Forbidden Food in Islam

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In Quran chapter 2 verse 173 Allah said. ---- “He hath forbidden you carrion, and blood, and swineflesh, and that which hath been immolated to (the name of) any other than Allah. But he who is driven by necessity, neither craving nor transgressing, it is no sin for him. Lo! Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.”

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In the verse there r three stages one is to be understood from the Islamic way of thinking. The line which one is stated as, “and that which hath been immolated to (the name of) any other than Allah” to be understood from Islamic monotheistic view point. In Islam no one is allowed to be worshiped except Allah. Tat is why Allah said when a person shall sacrifice any animal it must be devoted to Allah alone. Bcuz in early days there were customs to sacrifice animals at the altar of different deities. Islam has come to abolish paganism. It declares none but Allah is the only one to be worshiped and treated as the master and lord.

The second phase is also a declaration from Allah regarding forbidden foods which we can discuss under our rational mind and by scientific reasoning.

The second phase is stated as ““He hath forbidden you carrion, and blood, and swine flesh”. Now let’s we see wot is the justification to avoid carrion ,blood and swine flesh .

In verse 168 and 172 of tis Sura Allah declared tat all lawful and pure things r allowed as food. Here Allah declares some of the foods which r not lawful such as:

Carrion: Carrion or dead animals and birds r forbidden as food. Tis include the carrion of lawful animals and birds as well. Tis is quite scientific and hygienic. If an animal dies of itself it is difficult to know why it died. It might hv died of a poison, toxin or highly infectious disease like anthrax. Eating of such animal meat ll not be good for health, Anthrax in animals is a communicable diseases and the handling of carrions died of anthrax is risky as it may cuz fatal infection.

Blood: Blood here means the circulating blood or flowing which flows during slaughter by cutting throat (6:145). The circulating blood contains the toxic metabolic products, toxins and pathogenic microorganisms if present. All these r harmful if present in food. Besides it is reasonable to believe tat removal of blood with its harmful contents shud render the meat more wholesome. Swine flesh: Meat of swine if forbidden in tis verse. In verse 145 of chapter 6 Allah declares tat swine flesh is forbidden cuz it is ‘foul’ and polluted. The following scientific reasons for its convincing.

A parasite infection known as Trichiniasis is spread through swine flesh. The name of the parasite is Trichinella spiralis, the smallest nematode (round worm) known to infest man. Human infestation results from eating pork cuz it is highly contaminated by encysted larvae.

The larvae mature in the upper intestinal tract and mate; about one week after ingestion new larvae find their way through the blood stream to body muscles, where they cuz centers of inflammation followed by encystment and small calcifications. The disease is worldwide, and about 15 percent if the United States population is said to be infested although the majority of cases remain asymptomatic (The World Book Encyclopedia, Vol-vii, p.279). It is further stated tat heavy infestation may cuz death. The mortality of symptomatic cases runs from 5 to 40 percent depending on hw early proper treatment is begun.

Purgatives which may be effective in removing other worm infestations from the intestinal tract, r rarely effective Trichinella infestation and there is no specific therapy available for the disease. Once the trichinae r encysted in muscle tissue they cannot be dislodged, and only symptomatic analgesic treatment is feasible in the later chronic stages.

Death is usually from cardiac or respiratory failure in the acute phase. In fact, worms may invade heart muscles cuzing myocarditis and involvement of muscles of the diaphragm leading to death by respiratory failure.

It is interesting to note tat in spite of extensive and advanced hygienic control, the United States is unable to prevent this dreadful disease. So the only way to prevent Trichiniasis is to avoid swine flesh.

(b) Another worm named Taenia solium (a cestode or tapeworm) is also spread by infected swine flesh. (c) Swine by nature r filthy, in their habits.

The last phase is , “But he who is driven by necessity, neither craving nor transgressing, it is no sin for him” is to be understood as the doctrine of necessity where there is no way to live without any food for the sake of saving a life.