6

We read in the quran that the flesh of swine is impermissible(occurs four times elsewhere in Quran)

“He has forbidden you only the Maytah (dead animals), and blood, and the flesh of swine, ...”

[al-Baqarah 2:173]

The bones of swine is used to extract gelatin to make drug capsules. Only the gelatin compound is extracted from the composite bone which certainly does not retain any of the impurities of the pig and is probably scientifically equivalent to cow gelatin, so how can a bone extract become Haram, whereas Allah swt has prohibited "flesh of swine" and not bone of swine?

Some relevant examples:

  1. Urine is Najis , yet modern scientific techniques can extract 100% pure water (H2o) out of the urine, the source is impure , the derivation is pure

  2. Animal Carcass(including pig) when buried under ground and a tomato plant grows over this soil then it would probably contain the nutrients found in the pig. DNA analysis can probably trace back the nutrients in the plants to the animal DNA. Yet the plant is Halal (This example may be wrong scientifically)

  3. Pig Ash , when pig bones are heavily burned then technically I feel no DNA remains and its only carbon, again source is impure derivation seems to be pure.

Dead Carcass , pig and Non Zabiha meat and its organic components are indeed trivially Haram but can the same ruling apply when they are completely transformed in another form or specific elements extracted from them?

Improve this question
11
  • Another thing to note is that there are almost no swines that are properly slaughtered in the name of Allah (whether by Muslims or Jews). So, in reality, even if swine bone itself were not forbidden, the slaughter of the animal itself is often not halal.
    – Muz
    Feb 18, 2013 at 0:59
  • 1
    i never intended pig bone is permissible, i only asked a question on this,Dead Carcass , pig and Non Zabiha meat and its organic components are indeed trivially Haram but can the same ruling apply when they are completely transformed in another form or specific elements extracted from them?
    – Islam
    Feb 20, 2013 at 5:17
  • btw, gelatine is made of other things other then bone - cartilage, skin, hooves etc. Also, according to wikipedia, Food-grade gelatin is produced mainly from two raw materials, beef skin and pig hide.
    – kolja
    Jul 21, 2013 at 10:38
  • @ali, if pig is buried and plant grows over it does not mean that the plant incorporated the proteins (including DNA), fats and sugars from the pig. Plants do not work that way. Plants cannot ingest organic chemistry compounds with their roots. The flesh of swine is first converted to un-organic compounds (mainly the carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus compounds) by various aerobic and anaerobic bacteria living in the soil during the process of decomposition. Also, the carbon in plants comes from photosynthesis, and is not ingested via the roots. So, you cannot trace the DNA to the pig.
    – kolja
    Jul 21, 2013 at 10:59
  • thats a good answer , you can update it as answer(with references reg plant chemistry) @kolja
    – Islam
    Jul 21, 2013 at 11:25

4 Answers 4

Reset to default
4

Saying that:

whereas Allah swt has prohibited "flesh of swine" and not bone of swine

Is against the consensus of scholars of Fiqh and Tafsir which was narrated by Imam Al-Qurtubi that all the swine is haram for eating including bone, skin and everything else.

They explain that the wisdom of mentioning the flesh because it is what people usually target to eat and considered to be the best part of the animal, so the meaning of the ayah does prohibit everything else beside the "flesh" such as bone and skin etc.

Improve this answer
5
  • Doors of Ijtihaad are always open , what they said is not what Quran said. I do agree what they said because that was their fatwa for their period of time where one could not have purified or extracted gelatin from bones and hence their stance was perfectly valid , i guess its a basic ruling in fiqh that a fatwa is a function of many variables one of which is "Time". Infact this could've been the wisdom of Allah swt using "flesh" and not "entire pig"?
    – Islam
    Feb 17, 2013 at 6:10
  • 2
    I believe there is a misunderstanding between fatwa فتوى and hokm حكم. The later is similar to saying Salah is wajib and wine is haram which does not change from place to place or time to time. Secondly, when something in Islam has consensus it will not be changed by individual scholars ijtihad, there must be a new consensus to change it.
    – نافع المدني
    Feb 17, 2013 at 16:46
  • 1
    Could you please cite any trusted scholar or tafsir book which claims that swine bone is permissible as you mentioned in your question?
    – نافع المدني
    Feb 17, 2013 at 16:48
  • i never intended pig bone is permissible, i only asked a question on this,Dead Carcass , pig and Non Zabiha meat and its organic components are indeed trivially Haram but can the same ruling apply when they are completely transformed in another form or specific elements extracted from them?
    – Islam
    Feb 18, 2013 at 12:56
  • 1
    @نافع المدني are you implying that a substance have to be approved for you to be able to eat it? That would make a very long list. I'm sure that the ice cream would be forbidden in a way that it would not be approved, since there was no refrigeration centuries ago and ice cream was not even invented.
    – kolja
    Jul 21, 2013 at 10:43
0

In the Bible it says not to eat pig or even touch the carcass that it's an Abomination to God and it says it all through the Bible he's against it how can I all the sudden change in the New Testament and say it's okay to eat it I believe that is a lie, I believe the New Testament was created 2 delusion the Christians to eat Pig and even tricked them into even having pig as the main dish Christmas and Easter, we are a bunch of dumb cows if we do believe that. So disgusting to me to know that they have put Pig in our bodies any way they can to change our DNA, the very thing that God said what's an Abomination to eat or touch the carcass of the swine

Improve this answer
-2

The way I see it, flesh of swine means flesh of swine. I don't see how that can somehow be extended to the entire swine. نافع المدني mentions that flesh is what people usually target to eat and is considered the best part of the animal so that's why Quran says "flesh", but how can you know that Allah meant the entire swine? Couldn't it be possible that the flesh in particular is harmful but not the skin/bones? Furthermore, if Allah wanted to forbid the entire swine, why wouldn't he have said so in the verse? If it is because back then they only used to consume flesh and not skin/bones since they did not know how to produce gelatin or other derivatives, then I also ask that shouldn't the Quran be applicable not only ~1400 years ago but also today?

Improve this answer
1
  • Wondering why i got negative points here. What did I say that someone had a problem with?
    – John Doe
    Aug 30, 2018 at 18:29
-2

Frankly speaking, I'm of the view that the verse of the Qur'an which speaks about "flesh of swine" is precise, and the Qur'an is for all times and generations. So I don't need another consensus of fatwa in order to start using leather made of pig skin or products made from pig bones. Muslims are not like the Jews who abandon what their Book commands and start worshipping their Rabbis by obeying them contrary to what is clearly stated in the Torah. Flesh of swine is flesh of swine, and Allah is the All-knowing, the Wise. He has made the deen easy for us to follow, except for those people who wish to complicate their lives. This is an extract from Fiqus-Sunnah: It is reported from Ibn 'Abbas that he recited: "Say (O Muhammad): "In all that has been revealed to me, I do not find anything forbidden to eat; if one wants to eat thereof, unless it be carrion, or blood poured forth, or swine flesh..." (al-An'am 145). Then he said, "What is forbidden is its meat. As for its skin, skin used for waterskins, teeth, bones, fur and wool, they are permissible." This is narrated by Ibn Munzhir and Ibn Hatim. Similarly, its rennet and milk are considered pure. This is supported by the fact that when the companions conquered Iraq, they ate the cheese of the Magians which was made from rennet, although their slaughtered animals were considered the same as 'dead animals.' It is confirmed from Salman al-Farsi that when he was asked about cheese, clarified butter and pelts, he said, "What is permissible is what Allah made permissible in His book. What is forbidden is what Allah made forbidden in His book. What he omits, He has pardoned for you."

Improve this answer
2
  • 2
    Frankly, no one here is interested in the personal opinions and musings of some random stranger on the internet. To be useful to the wider audience, answers should rely on evidence.
    – UmH
    Mar 3, 2018 at 7:59
  • 2
    The source you've partially quoted is pretty explicit that nothing of a pig is pure except its hair. The part you are quoting is about dead animals. Also its about non-culinary use, whereas this question is about gelatin capsules.
    – UmH
    Mar 3, 2018 at 8:17

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .