Posted on 05/11/2007 10:18:42 AM PDT by Alouette
In Islam, pork was forbidden for human consumption more than 1400 years ago. The wisdom behind this Divine prohibition was only discovered in the 20th century by doctors and scientists.
Food and drink have direct effect on our health. That is why Allah (the one and only God) has prescribed regulations about our food and drink. Islam lays great emphasis on our physical as well as moral health, because both of these are equally important for a healthy society.
The abstention from eating pork is one of the steps taken by Islam to practise hygiene and to attain purity of soul. There is a saying in English that "a man becomes what he eats". According to physicians and medical experts, pork is a harmful diet. Consumption of swine-flesh creates lowliness in character and destroys moral and spiritual faculties in a man.
The Qur’an has prohibited the swine-flesh, hence the Muslims would not dare touch it. The Bible has also forbidden swine-flesh, but Christians disregarded this order and started consuming it.
The life of a man is a compound of body and soul. Anything, which is harmful for the body, hurts the soul as well.
Consumption of swine-flesh reduces the feeling of shame and as such the standard of modesty. Those nations, which consume pork habitually, have a low standard of morality with the result that virginity, chastity and bashfulness are becoming a thing of the past.
The formula of "skin to skin is no sin" is taking its toll but there is hardly any feeling of shame or remorse over the end-result. Since the Western nations have become addicted to wine and pork, sexual freedom with all its attendant evils has got ingrained in their culture.
Medical discoveries of pork’s harm
Reliable medical doctors and social scientists are able to realise how those food and drinks forbidden by Islam are harmful and destructive to the human spirit and morality as well as to the physique and moral fibre of man and to verify the benefits of Islamic legislations on the subjects.
Dr. E. Kazim. M.D, in his article "Medical aspects of forbidden foods in Islam" (July 1981 issue of Muslim Journal) has described diseases carried or caused by the flesh of swine.
He writes: "The pig is a scavenger. It is an omnivorous animal. It eats everything. There are many diseases carried from swine to man, particularly parasite infestations. Lately extensive research has been focused on senility-old age is characterised by hardening of inner lining of the blood vessels of the heart, brain etc. a process called atheroselerosis. When a clot forms, it results in coronary thrombosis or a heart attack, cerebral thrombosis or stroke.
Different dietary factors are responsible for atheroselerosis. Gross atheroma may be produced in rabbit by feeding it with cholesterol, but when you add lard (derived from hog fat) to the cholesterol, the incidence of atheroma is increased and thus you would produce coronary thrombosis, and myocardial infraction."
Besides, lard contains 2800 units of vitamin D per 100 grams and no vitamin A at all. Lately vitamin D has been held responsible for atheroma, by causing increased absorption of calcium in the blood vessels. In human beings, serum cholesterol is not dependent on the intake of cholesterol in the diet, but depends upon the proportion of animal fats in the diet, which elevates the beta-lipo protein level in the blood. Animal fats contain saturated fatty acids and these saturated fatty acids have been found to be as one of the causes of atheroma in man. Medium fat bacon contains 25% proteins and 55% fat.
According to medical research, the fat content in pork is more than any other meat (beef, mutton etc.) and it takes longer to digest. Dr. M Jaffer in an article in the Islamic Review (London) of January 1997 issue has listed 16 kinds of harmful germs, which have been discovered in pork in modern researches and the diseases, which could be caused by them. The number of patients suffering from tapeworm disease is the highest in the world among pork eating nations. Other diseases attributed to pigs are caused by tri-chinelia spirates and intestinal worms occupy first place among such nations too.
Dr. Glen Shepherd wrote the following on the dangers of eating pork in Washington Post (31 May 1952): "One in six people in USA and Canada have germs in their muscles - trichinosis 8 from eating pork infected with trichina worms. Many people who are infected show no symptoms. Most of those, who do have, recover slowly. Some die; some are reduced to permanent invalids. All were careless pork caters."
He continued: "No one is immune from the disease and there is no cure. Neither antibiotics nor drugs or vaccines affect these tiny deadly worms. Preventing infection is the real answer."
After reading the statement of Dr. Shepherd, one can realise that there is no real guarantee of safety when eating pork that one would not be affected by trichina worm. That is why modern doctors advise three prohibitions during illness: no liquor, no pork and no smoking.
Wisdom of Islam
Muslims follow the divine law which is much higher than the medical advice. The Glorious Qur’an says: "So eat of the lawful and good food which Allah has provided for you, and thank the bounty of your Lord if it is Him you serve. He has forbidden for you only carrion and blood and swine-flesh and that which has been immolated in the name of any other than Allah; but he who is driven thereto, neither craving nor transgressing, Lo! then Allah is Forgiving, Merciful." (16:114-115)
The above is the order from the Creator of the universe and the Supreme Law-Giver. All Muslims are under the obligation to obey it. This is a plain and straightforward answer to those, who usually ask why Muslims abstain from eating pork.
The prohibition is based on the aim of the purification of one’s nature, because food, when consumed, does not merely enter the stomach and intestines and become excreta. It is absorbed and metabolised into the system and circulated to all parts of the human body, including the brain, and this in no small way affects man’s nature. Take a look at the nature of the pig for example. The pig is naturally lazy and indulgent in sex, it is dirty, greedy and gluttonous. It dislikes sunlight and lacks the spirit and will to "fight". It eats almost anything, be it human excreta or anything foul and unwholesome. Amongst all animal flesh, pork is the favoured cradle of harmful germs. Pork also serves as a carrier of diseases to mankind. It is for this reason that its flesh is not suitable for consumption.
Some people have argued that the "modern pig" reared in farms is given only clean foods, therefore, its flesh should be consumable. The answer is that you may feed the pig on clean, wholesome food, but you cannot change its nature. It is still a pig and will always stay so. A pig is not a plant and you cannot change it by bud-grafting!
Going to Tonys in Birch Run MI this weekend. I’ll have the one pound BLT for you!
Yes health, which is why Arabs eat with their right hand and wipe their @$$e$ with the left, then clean the hand off in the sand.....
Ah, that's the secret. Get your date to order the roast pork!
ASK THE IMAM: what importance does birthdays have in Islam?And how do we celebrate?
As Salaam Alai Kum, Respected Mufti Saheb, I heard that Islam does not permit us to celebrate birthdays.So one of my cousin doesn't celebrate his birthday or his wife's birthday or his only two year old daughter's birthday and when I wish him on the respective days,he tells me that Islam do not want us to celebrate birthdays and he gives me a lecture about it and tells me that it is a westernized culture or a worldly thing.But when I told one my friend about it she told me that,wishing is not prohibited in Islam neither does Islam say not to wish anyone on their happy day(birthday,wedding anniversary),she said there is nothing wrong in wishing and no where in Islam it says not to wish people.I have a question that is it in Islam to celebrate birthdays and if not can we just wish atleast.I am confused and want to know what does Islam according to Quran and Hadith say about birthdays.Can you please provide me with any authentic support if there is any from Quran or Hadith.May Allah reward you for this,Jazakhalla khairun.Wasalaam Alai Kum.
ANSWER: CELEBRATING BIRTHDAYS
It is not necessary that everything the West does is according to logic. The biggest proof that it is the invention of the west are the song words
without which this function is not complete viz. 'Happy birthday to you.' No one says, 'Happy birthday celebration' or 'Happy Blessed birthday' or any other words of this kind. This disease of celebrating birthdays was never prevalent among Muslims before, but since Muslims started living alongside the non-Muslims, they have been influenced by them. Birthdays are celebrated usually at the end of a year and not at the beginning of the year. For example, if one's birth date is on the 1st of January, then the birthday will be celebrated on the 1st of January and not the 2nd of January. Now just ponder, what intelligence is there in celebrating and showing happiness when a year has decreased in one's life.
During a birthday celebration, candles are lit on a cake, amounting to the years of the one's life. He extinguishes these candles by blowing them out and all present clap their hands. Hands are clapped at two occasions only, one at the time of joy for some achievement of his. Secondly, when someone acts foolishly, then to mock at him. Here a person is extinguishing the rays of the years of his life by blowing them out himself. Then this is no happiness, nor is it any achievement. So the clapping of hands is only for mocking at this person's stupidity. Ponder that this is a custom and sign of non-believers. When it is someone's birthday, one year of his life has decreased, and not increased.
This world is a field to work for the hereafter. Rasulullah (Sallallaahu æ#129;layhi Wasallam)'s Ummah has been sent in this world for a very great object. The example of this world is like a king who send a few people into his treasure room saying that shortly he will send them out, so at that time whatever they will be possessing will be their property. Inside the treasure room, on one side there are heaps of gold and silver, on another side are lying pearls and jewels, then at another place in the room, delicious food and soft beds are arranged. Now some people think that the king may send them out any minute. They quickly gather the gold, silver, pearls and gems.
They feel they will go out from there and organise the food and beds for themselves afterwards. There is another group of people who think that they have just arrived. They feel, 'Let us enjoy the food, then lay down to rest.
After that we will take from the treasures. There is ample time.' So they eat, sleep and pass their valuable time without taking from the treasures.
Suddenly the king sends everyone out. Now those who had collected the valuables can enjoy their lives eating and sleeping while those that wasted their time and did not accumulate anything will begin to regret. Every moment of this worldly life is very valuable. Here we have to earn for the long and everlasting life of the hereafter. Rasulullah (Sallallaahu æ#129;layhi Wasallam) has said that after entering into Jannat, the people of Jannat will not be sorry about anything of this world, except for that moment which was spent without the remembrance of Allah. It is apparent that when reward will be granted for remembrance of Allah in this world which is an abode of actions, then one must surely feel very regretful, that if they should have spent more time in the remembrance of Allah, they could be worthy of more rewards.
Hafiz Zain Siqti asked Hafiz Jurjani the reason for swallowing dry flour to which he replied that when he compared the time of swallowing dry flour and chewing roti then, in chewing so much time is spent in which say 70 times Subhanalla can be uttered. Therefore he left eating roti for the last 40
years.
How can it be permissible to waste time by celebrating birthdays and becoming happy that a big slice of one's life is put behind. This world is a prison for the believer and a Jannat for the disbeliever. Allah has bought the life and wealth of the believers for Jannat. This life is a trust of Allah by us. Rasulullah (Sallallaahu æ#129;layhi Wasallam) said, 'A person will not be able to move from his place, until he does not reply to five
questions:
* How did you spend your life?
* How did you spend your youth?
* Where did you earn your wealth from?
* Where did you spend your wealth?
* How much did you act upon your knowledge?
A person who is concerned of replying to these questions, how can he show happiness upon the years of his life decreasing? Besides all this, Islam does not permit waste. This is the reason that the poor of this Ummat will
enter Jannat 500 years before the wealthy, because the wealthy will be delayed by giving an account of their wealth. By spending on birthday parties, there is no benefit to Islam nor to the poor. It is stated in a
Hadith the worst Walima feast is the one in which the poor and destitute are left out and the wealthy are only invited. Another object of the birthday parties is show. Islam encourages simplicity. By this attitude of show, the poor feel inferior and deprived and the rich have a superiority complex.
Also, in these gatherings, music, singing, video filming and the taking of photographs and other un-Islamic and forbidden acts take place. May Allah Taãla guide us and protect us from all these evils.
By Moulana Abdul Hamid Ishaq
Principal - Madrasah Arabia Islamia, Azaadville
And then you can search their site for the defense of slavery (and even the exploitation of sex slaves, that rape is like the love a husband shows his wife according to the Imam).
Notice mental health was NOT mentioned.
What diet leads to acceptance of honor killings?
Because that would be cannibalism.
Uh oh. In about 6 months there is going to be another fatwa, this time against the creators of Photoshop.
Allah is a pig (piss be upon him).
This is hogwash! No pun intended. If the ancients did not eat certain things, it had more to do with ignorance than anything else. Wise prophets during Bibical times knew or suspected that disease often came from some of these things although they didn’t know why. Historically, the best and fasted way to improve the human condition was for priests to simply MAKE SOMETHING TABOO.
Amazing these people don’t know that cooking pork throughly, or freezing it for two weeks at zero degrees kills trichnosis and other parasites.
On the other hand, wonder if these muslims know that the MAD COW DISEASE that infects the brains of cows, sheep, and goats ISN”T killed by cooking, autoclave sterilizing, or any other method?
How did they miss, that God created everything and “He saw that it was good.”
Amen. That's exactly what I thought when I read that line.
Do not question the cult. It is run by the wonderful Wizard of OZ!
Ask the Imam -- Is having a Slave (girl) for sex nowdyas is allowed?
It may, superficially, appear distasteful to copulate with a woman who is not a man's legal wife, but once Shariat makes something lawful, we have to accept it as lawful, whether it appeals to our taste, or not; and whether we know its underlying wisdom or not. It is necessary for a Muslim to be acquainted with the laws of Shariat, but it is not necessary for him to delve into each law in order to find the underlying wisdom of these laws because knowledge of the wisdom of some of the laws may be beyond his puny comprehension. Allah Ta'ala has said in the Holy Quran: “Wa maa ooteetum min al-ilm illaa qaleelan” which means, more or less, that, "You have been given a very small portion of knowledge”. Hence, if a person fails to comprehend the underlying wisdom of any law of Shariat, he cannot regard it as a fault of Shariat (Allah forbid), on the contrary, it is the fault of his own perception and lack of understanding, because no law of Shariat is contradictory to wisdom.
Jesus and his apostles said it is OK to eat pork, as well as to get rid of much of the Old Testaments laws. Jesus despised the Pharisees and their laws. The law to not eat pork came from their predecessors and not God. Jews still believe all of the Mosianic laws came from God. However, there was good reason for it, pigs carry a bacteria (can’t remember the name) that is harmless to them but if improperly cooked can harm or even kill humans. If well cooked or cured the bacteria is killed. The Romans and other cultures knew this and only ate well cooked pork.
Many folks got tired of that and began to eat pork so that they do not take their food.
So when one says Christians simply rejected eating pork because they disagreed with the bible they forgot about the ones who had no choice.
Christians, Jews and other non-mulims(read infidels)proscribe having their heads chopped off because they don’t agree with the islam religion. This is for health and safety reasons.
It’s like reading something written by aliens from another galaxy. I really wonder sometimes if our cultures have any common ground. But maybe it’s just whack-job Imams in BFE who think like this.
I don't eat pork or shellfish either.
It's all about building strong and healthy communities. However, by your logic, that sciences has made pork is OK, so too are homosexual and premarital sex.
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