in a state of consecration for pilgrimage.”
Abraham, Allah’s intimate friend, said:
“And provide its people with fruits—those among them who believe in Allah and the Last Day.”
Allah Most High said:
“As for whoever disbelieves, I will grant him brief enjoyment, then compel him to the punishment of the Fire. What a wretched destination!”
Thus, Abraham asked for good things specifically for the believers. Allah made grazing livestock lawful only for those who observe His prohibition on hunting while in a state of consecration for pilgrimage. He commanded the believers to eat of good things and give thanks to Him.
For this reason, He, glorified and exalted be He, distinguished between His address to people in general and His address to the believers. He said:
“O mankind, eat of whatever is lawful and good on earth, and do not follow the footsteps of Satan. Indeed, he is a clear enemy to you.”
“He only commands you to commit evil and indecency and to say about Allah what you do not know.”
“When it is said to them, ‘Follow what Allah has revealed,’ they say, ‘Rather, we follow what we found our fathers following.’ Even though their fathers understood nothing and were not guided?”
He therefore permitted people to eat of what is on earth on two conditions: that it be good and that it be lawful. Then He said:
“O you who believe, eat of the good things We have provided for you and be grateful to Allah, if it is Him that you worship.”
“He has only forbidden you carrion, blood, the flesh of swine, and that which has been dedicated to other than Allah.”
Thus, He permitted the believers to eat of good things without stipulating that they be lawful, and stated that He had forbidden them only what He mentioned. Anything else, therefore, was not forbidden to the believers. Yet He had not made it lawful through His address; rather, it was covered by His pardon, as in the report from Salmān, narrated both as his own statement and as a statement traced back to the Prophet:
“The lawful is what Allah has made lawful in His Book, and the unlawful is what Allah has forbidden in His Book. Whatever He has remained silent about is among the things He has pardoned.”