A Sister asked Muslim Converts “I grew up on farms with pet pigs. I know for a fact that pigs do not eat there own poo. They are intelligent and easy to train. Please answer my question because every born Muslim friend I have says we don’t eat pork because they eat there own poo ! Is there a real reason.

Assalaamu Alaykum
Your question demonstrates a fault in the way people are answering this question and many other questions. In fact the enemies of Islam have exploited this to it’s fullest.

In the last 40 years I have seen many challenges that the Muslims have faced in the west and in around they the world.

One challenge is how to answer questions truthfully and correctly. We were often asked questions on many aspects of Islam and our different cultures.  I even heard non Muslims asking Muslims  why do we eat with our hands. This is not asked much now but it was asked quite often 30 years ago. I remember our local Muslim shopkeeper saying to the woman “Salts  released from the hands and this makes the food taste better. It is ridiculous that many Muslims feel they have come out with scientific theories to say why they eat with their hands instead of saying what do you not eat with your hands.  The  Muslim who came to the west as immigrants have a huge inferiority complex they may be thinking “oh she is going to have a bad image of us because we eat food with our hands”

As a child I disliked seeing Muslims having such an inferiority complex. So I thought why don’t these non Muslims eat with their hands. One day I came across a piece of literature which talked about a Christian Priest who disliked washing his hands.

As Muslims we cannot lie about Islam. Whenever a person resorts to lying about an issue, it shows he is unable to defend his point.

Muslims have the upper hand in that we have been given the truth and the truth is much easier to defend than falsehood.

Just look at the Christians. They try extremely hard to defend the false concept of the trinity but they cannot.

 
As Muslims we have the truth and to defend the truth is easy. Whenever we can not defend anything authentic in Islam it means we lack the ability to defend it. Sometimes the person either  lack the knowledge aor simply lacks the ability to debate.

One of the most frequently asked questions by non Muslims is why do you Fast in Ramadan?

In the 1980’s when I was around 15-16 years of age, I was asked this question by non Muslims children at my school. At the time we didn’t have internet, nor any good books in English. I and most other Muslim children had very basic knowledge of Islam.

Feeling the need to give an answer to the boys question I started to think what can I say. So I started to think deeply and came out with a wonderful answer. I told him something on the lines of feeling how the poor people with no food feel and appreciating  the food.

Five to ten years latter some scholars came out with the same response to this question and people started to say to me what a wise and  brilliant and amazing answer by the scholar. I could only laugh because I was a child without much knowledge of Islam who came out with the same answer about a decade earlier.

In fact my theories became even better when I reached high school. As I was studying A levels in science and often read body building magazines which talked about free radicals and so on.

Scholars who could only come out with this answer of feeling for the poor, were far behind me and I still only had very basic knowledge of Islam.

These explanations caused problems for the Muslims.

By the time these fatwas had come out I had started to read more about Islam had rejected this explanation that I had formulated in my teens. It became quite obvious that fasting in Ramadan was about obedience to Allah not about feeling how it is to be poor and have no food.

Alhamdulillah some good scholars such as Shaykh Munajjid also realized the problems these explanations were causing.

To answer any question on Islam, we must first go to the sources of Islam which are the Quran and the Authentic hadeeth. We should not start try to formulate answers in our own brains.

So with regards to this question let us look at  what Allah and his Prophet peace be upon him say

In a Hadith recorded by Imam Ahmad, that Abu Hurayrah said that Allah’s Messenger said:
O people! Allah is Tayyib (Pure and Good) and only accepts that which is Tayyib. Allah has indeed commanded the believers with what He has commanded the Messengers, for He said: “O (you) Messengers! Eat of the Tayyibat and do righteous deeds. Verily, I am well-acquainted with what you do” (23:51), and: “O you who believe! Eat of the lawful things that We have provided you with” He then mentioned a man, who is engaged in a long journey, whose hair is untidy and who is covered in dust, he raises his hands to the sky, and says, `O Lord! O Lord!’ Yet, his food is from the unlawful, his drink is from the unlawful, his clothes are from the unlawful, and he was nourished by the unlawful, so how can it (his supplication) be accepted” It was also recorded by Muslim and At-Tirmidhi

Allah says
Forbidden to you (for food) are: Al-Maytatah (the dead animals – cattle-beast not slaughtered), blood, the flesh of swine, and the meat of that which has been slaughtered as a sacrifice for others than Allah, or has been slaughtered for idols, etc., or on which Allah’s Name has not been mentioned while slaughtering, and that which has been killed by strangling, or by a violent blow, or by a headlong fall, or by the goring of horns – and that which has been (partly) eaten by a wild animal – unless you are able to slaughter it (before its death) – and that which is sacrificed (slaughtered) on An-Nusub (stone altars). (Forbidden) also is to use arrows seeking luck or decision, (all) that is Fisqun (disobedience of Allah and sin). This day, those who disbelieved have given up all hope of your religion, so fear them not, but fear Me. This day, I have perfected your religion for you, completed My Favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion. But as for him who is forced by severe hunger, with no inclination to sin (such can eat these above-mentioned meats), then surely, Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

They ask you (O Muhammad ) what is lawful for them (as food ). Say: “Lawful unto you are At-Tayyibat [all kind of Halal (lawful-good) foods which Allah has made lawful (meat of slaughtered eatable animals, milk products, fats, vegetables and fruits, etc.)]. And those beasts and birds of prey which you have trained as hounds, training and teaching them (to catch) in the manner as directed to you by Allah; so eat of what they catch for you, but pronounce the Name of Allah over it, and fear Allah. Verily, Allah is Swift in reckoning.”
(Quran 5:3-4)

Muslim recorded that Buraydah bin Al-Husayb Al-Aslami said that the Messenger of Allah said “He who plays Nardshir (a game with dice that involves gambling) is just like the one who puts his hand in the flesh and blood of swine”


Ibn Kathir said It is recorded in the Two Sahihs that the Messenger of Allah said” Allah made the trade of alcohol, dead animals, pigs and idols illegal. The people asked, “O Allah’s Messenger! What about the fat of dead animals, for it was used for greasing the boats and the hides; and people use it for lanterns” He said, No, it is illegal.

Allah says
O you who believe (in the Oneness of Allah – Islamic Monotheism)! Eat of the lawful things that We have provided you with, and be grateful to Allah, if it is indeed He Whom you worship.

He has forbidden you only the Maytatah (dead animals), and blood, and the flesh of swine, and that which is slaughtered as a sacrifice for others than Allah (or has been slaughtered for idols, etc., on which Allah’s Name has not been mentioned while slaughtering). But if one is forced by necessity without willful disobedience nor transgressing due limits, then there is no sin on him. Truly, Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful
(Quran 2:172-173)

Narrated Ibn Umar:”Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) prohibited eating or drinking the milk of the animal which feeds on filth (Al-Arba’a except An-Nasa’i reported it. At-Tirmidhi graded it hasan).”

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah said:
The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) forbade the milk of an animal that feeds on filth or impurity, but if the animal is detained until it becomes pure, then it is halaal according to Muslim consensus, because before that the effect of the impurity could be seen in its milk, eggs and sweat, so it gave off a rotten and evil stench. Once that is removed, it becomes taahir (pure). If the ruling is established for a reason, it ceases to apply once that reason is no longer present. End quote.
Majmoo al-Fataawa, 21/618

What we learn from the Quran and the hadeeth is that Allah only wants us to eat what is Tayyib and Pig meat is not Tayyib. Also  eating and drinking the milk of an animal which feeds on filth is also prohibited. It does not explicitly say that  pigs are prohibited because they fed on filth. The fact is pig is prohibited whether it eats filth or not.

So why is Pig meat haram to eat. Answer is because Allah says it is haram.

Now some may say but I want to know why Allah says it is not Tayyib for me to eat.

One way would be to get angry at whoever asks questions such questions. But that would not be the right thing to do.

The other is what people adopt and that is using scientific or behavioural evidences. Which is very popular amongst those who are non scientist.

As a pharmacology graduate I know the complications of science and its limitations. I mentioned this in previous articles.

It is fine to sometimes  mention scientific data to support our argument but we have to take care that it will  not back fire on us in the long term. Which is what eventually happens

Non Scientist hear about certain scientific theories or even just data and  they think they are experts in science. They feel they have more knowledge of science than those of us who actually studied science at university.

 
The sister said that she grew up on farms with pet pigs and they didn’t eat their own filth. This is her finding but there are other findings were non Muslim pig farmers have been interviewed and they said that pig farming was profitable because they could feed pigs anything.

Other studies have said those pigs who are free to roam about do get infected with Pork tapeworm. This is what happens in south American countries. People who eat pork or pork meat imported from those countries can get affected by pork tapeworm, which can be even  deadly in some cases.

In one video I saw it was mentioned that 50 million people across the world are infected by this kind of tapeworm. The pigs get this tapeworm through contact or ingestion of this filth.

So we can at least conclude that pig meat at least has the potential to cause Tapeworms in humans. So that alone is not good.

Now although this is quite interesting facts we cant be sure that this is why Allah forbade Pig meat. Nor can we say it the only reason Allah forbade such meat.

It may be a reason, it may be only one of many reasons why Allah forbade pig meat. But we cannot go around saying Muslims are not allowed to eat pig meat because the pig may have tapeworm or consumed its own filth.

For this reason we have to be careful in what we say because a person could come to us and say we will breed pigs in the Laboratory with only Halal feed such  plants and water, for a certain amount of months or years and at the end of that period we will even test it for tape worm . Then if it is free of tapeworm will you eat it and say it is halal?

Allah has told us not to eat Pig meat. He has not said why we cannot eat it. So Pig meat is be haram for Muslims forever.

However if a chicken were eating filth then we would not eat that particular chicken. Sheik ul Islam says until it has become pure again.

So this data about pigs (at least free range ones) eating their own poo are true facts. However, we cannot say this is the reason why Allah made pig haram for us.

 This is only a theory.  People have to be careful  to point out that this is only a theory and not a fact because some people who lack intellect  will start eating pig meat coming from laboratory bred pigs.

This question in itself answers many other questions.

There have been many incidences were some Muslims have asked questions to scholars and the scholars have given their theory as to why such and such is halal or haram.

Some Muslims have  taken these answers (or rather theories) as HARD facts when IN REALITY THEY ARE JUST A THEORY OF THAT PARTICULAR SCHOLAR OR GROUP OF SCHOLARS.

Many enemies of Islam have tried to make theories or use theories to over right Islamic laws established from Quran and hadith.

Obviously in some instances you will find hard scientific or behavioural facts which help us understand even a particular  Hadith or a  Quranic ayah. But the problem is some people do not recognize facts from theories.

Each society has different morals. For non Muslims in west it may be fine to eat pork but not dogs. Whereas Non Muslims in Korea or China may like eating dogs.

There are even some humans on earth that are cannibals.

As human beings we have to find out how did we get here, who created us and what our creator wants from us.

As Muslims we realize and can prove that  that all other religions are false and only Islam is the true religion of God . The evidences for this I have explained on the following link  www.muslimconverts.com/islam

As Muslims we must realize that what Allah wants from us is total submission and surrender of our wills to him in peace (i.e., in peace meaning without arguing and saying I don’t want to do this).

So as a Muslim we have to surrender peacefully. One who surrenders unpeacefully is someone who tries to fight physically, or argue, shout, protest or try to always look for ways to rebel.

Its a peaceful surrender.  We are happily surrendering, saying I belong to you oh Allah order me to do whatever you want me to do and I will do it happily to the best of my ability.

Our decisions are filled with errors and mistakes. The beauty of this surrender and submission is that we are  surrendering and submitting our selves and letting go of what we thought is right for what Allah knows is right for us.

Allah is perfect and his laws are perfect for man kind to live on this earth.

From Quranic ayahs and hadith’s above we learn that Allah only wants us to eat what is Tayyib and Pig meat is not Tayyib.

Also the eating or drinking the milk of the animal which feeds on filth is also prohibited. It does not explicitly say that the pig is prohibited because it feeds on filth. The fact is pig is prohibited whether it eats filth or not.

It is up to Allah to make lawful whatever he wants and make unlawful whatever he wants. We have no say in the matter. If we dislike anything and try to deny his existence or choose some one else as a God then the reality will still remain that Allah is our only creator and we are going to return to him.

Even if all the jinn and mankind gathered together with all their nukes to haram Allah they could not do anything to Haram him.

And if the whole of mankind and jinn gathered together and tried to save someone from Allah’s punishment they will not be able to.

So our Job should be to please Allah on this earth and in return Allah, out of his mercy and love for those who obey him , will give us heaven were there is everlasting happiness.

So our job should be to try and find out what does Allah want us to do. What does Allah want us to stay away from.

The role model for the Muslims  after the Prophet (peace be upon him)are the Sahabah. They asked the Prophet peace be upon him questions but these questions few in number. We have huge books on Hijab alone. We read one book after another on the same topic.

  When the order for Hijab came the Muslimahs just did it because that Order came from their Creator, they had true conviction and their correct understanding of who Allah and his messenger (peace be upon him) were.

So with regards this question what we learn from Quranic ayahs and hadith’s above is that Allah only wants us to eat what is Tayyib and Pig meat is not Tayyib. Also the eating or drinking the milk of the animal which feeds on filth is also prohibited. It does not explicitly say that the pig is prohibited because it feed on filth. The fact is pig is prohibited whether it eats or doesn’t eat filth.

I think this should be enough for us. if somebody wants to contemplate of the beauty of Allah’s laws then that is not a bad thing.

But I think learning about the reason why pig is Haram was not an important issue, otherwise the Sahabah would have asked the Prophet peace be upon him and we would have known the exact reason.

Their success as being the best Muslims of all time was in finding what was Haram and Halal rather than their reasons.