Thursday, June 25, 2020

Blood forbidden, or only the blood poured forth

AK wrote:
... 1. The Quran repeatedly prohibits the consumption of blood.  Now, think of the mince and meat you bring home to eat. Just place them in some water in a pot. The water will go red. Isn't that blood? What about cooking and eating those delicious items still containing blood? ...

My Answer:

Salam alaikum 

1) Is the consumption of blood forbidden, or only the blood poured forth when an animal is slaughtered? 

Holy Quran 6:145
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قُل لَّا أَجِدُ فِي مَا أُوحِيَ إِلَيَّ مُحَرَّمًا عَلَىٰ طَاعِمٍ يَطْعَمُهُ إِلَّا أَن يَكُونَ مَيْتَةً أَوْ دَمًا مَّسْفُوحًا أَوْ لَحْمَ خِنزِيرٍ فَإِنَّهُ رِجْسٌ أَوْ فِسْقًا أُهِلَّ لِغَيْرِ اللَّهِ بِهِ ۚ فَمَنِ اضْطُرَّ غَيْرَ بَاغٍ وَلَا عَادٍ فَإِنَّ رَبَّكَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ

Say, "I do not find within that which was revealed to me [anything] forbidden to one who would eat it unless it be a dead animal or blood spilled out or the flesh of swine - for indeed, it is impure - or it be [that slaughtered in] disobedience, dedicated to other than Allah. But whoever is forced [by necessity], neither desiring [it] nor transgressing [its limit], then indeed, your Lord is Forgiving and Merciful." 

2) as a doctor, and as a Muslim, if consumption of blood is forbidden, what is your view regarding blood transfusions? Does it come under the umbrella of: forced [by necessity] ? 



AK responded: 
Thank you for the valid comment. The Quran has a unique style of rephrasing, restating, and rearranging a statement in many different ways. This is Tasreef (تصریف eg. in 6: 46; 6: 49;  6: 65; & 6: 105. A rule or a concept may be stated in general terms in more than one place, and then restated in some other verse in a different way to clarify the meaning. The general ban on carrion, blood, swine flesh, and offerings in the name of someone (or something) other than Allah is stated several times. The issue of blood is specifically clarified in the verse that you have quoted. 

We use so many words that are derived from the same Triliteral Root (ثلا ثی مجرد = ص - ر - ف in so many different senses, eg صارفین '  مصروف '  صرف و نحو and some more. 

Thank you for your prompt response which is just what I had in mind. The red material that imparts the bright red color to the water or the cloth in which you may wrap your mince is mostly, if not entirely, the color of hemoglobin in the red cells of the blood. It will be virtually impossible to completely remove the blood from a kilogram of mince or meat even if we centrifuge it for an hour. The heart chambers, the blood sinuses in the liver, and the vascular bed of the "myoglobinless" brain shall always have some red blood cells.  Fiamaan-i-Allah