Why do Muslims not eat pork? The short answer is that Allah forbade it. Pork is haram [forbidden] for a Muslim, while the food Allah made lawful is halal [lawful and permitted]. The Qur’an names the flesh of swine again and again beside dead meat, poured forth blood, and food dedicated to other than Allah. This page sets out the prohibition in Allah’s own words, what the commentators say about the reason, and the narrow exception Allah Himself built into the same verses for a person compelled by necessity. It states the teaching as the books give it; it judges no person and no table but the reader’s own.
A Muslim’s first reason is obedience. The reasons the books name, impurity and harm, are real, and they are set out below. But the abstinence does not wait for a reason a person can measure: it rests on the command of the One who created the animal and the eater alike.
The Prohibition, in Allah’s Own Words
Allah addresses the believers with the good things He gave them, and then names what He took out of their food:
O you who believe! Eat of the good things that We have provided for you, and be grateful to Allah, if it is Him you worship. He has only forbidden you dead meat, and blood, and the flesh of swine, and that on which any name has been invoked other than that of Allah. But if one is forced by necessity, without wilful disobedience, nor transgressing due limits, then there is no sin on him. For Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
Allah’s words in Surah al-Baqarah (2), verses 172-173, Tafsir as-Sa’di (Vol. 1, printed p. 207). The exception in the last part of the verse is taken up in its own section below.
Surah al-Ma’idah opens its food ruling with the same name in the list:
Forbidden to you [for food] are: the meat of animals found dead, blood, the flesh of swine, and that on which [a name] other than that of Allah has been invoked [at the time of slaughter];
Allah’s words in Surah al-Ma’idah (5), verse 3, Tafsir as-Sa’di (Vol. 2, printed p. 353). The verse goes on to name animals killed by strangling, by a blow, by a fall, by goring, or partly eaten by a wild animal, and it closes with the same necessity exception, for the one forced by severe hunger with no inclination to sin.
In Surah al-An’am the Prophet ﷺ is told to declare what was revealed to him about food:
Say: I do not find in that which is revealed to me anything to be forbidden for people to eat unless it be the meat of animals found dead, blood poured forth or the flesh of swine, for that is an abomination, or that which is profane, over which [a name] other than that of Allah has been invoked [at the time of slaughter]. But if one is forced by necessity, without wilful disobedience, nor transgressing due limits, then your Lord is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
Allah’s words in Surah al-An’am (6), verse 145, Tafsir as-Sa’di (Vol. 3, printed p. 176).
And Surah an-Nahl repeats the ruling in the same words, right after the command to eat what Allah provided, lawful and good:
He has only forbidden you the meat of animals found dead, and blood, and the flesh of swine, and that on which any name has been invoked other than that of Allah. But if one is forced by necessity, without wilful disobedience, nor transgressing due limits, then verily Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
Allah’s words in Surah an-Nahl (16), verse 115, Tafsir as-Sa’di (Vol. 5, printed p. 251).
Four passages, one ruling. The prohibition is not built on one verse read alone, and it is not a custom of a land or a people. It is stated in the Book, in surah after surah, and the flesh named is the flesh of swine, the pig.
What the Scholars Say About the Reason
The verse in Surah al-An’am gives a reason inside its own wording: “for that is an abomination”. Ibn Kathir renders that word “unclean (Rijs)”. Rijs means impurity or filth. As-Sa’di explains the word on the passage:
(or the flesh of swine, for that is an abomination) that is, these three things are an abomination, which means that they are unclean, impure and harmful. Allah has prohibited them out of kindness towards you, and so that you will keep a distance from filth.
Abdur Rahman as-Sa’di, Tafsir as-Sa’di, on Surah al-An’am (6), verse 145 (Vol. 3, printed p. 177).
On Surah an-Nahl he says the same in shorter words: the flesh of swine is forbidden “because it is filthy and impure. That includes the flesh, fat and all parts of the pig” (Vol. 5, printed p. 252). Ibn Kathir makes the same point about the whole animal on Surah al-Ma’idah:
(the flesh of swine…) includes domesticated and wild swine, and also refers to the whole animal, including its fat, for this is what the Arabs mean by Lahm or ‘flesh’.
Ibn Kathir, Tafsir Ibn Kathir (Abridged), on Surah al-Ma’idah (5), verse 3. At Surah al-Baqarah he states it the same way: eating the meat of swine is prohibited whether it was slaughtered or not, and its fat is included.
As-Sa’di also answers a claim a reader may meet, that the earlier communities were allowed it. On Surah al-Ma’idah he writes:
(the flesh of swine) that includes all parts of the pig. Allah mentioned swine out of all other impure wild animals, because some of the People of the Book, namely the Christians, claim that Allah permitted it to them. So what is meant here is: do not be deceived by them, because it is prohibited and is included among those things which are impure.
Abdur Rahman as-Sa’di, Tafsir as-Sa’di, on Surah al-Ma’idah (5), verse 3 (Vol. 2, printed p. 354). The People of the Book are the Jews and Christians.
That is the reasoning the held books give: the thing is impure and filthy, it is harmful, and Allah forbade it out of kindness, to keep His slaves at a distance from filth. The books do not rest the ruling on the pig’s habits or on any study of diseases, and this page does not add claims of that kind from elsewhere. What the books say is enough for the section that follows, because the ruling does not stand or fall by how much of the reason a reader can see.
When Necessity Compels: The Exception and Its Limits
Every one of the four passages above carries its exception inside itself. Allah did not leave the compelled person without a door, and He fenced the door in the same sentence. Ibn Kathir heads his explanation of the exception at Surah al-Baqarah “The Prohibited is Allowed in Cases of Emergency”, and states its ground plainly:
Then Allah permitted eating these things when needed for survival or when there are no permissible types of food available.
Ibn Kathir, Tafsir Ibn Kathir (Abridged), on Surah al-Baqarah (2), verse 173.
As-Sa’di works through the verse’s own conditions, one by one:
These evil things and others are forbidden to us out of kindness towards us and so as to protect us from harm. However, (if one is forced by necessity) that is, if he is compelled by starvation or want, or he is forced, (without wilful disobedience) that is, without actively seeking that which is haram when he is able to obtain that which is halal, or when he is not starving, (nor transgressing due limits), that is, without overstepping the mark in consuming that which has been permitted to him out of necessity. So if a person is forced out of necessity and is not able to find any halal food, then he may eat only so much (of the available haram food) as is necessary, and no more than that.
Abdur Rahman as-Sa’di, Tafsir as-Sa’di, on Surah al-Baqarah (2), verse 173 (Vol. 1, printed p. 208).
On Surah al-An’am he adds the shape of the compulsion itself: the person has nothing else and fears that he may die; he does not want the food apart from the necessity, and he does not eat more than he needs; and of such a person Allah says He has pardoned everyone who finds himself in this situation (Vol. 3, printed pp. 177-178). Ibn Kathir records Mujahid’s words on the same limits: if a man transgresses the limits, or does it continually, or does it out of disobedience to Allah, “then the permission does not apply to him even if he is in dire need.”
So the exception is not a softening of the ruling and not a taste for the forbidden thing. It is survival, measured: no lawful food within reach, life or health truly at stake, no seeking of the haram, and no more of it than the need requires. Outside those fences, the prohibition stands exactly as it stood before.
Obedience Before the Reason
Why put obedience first, when the books do name a reason? Because as-Sa’di, opening his explanation of Surah al-Ma’idah’s food verse, states the frame for every prohibition, this one included:
It should be understood that Allah only prohibited what He prohibited in order to protect His slaves from the harm that is present in that which is prohibited, and which He may or may not explain to His slaves.
Abdur Rahman as-Sa’di, Tafsir as-Sa’di, on Surah al-Ma’idah (5), verse 3 (Vol. 2, printed p. 353).
Ibn Kathir says the same of Surah an-Nahl’s list: Allah mentions the things He forbade, things that harm a person in both religious and worldly affairs, and then points the reader back to his explanation at Surah al-Baqarah rather than repeating it (on 16:115). And at Surah al-An’am he records Ibn Abbas’s summary of the whole matter of food: in the time before Islam people ate some things and left others by their own dislike; then Allah sent His Prophet ﷺ and revealed His Book, allowing what He allowed and prohibiting what He prohibited, so what Allah allowed is lawful, what He prohibited is unlawful, and what He did not mention carries no sin.
That is where a Muslim’s abstinence from pork finally rests. Allah explained here that the thing is impure and harmful, and a believer thanks Him for the explanation. If He had forbidden it with no reason stated, the command of the Creator would still be reason enough. The hands stay off it because He said so, and He says nothing except in wisdom and kindness to His slaves.
So, Why Do Muslims Not Eat Pork?
Gathering the page together:
- Allah forbids the flesh of swine in four passages of the Qur’an, naming it beside dead meat, poured forth blood, and what is dedicated to other than Allah (2:173; 5:3; 6:145; 16:115).
- The prohibition covers the whole animal, slaughtered or not, its fat and all its parts, wild swine and domesticated alike (Ibn Kathir; as-Sa’di).
- The reason the books state is that it is an abomination, rijs: unclean, impure and harmful, forbidden out of kindness so that the slaves keep a distance from filth (6:145; as-Sa’di).
- No claim from any earlier community changes the ruling for this nation; as-Sa’di warns the reader not to be deceived by a claim that Allah permitted it (5:3).
- Allah built one exception into the same verses: the person compelled by necessity, with no lawful food and life at stake, may eat only as much as the need requires, without seeking the haram or passing its limits (2:173; as-Sa’di; Ibn Kathir).
- Above the reason stands the command itself: Allah prohibits only what holds harm for His slaves, and He may or may not explain it, so obedience does not wait on seeing the whole wisdom (5:3; as-Sa’di).
So Muslims do not eat pork because Allah forbade it, in words repeated across His Book; because He named it impure and harmful and kept His slaves away from filth out of kindness; and because the one narrow door He opened, necessity, is a door for survival and not for appetite. I hope this page answers the question from the books themselves, and sends the reader back to them.
Further Reading
- What Is Sharia?: Allah’s law, its sources and its aims, the frame every food ruling stands inside.
References
- Tafsir as-Sa’di, Shaykh Abdur Rahman ibn Nasir as-Sa’di, International Islamic Publishing House (IIPH), English Edition 1, 2018, translated by Nasiruddin al-Khattab. Vol. 1 (Juz 1-3), printed p. 207 (Surah al-Baqarah 2:172-173) and printed p. 208 (the necessity conditions); Vol. 2 (Juz 4-6), printed p. 353 (Surah al-Ma’idah 5:3, and the harm frame) and printed p. 354 (the flesh of swine, all parts of the pig); Vol. 3 (Juz 7-9), printed p. 176 (Surah al-An’am 6:145), printed p. 177 (the abomination explained, and the necessity) and printed p. 178 (its limits); Vol. 5 (Juz 13-15), printed p. 251 (Surah an-Nahl 16:115) and printed p. 252 (filthy and impure, and the necessity conditions).
- Tafsir Ibn Kathir (Abridged), the ten-volume set, on Surah al-Baqarah (2:173): the meat of swine prohibited whether slaughtered or not, its fat included, and the emergency explanation with Mujahid’s words; on Surah al-Ma’idah (5:3): the flesh of swine covers domesticated and wild swine and the whole animal including its fat; on Surah al-An’am (6:145): the rendering “unclean (Rijs)” and Ibn Abbas on what Allah allowed and prohibited; and on Surah an-Nahl (16:115): the forbidden things harm in religious and worldly affairs.
Verified on 2026-10-24 against: Tafsir as-Sa’di, Vols. 1, 2, 3 and 5, Shaykh Abdur Rahman ibn Nasir as-Sa’di (IIPH, English Edition 1, 2018); and the Abridged Tafsir Ibn Kathir set.