Standards and Regulations

Halal law prohibits the consumption of pork, a principle considered paramount in kosher certification, much like Jewish kosher law prohibits pork. Looking back over five thousand years and across various cultures, why has humanity universally disliked and prohibited pigs? We would like to discuss this from the following perspectives:

1. Pigs are ugly, strange, greedy, and stupid. In languages ​​around the world, pigs are often used to describe people who are ugly, lazy, or stupid.

2. Pigs love dirt. Their living areas are extremely dirty, and the feed they eat is also dirty, which is difficult to compare with herbivorous animals.

3. Pigs are vicious and capricious. As the saying goes, "Even a tiger won't eat its own cubs," but when extremely hungry, pigs will even devour their own chicks. While most animals, even birds, develop a bond with their caregivers, and stories of animals helping others, such as the loyal dog rescuing its owner, are well-known, pigs, however, have been known to gobble up and eat their caregivers' babies, even more vicious than tigers and wolves.

4. Incestuous mating. Once piglets reach estrus, some will mate with the sows (or boars) that gave birth to them, producing offspring without distinction of seniority or age. This is rare among other animals.

In fact, for Muslims, not only do they not raise or eat pigs, but they must also avoid the filth, dirtiness, greed, laziness, and stupidity characteristic of pigs and similar animals. These vices are condemned and equally despised by other civilizations. Abstaining from eating them means avoiding these vices. This is why Muslims also refrain from eating animals that are strange, greedy, or cruel, such as ferocious birds and beasts. The standard for what Muslims can eat is "beautiful." As the saying goes, "beautiful appearance, warm nature, and cleanliness are acceptable, while "unusual appearance, evil nature, and filthiness" are not acceptable.