Two weeks ago: It is half past eleven on a Sunday morning, stuck between breakfast and lunch, my brother and sister-in-law catching up with my father in the living room.
My sister sits across from them, glued to her phone, completely unfazed by the conglomeration of voices, back and forth like a feverish rally in a tennis match.
It seems as though nothing could possibly break her free from ‘21st century technological prison.’
I am slowly sinking deeper into the bean bag in the corner of our living room, browsing through the latest issue of Kult Magazine, two of my nephews on each side of me, staring with their arms folded across their chest; one of their ploys to annoy me.
My mother is scooping some Neapolitan ice-cream in the kitchen and then she stops, almost absentmindedly.
She glares over at us and says, ‘I don’t think it’s good for the kids to have ice-cream before their lunch, right?’
We laugh.
The doorbell rings, once, twice, three times.
Hazrieq, aged nine (the elder of the two), throws his arms around and yells out, ‘Lunch is here!’
Eriq, aged eight, rushes to answer the door.
Standing before him is this kind-looking young gentleman in a red long-sleeved shirt and black trousers, with a motorcycle helmet still on his head which appears to be too big for him.
My nephews’ eyes widen, mouth agape, the trembling movement of their lips presaging an atomic eruption of hysterical elation.
It is as though they had just laid their eyes on real life versions of Finn and Jake (characters from their favorite cartoon –Adventure Time).
But no, it is just the McDonald’s delivery man.
We set the food on the dining table and eat.
Both the kids are having double cheeseburger, both of them nibbling like famished hamsters; a similar trait shared between brothers.
‘This is beef right?’ Hazrieq asks.
‘Yes,’ my mother says.
‘My friend brought pork burger to school last Friday.’ Hazrieq says matter-of-factly.
‘Did you have any?’ his mother asks, her voice quivering with dreadful anticipation.
‘Of course not. It’s haram.’
His mother looks relieved.
‘But why is it haram?’ Eriq asks.
Yes. Why is pork haram?
Surely, there must be a good reason for our religion to prohibit us from consuming the meat of swine.
“He has forbidden you only dead animals, and blood, and the swine, and that which is slaughtered as a sacrifice for other than God.” (Quran 2:173)
Okay, so let’s take a moment to reflect and view this matter objectively.
Why should we, as responsible human beings who cherish our own bodies and its long term sustainability avoid pork consumption?
My mother chimes in, calmly.
‘You are what you eat,’ she explains. ‘Haven’t you heard the saying – As greedy as a pig? Do you want to be called a pig? People get insulted when someone calls them a pig. Do you want to know why? It’s because a pig is a glut, eats whatever is given to it, almost like an incinerator. Will you eat this dirty piece of tissue paper if I tell you to?’
‘No,’ the two boys say concurrently, with indistinguishable somber tones.
‘Well, a pig would. Whatever you eat affects how your mind, body, and soul operate. You don’t want to attain any of the pig’s ghastly characteristics do you?’
‘No!’ they say once more, though this time, there’s determination in their voices.
With this in mind, I decide to spend some time later in the day researching the basis of this dietary restriction implemented in the Quran.
And here are some of the other reasons why we should abstain from consuming pork products.
1) Pork products are stacked with artery-clogging cholesterol and saturated fat. Pork consumers are more susceptible to deadly diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s, asthma, and infertility.
2) A swine is unclean. It eats garbage, its own excrement, its own dead child, and other sick animals. They are scavengers that have no dietary inhibitions.
3) Compared to other animals, the swine has the fastest and poorest digestive system, which takes roughly around 4 hours. This relative quickness does not bode well for those who consume pork products for the toxins in whatever food the swine had consumed hasn’t been properly removed. These toxins are stored in their fat. Animals like cows and lambs on the other hand, take 24 hours to digest the food they consume, which is more than enough time to eliminate all the harmful substances which exists in their diet.
After all the research has been done, I’ve come to one undeniable conclusion – Allah knows what’s best for us.
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Ab Syahid
A young Singaporean whose life revolves around writing, live music, ice-cream, Arsenal Football Club, and sometimes, drifting in and out of existential crisis. He is currently working on a book of short stories titled, ‘Singaporeans Cried When They Found Out Their Hearts Were Made In China.’
