and several diseases.
_{Why do Muslims abstain from pork?, 2011, WhyIslam.org}

However, this claim will be true with "pork" swapped for basically any other food (halal or not).

There's a paper on this by Schoenfeld and Ioannidis, Is everything we eat associated with cancer? A systematic cookbook review, Am. J. Clin. Nutr., 2012 (link), from which Vox made a graphic entitled "Everything we eat both causes and prevents cancer".

Pigs have a low-quality diet

Pigs are omnivores, which means they consume both plants and animals. Pigs will scavenge and eat any type of food, including dead insects, worms, tree bark, rotting carcasses, garbage, and even other pigs.
_{Aisha Stacey, Why Pork is Forbidden in Islam, 2001, IslamReligion.com}

Nevertheless, pork doesn't become halal to eat if we change a pig's diet to something more appealing to humans. Moreover, the prohibition in the Qur'an is not based on scavenging or being an omnivore, e.g., fish is halal.

Other guesses

There's many other guesses, some of which are amusing:

1. pigs have no neck,
2. pork contains excess fat,
3. pig are shameless animals,
4. it takes 4 hours to digest pork,
5. pigs have holes on their feet which ooze pus.

Answer 5

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, Most Merciful

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. We cannot find words to praise Him, as He only sees fit how laudation should be addressed to Him. We seek refuge in Allah from the evils within ourselves and the evils of our bad deeds. Whosoever Allah guides will never be led astray, and whosoever He leads astray will never find guidance. We bear witness that there is no god but Allah, the One without any associate, and We bear witness that Muhammad is His Messenger and bondman, peace and blessings be upon him, his kith and kin, his Companions and all those who follow their guidance until the Day of Judgment.

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Your question: Why is pork forbidden in Islam?

Answer: The reason for prohibition of eating pork, is because, it is the dirtiest animal in Islam and it has many diseases which can’t be healed. The fact that consumption of pork is prohibited in Islam is well known.

The Quran prohibits the consumption of pork in many verses including: 2:173, 5:3, 6:145 and 16:115.

Allah Says:

"He has only forbidden to you dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine, and that which has been dedicated to other than Allah. But whoever is forced [by necessity], neither desiring [it] nor transgressing [its limit], there is no sin upon him. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful." [The Cow, 2:173]

"Prohibited to you are dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine, and that which has been dedicated to other than Allah, and [those animals] killed by strangling or by a violent blow or by a head-long fall or by the goring of horns, and those from which a wild animal has eaten, except what you [are able to] slaughter [before its death], and those which are sacrificed on stone altars, and [prohibited is] that you seek decision through divining arrows. That is grave disobedience. This day those who disbelieve have despaired of [defeating] your religion; so fear them not, but fear Me. This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favor upon you and have approved for you Islam as religion. But whoever is forced by severe hunger with no inclination to sin - then indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful." [The Table Spread, 5:3]

Say, "I do not find within that which was revealed to me [anything] forbidden to one who would eat it unless it be a dead animal or blood spilled out or the flesh of swine - for indeed, it is impure - or it be [that slaughtered in] disobedience, dedicated to other than Allah. But whoever is forced [by necessity], neither desiring [it] nor transgressing [its limit], then indeed, your Lord is Forgiving and Merciful." [The Cattle, 6:145]

Further, pigs have no neck that makes it impossible to be slaughtered the Islamic way (The Halaal way) by the insertion of a knife in the neck and thus getting rid of the blood, which contains an abundance of uric acid, a toxic chemical substance that can be injurious to human health.

Eating the meat of pig can cause over 70 different types of latent diseases as their body contains many TOXINS and deadly parasitic WORMS like tapeworm, roundworm, pinworm, hookworm, etc. If you eat pork you are likely to inject many of these worms or their eggs into your body! Most dangerous among them is the Tapeworm.

It is not permissible for a Muslim to reject any ruling of sharia or to hesitate to follow it if the reason behind it is not clear. Rather he must accept the rulings on halaal and haraam when they are proven in the text, whether he understands the reason behind that or not. Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“It is not for a believer, man or woman, when Allah and His Messenger have decreed a matter that they should have any option in their decision. And whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger, he has indeed strayed into a plain error” [The Combined Forces, 33:36]

"The only statement of the [true] believers when they are called to Allah and His Messenger to judge between them is that they say, "We hear and we obey." And those are the successful." [The Light, 24:51]

There is no mention in the shari texts of a specific reason for the prohibition on pork, apart from the verse in which Allah Says:

Say, "I do not find within that which was revealed to me [anything] forbidden to one who would eat it unless it be a dead animal or blood spilled out or the flesh of swine - for indeed, it is impure - or it be [that slaughtered in] disobedience, dedicated to other than Allah. But whoever is forced [by necessity], neither desiring [it] nor transgressing [its limit], then indeed, your Lord is Forgiving and Merciful." [The Cattle, 6:145]

The main utility of pigs in the ecosystem is as scavengers. They live and thrive on muck, feces and dirt.

Pork has very little muscle building material and contains excess of fat. This fat gets deposited in the vessels and can cause hypertension and heart attack. It is not surprising that hypertension is a common ailment due to the prevalence of the consumption of pork.

Pork can cause:

1. Memory loss
2. Heart attack
3. Blindness
4. Liver damage
5. Damage almost all organs of the body

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References:

• WHY IS THE EATING OF PORK (PIG MEAT) FORBIDDEN IN ISLAM?
• What is the reason for the prohibition on pork?
• Why do Muslims abstain from pork?