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WHY CERTAIN FOODS ARE PROHIBITED IN THE GLORIOUS QUR'AN
The Almighty
and Al-Wise created human beings
in a way that whatever they eat
influences their bodies and the
most important of all their
soul. According to a Tradition
Allah loves man seventy times
more than his mother. Hence, in
His profound Wisdom, He has
allowed certain foods (Halal)
and prohibited certain foods (Haram). This
has been mentioned in the Surah
al-Baqarah and Surah al-Ma'idah
in which 12 items have been
stated, these are; pig, blood,
dead animals, liquor, animals
not slaughtered according to
Islamic rules, animals dead by
beating, strangled animals,
animals killed by wild animals,
stabbed animals, animals dead by
falling from height, animals
sacrificed to idols, animals
slaughtered by lottery.
Although, a
faithful should accept the
Divine directives but it is
human nature to ascertain the
validity of any prohibition.
It might be of interest to note that Professor Schultz and Doctor Hazim of
the Hanover University, Germany,
proved through an experiment,
using an electroencephalograph
(EEG) and electrocardiogram
(ECG) that Islamic slaughter is
the most humane method of
slaughter and the captive bolt
stunning, practiced by the
Western method causes severe
pain to the animal.
Pig: It is scientifically proven that its meat contains 2 dangerous
parasites; Trichina and Measles.
Trichina spawns 15,000 eggs
every month, causing anemia,
dizziness, diarrhea fever,
rheumatic pains, nerve injury,
itching, excess fat, fatigue,
difficulty in chewing,
swallowing and breathing. The
meat of every animal carries the
features of that animal, and it
influence the conduct of the one
who eats it. Consuming pig can
lead to sexual laxity and
indifference to reputation and
chastity of one's wife and
daughters or other prohibited
relatives.
Blood: Eating of the
blood is detrimental both to the
body and soul. Blood is haven
for microbe growth. Microbes are
single cell organism so tiny
that millions can fit into the
eye of a needle. All microbes
entering the body concentrate in
the blood, the white blood cells
destroy the bacteria. When blood
stops circulating in the body,
the white cells are destroyed,
and microbes multiply rapidly
making the body filthy. Thus a
man who consumes the blood, it
influences his glands and
producing hormones, it affects
his temperament and conduct
making him a cruel and hard-hear
ted man.
Dead animals: The
scientific reasons for the
harmful effects of the blood of
a dead animal has been stated
above. The
Infallible Imam Jafar al-Sadiq
(a.s.) said: “No body eats a
dead animal, but he becomes
feeble and has no off-springs;
the one who eats pig die
unexpectedly. (Tafsir-e-Namoona
volume 1 page 585)
Moreover, it
becomes impure (Najis) and
should be avoided altogether.
Liquor: It includes
each and every intoxicating
fluid. The physical harmful
effects includes the disorder of
the stomach, intestine, liver,
lungs, nerves, blood vessels,
heart, and the five senses.
Statistics indicate that the
consumption of the intoxicants
may lead to heart disease,
stroke, throat cancer, breast
cancer, and high blood pressure.
The adverse
moral effects apart from
negative effects on soul,
includes a person's
gracelessness, or committing
unintentional actions such as
insulting, harming others,
committing crimes or murder,
divulging personal or others
secrets and trampling on social
rules and sanctity. It
dissipates one's wisdom and
disrupts sound decision making
capability and kills perception
and discretion. It
is one of the “Greater Sins”
Recent
reports say that the predominant
reason for insanity is the
consumption of intoxicants. An
English scholar by the name of
Bentham writes: “The religion of
Islam has prohibited all kinds
of alcoholic drinks and this is
one of the distinctive features
of Islam.”
Animals dead by beating, strangled animals, animals killed by wild
animals, stabbed animals,
animals dead by falling: In all these cases, since the
animal's main artery is not
properly cut and consequently
the blood does not completely
oozed out and remain in the body
of the animal, hence it becomes
unfit for human consumption.
Moreover, in all these cases the
Islamic rules of slaughter are
not followed. Hence it is
prohibited.
Animals sacrificed to idols and also animals slaughtered by lottery:
In both these
cases, the prohibition relates
to ancient practices. Lottery
relates to gambling which is
prohibited, hence such meat s
are also prohibited. The reason
for such prohibitions are moral
and spiritual.
Conclusion: The philosophy behind these prohibitions is to protect human
beings from physical and moral
harm to their bodies as well as
souls! |
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