Muslims and pork

[Mrs. Forgetful 2]

Random question, I have been looking for chicken/beef sausage links that don't come in pork casing. Does anyone know where I can find any or are they all in pork casings?

[honeyblonde 0]

You have a good point that conditions are different today then they were so many years ago, however, if Allah commands us not to eat pork, it doesn't matter much if they can rid the animal of any disease that humans could catch.

No means no.

Plus, there could be other reasons that Allah commanded that we not eat it that we are unaware of. Only Allah knows everything, and surely He knows best.

I agree... We don't know all the reasons why, just that it is forbidden..

Please don't think that I meant to imply that Muslims should eat pork. That was just the reason my father gave for why we didn't do that. There is a verse somewhere in the New Testament where Jesus says something about him being there to do away with old traditions and usher in a new set of traditions. My father was always of the belief that many customs recorded in the Bible were written there because they were affirming that that custom was appropriate at that time, but that didn't necessarily mean that it would be appropriate at a later time or in a different culture. I think somewhere Jesus made a point to tell his disciples or a crowd somewhere something about how important it was to observe local customs to some extent. I think that probably had twofold reasoning - local people know what is safe to do in their area, and if a person didn't abide by local customs they could appear to be someone they weren't, for example, if a local custom said for a woman to cover her head and if she didn't she would be considered a prostitute, she should cover her head while there.

I was always taught to read the Bible with the intent of understanding it. When I went to the same Christian university my father had graduated from, I took a class called Decide for Yourself. It was 2 semesters that analyzed all of the basic tenets of our faith and showed us the reason we believed them. I actually came out of that class not believing any of it any more. That's funny, because you were required to minor in Bible there, and every student was required to take that class. I just could not keep believing a religion where entire beliefs were based on one word in a translated text. I had taken Koine Greek (the language the New Testament is written in in the original) in high school (we had a Christian high school too) because my father was intent on me being a missionary to some remote jungle somewhere and needing to be able to translate the New Testament from the original. When I would go home from the Decide class and do my homework, I would look up those passages our beliefs were based on and translate them myself. It shocked me almost every time to see that those "one words" our beliefs were based on could have been translated to mean 3 or 4 different things and the context didn't clearly tell you which one was right. I began to think , "What if our whole religion is based on mis-translations?" That religion was adamant about using the King James version of the Bible, but I kept wondering why they didn't translate their own version since that one was only translated to say what King James wanted it to say.

I guess my point is, don't just blindly believe what your religious leaders tell you. Learn Arabic and read the original texts. Study the life and times of the prophet so you can understand the context in which he wrote. For example, you have discussed here many times about how many wives he had, and some have pointed out that he didn't marry them all because he was some sex-crazed animal, he did it because it was almost always in the best interest of that woman to be his wife. In his time marriage for political peace was common, and marriage to provide support for a widow was also common. While in his time it was almost an economic necessity for the women for a man to have as many wives as he could support, in our times it not only isn't legal most places, it certainly isn't an economic possibility either. In most places now women can work to support themselves so they don't need a man to take care of them. The necessity of taking more than one wife has gone away and if the prophet was here today, he would probably tell men, only have one wife.

Please don't think I'm trying to be disrespectful, and please feel free to disagree with me. I don't often say what I believe to anyone because I am so afraid of offending people, but this thread seems to be pretty civil so I guess I'm being brave and sticking my neck out. I don't believe any one religion is right, but I do see truths in most. I do not believe it is something within the grasp of humans to know what lies beyond death or who or what the higher power is if it exists. I believe all we can do is live our lives by some universal principles (such as respecting others and such) and trust that whatever is out there, if it exists, knows we do not try to assume we have the power to figure it out only the power to live the best we can.

I certainly don't offer my beliefs as an attempt to say that everyone should think like me either. I personally believe there are so many religions because different people will find what they need in a different religion and with so many to choose from, they should be able to find one that brings them the peace they seek. What really amazes me is that I actually found a man on this planet who pretty much believes like I do. For that I am extremely thankful.

[morocco4ever 63]

muslims dont eat pork for their religious purposes......

OMG, this made me laugh. I know that silly I am married to a Muslim. I just wondered what the specifics are behind it, thats all. I am curious by nature. Always have been, always will be.

It has been nice to hear all of your responses, and it is nice it has been civil. I have noticed we haven't had as much of a war going on lately, so for that I am grateful.

[browneyez40 0]

Random question, I have been looking for chicken/beef sausage links that don't come in pork casing. Does anyone know where I can find any or are they all in pork casings?

I'm pretty sure that Jerusalem (around Front and Girard) sells beef/chicken sausages in non-pork casings. I did find some at Save-a-lot once.

[babybunny 2]

Okay, I have wondered what the reason that Muslims don't eat pork. I have been told in the past it is because if it isn't cooked properly that it is unsafe, but that doesn't seem right since Chicken is the same.

I have also heard that on Noah's Ark there was so much animal waste, and Allah fixed the solution by causing the pigs to eat the waste.

So for all of you out there that now the answer I would sure like to hear.

I was told the same thing..but, pork is the closest thing to human flesh.

thats another reason why its not supposed to be eaten. I still enjoy ham and bacon.

being a convert . - I grew up eating honey hams and pepperoni on my pizza..

I tried turkey ham and turkey bacon also that turkey pepperoni it was nasty. my family

has a farm with pigs, goats and other animales.

Edited November 24, 2006 by babybunny

[chri'stina 190]

The Bible advises against eating pork, too.

And the swine, because it divideth the hoof, yet cheweth not the cud, it is unclean unto you: ye shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcase.

- Deuteronomy 14:8

True, that was under the law. But it is not still followed by Christians usually because of the New Testament. The New Testament and Jesus' coming (for Christians) has fulfilled the law and now we are not under it. So while it was not allowed to eat pork in the O.T., there are scriptures in the N.T. about the inability of man to accomplish the law, which was one point of the law to show man's inability to follow it 100%, and the need for grace and salvation through the sacrifice of Jesus, who was the only person on earth able to 100% be holy and perfect.

So while the bible does say that in the O.T., it is further addressed in the N.T. and all that was unclean(foodwise) is made clean. People often say that why does one part of the bible say one thing and the other part say opposite. I like to say it's because it's like a movie and it's sequel. You have to know what happened in the 1st movie to understand the 2nd(the O.T. and N.T.). That doesn't mean that the first movie was wrong, because it was right during it's purpose.

Matthew 15:1-20

1Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, 2"Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don't wash their hands before they eat!"

3Jesus replied, "And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? 4For God said, 'Honor your father and mother'[a] and 'Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.' 5But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, 'Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is a gift devoted to God,' 6he is not to 'honor his father[c]' with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:

8" 'These people honor me with their lips,

but their hearts are far from me.

9They worship me in vain;

their teachings are but rules taught by men.'[d]"

10Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen and understand. 11What goes into a man's mouth does not make him 'unclean,' but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him 'unclean.' "

2Then the disciples came to him and asked, "Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?"

13He replied, "Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. 14Leave them; they are blind guides.[e] If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit."

15Peter said, "Explain the parable to us."

16"Are you still so dull?" Jesus asked them. 17"Don't you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? 18But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean.' 19For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20These are what make a man 'unclean'; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him 'unclean.' "

Also in Acts 10, God tells Peter that was he has made clean, not to call unclean anymore. This was referring to not only animals(since God used the unclean animals in a vision to make His point) but also referring to people who were the Gentiles, who were not considered worthy to know about God back then by the Jews. He told Peter to tell them about God and at first Peter did not want to because they were Gentiles. In the vision he also told Peter to eat of the unclean food, because he made them clean.

Just writing why Christians usually do not believe pork is unclean anymore since you mentioned that the Bible said it was unclean.

[doodlebug 3]

Who wrote the gospel according to Matthew?

[chri'stina 190]

Who wrote the gospel according to Matthew?

I'm not sure what you mean...Matthew wrote it...but by Christians it is believed that he wrote eye witness accounts, along with spiritual truths with the help of God. The scriptures above are paralleled in the book of Mark as well. So there's 2 accounts of the same discussion.

I know Muslims believe the Christian Bible is corrupted and has things written wrong in it, things lost in translation, etc...but Christians believe the same about the Quran, that it's a false book. So I am not sure if you were asking because you wanted to say that Matthew made it up, or if you were sincerely asking. I don't see this discussing as a war of beliefs but rather just saying what people believe. I am presenting the Christian view.

[deeshla 0]

Some anthropologists have a theory that because Semetic people lived in arid, desert areas and moved around a lot in caravans. it wasn't easy to keep pigs because, unlike sheep and goats, they don't herd well. And, their cloven hooves don't allow them to travese the desert without a great deal of difficulty. So, to facilitate the nomadic lifestyle of the majority of the population in those times, pigs were discouraged as a food resource.

This is what I have read as well. It does make sense.

I live in a pig farming area -- pork is a way of life here. It has been an eye opener for my husband to see how much people depend on pork for their living and how pervasive it is here.

In anthropology there is something called the "latent vs. manifest" function - that is, there is always a manifest reason (what is known and culturally accepted and practiced, i.e. pork is forbidden) and a latent function (what results from the practice or what might be accomplished culturally or macroevoluntionarily - i.e. pork does not make sense for a desert people). I am sure it is not that simple, but it seems to start to explain the wildly varying food codes and taboos that exist around the world. There is a book out there by Marvin Harris, wish I could remember the name.

[doodlebug 3]

Who wrote the gospel according to Matthew?

I'm not sure what you mean...Matthew wrote it...but by Christians it is believed that he wrote eye witness accounts, along with spiritual truths with the help of God. The scriptures above are paralleled in the book of Mark as well. So there's 2 accounts of the same discussion.

I know Muslims believe the Christian Bible is corrupted and has things written wrong in it, things lost in translation, etc...but Christians believe the same about the Quran, that it's a false book. So I am not sure if you were asking because you wanted to say that Matthew made it up, or if you were sincerely asking. I don't see this discussing as a war of beliefs but rather just saying what people believe. I am presenting the Christian view.

I was genuinely curious as to who you think wrote this gospel. I have read a lot about it and many scholars are in disagreement as to the true author since they believe it was originally written in aramaic and then translated by someone or some people into the greek that it was finalized in. Not meaning to start a war....just always curious what people's opinions are on this particular gospel. I find the whole gospel of "Q" theory very interesting and read as much as I can on it.

[Sofiyya 1,687]

There is a book out there by Marvin Harris, wish I could remember the name.

Marvin Harris has written more than one book on the subject. "Cows, Pigs, Wars, and Witches: The Riddles of Culture" and "Good to Eat: Riddles of Food and Culture" are two that come to mind.

[amal 4]

I think i've read one of those......

[Private 1]

Random question, I have been looking for chicken/beef sausage links that don't come in pork casing. Does anyone know where I can find any or are they all in pork casings?

I heard that ALLAH punished some people by turning them in to pigs. I heard that the pig and the way is it designed is very similair to the human body. Just my two sense.

I'm pretty sure that Jerusalem (around Front and Girard) sells beef/chicken sausages in non-pork casings. I did find some at Save-a-lot once.

[sarah and hicham 3]

Random question, I have been looking for chicken/beef sausage links that don't come in pork casing. Does anyone know where I can find any or are they all in pork casings?

I heard that ALLAH punished some people by turning them in to pigs. I heard that the pig and the way is it designed is very similair to the human body. Just my two sense.

I'm pretty sure that Jerusalem (around Front and Girard) sells beef/chicken sausages in non-pork casings. I did find some at Save-a-lot once.

yes? I don't see your post!

[Pam&Mbaye 0]

Why do we question something that Allah has commanded?