Question: Why is eating pork haram for everyone, but silk and gold only for men?
ANSWER
If Islam has made something haram, we must believe in its being haram, even if we do not know the reason behind the prohibition. It is not iman (faith) to believe in what Muhammad (‘alaihis-salam), as a prophet, declared as it is logical or experimental because then it is considered confirmation of the mind. We should not think that there is certainly something harmful in it for the body if something is haram.

Pigs are very dirty animals that eat all kinds of feces. Today, even Jews do not eat pig meat as it is prohibited in the Torah. Modern medicine demonstrates that the most harmful and disease-transmitting meat for humans is pig meat. Scientific evidence reveals that those who eat pork has various diseases [such as cholecystitis, appendicitis, colitis, boils, arteriosclerosis, rheumatism, influenza, hypertension, angina, and infarction].  It has been revealed that the growth hormone in pork causes cancer. There is no cure even today for trichinellosis acquired by consuming pork.

Pork tapeworm gets into bloodstream by way of gastrointestinal tract and causes serious negative effects, even death, on critical organs, such as eyes and brain.

It is demonstrated that the feeling of jealousy weakens in pork eaters and that they are not jealous of their spouses. Pig fat depletes vitamin E all of a sudden. Lack of vitamin E causes infertility and eliminates love. It brings about infertility in men and miscarriages in women. Vitamin E prevents bitter taste in oils.
Vitamin A cannot prevent bitter taste in the absence of vitamin E. It has been proven that pig meat and lard change one’s character traits.

Pig meat does not have any superiority over other meats. On the contrary, it is difficult to digest it, and it is low in protein.

Even if any other harmful effects of pig meat are found, it cannot be claimed that pig meat was surely prohibited because of a certain reason.
Likewise, it is necessary to approach the prohibition of silk and gold for men from this point of view.

Question: What is the ruling on saying the Basmala before eating pork?
ANSWER
The following is a few quotations from Zawajir by Ibn Hajar-i Makki and other books which explain words and deeds that cause disbelief (kufr):

• It causes disbelief to mention the Basmala before eating or drinking something that is definitely known to be haram. For example, it is disbelief to say the Basmala before drinking wine or eating pork.
• It causes disbelief to like the rites and feasts of disbelievers, e.g., congratulating a Christian on Christmas or painting eggs on Nowruz.
• Saying halal for a well-known haram or saying haram for a well-known halal. For example, saying that lard is halal or grape juice is haram.

Question: Cat foods may contain pork. Is it sinful for a cat to eat it?
ANSWER
There is no sin on an animal for anything. The giver of that food is not sinful, either. However, it is better to prefer pork-free foods.

Question: Egyptian Rashad Khalifa, who was so deviant as to claim that he was a prophet and founded a corrupt religion, said, “Pork is haram but lard is halal because it is stated in the Qur’an that only the meat of the pig is haram and there is no mention of lard or its other body parts.” Is it possible that pig meat is haram but its lard or bowels or feces are halal?
ANSWER
Certainly, they are not halal. Islamic scholars say, “A heretic [ahl al-bid’ah] cannot understand the Qur’an al-karim].” The Qur’an al-karim is like a constitution. The constitution is explained by laws. Qur’anic verses and hadith-i sharifs are generally stated without laying down any conditions, which means that there are some conditions regarding the matter mentioned. For example, it is stated in the Qur’an al-karim, “Blood is haram.” It cannot be inferred from this statement that any blood is haram. Our Master the Messenger of Allah said that flowing blood was haram. He explained that the blood in the liver or spleen, which is a store for blood, was not haram. The blood in meats is not haram, either. It is also stated in the same verse that an animal killed by another animal cannot be eaten. Our Master the Prophet detailed its conditions:

(When you set off a trained retriever for hunting having recited the name of Allah, then eat the game, even if it has killed the game that it caught for you. However, if the retriever has eaten the game it hunted, then it is not eaten because it has caught the game for itself.) [Bukhari]

Scholars of fiqh explained this hadith-i sharif:
If a trained hound kills a rabbit and brings it, check it. If it has killed it for itself, that is, if it has eaten some of it, it is not edible. If it has brought it without touching it, it can be eaten. Therefore, cooked meat is given to hounds so that they are not used to eating the rabbits they catch. How could we infer this information from Qur’anic verses and hadith-i sharifs? 

Similarly, it is stated in a verse that an animal that has died without being properly slaughtered is inedible. Our Master the Prophet declared the exception:
(You are allowed two maytah[dead animal] and two bloods. Two maytah are fish and grasshoppers. Two bloods are liver and spleen.) [Ibn Majah]

If our Master the Prophet had not explained the matter and if we had not learnt the truth from ilm-i hal books, we could not eat fish now. If he had not cleared up the matter of blood, we could not eat spleen. Even today there are people who cannot understand the verse and consider it haram to eat spleen.

Rashad Khalifa was the archetypal heretic. It was in no way possible for him to understand the Qur’an al-karim, an obvious example of which is his claim that what is haram is only the meat of the pig. That is, he could deem the feces of the pig to be halal. There are so many zindıq who say that the meat of the dog is edible because its impermissibility is not mentioned in the Qur’an al-karim. Why did Allahu ta’ala send our Master the Prophet? If he had not explained the fact that the meat of a dog was haram, how could we know it now? We would eat any insect we came across like the Chinese. Then we should act upon ilm-i hal books, which are the explanations of Qur’anic verses and hadith-i sharifs.