Tafsir of Al-Ma'idah 5:3

Surah Al-Ma'idah (The Table Spread), Verse 3

{حُرِّمَتْ عَلَيْكُمُ الْمَيْتَةُ وَالدَّمُ وَلَحْمُ الْخِنْزِيرِ وَمَا أُهِلَّ لِغَيْرِ اللَّهِ بِهِ وَالْمُنْخَنَقَةُ وَالْمَوْقُوذَةُ وَالْمُتَرَدِّيَةُ وَالنَّطِيحَةُ وَمَا أَكَلَ السَّبُعُ إِلَّا مَا ذَكَّيْتُمْ وَمَا ذُبِحَ عَلَى النُّصُبِ وَأَن تَسْتَقْسِمُوا بِالْأَزْلَامِ ذَلِكُمْ فِسْقٌ الْيَوْمَ يَئِسَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا مِن دِينِكُمْ فَلَا تَخْشَوْهُمْ وَاخْشَوْنِ الْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْ وَأَتْمَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعْمَتِي وَرَضِيتُ لَكُمُ الْإِسْلَامَ دِينًا فَمَنِ اضْطُرَّ فِي مَخْمَصَةٍ غَيْرَ مُتَجَانِفٍ لِّإِثْمٍ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ}

{Ḥurrimat ʿalaykumu l-maytatu w-ad-dama wa laḥmu l-khinzīri wa mā uhilla li-ghayri llāhi bihi...} (Forbidden to you are the dead animal, and blood, and the flesh of swine, and that which has been slaughtered in the name of other than Allah...)

It is important to note that the Almighty stated at the beginning of the Surah: {أُحِلَّتْ لَكُم بَهِيمَةُ الْأَنْعَامِ} (Al-Ma'idah: 1) [All grazing livestock have been made lawful for you]. Following this general permission, He then mentioned specific exceptions that are now being recited.

Here, Allah mentions those specific types excluded from that generality. They are eleven categories:

1. The Dead Animal (Al-Maytah): They (the pre-Islamic Arabs) used to say, "You eat what you kill, but you do not eat what Allah kills (i.e., the naturally deceased)."

The prohibition of the dead animal aligns with rational thought. This is because the blood is a very delicate essence. When an animal dies naturally (by itself), the blood remains trapped in its veins, putrefies, spoils, and consuming it causes great harm.

2. Blood (Ad-Dam): The author of Al-Kashshāf mentioned that they used to fill the intestines with blood, roast it, and serve it to guests. Allah forbade this for them.

3. The Flesh of Swine (Laḥm al-Khinzīr): The scholars state that nourishment becomes part of the essence of the consumer. Therefore, the consumer must acquire dispositions and characteristics from the nature of the food consumed. The pig is characterized by great greed and intense desire for pleasures. Thus, eating it was forbidden to humans lest they adopt that disposition. As for the sheep, it is an animal of utmost purity, as if devoid of all characteristics, which is why consuming its meat does not impart any foreign disposition to the human condition.

4. That which has been slaughtered in the name of other than Allah (Wa mā uhilla li-ghayri llāhi bihi): Ihlāl means raising the voice. From this, one says Ahalla bi-l-Ḥajj when one recites the Talbiyah. Also, Istahalla aṣ-ṣabī (the infant cried out) when born. They (the pagans) used to say, "In the name of Al-Lāt and Al-ʿUzzā," when slaughtering, so Allah forbade that.

5. The Strangled Animal (Al-Munkhanqah): It is said: Khanqahu fa-ikhtanaqa (He strangled it, so it became strangled). Khanq and ikhtināq mean the constriction of the throat.

The strangled animal can be of several types:

• The people of Jāhiliyyah (ignorance) used to strangle a sheep until it died, and then they would eat it.
• It could be strangled by a hunter's rope.
• It could have its head caught between two branches of a tree until it suffocated and died. In summary, whatever way it is strangled to death, it is forbidden.

This strangled animal is considered a type of dead animal (maytah) because when it dies without its blood flowing out, it is like an animal that died naturally.

6. The Bluntly Beaten Animal (Al-Mawqūdhah): This is an animal beaten until it dies. It is said: Waqadhahu wa awqadhahu if he struck it until it died. This category includes what is killed by being hit with a stone (naduq). This also falls under the meaning of maytah and munkhanqah because it died without its blood flowing out.

7. The Fallen Animal (Al-Mutaraddiyah): Al-Muraddī is that which falls into radā (destruction/ruin). Allah says: {وَمَا يُغْنِي عَنْهُ مَالُهُ إِذَا تَرَدَّى} (Al-Layl: 11) [And what will his wealth avail him when he perishes/falls into the pit?]. It is said: Taraddā min as-saṭḥ (He fell from the roof). The Mutaraddiyah is that which falls from a mountain or a high place and dies. This is also considered a dead animal because it died without its blood flowing out. This includes an animal struck by an arrow while on a mountain, which then falls to the ground; its meat is forbidden because it is unknown whether it died from the fall or the arrow.

8. The Gored Animal (An-Naṭīḥah): This is an animal killed by being gored until death, such as two sheep butting each other until they die, or one of them dies. This is also included under the maytah because it died without the shedding of blood.

Note on Feminine Endings (Tā’ Marbūṭah): The inclusion of the feminine marker (Tā’ Marbūṭah) in these four terms—Al-Munkhanqah, Al-Mawqūdhah, Al-Mutaraddiyah, An-Naṭīḥah—is because they are adjectives describing an implied feminine noun, which is the sheep (shāh). It is as if it were said: "Forbidden to you is the strangled sheep, the beaten sheep," etc. The sheep was specified because it is the most commonly eaten animal, and the discourse proceeds based on the most frequent case, intending to cover all similar animals.

Objection: Why was the Tā’ retained in An-Naṭīḥah when its original form might have been Manṭūḥah (passive participle), where the Tā’ is usually dropped, as in kaff khaḍīb (dyed palm) or ʿaynin kaḥīl (kohl-lined eye)?

Response: The Tā’ is dropped from the active/passive participle when it describes a preceding feminine noun. However, if the described noun is omitted and only the adjective remains, the Tā’ is retained to stand in place of the omitted noun. For example, you say, "I saw the slain woman (qatlīyah) of so-and-so's family," retaining the Tā’ because omitting it would make it ambiguous whether the slain person was male or female. Therefore, the Tā’ was included in An-Naṭīḥah because it describes an unmentioned feminine noun (the sheep).

9. That which the predator has eaten (Wa mā akala as-sabuʿ): {إِلَّا مَا ذَكَّيْتُمْ} (except that which you have ritually slaughtered [while it was still alive]). This involves several issues:

• Issue 1: The Predator (As-Sabuʿ): This name applies to any animal possessing fangs that attacks and preys upon humans or livestock, such as lions and lesser beasts. It can be pronounced with a quiescent bā’ (sabʿ) or with a fatḥa (sabuʿ). Ibn Abbas recited it as akīl as-sabuʿ (the eater of the predator).
• Issue 2: The Meaning of the Exception: Qatadah said that the people of Jāhiliyyah would eat whatever remained of an animal that a predator had wounded and partially consumed. Allah forbade this. The verse implies an omission: "except what the predator ate from it." What the predator consumed is irrelevant; the ruling applies only to the remainder.
• Issue 3: The Meaning of Tadhkiyah (Ritual Slaughter): The root meaning of dhakāh is completing something. Hence, dhakā’ in understanding means completeness of comprehension. It also relates to age (sinn); it is said that al-mudhkiyāt (the fully mature) are the fastest runners, referring to mature animals whose age has reached its peak youth. If the age is less or more, it is not called dhakā’ in age. Also, dhakaytu an-nār means I fully ignited the fire.

Based on this root meaning, there are several opinions regarding the exception {إِلَّا مَا ذَكَّيْتُمْ}:

• First Opinion (ʿAlī, Ibn Abbas, Al-Ḥasan, Qatādah): The exception applies to everything mentioned previously, from Al-Munkhanqah up to Mā akala as-sabuʿ. If you catch the animal while it still possesses signs of life—an eye moving, a tail twitching, or a leg kicking—then slaughtering it makes it lawful. These signs prove that complete life remains within it.
• Second Opinion: The exception is specific only to the clause {وَمَا أَكَلَ السَّبُعُ} (and that which the predator has eaten).
• Third Opinion: It is a disconnected exception (istithnā’ munqaṭiʿ), meaning: "But what you ritually slaughter from things other than these is lawful for you."
• Fourth Opinion: It is an exception from the prohibition itself, meaning: "What preceded is forbidden to you, except what you ritually slaughter, which is lawful for you." This interpretation also implies a disconnected exception.

10. That which has been slaughtered upon the Nuṣub (Wa mā dhubiḥa ʿalā n-nuṣub): This involves two issues:

• Issue 1: The Meaning of An-Nuṣub: An-Nuṣub can be plural or singular.
  • If plural, its singular form has three possibilities: 1) Nuṣāb (like ḥimār and ḥumur). 2) Nuṣb (like saqf and suquf), according to Ibn al-Anbārī. 3) Nuṣbah, which Al-Layth said is the plural of Nuṣbah (a marker stone erected for a people).
  • If singular, its plural is Anṣāb (like ṭanab and aṭnāb). Al-A'shā used An-Nuṣb as a singular noun in poetry.
• Issue 2: The Nature of An-Nuṣub: Some say An-Nuṣub are idols. This is unlikely because it is coordinated with {وَمَا أُهِلَّ لِغَيْرِ اللَّهِ بِهِ} (that which is slaughtered in the name of other than Allah), which refers to slaughtering in the name of idols. A coordinated item should differ from the item it is coordinated with. Ibn Jurayj said An-Nuṣub are not idols (which are carved stones); rather, they were stones they erected around the Ka'bah. They would slaughter near them for the idols, smear the stones with the blood, and place the meat upon them. When Muslims complained that the pagans were honoring the House with blood, Allah revealed: {لَن يَنَالَ اللَّهَ لُحُومُهَا وَلَا دِمَاؤُهَا} (Al-Ḥajj: 37) [Never will reach Allah their meat nor their blood].

The particle mā in {وَمَا ذُبِحَ} is in the nominative case (rafʿ) because it is coordinated with the preceding forbidden items.

There are two interpretations for {وَمَا ذُبِحَ عَلَى النُّصُبِ}:

1. What was slaughtered with the belief in honoring the Nuṣub.
2. What was slaughtered for the Nuṣub. The prepositions lām (for) and ʿalā (upon) can sometimes substitute for each other, as in {فَسَلَامٌ لَّكَ مِنْ أَصْحَابِ الْيَمِينِ} (Al-Wāqiʿah: 91) [Peace be upon you from the companions of the right], meaning ʿalayka (upon you).

11. Seeking decision by casting lots (Wa an tastaqsimū bi-l-azlām):

Al-Qaffāl said that this was mentioned among the forbidden foods because it was a practice invented by the people of Jāhiliyyah that aligned with their eating habits. Slaughtering upon the Nuṣub often occurred near the Ka'bah, and casting lots (Istiqsām bi-l-azlām) was also done near the Ka'bah when they were there. This involves two issues:

• Issue 1: Meaning of Istiqsām bi-l-Azlām:
  • First Opinion: When one intended a journey, battle, trade, marriage, or any major affair, they would cast arrows (qadāḥ). Some arrows were inscribed: "My Lord has commanded me," others: "My Lord has forbidden me," and some were left blank. If the command arrow came out, they proceeded; if the prohibition came out, they stopped; if the blank one came out, they repeated the casting. Thus, Istiqsām bi-l-azlām means seeking knowledge of good and evil through casting lots.
  • Second Opinion (Historians and many linguists): Istiqsām here refers to al-maysir (gambling), which is forbidden, and al-azlām are the arrows used for gambling. The first opinion is preferred by the majority.
• Issue 2: Meaning of Al-Azlām: Al-Azlām are arrows; the singular is zalam, mentioned by Al-Akhfash. They are called azlām because they were zulimat (made smooth/straight). A man or woman described as muzallam is light and unencumbered. A well-made arrow is called muzlam or zalam. Zamma sahmuhu means he straightened his arrow. The legs of cattle are also called azlām due to their slenderness, resembling the arrows.

{ذَلِكُمْ فِسْقٌ} (That is an act of grave disobedience/sinfulness). This has two interpretations:

1. It refers only to seeking decision by casting lots (Istiqsām bi-l-azlām).
2. It refers to everything mentioned previously—the lawful and unlawful rulings. Whoever opposes Allah in these matters by rejecting them is an unbeliever (kāfir).

Objection (if the first opinion is taken): Why is casting lots considered fisq? The Prophet (PBUH) liked al-fa’l (good omen), and this is a form of omen; why is it fisq?

Response: Al-Wāḥidī stated that it is forbidden because it is a seeking of the unseen (al-ghayb), which is forbidden by verses like {وَمَا تَدْرِي نَفْسٌ مَّاذَا تَكْسِبُ غَدًا} (Luqmān: 34) and {قُل لَّا يَعْلَمُ مَن فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ الْغَيْبَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ} (An-Naml: 65). A tradition from Abu Ad-Dardā’ states that whoever practices fortune-telling, casts lots, or takes an omen that turns him away from a journey, Allah will not look at him for the highest ranks in Paradise on the Day of Resurrection.

However, one might argue: If seeking conjecture based on known signs is seeking the unseen, then dream interpretation (taʿbīr) must also be disbelief, and relying on omens must be disbelief. Furthermore, those claiming divine inspirations (ilhāmāt) would be disbelievers. This is clearly false. Moreover, the verses refer to certain knowledge (ʿilm), whereas the one casting lots gains only weak conjecture (ẓann), not certain knowledge.

Another group suggests that they used to keep these lots near the idols and believed that whatever came out (command or prohibition) was guided by the idols. For this reason, it was fisq and kufr. This latter view is stronger and closer to the truth, in my opinion.

{الْيَوْمَ يَئِسَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا مِن دِينِكُمْ فَلَا تَخْشَوْهُمْ وَاخْشَوْنِ} (This day those who disbelieve have despaired of [defeating] your religion, so fear them not, but fear Me.)

After enumerating the forbidden and permitted livestock, Allah concludes this section with {ذَلِكُمْ فِسْقٌ} (That is an act of grave disobedience), warning the accountable against such deeds. Then, He encourages them to adhere perfectly to what has been legislated for them by saying: {الْيَوْمَ يَئِسَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا مِن دِينِكُمْ فَلَا تَخْشَوْهُمْ} (This day those who disbelieve have despaired of your religion, so fear them not). Do not fear the polytheists for opposing them in laws and creeds, for I have granted you overwhelming dominance and great power, making them subdued and humiliated before you. They have despaired of ever overpowering or dominating you. Since this is the case, you must not pay attention to them but turn toward obedience to Allah and adherence to His laws. This verse contains several issues:

• Issue 1: The Meaning of "This Day" (Al-Yawm):
  • First Opinion: It does not refer to that specific day, as they had despaired before or after. Rather, it is a common linguistic expression meaning: You no longer need to appease these disbelievers because you have reached a state where none of your enemies hope to undermine your standing. It is like saying, "Yesterday I was young, and today I am old," without intending the specific preceding day or the exact current day.
  • Second Opinion: It refers to the day this verse was revealed, which was Friday, the Day of Arafah, after the afternoon prayer during the Farewell Pilgrimage in the year 10 AH, while the Prophet (PBUH) was standing on his she-camel Al-ʿAḍbā’ at Arafat.
• Issue 2: The Despair of the Disbelievers:
  • First Opinion: They despaired of you permitting these impurities after Allah had forbidden them.
  • Second Opinion (Preferred): They despaired of overcoming your religion. This is because Allah had promised to make this religion superior to all others ({لِيُظْهِرَهُ عَلَى الدِّينِ كُلِّهِ}). He fulfilled that victory, removing fear entirely, and made the disbelievers defeated after they were dominant, and subdued after they were powerful.
• Issue 3: Permissibility of Taqiyyah (Dissimulation): Some scholars argue that the verse indicates that Taqiyyah is permissible during fear. Since Allah commanded them to manifest these laws and actions, attributing this command to the cessation of fear from the disbelievers implies that when fear is present, abandoning these manifestations is permissible.

{الْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْ وَأَتْمَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعْمَتِي وَرَضِيتُ لَكُمُ الْإِسْلَامَ دِينًا} (This day I have perfected for you your religion and have completed My favor upon you and have approved for you Islam as religion.)

• Issue 1: The Meaning of "I have perfected your religion today":
  • Question: Does "Today I have perfected your religion" imply that the religion was deficient before this day, meaning the religion the Prophet (PBUH) practiced for most of his life was incomplete, and the complete religion was only realized for a short time at the end of his life?
  • Responses to avoid this implication:
    1. The Meaning is Removal of Fear: It means Allah removed fear from them and showed them the power over their enemies. (This is weak, as a king’s reign is not considered incomplete before conquering an enemy).
    2. The Meaning is Completing Necessary Knowledge: It means Allah completed what they needed in their obligations, namely knowing the lawful and unlawful. (This is weak, as delaying the clarification of necessary rulings until the time of need is impermissible).
    3. Preferred Opinion (Al-Qaffāl): The religion was never deficient; it was always complete. The rulings revealed by Allah at any time were sufficient for that time. However, at the beginning of the Prophethood, Allah knew that what was complete then would not remain complete or suitable later. Thus, rulings were abrogated after being established, and additions were made after absence. But at the end of the Prophethood, Allah revealed complete and final rulings that would remain until the Day of Resurrection. Therefore, the Law was always complete, but the earlier completeness was for a specific time, while the later completeness was until the Day of Judgment. This is why He said, {الْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْ}.
• Issue 2: Proof regarding Analogy (Qiyās):
  • Deniers of Qiyās argue: The verse proves that Qiyās is baseless. If Allah has explicitly stated the ruling for all eventualities, the religion is complete. If a ruling remains unstated, the religion is incomplete. If Qiyās agrees with the explicit text, it is futile; if it contradicts it, it is false.
  • Affirmers of Qiyās respond: Completing the religion means Allah clarified the ruling for all eventualities, some by explicit text, and others by establishing the method (Qiyās) to derive the ruling from the explicitly stated cases. Since Allah commanded Qiyās and made it obligatory, this constitutes clarification for all rulings, thus completing the religion.
  • Deniers of Qiyās counter: The method for equating the unstated with the stated is either a definitive proof or a non-definitive one. If definitive, there is no dispute; we accept Qiyās based on certain premises. However, in such cases, there is only one correct answer, and the opponent deserves punishment, and the judge’s ruling can be overturned—which they (the Qiyās proponents) do not claim. If the method is non-definitive, it allows everyone to rule based on their strongest conjecture without knowing if it is truly Allah’s religion or His ruling. This is not completion but plunging people into doubt and ignorance.
  • Affirmers of Qiyās conclude: If every jurist is obligated to act according to his strongest conjecture (ẓann), then the religion is complete, and every accountable person is certain that he is acting according to Allah's ruling, resolving the question.
• Issue 3: Refutation of the Rāfiḍah (Shia): Our companions argue that this verse refutes the claims of the Rāfiḍah. Since Allah stated that the disbelievers despaired of changing the religion, and confirmed this with {فَلَا تَخْشَوْهُمْ وَاخْشَوْنِ}, if the Imamate of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (RA) had been explicitly decreed by Allah and His Messenger (PBUH) with an obligatory obedience, then anyone attempting to conceal or change it would have been hopeless of success according to this verse. Consequently, no Companion should have been able to deny or alter that explicit text. Since the opposite occurred—no mention of such a text appeared—we know that claiming such a text is a lie, and ʿAlī (RA) was not explicitly designated as Imām.
• Issue 4: Sign of the Prophet's Imminent Death: The narrators state that after this verse was revealed, the Prophet (PBUH) lived only 81 or 82 days, and no addition, abrogation, or change occurred in the Law afterward. This served as a sign of his impending death, making it a miracle (a prophecy of the unseen). This is supported by the narration that when the Prophet (PBUH) recited this verse to the Companions, they rejoiced greatly, except for Abu Bakr (RA), who wept. When asked, he said this verse signals the near departure of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH), for after perfection comes only decline. This demonstrated the depth of Al-Ṣiddīq’s knowledge, as he grasped a secret from this verse that others did not.
• Issue 5: Proof that Allah is the Creator of Faith: Our companions argue that this verse proves that religion is only achieved through Allah’s creation and origination. This is because He attributed the completion of the religion to Himself: {الْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْ}. If its completion is from Him, then its origin must also be from Him. This proof is clear whether we define religion as action, knowledge, or the combination of belief, declaration, and action. The Muʿtazilah interpret this as the completion of the religion's explanation and the manifestation of its laws, which is clearly a deviation from the literal meaning to a metaphorical one.

{وَأَتْمَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعْمَتِي} (and have completed My favor upon you): This means I have perfected your religious and legal affairs. It is as if He said: "Today I have perfected your religion, and I have completed My favor upon you because of that perfection, as there is no favor more complete than the favor of Islam."

This verse also proves that Allah is the Creator of faith. We argue: The religion, which is Islam, is a favor (niʿmah). Every favor is from Allah. Therefore, the religion of Islam must be from Allah.

We state that Islam is a favor for two reasons:

1. The common saying among the Ummah: "Praise be to Allah for the favor of Islam."
2. In this verse, Allah mentioned the completion of the favor (niʿmah) vaguely, and the apparent meaning is that this favor refers to the religion previously mentioned.

Objection: Could the completion of the favor mean making them dominant over their enemies, or making the law immune to abrogation?

Response: The first point was already covered by {الْيَوْمَ يَئِسَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا مِن دِينِكُمْ}, so attributing it here would be redundant repetition. As for the second point (immunity from abrogation), since preserving this religion was a completion of the favor, the origin of this religion must necessarily be a favor. Thus, the religion of Islam is established as a favor. Since every favor is from Allah (as per {وَمَا بِكُم مِّن نِّعْمَةٍ فَمِنَ اللَّهِ}), it is definitively concluded that the religion of Islam was achieved only through Allah’s creation, formation, and origination.

{وَرَضِيتُ لَكُمُ الْإِسْلَامَ دِينًا} (and have approved for you Islam as religion): This means that Islam is the religion pleasing to Allah, confirmed by {وَمَن يَبْتَغِ غَيْرَ الْإِسْلَامِ دِينًا فَلَن يُقْبَلَ مِنْهُ} (And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, never will it be accepted from him).

{فَمَنِ اضْطُرَّ فِي مَخْمَصَةٍ غَيْرَ مُتَجَانِفٍ لِّإِثْمٍ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ} (But whoever is forced by severe hunger, having no inclination to sin—then indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.)

This is a continuation of the discussion on forbidden foods. Although they are forbidden, they become lawful in a state of necessity. The passage from {ذَلِكُمْ فِسْقٌ} up to here is an interjection intended to emphasize the meaning of the prohibition. The prohibition of these impurities is part of the complete religion, the perfect favor, and Islam, which is the pleasing religion to Allah.

• Iḍṭurr (forced): Afflicted by a necessity that prevents him from abstaining from the dead animal.
• Makhmaṣah (severe hunger): Famine. Linguists define khamṣ and makhmaṣah as the emptiness of the belly from food due to hunger, originating from al-khamṣ (the shriveling of the belly).
• Ghayra mutajānin li-ithmin (having no inclination to sin): Not intentionally committing sin. The root janf means leaning or deviation, as in {فَمَنْ خَافَ مِن مُّوصٍ جَنَفًا أَوْ إِثْمًا} (Al-Baqarah: 182) [But if one fears from the testator some error or sin]. Thus, ghayra mutajānin means not leaning or deviating.

The word ghayra can be in the accusative case (naṣb) by assuming an omitted verb, meaning: "So he consumed while not inclined to sin." Or it can be in the accusative case governed by iḍṭurra (forced), with the implied verb coming later: "Whoever is forced while not inclined to sin, then if he consumes, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful."

The meaning of ithm (sin) here, according to the scholars of Iraq, is eating beyond satiety for pleasure. According to the scholars of Hijaz, it means being disobedient through one's journey (i.e., traveling for the purpose of sin). We have detailed this discussion in the Tafsir of Surah Al-Baqarah regarding {فَمَنِ اضْطُرَّ غَيْرَ بَاغٍ وَلَا عَادٍ} (Al-Baqarah: 173).

{فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ}: Meaning, Allah forgives them for eating the forbidden when they are compelled to do so, and He is Merciful to His servants by permitting that forbidden thing when they are in need of it.

Surah Al-Ma'idah, Verse 4

{يَسْأَلُونَكَ مَاذَا أُحِلَّ لَهُمْ ۖ قُلْ أُحِلَّ لَكُمُ الطَّيِّبَاتُ وَمَا عَلَّمْتُم مِّنَ الْجَوَارِحِ مُكَلِّبِينَ تُعَلِّمُونَهُنَّ مِمَّا عَلَّمَكُمُ اللَّهُ فَكُلُوا مِمَّا أَمْسَكْنَ عَلَيْكُمْ وَاذْكُرُوا اسْمَ اللَّهِ عَلَيْهِ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ سَرِيعُ الْحِسَابِ}

(They ask you, [O Muhammad], what has been made lawful for them. Say, "Lawful for you are the good things. And [lawful are] those animals you have trained of the beasts, such as dogs, teaching them as Allah has taught you. So eat of what they have taken for you, and mention the name of Allah over it, and fear Allah. Indeed, Allah is swift in account.")