The Sunday Mail
ALLAH Almighty states in the Holy Qur’aan that, “So eat of the lawful and good food which Allah has provided for you, and show due gratitude for the bounty of Allah if it is Him you serve. He has forbidden for you the flesh of dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine and that on which any other name hath been invoked besides the name of God Almighty. (Ch 16 : v 114-115)
Islamic control on diet
Islam has prescribed specific regulations about food and drink and Muslims firmly believe that food and drink have a direct effect on our health. Islam lays great emphasis on the physical as well as moral health of humankind, 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 ensure physical well being, general hygiene and to attain purity of soul.
Islam, for the cultivation of inner faculties, insists upon the cleanliness of the body and the purification of soul through regular Salah (prayers), Zikr (remembrance of God Almighty ) and other devotional duties. Islam teaches us how to attain the virtues and how to give up bad habits because both good and bad grow in the person according to his or her upbringing, education and environment.
A human being has natural desires – food, sleep and sex being the three primary ones. He has also natural emotions – sorrow, happiness, love, fear, disgust and avarice and so forth.
Islam doesn’t recommend the complete abrogation of these impulses but offers a method of controlling them through religious education and discipline.
The prohibition of eating pork in Islam is relevant in this context and at this juncture we are quite rightly reminded of an age old saying: “a man becomes what he eats.” According to physicians and medical experts, pork is a harmful diet, creating a whole host of medical problems for the consumer.
According to expert sociologists who carefully study human social behavioural patterns, the consumption of swine-flesh creates lowliness in character and destroys moral and spiritual faculties in a person.
All religions acknowledge that the life of a man is a compound of body and soul. Muslims are resolute in their belief that 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 in those nations today. The number of unwed mothers is on the increase despite the use of pills and other contraceptives. An increased number of girls (between 60 to 70% in some countries) become mothers before marriage! The formula of “skin to skin is no sin” is having its toll but there is hardly any feeling of shame and remorse over the end-result.
Since such nations have become addicted to wine and swine, sexual freedom with all its attendant evils has got ingrained in their culture. Consequently, an array of totally immoral practices, declared prohibited in all Divine revelations – like homosexuality, bestiality and so forth have been legalised by numerous governments! The Holy Qur’aan has clearly prohibited the flesh of swine, hence the Muslims would not dare touch it. According to Jewish law, pork is one of a number of foods forbidden from consumption by Jews. Interestingly The Bible has also forbidden the flesh of swine, (Leviticus 11 v 7-8 and Deuteronomy 14 v 18) but the vast majority of devout, practicing Christians disregarded this order and started consuming it. What we must understand is that the prohibition of some foods and drinks, by The Almighty, is not by any means an arbitrary action or an unwarranted decree of The Almighty, nor is it meant to deprive us of some goodness or make life difficult for us. It is first and foremost a Divine intervention in the best interest of man and for man’s own benefit. The reasons behind the Divine intervention are numerous.
to be continued
For further information on Islam or a free copy of the Holy Qur’aan, please contact:
Majlisul Ulama Zimbabwe, Council of Islamic Scholars
Publications Department
P.O. Box W93, Waterfalls, Harare
Tel: 04-614078 / 614004, Fax : 04-614003/ e-mail: [email protected].
