Indexed OCR Text

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Surah Al-Ma'idah : 5 : 3
Qur'anic statement: 32'$ (This is sin) which follows immediately af-
ter this injunction means that this method of divination or determin-
ing of shares is an act of sin which leads people astray. After that, it
was said:
اَلْيَوْمَ يَئِسَ الَّذِيْنَ كَفَرُوا مِنْ دِيْنِكُمْ فَلاَ تَخْشَوْهُمْ وَاخْشَوْنٍ
Today those who disbelieve have lost hopes of (damaging)
your faith. So do not fear them, and fear Me.
This verse was revealed to the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم on the
day of 'Arafah of the Last Hajj in the tenth year of Hijrah. This was a
time when the conquest of Makkah and almost of all Arabia was com-
plete. Islamic law prevailed all over the Peninsula. Thereupon, refer-
ence was made to the assessment of disbelievers that Muslims were
much lower in number as against them and that they were weak too
based on which they planned to eliminate them. Now that they do not
have those ambitions any more nor do they have the power to pose a
challenge, Muslims have been asked to feel secure against them and
go on to spend their energy in obeying and worshipping their Lord:
اَلْيَوْمَ اكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِيْنَكُمْ وَاَتْمْتُ عَلَيْكُمُ نِعْمَتِىٌ وَرَضِيْتُ لَكُمُ الْإِسْلَامَ دِيْناً
Today, I have perfected your religion for you, and have com-
pleted My blessing upon you, and chosen Islam as Din for you.
The combination of circumstances in which this verse was revealed
is special. Imagine. This is the day of 'Arafah, the foremost day out of
the days of the entire year and by chance this 'Arafah fell on a
Jumu'ah (Friday) the merits of which are well-known. The place is
nothing less than the plain of 'Arafat, close to the Mount of Mercy (Jabl
ar-Rahmah) which, on the day of 'Arafah, is the chosen spot of the in-
cessant descent of Mercy from Allah Almighty. The time is after "'Aşr,
which is a blessed time even during normal days, specially so on Fri-
day wherein comes the hour when prayers are answered as confirmed
by many authentic reports and this is the time for it. Then, this being
the day of 'Arafah as well, it is all the more likely that prayers shall be
answered particularly at this hour and time.
This is the largest and the first great gathering of Muslims for
their Hajj. Participating in it are some one hundred and fifty thou-
sand noble Sahabah, the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them

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Surah Al-Ma'idah : 5:3
all. And present with his Companions is the Holy Prophet & who is
the very mercy of all universes sitting on his mount, the she-camel
'Adba' under the legendary Mount of Mercy busy with his Wuquf in
'Arafat, now a great basic rite of Hajj.
It is under the canopy of these blissful merits and blessings and
mercies that this verse is being revealed to the Holy Prophet . Spot
witnesses to this spectacle, the noble Companions said: When this
verse came in the mode of Wahy (revelation) to the Holy Prophet
what happened was what had transpired earlier too: The weight re-
leased by the descending Revelation could be perceived as the she-
camel was crouching under that weight, so much so that she was com-
pelled to sit down.
Sayyidna Ibn 'Abbas Le dil », says that this verse is almost the last
verse of the Holy Qur'an; no verse dealing with Ahkam (Injunctions)
was revealed after that. The only exception here is that of some verses
of persuasive nature which have been identified as having been re-
vealed after this verse. After the revelation of this verse, the Holy
Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم lived in this mortal world for only eighty one
days, for this verse was revealed on the ninth day of Dhil-Hijjah in the
Hijrah year 10 and it was on the twelfth day of the month of Rabi' al-
Awwal in the eleventh year of Hijrah that the Holy Prophet u depart-
ed from this mortal world.
That this verse was revealed in such elegant setting with a very
special concern has its secret in the message it conveys which is a
great news, a solemn reward and an abiding hallmark of distinction
for Islam and Muslims and for the Ummah at large. In a nutshell, the
message is that the ultimate standard of True Faith and Divine Bless-
ing which was to be bequeathed to human beings in this world has
reached its perfection on that great day. This is, so to say, the climax
of the divine blessings in the shape of a True Faith which began with
Sayyidna Adam WILL and continued in later times when the chil-
dren of Adam in every period and every area kept receiving a part of
this blessing in proportion to their prevailing conditions. Today, that
Faith and that Blessing in its final form has been bestowed upon the
Last of the Prophets, the Rasul of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم and to his
Ummah.

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Surah Al-Ma'idah : 5 : 3
It goes without saying that this bestowal primarily highlights the
excellence and distinction of the last and the foremost Prophet,
Sayyidna Muhammad al-Mustafa صلى الله عليه وسلم among the community
of prophets, messengers and apostles. But, it also proves that the
Ummah has a distinct status among other Traditional Communities.
This is why some Jewish scholars came to Sayyidna 'Umar and told
him: Your Qur'an has a verse which, if it was revealed to Jews, would
have given them an occasion to celebrate its revelation through a festi-
val. Sayyidna 'Umar asked: Which verse is that? They, in response,
recited this very verse (kingi). Sayyidna 'Umar said: Yes, we
know where and when this verse was revealed. The hint was that the
particular day was a day of doubled rejoicing (Eid) for Muslims, one for
'Arafah and the other for Jumu'ah (Friday).
The Islamic Principle of Celebrating Festive Occasions
This reply given by Sayyidna 'Umar also carries a hint towards a
cardinal Islamic principle which, of all peoples and religions of the
world, is the hallmark of Islam alone. It is common knowledge that
peoples from every nation and every religious group commemorate
their particular historical events conditioned by their respective self-
view. Such days which return each year acquire the status of a major
festival with them.
Somewhere the celebration is about the birth or death anniversary
of a great person. Elsewhere, it would be a day of coronation, or the
day of the conquest of some country or city, or some acclaimed histori-
cal event. The net outcome of all such celebrations is no more than in-
creasing the image of particular individuals. Islam is against the cult
of personality. It has bypassed the customs of the age of ignorance by
eliminating the commemoration of persons and by introducing the
commemoration of principles and objectives as standard practice.
Sayyidna Ibrahim, WJI ule, the patriarch of prophets, was given the
title of "Friend of Allah." The Holy Qur'an paid tributes to him on his
success against trials. The verse : ◌َّوَإِذِ ابْتَكُىَ إِبْرِهِمَ رَبُّهُ بِكَلِمْتٍ فَاتَهُن (and when his
Lord put Ibrahim to a test with certain Words! And he fulfilled them)
(2:124) means exactly this. But, no anniversary of his birth or death
was ever celebrated, nor that of his son, Isma'il WUJI ue , nor that of his
mother, nor any kind of memorial was established to perpetuate their

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memory.
Of course, there were things of significance in their deeds, things
related to the objectives of religion and faith. This legacy was worth
the best of preservation and commemoration and this legacy was not
only preserved but made mandatory for all succeeding generations as
an obligatory part of their religion and faith. Sacrifice. Circumcision.
Running between the hills of Safa and Marwah. Throwing pebbles at
three places in Mina. All these are living, ever-reminding monuments
to the deeds of the same righteous elders which they performed by sac-
rificing their personal desires and natural needs aiming for nothing
but the pleasure of Allah Almighty. Right there, in these deeds, there
is a lesson for all peoples of all times that human beings should sacri-
fice everything, even the dearest of the dear, for the good pleasure of
Allah.
So, this was how Islam abstained from celebrating days devoted to
the birth and death of prominent men, or women, no matter how
great, or the days highlighting their personal lives and times. Cele-
brated instead, were days centered around their deeds, specially those
pertaining to some particular act of worship, for example, Laylatul-
Bara'ah (the Night of Deliverance from Sin), Ramadan al-Mubarak
(the Blessed Month of Ramadan), Laylatul-Qadr (the Night of Power),
Yowm al-'Arafah (the Day of 'Arafah), Yowm al-'Ashura (the Day of
'Ashura) etc. As for 'Id, the well-known Muslim Festival of Rejoicing, it
was limited to only two and that too was made purely religious in na-
ture. The first 'Id ('Idul-Fitr) was set in between at the end of the
month of Ramadan al-Mubarak and at the begining of the Hajj months
while the second 'Id ('Idul-Adha) was appointed to be celebrated after
the completion of the Hajj pilgrimage.
To sum up, let us return to the reply given by Sayyidna 'Umar
which so succinctly declared that 'Ids in Islam do not follow historical
events as among Jews and Christians. This was the custom of Jahi-
liyyah, the first age of ignorance when the passing of some major his-
torical event would be turned into a festival. Now, as witnesses to the
modern Age of Ignorance, we can see how wide-spread this urge to cel-
ebrate has become. The limit is that Muslims themselves have started
imitating other nations indulging in practices contrary to their way.

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Surah Al-Ma'idah : 5 : 3
Christians started celebrating a Festival commemorating the birth
of Sayyidna 'Isa, WJIul. With their example before them, some Mus-
lims introduced another 'Id, the Festival of the birth of the Holy Proph-
et, may peace be upon him, and the blessings of Allah. Devoting a day
to take out processions on streets with activities neither reasonable
nor valid and filling a night with displays of lamps and lights, they
took this to be an act of worship. For this there is no basic justification
in the words and deeds of the Sahabah, the noble Companions, or the
Tabi'in, the Successors to the Companions, or the large body of the
righteous elders of the Muslim Community.
The truth of the matter is that this practice of celebrating days
would pass with nations which lack individuals with superior merits
and achievements. When lucky, they would find a couple or few suita-
ble enough with a record of something special they may have done and
commemorating them would become a matter of national pride for
them.
If this custom of celebrating days were to be practiced in Islam, we
would have to begin with more than one hundred and twenty thou-
sand prophets each of whom has a big roster of wonderful achieve-
ments to his credit. Celebrating the birthday of and commemorating
the achievements of each would be very much in order. After past
prophets, peace be upon them, let us move to the Last of them and
look at his pure and pristine life. When you do that there would not
remain even one day which could turn out to be devoid of one or the
other achievement which deserves to be celebrated. From his child-
hood to his youth, he was an epitome of moral perfections (or a para-
digm of virtues, as termed by some modern Muslim writers in the
West) whereby he was considered the most trustworthy person in the
whole country of 'Arabia. Are these embellishments not worthy
enough for Muslims to celebrate? Then, there is the Revelation of the
Holy Qur'an, the event of Hijrah, the Battle of Badr, and Uhud, and
Khandaq, and Hunayn, and Tabuk, and the Conquest of Makkah. Add
to these all other battles in which the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم par-
ticipated. Each deserves a celebration. Similarly, there are thousands
of his miracles; each one of them needs commemoration. One needs in-
sight to look at the life of the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم which would

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Surah Al-Ma'idah : 5 : 3
bring an honest person to come to the conclusion that his good life -
not just a day from it, rather every hour in it - is most worthy of being
commemorated, celebrated and rejoiced in.
After the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, think of some one hundred
and twenty thousand of his noble Companions each one of whom is
really a living miracle of their master. Would it not be unjust to ig-
nore them and avoid celebrating their achievements? If we pursue
this practice still further on, we shall be looking at those who followed
after the noble Companions - righteous elders, men of Allah, scholars,
masters and guides - whose number would shoot up to millions. If com-
memorative days have to be celebrated, how could one leave them out?
Would it not be an injustice to them? Or, a failure to recognize intellec-
tual merit or spiritual excellence? And if, left with not much choice,
Muslims were to decide to celebrate memorial days for everyone, they
would have a calendar of activities all full of celebrations with no day
free - in fact, they would have to celebrate several commemorations,
festivals and 'Ids every hour of every day!
No wonder the Prophet of Islam and all his Companions ignored
this custom as outmoded pagan practice from the days of Jahiliyyah!
Sayyidna 'Umar, the second Khalifah of Islam, may Allah be pleased
with him, alludes to this very approach in his policy statement made
before the Jews.
Understanding Important Meanings of the Verse
This Verse carries the good news that Allah has given to the noble
Prophet and his Community three rewards: Perfection of Faith, Com-
pletion of Divine Blessing and the Shari'ah of Islam as the Chosen
Way for the Muslim Community.
1. Sayyidna 'Abdullah ibn 'Abbas, and others with him, explain
that Perfection of Faith refers to the perfection of all limits, obliga-
tions, injunctions and refinements in personal and social behaviour as
necessary for the True Faith. Now there is no need to add to it, nor
there remains any probability of a shortfall (Ruh al-Ma'ani). For this rea-
son, no new injunction from among the total corpus of injunctions was
revealed after this. As already pointed out earlier, the few verses
which were revealed later on carry either some subjects of persuasion
or were a reiteration of injunctions already revealed.

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Surah Al-Ma'idah : 5 : 3
What has been said here is not contrary to the function of the
most-authentically qualified jurists of Islam (Mujtahid Imams
through which they could explicate and elaborate injunctions of the
Shari'ah related to new and unprecedented events and circumstances
as based on their highest possible effort and judgement (Ijtihad). The
reason is simple - because the Holy Qur'an which has laid down the
limits and obligations of religious injunctions has also, at the same
time, determined the principles of Ijtihad. Pursuant to this authority,
all rules and regulations deduced by Ijtihad right through the Last
Day will be considered as if they are, in a way, the very injunctions of
the Qur'an itself - because they are subordinate to the principles given
by the Qur'an.
To sum up, we can say that 'Perfection of Faith', as explained by
Sayyidna 'Abdullah ibn 'Abbas, is the perfection of all injunctions of
the Faith. It needs no addition, while the probability of any shortfall
through abrogation just does not exist - because, soon after, the ongo-
ing process of Wahy (revelation) was to be discontinued following the
passing away of the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم from this mortal world;
and no injunction of the Holy Qur'an can be abrogated without a Di-
vine revelation (Wahy). As for the apparent multiplicity of sub-
injunctions that generated from jurists under the principle of Ijtihad
was, in reality, no multiplicity as such. It was, rather, the explication
and elaboration of the Qur'anic injunctions.
-
2. 'Completion of Blessing' means the rise of Muslims and the fall
of their antagonists - which was manifested through the Conquest of
Makkah, the eradication of the customs of Jahiliyyah and through the
absence of all disbelievers from the Hajj that year.
The words of the Qur'an used here show that 'Ikmal' (perfection)
has been coupled with 'Din' (Faith) while the word 'Itmam'
(Completion) goes with 'Ni'mah' (blessing) - though both words are ob-
viously synonymous and are generally used interchangeably. But, in
fact, there is a difference in the sense they both carry. This has been
explained by Imam Raghib al-Isfahani in his Mufradat al-Qur'an by
saying that the 'Ikmal and Takmil' (Perfection) of something means
that the purpose and objective behind it has been accomplished
(perfection of something carries exactly the same sense in English,

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Surah Al-Ma'idah : 5: 3
specially at a time when spoken of, as 'al-yowm' (today) in the verse al-
ready indicates). The other word, 'Itmam' (Completion) means that
nothing else is needed any more. Thus, 'Perfection of Faith' tells us
that the purpose of sending Divine Law and the injunctions of Faith
into this world stands fulfilled and perfected today; and 'Completion of
Blessing' means that Muslims do not have to depend on anyone any-
more. Allah has Himself given them supremacy, power, authority.
They can use these to promulgate and implement the imperatives
(Ahkam, Injunctions) of this True Faith.
Also noteworthy here is the arrangement in the Verse where 'Din'
(Faith) has been attributed to Muslims while the attribution of
'Ni'mah' (Blessing) is towards Almighty Allah. This is because 'Din'
(Faith) is demonstrated by what the members of the Community do
while the consummation of 'Ni'mah' (Blessing) is directly from Al-
mighty Allah (Ibn al-Qayyim, Tafsir).
The meanings as established here also clarify that the Perfection of
Faith 'today' does not mean that, earlier, the Faith of the blessed
prophets was imperfect. Quite contrary to that, the 'Din' (Faith) of
every prophet and messenger was perfect and complete in terms of the
relevant period of time (Tafsir al-Bahr al-Muhit with reference to al-Qaffal al-
Marwazi). In other words, it means that the period in which a Law or
Faith was sent by Allah to a prophet, it was in itself perfect and com-
plete for that period and for the people who belonged to it. But, the fu-
ture projection, that the Faith quite perfect for that period and its peo-
ple will not remain perfect for later periods and peoples, was already
there in the ultimate Knowledge of Almighty Allah - He knew that it
would be abrogated and another Faith and Law will take its place.
This is contrary to the case of the Shari'ah of Islam which was sent
last of all since it is perfect from all sides and angles. It is neither
specified for any particular time nor is it restricted to any particular
area, country or people. Instead of all that, Islam is a Shari'ah which
is perfect and complete for every period and every area and every peo-
ple for all times to come right upto the Last Day.
3. The third reward which has been bestowed upon the Muslim
Community through this Verse is that Allah has, by His creational
prerogative, authority and wisdom, chosen the Faith of Islam for this

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Surah Al-Ma'idah : 5 : 3
Ummah which is perfect and complete in all its aspects - and on which
depends the ultimate Salvation.
Certainly great was the message this Verse gave to the Muslim
Community which was thus blessed with the finest gift they could ever
dream of: the gift of the Din of Islam - the last and the most perfect
Faith, after which there is no Faith to come and in which there shall
be no addition or deletion. When this Verse was revealed, Muslims
had good reason to be jubilant about Allah's mercy which descended
upon them in that manner. But, Sayyidna 'Umar was found in tears.
The Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم asked him the reason for his tears. He
replied: This Verse seems to indicate that now your stay in this world
is very short, because with the perfection of Islam, the need of a Rasul
to be present also stands fulfilled! The Holy Prophet @ agreed with
him (Tafsir ibn Kathir and al-Bahr al-Muhit). Time showed that the Holy
Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم departed from this mortal world only after eighty
one days this event took place.
Unlawfulness of Animals: Exception under Compulsion
Towards the end of the Verse, the statement : ◌ٍفَمَنِ اضْطَرَّ فِى مَخْمَصَة (But,
whoever is compelled by severe hunger with no way out) relates to ani-
mals the unlawfulness of which has been mentioned in the earlier part
of the Verse. The purpose of the sentence is to exclude a particular
condition from the general rule. If a person is subjected to severe hun-
ger to a point where death becomes likely, then, under this condition,
were he to eat a little from unlawful animals mentioned in the Verse,
there will be no sin on him. But, the condition is that the purpose of
- such eating should not be to have one's fill or to enjoy it. Instead of do-
ing that, one should eat just about what would remove the state of
compulsion.
This is exactly what the words: y sup (having no inclination to
sin) following immediately mean, that is, this act should be free from
any inclination to commit a sin. Contrary to that, the purpose should
only be limited to get relief from the excruciating state of compulsion.
Towards the end of the Verse, the statement:>>statusu (Allah is
Most-Forgiving, Very-Merciful) makes a pointed reference to the fact
that these unlawful things are still unlawful as they already were, but
only such a person has been given leave because of the state of compul-
sion he may be in.

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Surah Al-Ma'idah : 5 : 4
Verse 4
يَسْتَلُوَّنَكَ مَاذَا أُحِلَّ لَهُمْ، قُلْ أُحِلَّ لَكُمُ الطَّتِّبْتُ وَمَا عَلَّمُهُمْ
◌ِنَ الْجَوَارِجِ مُكَلِّبِيْنَ تُعَلِّمُوْنَهُنَّ مِّا عَلَّمَكُمُ اللهُ: فَكُلُوا مِمَّا
اَمْسَكُنَ عَلَيْكُمْ وَاذْكُرُوا اسْمَ اللّهِ عَلَيْهِ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ ﴿ إِنَّ
اللَّهَ سَرِيعُ الْحِسَابِ ﴿٤﴾
They ask you as to what has been made lawful for
them. Say, "Made lawful for you are good things, and
(hunting through) birds and beasts of prey that you
train teaching them out of what Allah has taught you.
So, eat of what they hold for you, and recite the name
of Allah upon it." And fear Allah. Surely, Allah is swift
at reckoning. [4]
Lawful and unlawful animals were mentioned in preceding verses.
An answer to a question on the same subject appears in the present
verse. Some Companions had asked the Holy Prophet & about the
rule governing hunting with the help of a trained dog and falcon. Giv-
en in this verse is an answer to that question.
Commentary
To make an animal lawful when hunted through a dog or falcon,
four conditions have been mentioned in the question and its answer
appearing above. These are:
1. The dog or falcon should be taught, trained and disciplined.
The functional principle given here is that the dog should have been
groomed in a manner that it should, when released at the prey, catch
it and bring it back to you - not that it starts eating it. As for a falcon,
the rule set was that it should immediately return when called by you,
even if it was chasing the prey. When so trained, it will prove that
these beasts of prey hunt for you and not for themselves. Now the ani-
mal hunted by these beasts of prey will be considered your own. And
if they act against this training once in a while, for example, the dog
itself starts eating the prey, or the falcon does not return at your call,
then, this game is not yours anymore, therefore, eating it is not per-
missible.

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Surah Al-Ma'idah : 5 : 5
2. The second condition is that you should release the dog or falcon
immediately at your choice and will, not that they dash after some
game and hunt it on their own. In the verse under discussion, this
condition has been made to come out clearly by the use of the word,
"Mukallibin." Lexically, this word is a derivation from 'Taklib' which
basically means the training of dogs. Later, it also came to be used in
the sense of training beasts of prey and releasing them after the game.
The author of the famous Tafsir Jalalayn explains it in the sense of
'Irsal' (send after) which means releasing after the game. This view
has been reported in Tafsir al-Qurtubi as well.
3. The third condition is that the beasts of prey do not themselves
start eating the game - instead, they should bring it to you. This con-
dition has been explained through : scale (what they hold for
you).
4. The fourth condition is: When you release the dog or the falcon
after the game, do it after saying 'Bismillah' (With the name of Allah).
When these conditions stand fulfilled, the game - if dead before it
reaches you - will still be lawful with no need to slaughter. If other-
wise, it will not be lawful for you unless slaughtered.
With Imam Abu Hanifah, there is a fifth condition as well: That
this beast of prey should have also wounded the game. A hint towards
this condition is embedded in the word, "Al-Jawarih" (birds and beasts
of prey) which also means animals which wound or injure.
Ruling: This injunction covers wild animals out of one's possession
and control. In case a wild animal has been captured, it will not be-
come lawful without having been properly slaughtered.
Finally, at the end of the verse, there comes the instruction that
hunting through a beast of prey has no doubt been made lawful by Al-
mighty Allah, but, it is not permissible to ignore Salah and other neces-
sary religious obligations for the sake of having fun chasing game.
Verse 5
اَلْيَوْمَ أُحِلَّ لَكُمُ الَطِّّبْتُ- وَطَعَامُ الَّذِيْنَ أُوْنُوا الْكِتْبَ حِلٌّ
لَكُمُسْ وَطَعَامُكُمُ حِلٌّ لَّهُمْ وَالْمُحْصَنْتُ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنْتِ وَالْمُحْصَنْتُ

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Surah Al-Ma'idah : 5 : 5
مِنَ الَّذِيْنَ أُوْنُوا الْكِتَبَ مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْ إِذَا اتَيْتُمُوْهُنَّ أُجُوْرَهُنَّ
مُحْصِنِيْنَ غَيْرَ مُسْفِحِيْنَ وَلَا مُتَّخِذِىٌّ آَخْدَانٍ، وَمَنْ يَّكُفُرُ
بِالْإِيْمَانِ فَقَدٌ حَبِطَ عَمَلُهُ: وَهُوَ فِى الْأَخِرَةِ مِنَ الْخُسِرِيْنَ ﴿٥﴾
This day, good things have been made lawful for you.
And the food of the people of the Book is lawful for you,
and your food is lawful for them, and good women from
among believers, and good women from among those
given the Book before you, provided you give them
their dowers, binding yourself in marriage, not going
for lust, nor having paramours. And whoever rejects
Faith, his effort will go waste and, in the Hereafter, he
is among the losers. [5]
Commentary
In the first verse of Surah al-Ma'idah, the lawfulness of domestic
animals such as the goat, cow and buffalo has been described. The
third verse has a detail of nine kinds of unlawful animals. From that
detail to the opening sentence of the present verse, we come to know in
summation the essentials of the lawfulness and unlawfulness of ani-
mals as well as its operating standard and rule.
The verse opens with the words: ◌ُالْيَوْمَ أُحِلَّ لَكُمُ الطَّيِّبَه (This day, good
things have been made lawful for you). Here, 'this day' means the day
on which this verse and those before it have been revealed, that is, the
Day of 'Arafah in the Last Hajj of Hijrah 10. The sense is that the way
your Faith has been made perfect and the blessing of Allah stands
completed for you on this day, very similarly, good things from Allah
which were already lawful for you have been allowed to stay lawful for
ever. The probability that the injunction could be withdrawn does not
exist anymore because the ongoing process of revelation was to be dis-
continued.
This sentence mentions the lawfulness of good things. But, an-
other verse (7:157) :َيُحِلّ لَهُمُ الَطَيِّبَتِ وَيُحَرِّمُ عَلَيْهِمْ الْخَبَفِت (Made lawful for them are
good things and made unlawful for them are evil things). Here, by
placing 'At-Tayyibat' (good things) against 'Al-Khaba'ith' (impure
things), the reality of both words has been made clear. Lexically,

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Surah Al-Ma'idah : 5 : 5
things good, pure, clean and delightful are called 'At-Tayyibat'; and in
contrast, 'Al-Khabaith' is used to denote things which are evil and dis-
gusting. Therefore, this sentence of the verse stresses that everything
good, pure and beneficial has been made lawful for human beings and
everything disgusting and harmful has been made unlawful. The rea-
son is that human beings are not like animals whose purpose of life is
limited to eating, drinking, sleeping, waking - being no more than a
sort of live-die cycle. Nature has made them the master of the uni-
verse for some special purpose and that cannot be achieved without
having high and pure morals. Therefore, immoral human beings
would really not deserve to be counted as human beings.
That is why the Holy Qur'an has said about such people: jel' j,
that is, they are like cattle, rather more astray. Now if we accept that
the 'humanity' of human beings depends on the betterment of their
morals, it will become necessary to concede that they must be made to
totally abstain from everything which leads to the corruption of hu-
man morals. Everyone knows how environment and society affect hu-
man morals. When things outside can do that to human morals, just
imagine what would be the effect of things which go inside the human
body for what becomes a part of the human body must affect its ethical
behaviour. Therefore, caution must necessarily be observed in all
foods and drinks. And let us keep in mind that unlawful income from
theft, robbery, bribery, interest, gambling and evils like that, once it
becomes part of anyone's body, will inevitably remove one farther from
humanity and nearer to 'satanic nature.'
Hence, says the Holy Qur'an: ◌ًكَيُّهَا الرُّسُلُ كُلُوا مِنَ الطَّيِّبْتِ وَاعْمَلُوا صَائِح (O' Mes-
sengers, eat from good things [made lawful as sustenance] and do
righteous deeds - 23:51). Here, the command to be righteous in deeds
refers itself back to the command to eat from what is Halal (lawful) be-
cause without eating Halal, righteous deeds cannot be imagined. This
consideration is very important specially in the case of meat which be-
comes an integral part of the human body. One has to be most cau-
tious and guard against the possibility of non-Halal meat entering his
system through food and go on to spoil his morals. Similar is the case
of meat which is physically harmful for human beings as the carrier of
bacteria causing disease and death. Everyone knows that abstention

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from such meat is necessary. As for things declared evil by the Sha-
ri'ah of Islam, these are definitely agents of corruption for the human
body or the soul or both. Since they are dangerous for human life and
morals, they were made unlawful. As opposed to this, good things, the
Tayyibat' contribute to the nurture and flowering of the human body,
soul and morals - so, they were made lawful. In this way, this brief
sentence of the Qur'an has given to us the philosophy and ground rules
of the lawful and the unlawful, so to say, in a nutshell.
Now, as to which things are pure, beneficial and desirable and
which others are impure, harmful and disgusting, the real decision of
the matter lies with the desire and aversion of one's inherent good
taste. This is the reason why animals declared unlawful by Islam
have been considered impure and disgusting by people of good taste
during every period of time - for instance, carrion and blood. Never-
theless, there come occasions when custom-based ignorance overpow-
ers good taste and when the fine line between good and bad fades out.
Or, the evil in some things is concealed. In such situations, the deci-
sion of the prophets, peace be on all of them, is the guiding and bind-
ing authority for everyone. The reason is that the noble prophets are
the foremost in commonsense, decency, goodness and taste among hu-
man beings. They were specially gifted by Almighty Allah with an in-
strinsically sound and balanced nature and He Himself took the re-
sponsibility of their nurture and grooming. One might say that they
rose to be what they were under a Divine security shield manned by
angels which saw to it that their minds and hearts and morals would
never be affected by any evil environment. So, things they took as evil
are really evil; and what they found to be good is really good.
In Hujjatullah al-Balighah, Shah Waliyyullah says that all animals
declared unlawful by the Shari'ah of Islam, when observed closely, will
all fit compactly under two principles: one - an animal is evil by its na-
ture and disposition; two - the method of slaughtering the animal is
wrong, as a result of which it will be considered 'dead' ( 'Maitah' - car-
rion), not slaughtered.
In the third verse of Surah al-Ma'idah, things called unlawful are
nine in number. Out of these, the 'swine' is part of the first kind; the
rest of the eight are in the second. By saying : ◌َوُحِّمُ عَلَيْهِمُ الحَبِّك (He allows

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Surah Al-Ma'idah : 5 : 5
them as lawful what is good [and pure] and prohibits them from what
is bad [and impure] - 7:157 - AYA, rev. ed., Madinah) the Holy Qur'an
declares the general rule that all evil animals are unlawful. For de-
tails, the Holy Qur'an points out to some clearly, for instance, ' the
flesh of swine' and 'flowing blood' ... The enumeration of the rest was
entrusted to the Holy Prophet . One sign of an animal being evil he
gave was that a people could have been punished by having been
transformed (Maskh) into the form of an animal. This indicates that
the particular animal is evil by its very nature as Divine wrath trans-
formed it into an animal. For example, says the Holy Qur'an: 212 3453
3,62,55aj which means that some peoples have been transformed into
swines and monkeys as punishment. This proves that both these
kinds of animals are evil by nature - they, even if slaughtered, would
still not become lawful. Then there are animals whose very doings and
likings are sufficient for people of natural disposition to sense the evil
inside them. For instance, there are beasts who live by injuring, tear-
ing and eating other animals - a hard-hearted lifestyle indeed.
Therefore, when someone asked about a wolf from the Holy
Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, he said: "Can a human being eat it?" Similarly,
there are many animals among crawlers and fliers whose very nature
is to hurt or snatch away things, for instance, the snake, scorpion,
house-lizard, fly, or a kite and falcon and others like them. So, the
Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم set the rule that animals among beasts
which tear animals apart with teeth, such as the lion and the wolf and
others of their kind, and animals among birds such as the falcon and
the hawk and others of their kind which hunt with their claws, are all
unlawful; or, animals which are by nature mean and low or get them-
selves befouled with impurities, such as the rat or animals which eat
carrion, or the donkey and similar others, all fall under the category of
animals the physical properties and harmfulness of which is readily
sensed by any human being with a normal mind and temperament.
To recapitulate, we can say that the animals which have been
made unlawful under the Shari'ah of Islam are of two kinds: Those in-
trinsically evil and those which are not evil by themselves but they
have not been slaughtered following the method of slaughtering ani-
mals ordained by Almighty Allah. This includes all other options such

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Surah Al-Ma'idah : 5 : 5
as the animal was not slaughtered at all - but was killed by shock or
blow - or the act of slaughtering did take place, but rather than pro-
nounce the name of Allah on it, a name other than that of Allah was
recited, or just no name was pronounced by knowingly omitting the
name of Allah at the time of slaughter. Such Dhibh or slaughter is
equally untrustworthy and invalid in view of the Shari'ah. In fact, this
is very much like having 'killed' an animal without proper slaughter.
Something worth attention here is that everything one eats and
drinks comes to him as a blessing from Allah, but, excepting the ani-
mals, no restriction has been imposed on cooking or eating anything
from them other than that which would make it necessary for you to
say 'Allahu-Akbar' or 'Bismillah' invariably before cooking and eating,
as if, that food would not be lawful without it. At the most, the saying
of 'Bismillah' at the time of eating and drinking anything has been
classified as desirable or recommended ('Mustahabb' : acts the neglect
of which is not punished by Allah, but the performance of which is re-
warded). Contrary to this is the matter of animals, for it has been
made necessary ('Wajib') that the name of Allah be invoked while
slaughtering them - and if, anyone were to leave out the name of Allah
at the time of the slaughter, the animal was declared to be carrion,
and unlawful: What is the wisdom behind it?
A little deliberation makes it clear that the lives of all living beings
are equal in a way. Therefore, the act of one life form whereby another
life form is slaughtered and exterminated should, obviously, be not
permissible. Now, for those it has been made permissible, it is a major
reward from Allah. That is why the realization of the presence of this
Divine blessing and the expression of gratitude for it has been made
necessary at the time of slaughtering the animal. This is contrary to
the case of things like grains and fruits - their very growth is for the
sole purpose that human beings use them up to fulfill their needs.
Therefore, the saying of 'Bismillah' only whenever used has been
placed at the level of being desirable ('Mustahabb') - it has not been
made necessary ('Wajib': a duty which, if not done, brings
punishment).
There is yet another reason. There was a lingering custom from
the days of Jahiliyyah that disbelievers used to pronounce the names

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of their idols while slaughtering animals. The Shari'ah of Islam trans-
formed this un-Islamic custom into a wonderful act of worship by mak-
ing it necessary to invoke the name of Allah instead. This was func-
tionally the most appropriate strategy that some correct name instead
of the false one be proposed, otherwise it would have been difficult to
wean people away from ongoing customs and habits.
The slaughter of the people of the Book
وَطَعَامُ الَّذِيْنَ أُوتُوا الْكِتْبَ حِلٌّ لَّكُمُ وَطَعَامُكُمُ حِلّ : The second sentence of the Verse is
(and the food of the people of the Book is lawful for you, and your
food is lawful for them ... ). According to the consensus of Sahabah and
Tabi'in (the Companions and their Successors), the word 'Ta'am' (food)
at this place means 'properly slaughtered animals' (Dhabihah). This is
what has been reported from Sayyidna 'Abdullah ibn 'Abbas, Abu ad-
Darda', Ibrahim, Qatadah, al-Suddi, Dhaķhak and Mujahid, may Allah
be pleased with them all (Ruh al-Ma'ani and al-Jassas) - because, in foods of
all other kinds, the people of the Book and the idolators and all other
disbelievers are just the same as bread, flour, lintels, beans, rice, fruits
and similar other eatables need no slaughtering. For Muslims, eating
that kind of food, of course, when procured by any lawful means, is
permissible - and conversely, when they procure it from Muslims, it is
lawful for them. Thus, the essence of the sentence is that the Dhabi-
hah (properly slaughtered animal) of the People of the Book is lawful
for Muslims and the Dhabihah (properly slaughtered animal) of Mus-
lims is lawful for the People of the Book.
At this point, there are some issues which should be considered.
First of all, who are the People of the Book in the terminology of the
Qur'an and Sunnah? What does 'Book' mean? And, is it also neces-
sary that, in order to be regarded as the People of the Book, these peo-
ple believe in and act according to their Book, correctly and faithfully?
Here, it is obvious that the Book cannot be taken in its literal sense,
that is, any written page. It can only mean a particular Book which
has come from Allah. Therefore, there is a consensus of Muslim Um-
mah that 'Book' could only mean a particular Scripture about which
there exists a certitude that, confirmed by the Holy Qur'an, it is the
Book of Allah, for instance, the Torah, Evangile, Zabur (Psalms) and
other scriptures of of Sayyidna Musa and Ibrahim. Therefore, peoples

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and nations which believe in some book and claim for it the status of a
Divine Revelation - and which does not stand proved through the cer-
tain sources of the Qur'an and Sunnah - shall not be included under
the term of the People of the Book, for example, the disbelievers of
Makkah, the Magians or the Zoroastrians, the idol-worshipping Hin-
dus, the Buddhists, Aryans, Sikhs and many others.
This tells us that the Jews and Christians who are believers of the
Torah and the Evangile are included within the Qur'anic terminology
of The People of the Book. The Sabians, a third people, cannot be iden-
tified precisely. Those who think that they believed in the Psalms of
David (Zabur) are inclined towards including them too among The Peo-
ple of the Book. Those who were convinced that they had nothing to
do with the Psalms, take them to be star-worshippers. They group
them together with the idolators and Magians. However, the Jews
and Christians are the ones who are called The People of the Book by
universal agreement. Now, we can return to the gist of the Qur'anic in-
junction, that is, the Dhabihah (slaughter) of Jews and Christians is
Halal for Muslims and the Dhabihah of Muslims is Halal for them.
As for the need to first determine the basis of calling and under-
standing the Jews and Christians as the People of the Book, one may
ask: Is it bound with the condition that they should genuinely believe
in the original Torah and Evangile and act in accordance with these?
Or, even those who follow the altered Torah and Evangile and those
who ascribe to Sayyidna 'Isa and Sayyidah Maryam, may Allah bless
them both, partnership in the Divinity of God, shall be deemed as in-
cluded among the People of the Book? The answer is that it is quite
evident from the many clarifications of the Qur'an that for a people to
be from 'The People of the Book', it is quite enough that they accept
and believe in a Scripture and claim to follow it - irrespective of how
much astray they may have gone while following it.
Those to whom the Holy Qur'an gave the title of The People of the
Book were also those about whom it said at several places that these
people distort their Scriptures: 5:13) مُحِّرِّفُونَ الكَلِمَ عَنُ مَّوَاضِعِه). It also said that
the Jews took Sayyidna 'Uzayr >JI ale as the son of God and the
وَقَالَتِ الْيَهُوُّدُ مُزُيُزْ رِابْنُ اللَّهِ: عليه السلام Christians did the same to Sayyidna Masih
When, despite what they were and what they.(9:30) وَقَالَتِ النَّصْرَى الْمُسِبْحُ ابنُ اللَّهِ

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Surah Al-Ma'idah : 5 : 5
did, the Holy Qur'an insisted on calling them The People of the Book,
it becomes evident that - unless the Jews and Christians were to aban-
don Judaism and Christianity totally - they shall continue to be the
People of the Book, no matter how involved in false beliefs of their re-
ligion and dark doings they may be.
Imam al-Jassaș reports in Ahkam al-Qur'an that during the Khila-
fah of Sayyidna 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, one of his gov-
ernors wrote to him for advice. He said that there were some people in
his area who recited the Torah and observed the Sabbath like the Jews
but they did not believe in Qiyamah (the Last Day). He wanted to
know how he was supposed to deal with such people. Sayyidna 'Umar
wrote back telling him that they will be taken as a sect of The People
of the Book after all.
Atheist Jews and Christians are not the People of the Book:
These days a very large number of people in Europe (and else-
where) who are listed in the Census records as Jews and Christians do
not really believe in the existence of God and, for that matter, do not
subscribe to any institutionalized religion. They do not accept the To-
rah and Evangile as Scriptures, nor do they have faith in Sayyidna
Musa and 'Isa (Moses and Jesus), may peace be upon them, as proph-
ets or messengers of Allah. It is obvious that such people cannot be
counted as included under the injunction governing the People of the
Book simply because their names are listed as Jews and Christians in
the Census records.
When Sayyidna 'All ar A >, said that the slaughter of some Chris-
tians of Arabia is not Halal, he gave a reason. He said that those peo-
ple believe in nothing but drinking. His words as reported by Ibn al-
Jauzī are being cited below:
روى ابن الجوزى بسنده عن على رضى الله عنه قال لا تأكلوا من ذبائح
نصارى بنى تغلب فانهم لم يتمسكوا من النصرانية بشئ الاشربهم الخمر
ورواه الشافعى بسند صحيح عنه (تفسير مظهرى ص ٣٤، ج ٣ مائده)
'Do not eat from the animals slaughtered by the Christians
belonging to Bani Taghlib for they have taken nothing from
the Christian faith except the drinking of wine (narrated by Al-
Shafi'i with sound authority - al-Tafsir al-Mazhari, p. 34, v. 3, al-
Ma'idah)

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Surah Al-Ma'idah : 5 : 5
Sayyidna 'Ali as Ul , prohibited the slaughter of the Christians of
Bani Taghlib because, according to his information, they were liber-
tines, not Christians. However, the majority of Sahabah and Tabi'in
found out that these people too were like common Christians and had
never rejected their Faith. Therefore, they ruled that the slaughter of
these people was also lawful. Al-Qurtubi says in his commentary:
The majority of the Muslim jurists are of the opinion that the
Dhabiha of Christians is lawful, whether from Bani Taghlib or
from some other tribe or group. Similarly, the Dhabiha of
every Jew is also lawful. (Tafsir al-Qurțubi)
In short, Christians about whom there is confirmed and certain in-
formation that they do not believe in the very existence of God or do
not accept Sayyidna Musa and 'Isa WJI Lude as prophets, will not be in-
cluded under the injunction governing the People of the Book.
What does the 'food' of the People of the Book mean?
Literally, 'Ta'am' means what is eaten which, in the Arabic lexicon,
includes all kinds of eatables. But, the majority of the scholars of the
Muslim Ummah hold that Ta'am' at this particular place refers to the
meat of the animals slaughtered by the People of the Book because
there is no distinction between the People of the Book and other disbe-
lievers in eatables other than meat. Dry eatables like wheat, chick
peas, rice and fruit are open commodities and are lawful when re-
ceived from a disbeliever of any shade. Nobody differs about that. As
for food which goes through human handling, the cautious practice is
to avoid it since the purity (Taharah) of utensils and hands used by the
disbelievers is not reliable. It is better not to use it without the urgen-
cy of need. But, this is a situation in which the probability of impurity
is the same among idolators and the People of the Book.
To sum up, it can be said that the only possible legal difference in
the 'food' of the People of the Book and other disbelievers is in the
meat they slaughter. Therefore, in the present verse, it is a consensus
of the Ummah that the 'food of the People of the Book' means their
properly slaughtered animal. In his famous Tafsir, al-Qurtubi writes:
والطعام اسم لما يؤكل والذبائح منه وهو ههنا خاص بالذبائح عند كثير من
اهل العلم بالتأويل واما ماحرم من طعامهم فليس بداخل فى عموم