Why Don't Muslims Eat Pork? - The Whole Portion

Why don’t Muslims eat pork?

In this short article, we will provide an answer to the question “Why don’t Muslims eat pork?” and the information on the origin of this prohibition.

Why don’t Muslims eat pork?

Pork is prohibited for Muslims since the Holy Quran states that some foods are permissible while others are clearly labeled haram, or forbidden. Pork is one of the foods that are not allowed to be consumed. There is, however, an exception to this rule that is mentioned in the Holy Quran, and it states that if you are starving and have nothing else to eat besides pork, you are permitted to consume it. In addition, this is by the laws and customs that the Jewish religion upholds regarding the consumption of kosher meat.

As a result of the fats, toxins, and bacteria that it contains, as well as the lifestyle of the pig, which involves rolling around in muck and dung, pork is believed to be unclean, unhealthy, and potentially harmful to human beings. Scientists like Hans-Heinrich Reckeweg have put out the hypothesis that western populations that consume pork are more likely to be carriers of illness than other populations that do not consume pig products.

Where did the prohibition first get its start?

Judaism, which is the earliest of the main monotheistic religions that arose in the Middle East, is the first religion to condemn the pig as an impure animal. This can be seen in the books of Genesis and Leviticus. In the same manner, the Prophet Muhammad, who lived around 1,500 years later, refers to the pig as an unclean animal. The consumption of pork is prohibited by Yahweh and Allah for the hundreds of millions of Jews and millions of Muslims around the world.

The notion that the pig was a particularly filthy animal since it rolls around in its waste was by far the most prevalent one up until the Renaissance. The concept that the pig was a highly filthy animal because it wallowed in its excrement was the most prevalent one up until the Renaissance.

Harris points out and discusses numerous hypotheses that explain the ostracism and prohibition of the pig. However, the anthropologist believes that this argument is insufficient and uncertain to clarify why Muslims avoid eating pork because other animals, such as cows, can do the same if kept in a tight cage. Specifically, the anthropologist believes that this argument fails to adequately explain why Muslims avoid eating pork.

Why is it that the pig is the most unclean of the animals?

The pig is unable to sweat, thus it compensates for this limitation by being able to cool off in clean mud. If the pig does not have access to clean mud, and its living situation does not allow it to cool off in any other way, the pig will become covered in its feces.

The dirtier the pig becomes as the temperature rises, and the arid climate of the Middle East would add to the dirtiness of these animals. In the thirteenth century, the prominent Jewish theologian and physician Maimonides gave his approval to a ban on the consumption of pigs for reasons related to public health.

Although this theory is credible, Harris believes it does not support such a broad prohibition, and he traces the explanation of this dietary taboo to the finding in the mid-nineteenth century that trichinosis is generated by eating undercooked swine.

The anthropologist, who adds that other diseases created by other animals at the time were considerably more dangerous and even led to death and that the animals that carried these diseases were not outlawed, believes that this theory does not provide a conclusive answer.