He was asked about wine and what is forbidden: “Is this Allah’s provision for the ignorant, or do they consume what has been decreed for them?”

He answered:

The word “provision” may mean what Allah Most High has made lawful for a person and granted him ownership of, or it may mean what a person feeds on.

The first sense is illustrated by His words:

“Spend from what We have provided you,”

and:

“And they spend out of what We have provided them.”

Provision in this sense is lawful and owned; it does not include wine or what is forbidden.

The second sense is illustrated by His words:

“There is no creature on earth whose provision is not assured by Allah.”

Allah Most High provides for animals, yet they are not described as owning property, nor as having received His permission in the religious sense, for animals bear no religious obligations—as is also the case with children and the mentally unsound. Nevertheless, this provision is neither their property nor forbidden to them.

Rather, what is forbidden is some of what a person feeds on. It forms part of the provision which Allah knew he would consume and decreed accordingly, as distinct from what He has made lawful and granted him ownership of. Thus, in the two Sahīh collections, Ibn Masʿūd reports that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“The creation of each of you is brought together in his mother’s womb