(114–118) “So eat of the lawful and wholesome things Allah has provided for you, and give thanks for Allah’s blessing, if it is Him alone that you worship. * He has forbidden you only carrion, blood, the flesh of swine, and that over which a name other than Allah’s has been invoked. But if anyone is compelled by necessity, neither desiring it nor exceeding the limit, then Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful. * Do not falsely declare with your tongues, ‘This is lawful and this is unlawful,’ thereby fabricating lies against Allah. Indeed, those who fabricate lies against Allah will never prosper. * It is only a brief enjoyment, and they will suffer a painful punishment. * As for those who became Jews, We forbade what We have related to you before. We did not wrong them, but they wronged themselves.”
Allah Most High commands His servants to eat the animals, grains, fruits, and other things with which He has provided them. “Lawful and wholesome” means that they must possess both qualities: they must neither be among the things Allah has forbidden nor have been obtained through wrongful appropriation or the like. So enjoy what Allah has created for you, without extravagance or transgression. “And give thanks for Allah’s blessing” by acknowledging it in your hearts, praising Allah for it, and using it in obedience to Him. “If it is Him alone that you worship”—that is, if you are sincere in worshipping Him, then direct your gratitude to Him alone and do not forget the Bestower of the blessing.
“He has forbidden you only” things that are harmful, in order to safeguard you. These include “carrion,” which encompasses everything that dies without being slaughtered in the prescribed manner, with the exception of dead locusts and fish.
“And blood” means flowing blood; as for what remains in the veins and meat, it is harmless.
“And the flesh of swine,” because of its filth and foulness. This includes its meat, fat, and every part of it. “And that over which a name other than Allah’s has been invoked,” such as an animal slaughtered for idols, graves, and the like, because it is intended as an act of shirk.
“But if anyone is compelled by necessity” to consume any forbidden thing—because necessity forces him to do so and he fears that he will perish if he does not eat—then there is no sin upon him, provided that he is neither willfully seeking it nor transgressing the limit. That is, he must not seek to consume what is forbidden when he is not compelled, turn from lawful food to unlawful food, or exceed the amount required by necessity. For such a person, what Allah has forbidden becomes permissible.