In the hadith of Abū Tha‘laba, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Allah has prescribed obligations, so do not neglect them; He has set limits, so do not overstep them; He has forbidden certain things, so do not violate His prohibitions; and He has remained silent about certain things out of mercy for you, not forgetfulness, so do not inquire into them.”

Likewise, Allah Most High says:

“Say, ‘I do not find in what has been revealed to me anything forbidden for anyone to eat unless it be carrion.’”

He thus negated the prohibition of anything other than what was mentioned. The rest remained unprohibited through His silence, as a matter of pardon, whereas declaring something lawful requires an explicit address. Hence, He said in Sūrat al-Mā’idah, which was revealed later:

“They ask you what has been made lawful for them. Say, ‘Lawful for you are good things and the game caught by the hunting animals you have trained.’”

And further on:

“Today good things have been made lawful for you. The food of those who were given the Scripture is lawful for you, and your food is lawful for them.”

Thus, on that day good things were made lawful for them. Before this, nothing had been forbidden to them except what He had specified as exceptions. Moreover, “the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, forbade every fanged beast of prey and every bird with talons.” This did not abrogate the Book, because the Book had not declared these lawful; rather, it had remained silent about their prohibition. Prohibiting them therefore constituted the introduction of a new ruling. Hence, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said in the hadith transmitted through several chains from Abū Rāfi‘, Abū Tha‘laba, Abū Hurayrah, and others:

“Let me not find any of you reclining on his couch when an instruction from me reaches him concerning something I have commanded or forbidden, saying, ‘Between us and you stands this Quran: whatever we find lawful in it, we deem lawful, and whatever we find forbidden in it, we deem forbidden.’ Indeed, I have been given the Book and something like it along with it.”

In another wording:

“Indeed, it is like the Quran, or more. Indeed, I