Those very verses (Al-Anʿām 6:118-121) were sent down because the people of pre-Islamic ignorance used to say, “Carrion is lawful, for it is Allah who has killed it; therefore it is even more deserving of permissibility than the animal you yourselves slaughter and prepare.” In reply, Allah—majestic and exalted—stated: Do not eat except what has been slaughtered according to the prescribed law, and He declared carrion forbidden to you.

They kept insisting, “No, carrion is lawful; it deserves to be lawful more than a properly slaughtered animal, for the latter you butcher with your own hands, whereas Allah is the One who killed the carrion.”

Accordingly, Allah refuted the polytheists, saying: And do not eat of that over which the name of Allah has not been pronounced, for that is grave disobedience—that is, a departure from obedience to Allah, glorified be He. He then said: Surely the devils whisper to their allies, suggesting to them, “Carrion is something Allah has slain, while the properly slaughtered animal is something you have slain—so how can you deem lawful what you kill yet not deem lawful what Allah kills?” This is disputation in falsehood. After that the Almighty declared: But if you obey them, you will surely be idolaters. This exemplifies shirk in the realm of obedience, for the right to declare something lawful or unlawful belongs exclusively to Allah, exalted and sublime.