The morning breeze was very cool... It was hitting every spot of my face. The street was so silent with very few people walking around. Sun was just about to rise. The time's so refreshing. I could have been walking very slowly in the street as I was also wondering what I might get from this short visit. When I reached the gate, I could see my classmates were already there, seated and waiting to hear words from master. I greeted them with Salam and I helped myself to reach a vacant spot to sit behind one of them. Soon, the master came out from the door, entered the sala, and sat comfortably in front of us."Do you know why we are not allowed to eat pigs?" He started with inquisitive eyes.
No-one dared to answer the question. Silence fell for a moment. As ordinary young muslims, we just knew that pigs were forbidden.
"Today I shall tell you one of the reasons why." said he. Then he paused, took a sip from his cup of tea.
"It was during the time of Prophet Noah (alayhissalam). The flood was already covering their land and destroyed their homes along with the disbelievers. Noah and his followers were safely boarded then in the Ark, the great ship. This ship was three storeys. The first level was for the land animals. The second accomodated the birds. And the third was for the human beings, Noah (alayhissalam) and his followers."
He paused for a while and took another sip of tea from his cup again."But there was no pig yet at that time... I should tell you." he said with a smile, glad at the growing curiosity in us. Some of us were surprised at that point. We were wondering then what was the connection of pig and the story of the flood.
"Days went by and the animals, satisfying their biological bodies, needed to eat their foods... And every intake of food would eventually require an extraction of dirt. And there were several kinds of animals present in that ship, all of them had to eat their foods and then defecate."
It was really a problem, I thought. With those animals, from every kind doing that, it'd be really a problem.
"Soon the bad smell in the ship became very awful." He continued with a smile. "Eventually, Noah (alayhissalam) prayed to God to help him in this predicament."
"And God answered his dutiful servant... 'Tap the belly of the elephant.' was the answer to Noah (alayhissalam). Then, by His command, he tapped the belly of the elephant. And the first pig came into being. And the pig started to eat all the impurities of the animals hence cleaning the ship and removed the awful smell from the ship."Islam advises all to eat clean and healthy foods. For if dirty foods are taken, diseases may arise or worse, wa naujubillah, the heart becomes dirty also (attitude of the one who eats becomes animalistic)."
May we always have a close watch at the foods we eat that we may always have a healthy body and a "humanly" attitude.
