145, 146. “Say, ‘I find nothing in what has been revealed to me forbidden for anyone to eat, unless it be carrion, flowing blood, or swine flesh—for it is impure—or a sinful offering dedicated to other than Allah. But whoever is compelled by necessity, neither desiring it nor exceeding the limit, then surely your Lord is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.’ * To those who became Jews We forbade every animal with an uncloven hoof; and of cattle and sheep We forbade them their fat, except what their backs or entrails bear, or what is attached to bone. Thus We recompensed them for their transgression, and surely We are truthful.”
After Allah had censured the polytheists for prohibiting what was lawful, attributing that prohibition to Allah, and had invalidated their claim, He commanded His Messenger to explain to the people what Allah had forbidden them. They would thereby know that everything else was lawful and that anyone who attributed its prohibition to Allah was a lying falsifier, for prohibition can come only from Allah through His Messenger. He said to His Messenger: “Say, ‘I find nothing in what has been revealed to me forbidden for anyone to eat’”—that is, forbidden to be eaten, irrespective of whether using it for purposes other than eating is forbidden or permitted.
“Unless it be carrion.” Carrion is an animal that dies without being slaughtered in the prescribed manner, and it is therefore unlawful. Allah Almighty likewise said: “Forbidden to you are carrion, blood, and swine flesh.”
“Or flowing blood.” This is the blood that flows from an animal when it is slaughtered. It is the blood whose retention within the body causes harm; once it leaves the body, the harm associated with eating the meat is removed. The implication of this wording is that the blood remaining in the flesh and veins after slaughter is lawful and pure.
“Or swine flesh—for it is impure.” That is, these three things are impure: foul, unclean, and harmful. Allah has forbidden them out of gracious care for you and to keep you above contact with foul things.
“Or”—that is, unless it be—“a sinful offering dedicated to other than Allah.” In other words, the animal was slaughtered for something other than Allah, such as the idols and deities worshipped by the polytheists. This is sinful disobedience, which means departing from obedience to Allah and turning to disobedience. Despite this, whoever is compelled to consume any of these forbidden things—that is, need and necessity drive him to eat ⦗278⦘ some of them because he has nothing else and fears that he will perish—while “neither desiring it nor exceeding the limit,” meaning neither seeking to eat it without necessity nor transgressing the limit by eating more than he needs, then “whoever is compelled by necessity, neither desiring it nor exceeding the limit, surely your Lord is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” That is, Allah has excused anyone in such circumstances.
The scholars—may Allah have mercy on them—differed concerning the limitation stated in this verse, even though other forbidden foods are not mentioned in it, such as predatory beasts, all taloned birds, and the like. Some said that this verse was revealed before the prohibition of anything beyond what it mentions. Its stated limitation therefore does not conflict with prohibitions revealed later, for at that time the Messenger did not find those things in what had been revealed to him. Others said that this verse encompasses every forbidden food: some are mentioned explicitly, while others are inferred from its meaning and the general applicability of its rationale.
Allah Almighty said, by way of explaining why carrion, blood, and swine flesh—or perhaps only the last of these—are forbidden: “For it is impure.” This description encompasses everything forbidden, for all forbidden things are impure and foul. They are among the repugnant and foul things Allah has forbidden His servants, protecting and honoring them by keeping them from consuming what is foul and impure.
The detailed categories of prohibited impurity are learned from the Sunnah, for it explains the Quran and clarifies what it means. Since Allah Almighty has forbidden no foods other than those mentioned, and prohibition can originate only in Allah’s law, this demonstrates that the polytheists who forbade what Allah had provided for them were fabricating lies against Allah and attributing to Him what He had never said.
There is another strong possibility regarding the verse, were it not for its mention of swine. The context is specifically refuting the polytheists’ earlier assertions, whereby they forbade what Allah had made lawful and spoke presumptuously about it according to what their own souls suggested to them. Their assertions concerned livestock in particular, and nothing among livestock is forbidden except what the verse mentions: animals that die without prescribed slaughter and those dedicated to other than Allah. Everything else is lawful.
Under this interpretation, perhaps the reason swine is mentioned here is that some ignorant people may include it among livestock and regard it as a kind of sheep, as ignorant Christians and others like them may imagine. They rear swine as they rear other livestock, deem them lawful, and draw no distinction between them and livestock. Thus, everything forbidden to this community—all of it (1)—serves to keep them pure and protected.
As for what was forbidden to the People of the Scripture, some of it was wholesome but was forbidden to them as a punishment. Allah therefore said: “To those who became Jews We forbade every animal with an uncloven hoof,” such as camels and similar animals. “And of cattle and sheep” We forbade them some parts, namely “their fat.” Not all their fat was forbidden, but rather the tail fat and omental fat. He therefore excluded the lawful fat, saying: “Except what their backs or entrails bear”—that is, the fat mixed with the intestines—“or what is attached to bone.”
“That”—the prohibition imposed upon the Jews—“We recompensed them for their transgression,” meaning their wrongdoing and their violation of the rights of Allah and the rights of His servants. Allah therefore forbade them these things as a punishment and deterrent. “And surely We are truthful” in everything We say, do, and judge. Who is truer than Allah in speech, and who is better than Allah in judgment for people who have certainty?