Pork and Previous Nations
Question
Is it true that pork was permissible to consume during the time of Prophet ʿIsā (peace be upon him)?
بسم الله الرحمن الرحیم
Answer
Pork is an impure animal (Qurʾān, 6: 145) which was prohibited in the Sharīʿah of previous nations including in Christianity and Judaism (Fayḍ al-Bārī, 1: 105; 3: 490). ʿAllāmah Ibn Baṭṭāl (d. 449/1057) states the following in the commentary of the ḥadīth of Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī (2222) which states that Prophet ʿIsā (peace be upon him) will descend and slaughter pigs:
وفیه دلیل أن الخنزیر حرام في شریعة عیسی وقتله له تکذیب للنصاری أنه حلال في شریعتهم
“And therein is evidence that pork is unlawful in the Sharīʿah of ʿIsā, and his killing of it will refute the Christians [who claim] that it is lawful in their Sharīʿah” (Sharḥ Ibn Baṭṭāl, 6: 344).
Allah knows best
Yusuf Shabbir
28 Rabīʿ al-Thānī 1438 / 26 January 2017
