Why don't Jews and Muslims eat pork ?

[ronki23]

If Zoonotic diseases come from being in close proximity to animals and not being evolved enough to eat them then did pigs cause disease in the Middle East thousands of years ago ? Is that the reason Jews and Muslims don't eat pork ? If that's the case then we've evolved enough to eat pork for at least 300 years now if not longer

 

[Rival]

Speak to the Israelite people thus: These are the creatures that you may eat from among all the land animals:
any animal that has true hoofs, with clefts through the hoofs, and that chews the cud—such you may eat.
-Leviticus 11:2-3.

Pigs aren't in this category.

 

[Harel13]

Is that the reason Jews and Muslims don't eat pork ?

Not at all. It's because of religious reasons. Jews don't eat pork because pig is a non-Kosher animal.
For Muslims, it's Haram.

 

[Spirit of Light]

If Zoonotic diseases come from being in close proximity to animals and not being evolved enough to eat them then did pigs cause disease in the Middle East thousands of years ago ? Is that the reason Jews and Muslims don't eat pork ? If that's the case then we've evolved enough to eat pork for at least 300 years now if not longer

This following answer explain why muslims do not eat pork and a few other things
The talk a about dead animals is in my understanding of animals died of sickness, or dead animals you find in the forest.

Eating Pork is forbidden in the Quran
The Quran prohibits the consumption of pork in many verses including: 2:173, 5:3, 6:145 and 16:115.

"He has only forbidden to you dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine, and that which has been dedicated to other than Allah". (Al Baqara 2:173)

"Prohibited to you are dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine, and that which has been dedicated to other than Allah , and [those animals] killed by strangling or by a violent blow or by a head-long fall or by the goring of horns, and those from which a wild animal has eaten, except what you [are able to] slaughter [before its death], and those which are sacrificed on stone altars, and [prohibited is] that you seek decision through divining arrows. That is grave disobedience". (Al-Mā'idah 5:3)

Say, "I do not find within that which was revealed to me [anything] forbidden to one who would eat it unless it be a dead animal or blood spilled out or the flesh of swine - for indeed, it is impure - or it be [that slaughtered in] disobedience, dedicated to other than Allah" (Al-'An`ām 6:145).

"He has only forbidden to you dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine, and that which has been dedicated to other than Allah". (An-Naĥl 16:115)

The above verses of the Holy Quran are sufficient to satisfy Muslims as to why pork is forbidden and that any prohibition in the holy book is ultimately for their own good.

Further, Pigs have NO neck that makes it impossible to be slaughtered the Islamic way (The Halaal way) by the insertion of a knife in the neck and thus getting rid of the blood, which contains an abundance of uric acid, a toxic chemical substance that can be injurious to human health

 

[Rival]

which contains an abundance of uric acid, a toxic chemical substance that can be injurious to human health

Is this true? I've never heard of anything like this. I eat pig blood as blood sausage somewhat frequently; the British and the Germans have been eating this for centuries and never appear to have had a problem by it. Maybe if not cooked right it can cause issues, but this seems not to have been the case in Europe, where eating blood is fairly common.

 

[Spirit of Light]

Is this true? I've never heard of anything like this. I eat pig blood as blood sausage somewhat frequently; the British and the Germans have been eating this for centuries and never appear to have had a problem by it. Maybe if not cooked right it can cause issues, but this doesn't seem to have been the case in Europe, where eating blood is fairly common.

I can not answer to your question at this moment in time, maybe other muslims would be able to answer better.
But according to the teaching it is written so yes.

 

[Onoma]

Although the reason is usually " Because God / The Bible said so ", I think there is another reason and that's that pigs will readily consume feces, unlike other animals raised for food

They are natural disease carriers, and since they are so similar to humans, ( Hence why we use pig tissues for xenotransplantation ) there is higher risk associated with eating them

Hence, they are unclean

I don't think it has anything to do with not being able to drain the blood from a pig, they are drained all the time by severing the carotid arteries, that's a normal practice, and the blood is sold for things like animal food / fertilizer

 

[Harel13]

the British and the Germans have been eating this for centuries

That explains a lot.

 

[ecco]

Why don't Jews and Muslims eat pork ?

If that's the case then we've evolved enough to eat pork for at least 300 years now if not longer

Back when the OT was written, people did not knowhow to properly prepare foods. Rather than learn, the Jews just banned some foods, like pork and shellfish. They also banned other "unclean" acts like having sex with a woman during her period.

The Muslims, thousands of years later, were just as ignorant and just continued the Jewish "laws".

Modern day Christians just ignore the old cleanliness laws because Jesus said so.

 

[Rival]

Back when the OT was written, people did not knowhow to properly prepare foods. Rather than learn, the Jews just banned some foods, like pork and shellfish. They also banned other "unclean" acts like having sex with a woman during her period.

The Muslims, thousands of years later, were just as ignorant and just continued the Jewish "laws".

Modern day Christians just ignore the old cleanliness laws because Jesus said so.

I'm sorry but this is ignorance. The Jewish Scriptures ban way, way more animals as food than they allow. It's not just random animals. There are signs to look for. A cursory reading of Leviticus 11 will tell you this.

 

[Harel13]

Back when the OT was written, people did not knowhow to properly prepare foods. Rather than learn, the Jews just banned some foods, like pork and shellfish. They also banned other "unclean" acts like having sex with a woman during her period.

Actually, a lot of pig bones have been found in ancient Canaanite and Philistine settlements in Israel. Did the Israelites despise their neighbors so much that they couldn't even ask them how to prepare pig meat?

 

[shunyadragon]

If Zoonotic diseases come from being in close proximity to animals and not being evolved enough to eat them then did pigs cause disease in the Middle East thousands of years ago ? Is that the reason Jews and Muslims don't eat pork ? If that's the case then we've evolved enough to eat pork for at least 300 years now if not longer

Actually for the time of the religions the spiritual dietary laws had practical purpose to prevent parasites common to swine, and in the case of shellfish the poor storage life and infections that could result.

Note: These health hazards are easily controlled today and no longer relevant.

 

[Secret Chief]

The question, being one of religion seems to me to be one that should be placed in a religious forum not the "animal world" forum. I'm neither a Jew or a Muslim but I can answer if the OP remains in this forum.

 

[ChristineM]

I don't know how relevant it is to the religious objections to pork but i always understood that pig meat is closest if all animals to human flesh.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

Back when the OT was written, people did not knowhow to properly prepare foods. Rather than learn, the Jews just banned some foods, like pork and shellfish. They also banned other "unclean" acts like having sex with a woman during her period.

The Muslims, thousands of years later, were just as ignorant and just continued the Jewish "laws".

Modern day Christians just ignore the old cleanliness laws because Jesus said so.

Rubbish.

 

[Secret Chief]

I don't know how relevant it is to the religious objections to pork but i always understood that pig meat is closest if all animals to human flesh.

Plus, they are far more intelligent than the current incumbent of the White House (not a high bar I admit).

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

For those with interest and access there is the following fairly recent article ...

Pig Husbandry in Iron Age Israel and Judah: New Insights Regarding the Origin of the "Taboo"

Author(s): Lidar Sapir-Hen, Guy Bar-Oz, Yuval Gadot and Israel Finkelstein
Source: Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins (1953-), Bd. 129, H. 1 (2013), pp. 1-20​

Note that this is written from a secular perspective.

 

[ronki23]

Speak to the Israelite people thus: These are the creatures that you may eat from among all the land animals:
any animal that has true hoofs, with clefts through the hoofs, and that chews the cud—such you may eat.
-Leviticus 11:2-3.

Pigs aren't in this category.

Not at all. It's because of religious reasons. Jews don't eat pork because pig is a non-Kosher animal.
For Muslims, it's Haram.

This following answer explain why muslims do not eat pork and a few other things
The talk a about dead animals is in my understanding of animals died of sickness, or dead animals you find in the forest.

Eating Pork is forbidden in the Quran
The Quran prohibits the consumption of pork in many verses including: 2:173, 5:3, 6:145 and 16:115.

"He has only forbidden to you dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine, and that which has been dedicated to other than Allah". (Al Baqara 2:173)

"Prohibited to you are dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine, and that which has been dedicated to other than Allah , and [those animals] killed by strangling or by a violent blow or by a head-long fall or by the goring of horns, and those from which a wild animal has eaten, except what you [are able to] slaughter [before its death], and those which are sacrificed on stone altars, and [prohibited is] that you seek decision through divining arrows. That is grave disobedience". (Al-Mā'idah 5:3)

Say, "I do not find within that which was revealed to me [anything] forbidden to one who would eat it unless it be a dead animal or blood spilled out or the flesh of swine - for indeed, it is impure - or it be [that slaughtered in] disobedience, dedicated to other than Allah" (Al-'An`ām 6:145).

"He has only forbidden to you dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine, and that which has been dedicated to other than Allah". (An-Naĥl 16:115)

The above verses of the Holy Quran are sufficient to satisfy Muslims as to why pork is forbidden and that any prohibition in the holy book is ultimately for their own good.

Further, Pigs have NO neck that makes it impossible to be slaughtered the Islamic way (The Halaal way) by the insertion of a knife in the neck and thus getting rid of the blood, which contains an abundance of uric acid, a toxic chemical substance that can be injurious to human health

You say "because the book said so" but you get plenty of Jews eating lobster, crab,shrimp and prawn and there are LOADS of Muslims who drink alcohol

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

You say "because the book said so" but you get plenty of Jews eating lobster, crab,shrimp and prawn and there are LOADS of Muslims who drink alcohol

Your point?

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Is that the reason Jews and Muslims don't eat pork ?

Pigs are incompatible with a nomadic lifestyle. Ancient Jews were nomads.

Pigs don't graze. Pigs need pens, which need farms and settlements. To a nomadic people surrounded by settled people, pigs serve as a handy signifier of "us versus them."

To raise pigs, you have to give up your nomadic lifestyle. To eat pork that you didn't raise yourself, you have to consort with non-nomads. To a nomad who thinks that their nomadic group has been divinely ordained to be nomads, living separately from the people around them, pork is a problem.

Pork is also a luxury good. Pigs can't eat grass; anything that a pig can eat, humans could probably eat in a pinch. Pigs are not a good thing to have for a people sometimes at risk of starvation. If you think the austerity of a nomad life is part of something that God has ordained, any luxury is a problem, so pigs are a problem.