Informant GP is my grandfather who has been a Muslim is whole life. My father’s side of the family has been Muslim for many generations. My grandpa is a devout Muslim who follows the Quran and all the practices described within it. Unfortunately my grandpa’s generation is the last generation in my dad’s side of the family to practice Islam. My father and my aunt and uncles do not practice it, so even though I know many of the things they believe and practice, I don’t know the reason behind it.

So why can’t you eat pork?

GP: “Well, technically not being allowed to eat pork is not only a Muslim thing, but should be followed by Christianity and Judaism since it is the Bible. The bible states that pigs are unclean and therefore humans should not eat it or else we will get contaminated and get diseases. Back in the day pigs lived off of dirt and their own feces so people thought they were gross and disgusting. Of course, I don’t know if nowadays things are different or if there is any health correlation between pigs and disease, but yea, that’s why I don’t eat pork.”

Thoughts: To me this just sounds like people in the past just thought pigs were dirty so they didn’t eat them. Of course that is well found, it’s like saying why don’t people eat earthworms. I did a bit of research and found that eating pork does in fact lead to health issues since pork holds more fat than other meats which can cause heart attacks. That being said, I feel like eating any kind of meat could lead to health problems, so in conclusion I feel like the Muslim tradition of not eating pork is a little nonsensical.