Bob:
Tell me why is it that a Muslim is very particular about the words Halaal and Haraam; what do they mean?
Yunus:
That which is permissible is termed Halaal and that which i not permissible is termed Haraam and it is the Quran which draws the distinction between the two.
Bob:
Can you give me an example?
Yunus:
Yes, Islam has prohibited blood of any type. You will agree that a chemical analysis of blood shows that it contains an abundance of uric acid, a chemical substance which can be injurious to human health.
Bob:
You're right about the toxic nature of uric acid, in the human being it is excreted as a waste product and in fact we are told that 98% of the body's uric acid is extracted from the blood by the kidneys and removed through urination.
Yunus:
Now I think that you'll appreciate the special prescribed method of animal slaughter in Islam.
Bob:
What do you mean?
Yunus:
You see, the wielder of the knife, whilst taking the name of the 'Almighty', makes an incision through the jugular veins, leaving all other veins and organs intact.
Bob:
I see, this causes the death of the animal by a total loss of blood from the body, rather than an injury to any vital organ.
Yunus:
Yes, were the organs, example the heart, the liver, or the brain crippled or damaged, the animal could die immediately and its blood would congeal in its veins and would eventually permeate the flesh. This implies that the animal flesh would be permeated and contaminated with uric acid and therefore very poisonous; only today did our dietitians realize such a thing.
Bob:
Again, while on the topic of food; Why do muslims condemn the eating of pork or ham or any foods related to pigs or swine.
Yunus:
Actually, apart from the Qur'an prohibiting the consumption of pork, bacon (pig flesh); in fact the Bible too in Leviticus chapter 11, verse 8, regarding swine it says, "of their flesh (of the swine another name for pig) shall you not eat, and of their carcass you shall not
touch; they are 'unclean to you.'"
Further, did you know that a pig cannot be slaughtered at the neck for it does not have a neck; that is according to its natural anatomy. A Muslim reasons that if the pig was to be slaughtered and fit for human consumption the Creator would have provided it with a neck.
Nonetheless, all that aside, I am sure you are well informed about the harmful effects of the consumption of pork, in any form, be it pork chops, ham, bacon.
Bob:
The medical science finds that there is a risk for various diseases as the pig is found to be a host for many parasites and potential diseases.
Yunus:
Yes, even apart from that, as we talked about uric acid content in the blood, it is important to note that the pig's biochemistry excretes only 2% of its total uric acid content, the remaining 98% remains as an integral part of the body.
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Why is Pork Forbidden in Islam?
A friend of mine sent me this conversation transcript, and I hope it enlightens you the way it enlightened me (BTW, 'Yunus' is the original form of my last name, and it is the Arabic for "Jonah," yes, the Prophet who was in the belly of the whale for 3 days and 3 nights... We are masters in the art of sleeping in my family :). Feel free to make comments, ask questions.
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5 comments:
Well... that axes crab sticks, boiled lobster, baby-octopus so-called salads, squid, eagle, scorpion, crocodile/alligator... no loss, as far as I can tell. (-:
Hello from a Christian posting from Western Australia. The main problem with the Bible is that nobody reads it (guessing that Q’ran is similar in this respect), & if they do read it, they “know better” than to do as it says to do.
Hi,
While I agree that 1000 plus years ago pork was dangerous, modern strict controls on foodstuffs and farming meant that in the USA in 2002 only 4 people out of over 200 million got ill from eating pork and none of them died. I think salmonella in other foods (chicken) kills more people in modern times than pork. The bible was "of the time."
Hi Guys I just have to say as I do agree with not consuming Pork, However there are higher amounts of uric acid in red meat than in pork.
Actually I think all the three so called scientific points mentioned here are wrong
1. Uric acid in the blood bio-chemistry
It is true that blood contains uric acid but then all the organs and the meat also contain uric acid. If you analyse the kidneys of any animal, like sheep or cow, you will see that there is more uric acid in them than in the blood. Since it is permitted to eat the kidneys, the argument that blood is forbidden because of uric acid cannot be true. It is also observed that there are many cultures which drink raw blood as part of their food. The Masai tribe of Kenya for instance drink a lot of cow blood and sports scientists believe it is because of this habit that athletes from Kenya are very good at long distance running. The scientists say that blood is a natural isotonic drink. http://www.maasai-association.org/maasai.html These people are also very fit and healthy.. so if blood is bad they should be sick..
2. Pigs are forbidden because the meat has too much uric acid
I did some research on foods that contain Uric acid .. please refer to the table http://www.goutpal.com/915/foods-high-in-uric-acid-a-surprising-myth/ Almost all types of food have uric acid in various concentrations, even vegetarian food and as per the table pig meat (pork muscle) has lesser uric acid than chicken, mutton or fish… interesting isnt it? Also anything high is poisonous not only uric acid, even high vitamin is poisonous. High Uric acid will give you a condition called gout where your joints will pain so it is not possible to get poisoned by uric acid as one would stop eating long before dying because of pain.
3. Pigs dont have a neck and so it is not possible to cut the jugular vein
Here is a link - http://oslovet.veths.no/teaching/pig/pigbleed/ There are detailed description and pictures of how to locate the jugular vein in pigs. I also found another site where they have a picture (http://www.all-creatures.org/anex/pig-slaughter-06.html) showing a pig whose neck has been cut and the blood is gushing out. I searched in many places but only religious people are saying that pigs dont have necks.. the scientists are all saying that pigs have necks.
What do you think?
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