Short answer
Not pork bacon: bacon, ham, pancetta, prosciutto and most pepperoni come from pigs and are haram. Turkey bacon, beef bacon and beef pepperoni are halal if the meat is zabiha, and plant-based bacon bits are halal if nothing else in them is haram.
Every part of the pig is haram to eat. Bacon-style products made from halal animals slaughtered by zabiha are halal; the word bacon on the pack does not make them haram.
The four schools agree on this.
Explanation
Bacon is cured pork, and the Quran forbids the flesh of swine in four places. The four schools agree that every pork product is haram, whatever it is called. In menus and on labels, watch for:
- bacon, ham, gammon, pancetta, prosciutto, guanciale, lardons and speck
- pepperoni, salami, chorizo and hot dogs, which are often pork or a pork and beef mix unless labelled otherwise
- lard, pork fat, pork gelatin and pork casings on sausages
Bacon-style products from other animals are a different matter. Turkey bacon, beef bacon, beef pepperoni and chicken salami are halal when made from zabiha meat with no pork casing. Many are sold with a halal mark. Without one, they are like any other meat from a non-halal source (see non-halal meat).
Bacon flavour and imitation bacon bits are usually made from soy, smoke flavour and seasoning, with no meat at all, and are halal unless the label shows pork or another haram ingredient. Some contain real bacon, so read it.
Cooking matters too. A breakfast grill that fries bacon and eggs side by side, or a pizza oven with pepperoni on the next pizza, can transfer pork fat. Ask, and wash pans at home that touched pork before using them. If you ate pork by mistake, see what happens if a Muslim eats pork.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-Baqara 2:173
إِنَّمَا حَرَّمَ عَلَيْكُمُ ٱلْمَيْتَةَ وَٱلدَّمَ وَلَحْمَ ٱلْخِنزِيرِ وَمَآ أُهِلَّ بِهِۦ لِغَيْرِ ٱللَّهِ ۖ فَمَنِ ٱضْطُرَّ غَيْرَ بَاغٍۢ وَلَا عَادٍۢ فَلَآ إِثْمَ عَلَيْهِ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَفُورٌۭ رَّحِيمٌ ﴿١٧٣﴾
He has only forbidden to you dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine, and that which has been dedicated to other than Allah. But whoever is forced [by necessity], neither desiring [it] nor transgressing [its limit], there is no sin upon him. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.
Forbids pork in every form.
Sahih al-Bukhari 2236
Sahih... إن الله ورسوله حرم بيع الخمر والميتة والخنزير والأصنام ...
"Allah and His Messenger have forbidden the sale of wine, carrion, pigs and idols."
The pig is so forbidden that even trading in it is unlawful.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Taharah, chapter on impurities. The pig is impure in itself, every part of it.
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Dhaba'ih, on what may and may not be eaten. Pork is not made lawful by slaughter.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.