(4) “They ask you what has been made lawful for them. Say, ‘Lawful for you are wholesome things, as well as what your trained hunting animals catch for you, which you train from what Allah has taught you. So eat what they catch for you, mention Allah’s name over it, and fear Allah. Surely Allah is swift in reckoning.’”

Allah Most High says to His Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him): “They ask you what has been made lawful for them” in the way of food. “Say, ‘Lawful for you are wholesome things.’” These comprise everything beneficial or pleasurable that causes no harm to the body or mind. This includes all grains and fruits found in settled lands and the wilderness, all marine animals, and all land animals except those excluded by the Lawgiver, such as predatory beasts and vile creatures.

The verse therefore indicates by implication that vile things are forbidden, as Allah Most High explicitly states: “He makes wholesome things lawful to them and forbids them vile things.”

“And what your trained hunting animals catch for you”—that is, the game caught by the hunting animals you have trained is lawful for you, through the end of the verse. This verse establishes several matters:

First: Allah’s kindness and mercy toward His servants, for He broadened the avenues of lawful food for them and permitted game caught by hunting animals even though they had not slaughtered it. Hunting animals here means dogs, cheetahs, falcons, and similar animals that hunt with their fangs or talons.

Second: The hunting animal must be trained according to what is customarily regarded as training: it sets out when released, stops when restrained, and does not eat from the prey when it catches it. Hence He says, “which you train from what Allah has taught you. So eat what they catch for you”—that is, what they catch from the game for your sake.

If the hunting animal eats from the game, it cannot be known whether it caught it for its owner; it may instead have caught it for itself.

Third: The dog, bird, or similar hunting animal must wound the prey. This is based on the term jawārih (hunting animals), together with the preceding prohibition of animals killed by strangulation. Thus, if a dog or another animal strangles the prey or kills it with its weight, it is not lawful. [This is based on understanding jawārih as animals that wound game with their fangs or talons. The prevalent view, however, is that jawārih means animals that acquire—that is, those that secure and catch game. On this interpretation, the verse does not indicate that requirement. Allah knows best.] (1)

Fourth: It is permissible to keep a hunting dog, as stated in the authentic hadith, even though keeping dogs is forbidden. This is because permission to hunt with and train a dog necessarily entails permission to keep it.

Fifth: Whatever part of the game is touched by the dog’s mouth is pure, for Allah permitted it without requiring it to be washed, thereby indicating its purity.

Sixth: The verse demonstrates the excellence of knowledge, for the catch of a trained hunting animal is lawful because of its training, whereas that of an untrained animal is not.

Seventh: Occupying oneself with training a dog, bird, or similar animal is neither blameworthy nor frivolous and futile. Rather, it is a purposeful activity because it is a means of making its catch lawful and benefiting from it.

Eighth: The verse provides evidence for those who permit the sale of a hunting dog, their argument being that a person may have no other means of obtaining one.

Ninth: Allah’s name must be mentioned when releasing the hunting animal. If a person deliberately fails to mention Allah’s name, whatever the hunting animal kills is not lawful.

Tenth: It is permissible to eat whatever a hunting animal catches, whether or not the hunting animal kills it. If its owner reaches it while it still possesses sufficient, stable life, however, it becomes lawful only through prescribed slaughter.

Allah Most High then urged His servants to fear Him and warned them of the reckoning on the Day of Resurrection, emphasizing that it has drawn near. He said: “And fear Allah. Surely Allah is swift in reckoning.”