That is the meaning of His saying, exalted is He: “Say, ‘In what has been revealed to me, I find nothing forbidden.’” Yet the Sunnah has prohibited certain things, which must be accepted.

Among them is what Ismail ibn Abd al-Qahir informed us: Abd al-Ghafir ibn Muhammad ibn Isa al-Juludi narrated to us; Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn Sufyan narrated to us; Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj narrated to us, saying: Ubayd Allah ibn Muadh al-Anbari narrated to us; my father informed us, from Shubah, from al-Hakam, from Maymun ibn Mihran, from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: “The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, forbade every beast of prey with fangs and every bird with talons.” (1)

Abu al-Hasan al-Sarakhsi informed us: Zahir ibn Ahmad narrated to us; Abu Ishaq al-Hashimi narrated to us; Abu Musab narrated to us from Malik, from Ismail ibn Abi Hakim, from Ubaydah ibn Sufyan al-Hadrami, from Abu Hurayrah, that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “The eating of every beast of prey with fangs is forbidden.” (2)

Al-Shafii’s principle is that whatever there is no textual evidence specifically declaring lawful or unlawful is forbidden if the Sacred Law commands that it be killed—as he said, “Five harmful creatures may be killed both within and outside the Sacred Precinct” (3)—or if it forbids its killing, as it is related that he forbade the killing of bees and ants. As for anything else, the criterion is the prevailing custom of the Arabs: whatever most of them eat is lawful, and whatever most of them do not eat is forbidden. This is because Allah, exalted is He, addressed them in His saying: “Say, ‘Lawful for you are all good things.’” It is thus established that whatever they regarded as wholesome is lawful.

“But whoever is compelled by necessity, neither desiring it nor transgressing, then surely your Lord is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” He has permitted the consumption of these prohibited things in cases of necessity, provided there is no transgression.

“And to those who are Jews We forbade every animal with an undivided hoof; and of cattle and sheep We forbade them their fats, except what their backs carry, or the entrails, or what is joined to bone. Thus did We recompense them for their rebellion, and indeed We are truthful.” (146)

His saying, glorified and exalted is He, “And to those who are Jews,” means the Jews. “We forbade every animal with an undivided hoof”: this refers to animals and birds whose toes are not split, such as camels, ostriches, geese, and ducks. Al-Qutaybi said: It is every creature with talons