Islamic Center of Southern California

The Arguments of Islamic Law Rulings on Recent Medical Issues

Topic Thirty Three

Forbidden and Unclean Ingredients Used in the Food and Pharmaceutical Industries

Definition and Categorization

One of the regretted facts of this age is that Arab and Islamic countries are dependent in their food and medications on imports from non-Islamic countries. Another well-known fact is the constant growth of Islamic communities in non-Islamic countries, which fail to observe even the minimum requirements of Islamic food and pharmaceuticals.

At present, chemistry has become an integral element in the food and pharmaceutical industries, and even in manufacturing clothes and in housing. Genetic engineering has managed to increase the production of protein and fatty materials by mammals. It is unfortunate that pigs are the only animals that have given positive results in experimentation in the form of a great increase in weight. European countries now have great supplies of swine fat, which is processed and turned into preservative, artificial flavors, and other ingredients.

In addition, there are many other ways of introducing unclean and forbidden ingredients in food and pharmaceuticals.

The IOMS has divided this topic into two parts, as follows:

The first part is the addition of unclean and forbidden ingredients to food and drugs without transformation or assimilation.

Definition

Transformation (istihaalah in Arabic) means alteration, and scholars of Islamic Jurisprudence (fiqh) use this term to refer to a change in the essence of something, turning its form into another, different form, so that it stops being what it is and turns into something else.

Scholars may use the term "assimilation" instead of "transformation," because some forms of transformation are actually cases of absorption of something by something else, so that the former material is assimilated into the latter.

The Legal Position Chosen by the IOMS and Its Argument

The IOMS chose three themes in determining the ruling of such additions of unclean and forbidden ingredients, without transformation or assimilation, to food and drugs. These themes are as follows.

The first theme is establishing a general principle that explains the aspects of avoiding transgression in Islamic Law.

The recommendations of the eighth seminar, reaffirmed at the tenth, include the following:

Every Muslim must observe the rulings of Islamic Law, particularly those relating to food and drugs. By doing so, he guarantees for himself wholesome food, drink, and medicine. It is out of the mercy that God extends to His creatures and of His way to make things easier for those who follow His Law that He takes cases of essential and necessary needs into consideration. Such cases are covered by legal principles, such as "necessity recognizes no prohibition," and "an urgent need, when recognized, is regarded as an absolute necessity." Another principle is that basically a thing is permissible, unless there is recognized evidence that it is prohibited, and it is basically clean, unless there is recognized evidence that it is unclean. In Islamic Law, the prohibition of eating or drinking something does not necessarily imply that it is unclean.

The second theme is pointing out the ruling on adding alcohol, wine, or pig fat without transformation or assimilation.

In dealing with this theme, the IOMS chose to give the ruling for every case separately, rather than to give a general regulation for all of them. The following is an account of the various forms and the choices of the IOMS.

First: Using Alcohol as Skin Disinfectant and Adding It to Perfumes and Creams

The recommendations of the eighth seminar, reaffirmed at the tenth, include the following:

In Islamic Law, on the basis of what has already been stated that originally things are clean, alcohol is not an unclean substance, whether it is pure or diluted in water. In stating this, the argument that the uncleanness of wine and all intoxicants is abstract rather than material.

Therefore, there is nothing in Islamic Law against using alcohol as a disinfectant for the skin, cuts and wounds, and tools, and as an antiseptic; against using perfumed liquids (eau de cologne) in which alcohol is used as a solvent for volatile elements; or against creams in which alcohol is an ingredient. This does not apply to wine, because it is forbidden to make any use of it.

Second: Using Alcohol in Making Pharmaceuticals

The recommendations of the eighth seminar, reaffirmed at the tenth, include the following:

As alcohol is an intoxicant, it is forbidden to drink it. Until the ambition of Muslims to manufacture drugs in which alcohol is not an ingredient, particularly medications for children and pregnant women, is realized, there is no legal objection to take the pharmaceuticals that are manufactured at present and have, in its ingredients, a small percentage of alcohol as a preservative or a solvent for some pharmaceutical ingredients that do not solve in water, as long as alcohol does not function in these drugs as a tranquilizer. This applies when no alternative for such medicines is available.

Third: Food Items That Have a Percentage of Alcoholic Drinks

The recommendations of the eighth seminar, reaffirmed at the tenth, include the following:

It is unlawful to use food items that contain alcoholic ingredients, regardless of how small their percentage is. This applies in particular to food items common in the West, like some chocolates, ice creams, and soft drinks. This rule is based on the basic principle in Islamic Law that it is forbidden to take even a little of a material that intoxicates when taken in a large quantity, and also on the absence of any legal justification to make an exception and allow such food items.

Fourth: Food Items That Use a Small Percentage of Alcohol to Solve Artificial Colors and Preservatives

The eighth seminar made the following recommendation, which was reaffirmed at the tenth:

It is permissible to partake of food items that use a small percentage of alcohol to solve some ingredients that do not solve in water, such as artificial colors and preservatives, because the practice is too wide spread and most of the alcohol evaporates in the food-manufacturing process.

Fifth: Food Items That Contain Pig Fat without a Transformation of Its Essence

The eighth seminar made the following recommendation, reaffirmed at the tenth:

Food items that contain pig fat without a transformation of its essence - such as certain cheeses, and some kinds of oil, lard, ghee, butter, biscuits, chocolate, and ice cream - are categorically forbidden and should never be eaten. Learned scholars are unanimous in considering pigs as unclean and their meat as forbidden. On the other hand no necessity calls for eating such items.

Sixth: Medications That Contain Pig Fat without a Transformation of Its Essence

The recommendations of the eighth seminar, reaffirmed at the tenth, include the following: "Pig-derived insulin is permissible as a treatment for diabetic patients, subject to the legal controls of necessity."

Moreover, a recommendation of the tenth seminar says, "Using heart valves that are taken from pigs are legally permissible, due to necessity."

The third theme is pointing out the ruling on narcotics and relaxants.

The IOMS is of the opinion that narcotics and relaxants, being of clean essence, are forbidden except when used for purposes of treatment. A recommendation of the eighth seminar says:

Narcotics are forbidden and can be used only for indispensable medical treatment and only in the dosages prescribed by physicians. The essence of narcotics is clean. It is all right to use nutmeg to enhance the flavor of food in small quantities that cause neither muscle relaxations nor narcotization.

The seminar recommends that a special seminar on smoking should be organized, because of its threats to society.

The second part is the addition of unclean and forbidden ingredients in food and drugs resulting in their transformation or assimilation.

The IOMS ruled that it was permissible to consume food items and drugs to which were added unclean and forbidden ingredients that transformed or were assimilated in the manufacturing process. This ruling was made at the eighth seminar, and it was later elaborated at the tenth. A recommendation of the eighth seminar says:

Transformation means the conversion of one essence into another, different in characteristics, thus transforming unclean or tarnished matters into clean ones, and legally forbidden matters into acceptable ones.

Consequently:

A. Gelatin - which is made from the transformation of the bones, skin, and ligaments of unclean animals - is pure and eating it is permissible.

B. The soap that is produced through the transformation of pig fat or the fat of dead animals becomes pure through that transformation and using it is permissible.

C. The cheese formed by using the rennet of a dead animal whose meat is legally eatable is clean and may be eaten.

D. Ointments, creams, and cosmetics which have pig fat as an ingredient are unclean, and it is unlawful to use them unless it is established that the fat is transformed and its essence converted.

The seminar reaffirms all the stipulations in the second article of the recommendations of the eighth seminar, which relate to unclean and forbidden ingredients in food and drugs. Adding to the subjects studied in that seminar, this one has considered the medical and jurisprudence (fiqh) aspects relevant to this question and concludes that ingredients added to food and drugs which are of unclean or forbidden origin convert into legally permissible substances in one of two ways:

A. Transformation

In jurisprudence (fiqh) terminology, transformation means the change in the nature of an unclean matter or a matter which is forbidden to eat or drink, and the conversion of its essence into another matter, different in name and characteristics. This is expressed in common scientific terms as the chemical reaction that changes a substance into a different compound, like the conversion of oils and fats of various origins into soap, and as the breakdown of a substance into its various components, such as the decomposition of oils and fats into fatty acids and glycerin. As a chemical reaction takes place when it is intentionally arranged through technical and scientific procedures, it also takes place in an unperceived manner, in ways cited by jurisprudence (fiqh) scholars, such as acetification, tanning, and burning.

Based on the above, when a compound ingredient of forbidden or unclean animal origin is transformed, as explained above, it is regarded as clean and taking it in food and medications is permissible.

It is forbidden to use in food or drugs chemical compounds produced from unclean or forbidden origins, such as shed blood and sewage water, which has not been transformed in the sense explained above. Examples of those are food items to which shed blood is added, such as blood-stuffed sausages, blood-containing gruels (black puddings) and hamburger, baby foods with blood ingredients, blood-containing dough and soups, and similar things. All these are unclean food items and eating them is forbidden, since the shed blood they contain is not transformed.

Meanwhile, blood plasma - which is an inexpensive alternative for egg white and is added to flour and used in making pies, soup, sausages, hamburger, various kinds of dough as rusk and biscuit, gruels (puddings), bread, dairy products, and children medicines and food - is regarded by the seminar as a substance different from blood in name and characteristics, and therefore the ruling on blood does not apply to it. Some participants, however, have a different opinion.

B. Assimilation

Assimilation takes place when a forbidden or unclean substance mixes with a clean and permissible one, and the latter is dominant. The mixture is no longer unclean or forbidden if the minor ingredient loses its characteristics - which include taste, color, and smell - and is assimilated in the dominant ingredient. The same ruling that applies to the dominant ingredient applies to the mixture. Examples are

1. Added ingredients that are solved in alcohol may be used in very small amounts in food items and drugs, such as artificial color, preservatives, emulsions, and anti-rancidity agents.

2. Lecithin and cholesterol extracted from unclean sources without their being transformed may be used in food items and drugs in very small quantities that are assimilated in mixtures where a clean, permissible substance is dominant.

3. Used in small quantities, pig-originated enzymes, such as pepsin and all other digestive and similar enzymes, are assimilated in the food item or drug which is the dominant ingredient.

The seminar holds the opinion that:

1. In consideration of the purposes and ends of actions, solvents, carrier substances, and the propellants of active substances in pressure containers are legally permissible when used for a legitimate purpose or benefit. However, when they are inhaled for their narcotic or hallucinating effect, they are legally prohibited.

2. There is no objection in Islamic Law to gold being used for medical treatment of male patients in the field of prosthodontics, such as in crowns, braces, and the like. If such gold, however, is used only as an adornment, the ruling on gold being worn by men applies to it. This means that it is legally forbidden.

3. Originally, Islamic Law forbids men to wear natural silk materials. An exception is made when such a material is worn for therapeutic purposes, such as in the case of allergy, scabies, itching, and similar conditions, in which case it is permissible.

4. Using heart valves that are taken from pigs is legally permissible, due to necessity. Islamic Center of Southern California