The Things – Forbidden for Food

Lesson # 595 From Holy Qur’aan

The Things – Forbidden for Food

Surah Maaa-‘idah (the Table Spread) – Chapter – 5)

Verse – 3a of 120, Section – 1 of 16 (Part One-Fourth of–6)

 BisMIllaahir-Rahmaanir-Rahiim

In the name of Allaah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

Forbidden unto you (for food) are carrion and blood and swine-flesh, and that which hath been dedicated unto any other than Allaah, and the strangled, and the dead through beating, and the dead through falling from a height, and that which hath been killed by (the goring of) horns, and the devoured of wild beasts, saving that which ye have slaughtered still alive, and that which hath been immolated unto idols. And (forbidden is it) that ye apportion by the divining arrows. This is an abomination.

Hurri-mat  ‘alaykumul-maytatu  waddamu  wa  lahmul-khin-ziiri  wa  maaa  ‘uhilla  li-gayrIllaahi  bihii  wal-mun-khaniqatu  wal-maw-quuzatu  walmuta-raddi-yatu  wannatii-hatu  wa  maaa  ‘akalas-sabu-‘u  ‘illaa  maa  zakkaytum;  wa  maa  zubiha  ‘alan-nusubi  wa  ‘an  tastaq-simuu  bil-‘azlaam.  Zaalikum  fisq.

Lesson

Hurri-mat – (forbidden), its origin is tah-riim, which has been derived from Haraam – means – the thing, from which it is necessary to be saved, that should not be used. The aim of “to be saved” is “due to respect and honor” also as well as “not to be used”. Here it signifies that the things which have been forbidden (for food) in this verse, those should not be eaten/taken. Those things are:

1. Carrion – (the dead animal, carcass and dead putrefying flesh), that beast, which has died automatically, not by slaughtering still alive. Flesh of that animal is forbidden because its blood has dried into its body.

2. Blood – which flew from the body, whether that has come out after slaughtering or due to any other reason, that blood is impure and eating it is forbidden. Moreover, eating the carrion is even forbidden due to the reason that the blood of that dead body is absorbed in its body. It is compulsory to cause to flow the blood of animal being slaughtered, so that the flesh may be purified and lawful.

3. Swine-flesh is impure and it is forbidden (for food).

4. That animal, which has been dedicated unto any other than Allaah Almighty. Whether this animal has been slaughtered and its blood has been caused to flow, even then it is forbidden to be used.

5. The animal like Mun-khaniqatun, maw-quuzatun, muta-raddi-yatun and  natii-hatun have been forbidden. These are the animals, which have not been slaughtered but died due to suffocating, through beating, falling from a height and which have been killed by the goring of any other beast’s horns. These all are included in the dead. But because there was a common custom in the Arab to eat them, therefore those have been described by name separately.

6. The animal, devoured of wild beasts is also forbidden for food. However, if it was still alive and you slaughtered, then it is legal to use it for food.  

7. That animal, which has been sacrificed at the locality of idols, although it has been slaughtered in the name of Allaah Almighty, even then, it is forbidden. The locality of the idols is the place, where any self-made idol has been standing and the people worship it. It was general tradition in the Arab to sacrifice the animal at such place and used to be taken as rendering the idol its due. It is part of above-mentioned serial -4. However, sacrificing it was a specific method, therefore, it has been described separately.

  

8. At the end, a particular form of gambling has been forbidden, which was current in the Arab. That is, “Thoughtless youth people of the Arab used to catch and slaughter the camel of any person, then they used to make pieces of its meat and keep them separately. After that, they used to distribute those portions of meat through arrows. Any figure was written on every arrow, but some arrows were kept without numbers. Every person used to go and bring one arrow, and then he was given portion of meat according to the number of arrow. Those persons, who used to bring numberless arrow, they were not given any piece of meat. Moreover, they were bound to pay the price of the animal too”.   

Transliterated Holy Qur’an in Roman Script & Translated from Arabic to English by Marmaduke Pickthall, Published by Paak Company, 17-Urdu Bazar, Lahore, Lesson collected from Dars e Qur’an published By Idara Islaah wa Tableegh, Lahore (translated Urdu to English by Muhammad Sharif)