The Philosophy of the Teachings of Islam — Page 45
39 in Hindi this animal is called Su'ar, which is a compound of Su' and Arā. This also means: I see it very foul. It should not be a matter of surprise that the Arabic word Su' should have found its way into Hindi. We have established in our book Minanur-Raḥmān, that Arabic is the mother of all languages and that many Arabic words are to be found in all languages. Thus Sū' is an Arabic word and its equivalent in Hindi is bad. This animal is also called bad in Hindi. There is no doubt that at the time when Arabic was the universal language this animal was known in this country by an Arabic name which was synonymous with Khinzir, and so it has continued to this day. It is possible that in Sanskrit this word might have undergone some transformation, but the true word is Khinzir which proclaims its own meaning. It is not necessary to enter into a detailed exposition of the foulness of this animal. Everyone knows that it eats filth and is utterly shameless. Thus the reason for the prohibition of its flesh is obvious, as by the law of nature its flesh would have a foul effect on the body and the soul of one who eats it. As we have already demonstrated food affects a person's soul and there can be no doubt that the flesh of such a foul animal would also be foul. Even in pre-Islamic times, Greek physicians had opined that the flesh of this animal particularly damages the faculty of modesty and