ﲃ ﲄ ﲅ ﲆ ﲇ ﲈ ﲉ ﲊ ﲋ ﲌ ﲍ ﲎ ﲏ ﲐ ﲑ ﲒ ﲓ ﲔ ﲕ ﲖ ﲗ ﲘ ﲙ
He has only forbidden to you dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine, and that which has been dedicated to other than Allah. But whoever is forced [by necessity], neither desiring [it] nor transgressing [its limit] - then indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.
Tafsir
Verse range: 16:115
This is a justification for the lawfulness of what He commanded them to eat from that which He has provided them. The restriction (hasr) is relative, as stated by more than one scholar—meaning: He has only forbidden the eating of these specific things, not what you claim regarding the baha’ir, sa’ib (animals dedicated to idols), and the like. Thus, it does not contradict the prohibition of other things not mentioned here, such as predatory animals and domestic donkeys.
It has been said that the restriction is to be taken literally, and that predators and the like were not forbidden beforehand; they were only forbidden later, and the restriction is only with respect to the past. The Imam said: The Almighty has restricted the forbidden items to these four in this Surah, and in Surah al-An'am by His saying—Glory be to Him—: "Say, 'I do not find within that which was revealed to me a prohibition for one who would eat it unless it be a dead animal...'" etc. Both of these are Meccan. He also restricted them in Surah al-Baqarah, and likewise in Surah al-Ma'idah, for He said therein: "Lawful for you are the animals of grazing livestock except for that which is recited to you." Thus, He permitted everything except what is recited to them.
They (the scholars) have reached a consensus that what is meant by "what is recited" is His saying in that same Surah: "Prohibited to you are dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine, and that which has been dedicated to other than Allah." What the Almighty mentioned regarding the strangled, the beaten, the fallen, the gored, and what beasts of prey have eaten is included under "dead animals," and what is slaughtered for idols is included under "that which has been dedicated to other than Allah." Thus, it is established that these four Surahs indicate the restriction of forbidden things to these four. Surahs al-Nahl and al-An'am are Meccan, while al-Baqarah and al-Ma'idah are Medinan, and al-Ma'idah is among the very last to be revealed in Medina. Therefore, whoever denies the restriction of the prohibition to these four—except for what has been specified by consensus and decisive evidence—is in a position where he should be feared for, because these Surahs indicate that the restriction of prohibitions was legislated and established at the beginning of the Meccan period, the end of it, the beginning of the Medinan period, and the end of it. In repeating this declaration, there is a cutting off of excuses and the removal of doubts. So, be attentive.
