The Meat of Pigs

Surah 5: Verse 3

H urrimat AAalaykumu almayta tu wa al ddamuwala h mu alkhinzeeri wam a ohilla lighayri All a hibihi wa a lmunkhaniqatu wa a lmawqoo th atu wa a lmutaraddiyatuwa al nna t ee h atu wam a akala a l ssabuAAuill a m a th akkaytum wam a th ubi h aAAal a a l nnu s ubi waan tastaqsimoo bi a l-azl a mi tha likum fisqun alyawma ya-isa alla th eena kafaroomin deenikum fal a takhshawhum wa i khshawni alyawmaakmaltu lakum deenakum waatmamtu AAalaykum niAAmatee wara d eetulakumu al-isl a ma deenan famani i dt urra fee makhma s atinghayra mutaj a nifin li-ithmin fa-inna All a haghafoorun ra h eem un

Shakir : Forbidden to you is that which dies of itself, and blood, and flesh of swine, and that on which any other name than that of Allah has been invoked, and the strangled (animal) and that beaten to death, and that killed by a fall and that killed by being smitten with the horn, and that which wild beasts have eaten, except what you slaughter, and what is sacrificed on stones set up (for idols) and that you divide by the arrows; that is a transgression. This day have those who disbelieve despaired of your religion, so fear them not, and fear Me. This day have I perfected for you your religion and completed My favor on you and chosen for you Islam as a religion; but whoever is compelled by hunger, not inclining willfully to sin, then surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.

Note that God said ‘ al-maytah ‘ which literally means ‘the dead’. God did not say (the meat of the dead).

Thus the whole body of the dead animal is prohibited. We also note that God said specifically the ‘meat of pigs’, and not ‘the pig’. Thus only the meat of the pig is prohibited and not the whole body of the pig. God’s words are very deliberate and precise. We should not add or subtract to these words. Thus to add the words ‘meat of’ before the word pig, is in fact to manipulate the Quranic words.

Surah 6: Verse 146

WaAAal a alla th eena h a doo h arramn a kulla th ee th ufurinwamina albaqari wa a lghanami h arramn a AAalayhim shu h oomahum a ill a m a h amalat th uhooruhum a awi al h aw a y a aw m a ikhtala t a biAAa th min tha likajazayn a hum bibaghyihim wa-inn a la sa diqoon a

Shakir : And to those who were Jews We made unlawful every animal having claws, and of oxen and sheep We made unlawful to them the fat of both, except such as was on their backs or the entrails or what was mixed with bones: this was a punishment We gave them on account of their rebellion, and We are surely Truthful.

We are told in 6:146 how God prohibited only the fat of the cattle and sheep (except that which is carried on their backs, or in the viscera, or mixed with bones). In a general sense, prohibitions are means through which God the Creator tests the obedience of us humans, what was prohibited to one people may be lawful for another as we are told in the Quran. This indicates that the item of prohibition is not always prohibited for an inherent reason within the item itself. Since God prohibited the fat of some animals for the Jews but made it lawful for us, it can only mean that there is no physical harm in the fat itself. After all, God could have created a world without pigs and without alcohol and drugs, but God created these things to test the human being.

There is no harm in the fat of the pig, which according to the Quran is NOT prohibited. As a matter of fact, many industries today use the fat of the pig in the production of numerous consumer products (e.g. cosmetics, drugs, etc). God wants the human being to reap the benefits of the fat of pigs, and thus God is very precise in prohibiting only the meat of pigs.

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