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Why Pork and Alcohol Are Forbidden in Islam: What the Quran Says and How Muslims Themselves Explain It

Published: October 9, 2026 / Last updated: October 24, 2026

Category: For visitors

For Muslims, the reason is that God forbade them

You may see hygiene offered as an explanation for why Islam prohibits pork and alcohol, such as pigs sometimes carrying parasites. But when you read explanations by Muslim organizations and researchers, that is not where the discussion begins.

The page from the Japan Muslim Association (JMA) explains that avoiding prohibited things, or haram, demonstrates faith in Allah through action. It adds that Allah did not establish haram to make life difficult for Muslims.

Religious studies scholar Yoshiko Oda’s paper “Food Restrictions in Islam,” published in Doshisha University’s journal Journal of the Interdisciplinary Study of Monotheistic Religions, is more explicit. It mentions attempts to find rational reasons for food prohibitions. But the paper’s position is that, for believers, “because it is in revelation” or “because it is God’s command” is the only correct basis, and no other explanation is needed.

This article reads the relevant passages in the Quran, Islam’s scripture, alongside explanations from Islamic legal institutions and Muslim organizations. We compared two Japanese Quran translations on Quran.com, by Ryoichi Mita and Saeed Sato. We checked all the sources on October 9, 2026.

What the Quran says about pork

The prohibition of pork appears in four places: Quran 2:173, 5:3, 6:145, and 16:115. In all four, pork appears alongside carrion, blood, and offerings dedicated in a name other than Allah’s. Quran 5:3 also adds animals killed by strangling or falling and other cases. Quran 6:145 says that nothing forbidden to eat is found in the revelation except these things. Pork is listed as one of a few exceptions.

Words giving a reason appear in Quran 6:145. Immediately after pork, Mita’s Japanese translation says “it is impure,” while Saeed Sato’s uses the word “impurity.” The original Arabic word is “rijs.” None of the four passages discusses health or hygiene.

The same word, “rijs,” also appears in Quran 5:90, which prohibits alcoholic drinks. Saeed Sato’s Japanese translation describes alcoholic drinks and gambling in this verse as “nothing other than impurity.”

According to the JMA’s page, the pork considered impure includes everything from a pig: extracts from its body, fat, skin, and hair. Things that have touched pigs or pig-derived substances are also considered impure. This view explains why some people are concerned about pork-derived products such as lard (ラード) and gelatin (ゼラチン), as well as griddles or frying oil used for pork. We discuss where pork-derived ingredients may appear in Japanese food in A List of Foods That Are Not Halal: Pork, Alcohol, and Easy-to-Miss Items in Japanese Food.

Alcoholic drinks were prohibited in stages

Several verses address alcoholic drinks differently. In Quran 2:219, a question about alcoholic drinks and gambling receives the answer that they have great sin and some benefit for people, but the sin is greater. Quran 4:43 commands people not to approach prayer while drunk, until they know what they are saying. Then Quran 5:90 describes alcoholic drinks, gambling, idols, and divining arrows as the devil’s work and commands people to avoid them.

Egypt’s Dar Al-Ifta, an institution issuing Islamic legal opinions, or fatwas, explains this as a gradual prohibition. Its 2013 fatwa says drinking was deeply rooted in the Arabian Peninsula before Islam, so prohibition proceeded through four stages. It lists them in this order.

  1. Quran 16:67: intoxicating drinks and good provision are described as coming from dates and grapes, but only the provision is called good.
  2. Quran 4:43: approaching prayer while drunk is prohibited.
  3. Quran 2:219: the harm is shown to be greater than the benefit.
  4. Quran 5:90: a clear prohibition is given.

The fatwa concludes that drinking alcohol is not permitted, even in small amounts.

There is more than one way of counting the stages. In a report from Umar, the second caliph, in the hadith collection Sunan Abi Dawud, the verses are revealed in this order: Quran 2:219, 4:43, and 5:91. Both explanations put Quran 5:90–91 last.

Reasons for prohibiting alcoholic drinks are also stated

For Muslims, alcoholic drinks are also avoided as God’s command. But while pork is described only as “impure,” the text explains what is wrong with alcoholic drinks. According to Quran 5:91, the devil seeks to create hostility and hatred between people through alcoholic drinks and gambling, and to turn them away from remembering Allah and from prayer.

The same Dar Al-Ifta fatwa identifies intoxication of the mind as the main reason for prohibition. In this view, the mind receives divine revelation and legal judgments, and its functioning determines whether a person is held responsible. Oda’s paper also explains that the alcoholic drink envisaged in the Quran is wine, but the reason for prohibition is losing sound judgment through intoxication. Distilled spirits made from other ingredients are therefore included too.

Hadith, which report the Prophet Muhammad’s words and actions, provide rules about quantity. Sahih Muslim contains a report that everything intoxicating is an alcoholic drink, or khamr, and everything intoxicating is forbidden. Sunan Abi Dawud reports that anything that intoxicates in a large amount is also forbidden in a small amount. This is why an offer of “just one sip of beer” may be declined. We explain non-alcoholic drink labeling in A “Non-Alcoholic” Label Does Not Always Mean 0.00%.

Mirin and trace alcohol in soy sauce

What about alcohol used in cooking? The Japan Tourism Agency’s “Hospitality Guide for Vegetarian, Vegan, and Muslim Travelers” says many Muslims do not consume alcoholic drinks and adds that this “includes mirin” (みりんを含む). It is safer to think of mirin (みりん) and cooking sake (料理酒) in the same category as alcoholic drinks.

Views differ over trace alcohol in soy sauce (醤油) or miso (味噌). In another fatwa on foods made with alcohol, such as vanilla extract, Dar Al-Ifta explains that a drink containing enough alcohol to intoxicate is forbidden even in a small amount. However, something containing so little that even a large amount cannot intoxicate is not prohibited. Oda’s paper also says that, on the principle that intoxication is the reason for prohibition, one possible interpretation permits soy sauce and miso if their alcohol does not intoxicate.

The Japan Tourism Agency guide also presents the other side. It notes that some Muslims avoid even trace alcohol in soy sauce and similar foods, and that opinions differ on whether to avoid it.

The guide’s Reference Volume reports a December 2023 survey of 224 Muslims about what they check when eating while traveling in non-Islamic countries. Asked whether they “always check, and do not consume it if they cannot confirm,” 163 people (73%) answered this way for pork and processed pork products, and 116 (52%) for seasonings containing alcohol, such as cooking sake and mirin.

We examine alcohol in Japanese seasonings ingredient by ingredient in Are Soy Sauce, Mirin, Miso, and Vinegar Halal? Checking the Ingredients of Japanese Seasonings for Alcohol.

How hygiene and health explanations are positioned

The Japanese article “Why Is Pork Forbidden in Islam?” on IslamReligion.com, a website introducing Islam from a Muslim perspective, discusses the hygiene explanation mentioned at the start.

The article first says that, for Muslims, the fact that God forbade pork is enough, and that the Quran calls it impure without giving a reason. It then says harmful parasites and pathogens in pork may seem like convincing reasons to avoid it, but these are only secondary reasons. It also says God forbids things harmful to faith, health, happiness, and spiritual well-being. So it does not reject health explanations. Its view that they are not the central basis overlaps with Oda’s paper.

From this perspective, saying “Japanese pork is fine because hygiene is well managed” will not persuade someone. Hygiene is not the basis of the prohibition.

A comparison with Jewish dietary rules

Jewish dietary rules, or kosher, also prohibit eating pork. “Basic Information on Kosher,” published by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), includes pork and pork-derived products such as gelatin and lard among foods ineligible for kosher certification. Alcoholic drinks, however, are among foods that may be eligible.

When there is no other choice, or when pork is eaten unknowingly

All four passages prohibiting pork include exceptions. Quran 2:173, 6:145, and 16:115 say a person compelled to consume it, without deliberately disobeying or exceeding limits, incurs no sin, or that God is forgiving and merciful. Quran 5:3 also ends by saying Allah is forgiving and merciful toward someone driven by hunger without intending to sin.

What if someone eats pork without knowing? In a 2005 answer, IslamWeb, a website answering Islamic legal questions, says someone who eats pork by mistake is not sinful. It cites Quran 33:5. The verse originally concerns how adopted children should be named, but it includes a statement that there is no sin in mistakes and that what matters is what the heart intends. The answer cites that passage.

A 2022 Shafi’i answer on SeekersGuidance also says there is no sin in unknowingly eating pork. In the Shafi’i school, the general rule is to wash impurity from pigs seven times using earth. But this answer says that rule does not apply to the inside of the mouth after eating, and rinsing the mouth is sufficient.

However, IslamWeb’s answer continues. It says that someone living in a country where many foods contain pork should try to eat in places without pork. The fact that unknowingly eating pork is not sinful does not mean those serving food can skip checking.

Knowing the reasons shows what needs attention

For people serving food in Japan, pork and alcoholic drinks call for attention to different points.

Pork is described as impure in the Quran. The JMA explains that this includes extracts from pigs and things that have touched pigs. Removing the meat is not all that matters. Some people also consider ingredients such as lard, gelatin, and pork extract (ポークエキス), and griddles or frying oil shared with pork. We explain how to identify these on ingredient lists in How to Spot Pork and Alcohol on Ingredient Lists, and What the Label Alone Can’t Tell You.

Alcoholic drinks are considered harmful because they intoxicate, so even a small amount is avoided as a drink. The Japan Tourism Agency guide also places mirin in the alcoholic drink category. People differ over trace alcohol in soy sauce or miso: some do not mind it, while others do not consume it.

As the difference between 73% and 52% in the survey shows, how much people check differs both by person and by item.

Oda’s paper also says adherence to halal rules varies greatly by person, with regional differences in drinking. It gives Turkey as an example, describing city restaurants that stock alcoholic drinks and some Muslims enjoying beer. For Japan, it describes some Muslims who say there is no need to worry unless something is clearly pork or drinking alcohol, while others try to maintain the same dietary standards while traveling in Japan as they do at home.

When inviting someone to a meal or serving food, you can ask what they avoid by discussing pork, alcohol, meat slaughter methods, and utensils separately. We give example questions in “Is It Halal?” Is Not Enough: How to Ask When Checking at a Restaurant. For the meaning of halal and how rules differ between countries and regions, see What Is Halal? It Means “Permitted”: The Basics of Halal Food.

In its abstract, Oda’s paper says living alongside Muslims requires respect for people who live religiously, and respect for and acceptance of behavior that differs from Japanese people’s.

Quotes from Japanese sources in this article are our own translations.

Sources

Primary sources

Secondary sources

  • Yoshiko Oda, “Food Restrictions in Islam” (イスラームの食物規範) (in Japanese), Journal of the Interdisciplinary Study of Monotheistic Religions, no. 14, Doshisha University Center for Interdisciplinary Study of Monotheistic Religions, March 2019 (p. 77: abstract; p. 78; pp. 82–83; p. 86), checked on October 9, 2026
    https://doshisha.repo.nii.ac.jp/records/716
  • Aisha Stacey, “Why Is Pork Forbidden in Islam? (Part 1): Obeying God’s Law” (なぜイスラームでは豚肉が禁じられているのか（前半）：神の法に従うという) (in Japanese), IslamReligion.com, March 31, 2014, checked on October 9, 2026
    https://islamreligion.com/jp/article/pdf/2513

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