Firstly, I am a revert so my parents are not Muslim they are Catholic. I want to know the ruling on buying pork for my elderly parents when asked? I politely refused to do it and bought the other shopping she requested. But , she asked "why wouldn't you do this for your elderly mother?". It felt wrong to buy the pork but I also feel guilt not helping my mother. Was it the right thing not to buy it ? what is the ruling? This situation can easily happen again and I want to know how to explain and answer them if I shouldn't by the pork for them.

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

First of all, we praise Allah, The Exalted, for blessing you with guidance, and we ask Him to make you steadfast on His religion and perfect His Blessing upon you by guiding your parents to Islam.

There is no doubt that fulfilling parents’ requests is required by the Sharee‘ah, and it is among the manifestations of dutifulness towards them. However, it is impermissible for you to buy them pork because this is considered explicit cooperation in sin. The consumption of pork is forbidden, as it is well-known, and it is impermissible for Muslims to sell or buy it. It was narrated on the authority of Jaabir ibn ‘Abdullaah that he heard the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, say during the year of the Conquest, while he was in Makkah: “Allah and His Messenger have forbidden the sale of intoxicants, dead animals, and swine.” [Al-Bukhaari and Muslim]

Ibn Al-Munthir said in Al-Awsat: “The Hadeeth of Jaabir serves as evidence that whatever the Prophet prohibited, then its use, purchase, and sale are prohibited as well.” [End of quote]

Allah, The Exalted, Says (what means): {And cooperate in righteousness and piety, but do not cooperate in sin and aggression. And fear Allah; indeed, Allah is severe in penalty.} [Quran 5:2]

It is impermissible for a child to obey his parents in what constitutes disobedience to Allah, The Exalted. Therefore, it is impermissible for you, dear sister, to buy pork for them. You can seize this opportunity to invite them to Islam and prove to them that it is the true religion of Allah by informing them of this Islamic legislation of forbidding the consumption of pork, since modern scientific studies prove that the consumption of pork is harmful to humans. Through calm dialogue and good presentation, they will understand, Allah willing, the reasons for your refusal to buy them pork.

For more benefit on the reasons for pork being forbidden in Islam, please refer to Fataawa 84244, 84797, 81392 and 82887.

Also, for more benefit on the evidence that Islam is the true religion, please refer to Fataawa 86091, 102075, 16595, 88906, 88051, 173389, 85234, 81979 and 9263.

Allah Knows best.