Page 26 - Islam: The Religion of Ease

ISLAM: THE RELIGION OF EASE

flowing blood, and pork – for that is unclean – or some
deviance consecrated to other than Allah. But if anyone is
forced to eat it, without desiring to or going to excess in
it, your Lord is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful.' (Surat al-
An'am: 145)
There is great wisdom in the word "unclean" that is used for
these forbidden foods, for pork really does have qualities that
are pernicious to people's health.
For example, pork is very fatty and, when eaten, this fat
passes into the blood stream. This excessive fat in the blood
causes the veins to harden, the blood pressure to go up, and fi-
nally a heart attack. Furthermore, in the case of the poisonous
chemicals found in pork fat,—"toxins"—the lymph nodes have
to work harder than usual to get rid of them. This condition es-
pecially occurs in children as lymph node infections and
swelling. In addition to this, pork contains sulphur in great
quantities. The excess sulphur taken in by the body accumulates
in cartilages, muscles, and nerves, and causes illnesses such as
infections, calcification, and lumbar hernia. Along with all of
these, it brings about various types of serious skin diseases and
trichina (trichina is only transmitted by pigs and is life-threaten-
ing for humans). (Only a few of the known harmful qualities of
pork are mentioned here).
As can be seen, it is beneficial to and protective of health for
certain foods which are harmful to humans to be forbidden.
However, another point is worth mentioning here. Of course,
it is by Allah's command that things are either permissible or for-
bidden. And people are only held accountable for their actions
according to Allah's law. It is a matter of Allah's will whether to
show us the reasons behind forbidding a certain food or not. But,

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