“ṭoraf (1) Yosef,” which they explain as: “A vicious beast has eaten him; Joseph has most surely been torn to pieces.” (2)

The Torah also says, “And meat in the wilderness that has been torn you shall not eat.” (3) This—and nothing else—is what the Torah forbade under the name ṭarīfā. The command was given to them while they were wandering in the wilderness, at a time when their craving (4) for meat had become intense; yet they were still barred from eating carrion or anything slain by a predator.

Later they disagreed among themselves, inventing fables and ravings about the animal’s lung. They declared that any slaughtered beast found to be sound according to these lung-related conditions is dekhiyā (5), meaning “pure,” whereas anything that falls short is ṭarīfā, meaning “impure and forbidden.”

They went on to claim that the Torah’s words, “Flesh that has been torn in the wilderness you shall not eat; throw it to the dog,” mean: if you slaughter an animal and the requisite conditions are not met, do not eat it; instead, sell it to someone who is not of your faith. They further asserted that “throw it to the dog” refers to anyone outside their religion—such a person, they said, is the dog—so feed it to him, but for a price. (6)

Consider, then, this distortion and these lies against God, against the Torah, and against Moses. Likewise, (7) God branded them as liars through the words of His Messenger concerning this very prohibition, when He said in the surah