Ömer Efendi’sSecond QuestionConcerning the Doctor:
The doctor behaves extremely foolishly in this matter, so that to listen to what he says or give it importance is very demeaning. The unfortunate wants to be half way between belief and unbelief. I say the following, in reply not to his trifling words, but to Ömer Efendi’s questioning:
The reason for the injunctions and prohibitions of the Shari‘a are the divine command and divine prohibition. Advantages and instances of wisdom are to give them weight, and may be the reason for the command or prohibition from the point of view of the divine name of All‑Wise.
For example, someone making a journey shortens the five daily prayers. There is a reason for (illet) and a purpose or instance of wisdom in (hikmet) shortening them. The reason is the journey, while the purpose is the difficulty involved. If on a journey and there is no difficulty involved, the prayers are still shortened. If not on a journey, and the person suffers a hundred difficulties in his own house, he may not shorten the prayers. For the difficulty occurring on some journeys is sufficient as the purpose for shortening the prayers, and is again sufficient for making the journey the reason.
Thus, in accordance with this rule of the Shari‘a, the Shari‘a’s injunctions do not change due to purposes or instances of wisdom; they look to the true reasons. Apart from the harm and illness caused by pork, as the doctor said, according to the saying, “The person who eats pork becomes piggish in some ways;” the pig is not harmless like other domestic animals. Its meat causes considerable harm rather than being beneficial. And it has been established medically that its powerful fat is harmful in lands other than Europe, which are powerfully cold, and is thus in fact and in meaning extremely harmful.
Instances of wisdom such as these are purposes for the divine prohibition and for its being forbidden. The wisdom does not have to be present in every instance and all the time. The reason does not change with the purpose and wisdom changing. If the reason does not change, the injunction does not change. From this rule it may be seen just how far from the spirit of the Shari‘a the unfortunate man was when he spoke. No importance should be given to what he said regarding the Shari‘a. The Creator has many animals in the form of unreasoning philosophers!