Is it haram to touch a pig , to smell it, or to go even near it?

Question

I know that it's verily haram to eat pork or anything that is derived from pig, but what about touching something that may possibly be derived from a part of a pig and sometimes you just cannot avoid these because you didn't know? For example if a hat I'm wearing is made of something that is derived from pig (other than the hair of the pig), and pig is considered as somewhat najis (impure), then is it not sufficient for me to just cleanse myself by taking a bath?

Or if I use a carbonless paper that contains gelatin that is derived from pig, is it haram to use the paper as a means of something other than eating? Just for writing for example yet it has to touch the skin in order for me to write.

Even worse, is it haram if I use a soap bar containing a chemical that is derived from pig for bathing?

But non of those things I eat. Even if it did entered my mouth it was involuntary and how would I know that a small amount of the derived pig content has actually entered my mouth or not? How would I know if the producer of the product is telling the truth or not about its content? How would I know if the Halal Agency that gave the accreditation did not miss anything 100% at all? They are all human after all.

If the meat of swine is impure and anything that touches the meat (pig skin) is also impure, then logically thinking the air that surrounds the swine also becomes impure because it has touched its skin ? impurity after impurity, if that makes any sense? Don't you know that pigs can pass the wind too? Can you say that touching its skin is haram and smelling its fart is ok? Or even smelling its meat, is it ok?

So is it haram to even go near a pig/swine? Is it forbidden to live in an area that is near a swine? Is it forbidden to live in a planet that has swine in it? Just to what extent did the Prophet asked us to avoid it? Are we really going in the right direction with these questions? Then can you guarantee that the air that you breathe there is in fact.... Halal? You would then have to spend all day long just to verify every volume of air you breath does not contain the fart of pork without any time to do anything else. I don't believe Islam is supposed to make your daily obligations that difficult for you even if your intention was to perfect your deen. I never heard of the Prophet SAW doing that which I had described. But I could be wrong.

Otherwise, I think you would be dead.... if you are forbidden to inhale air that is not guaranteed..... Halal.

Btw how did the Prophet SAW and His Companions verify that the food that they ate given from other people does not contain any "piggy" stuff without the DNA Technology that we are given today? Because as you know rejecting the food given while you are invited to dinner would be considered very rude to the host. Just because you were unsure if it is halal or not while the host insisted that it doesn't contain any haram food.

The real Question is, did the Prophet SAW ever recommends to check EVERY SINGLE TIME at EVERY SINGLE OCCASION for possibility of pig derived ingredients in a food or Drink? If Yes, How did he recommend to do it? do you think that just by asking the company/person that made the food/drink, will guarantee that none of its content is derived from pig? Do you think that just because it is labeled halal it is a guarantee that nothing in it is derived from pork? Even those agencies can be wrong sometimes you know. Then if your not 100% sure that it doesn't contain anything derived from pork then shouldn't you avoid it anyway? and was it for foods only that he recommended to do so or is it also for other stuffs beside foods and drinks?

Answer 1

First if a thing or animal is considered as najiss (or -ritually- impure) this means that the thing itself is unclean not anything that derives from it unless we have a clear proof.

For example some scholars consider the spittle of a dog unclean based on the famous and well discussed hadith:

The purification of the utensil belonging to any one of you, after it is licked by a dog, lies in washing it seven times, using sand for the first time. (Sahih Muslim)

Based on their understanding and conclusions about the dog and the fact that pork is clearly declared as haram in the Qur'an they came to the conclusion that if dogs spittle is impure than this should apply to pigs even more. Basically we have here the Hanafi, Shafi'i and Hanbali school on one side claiming that pig is impure on the whole, while the Maliki's and many prominent scholars like imam al-Awza'i and Dawod a-Dhahiri claim that it is not as anything is by default pure unless we have a reason to say otherwise. (See also Are Dogs Impure?)

As an example of the statements of those who consider the pig as impure here what ibn Qudamah quoted in his al-Mughni المغني (My own trnalsation take it carefully):

لا يختلف المذهب في نجاسة الكلب والخنزير وما تولد منهما أنه نجس عينه وسؤره وعرقه وكل ما خرج منه
There's no difference in the madhhab on the impureness of the dog and pig and whatever was derived from them that is najiss by itself, and the remaining (of their food) and its sweat and all that comes out from it.

Nevertheless we have no proof at all that the air we breath can be made impure or haram, which clearly shows that air is pure and halal by default.
We also have no proof that the pig is najiss imam an-Nawawi -the prominent shafi'i scholar- in his al-Majmo' المجموع شرح المهذب even admits that there's no proof for the najassa of a -living- pig (again my own translation take it carefully):

"نقل ابن المنذر في كتاب الإجماع إجماع العلماء على نجاسة الخنزير، وهو أولى ما يُـحْتَجُّ به لو ثبَت الإجماع، ولكن مذهب مالك طهارة الخنزير ما دام حيا، وأما ما احتج به المصنف، فكذا احتج به غيره، ولا دلالة فيه، وليس لنا دليل واضح على نجاسة الخنزير في حياته
"Ibn al-Mundhir has compilled (or transmitted) in his book al-Ijma' a consensus of the scholars on the impurity of pigs, and it would be the best proof if this consensus was clearly affirmed, but the madhhab of Malik is the pureness of the pig as long as it is alive, and that what the author (*) has claimed as an evidence, it was claimed by others, but there's no proof in it, and we have no clear proof on the impureness of a pig which is alive"

(*) The author of al-Muhadhab the book an-Nawawi is commenting is imam abu Ishaaq a-Shirazi أبو إسحاق الشيرازي. A-Shirazi claimed that the pig is najiss and worse than a dog in his al-Muhadhab.

Note that the prophet () allowed his companions to use pots in which pork was cocked:

We live in the neighbourhood of the People of the Book and they cook in their pots(the flesh of) swine and drink wine in their vessels. The Messenger of Allah(ﷺ) said: If you find any other pots, then eat in them and drink. But if you do not find any others, then wash them with water and eat and drink (In them). (Sunan abi Dawod, see also a different version in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim)

To answer your question shortly:

• It is haram to eat pork, but one may be allowed in certain cases of necessity.
• The impureness of a living pork is not affirmed, but it is the view of three applied madhhabs.
• This impureness nevertheless doesn't imply that one might not touch a pork, but that one might need to wash his hands and maybe even re-do the ablution to be able to pray after touching it.
• One may need to wash his clothes if a dog or pig has touched them by their mouth or spittle.
• Air is pure by default no matter if we consider it being breathed by an impure or pure animal etc.

Here a fatwa from islamqa #172600 that presents some of my references and maybe comes to a different conclusion.