Tafsir of Al-Ma'idah 5:4

"They ask you" The question implies a statement, which is why it is followed by: "What has been made lawful for them" It is as if it were said: "They say to you, 'What has been made lawful for them?'" The reason it does not say "for us" is to narrate what they actually said, as the verb "they ask you" is in the third person. Just as one says, "Zayd swore he would do it," even if he had said, "I will do it." Had it said "for us," it would also have been correct.

"What" (mādhā) is a nominal sentence (subject), and "has been made lawful for them" is its predicate, similar to saying, "Which thing has been made lawful for them?" The meaning is: "What has been made lawful for them regarding food?" It is as if, when the forbidden, impure foods were recited to them, they asked about what was lawful among them. Thus, it was said:

"Lawful for you are [all] good things" Meaning, that which is not impure among them. This is everything whose prohibition has not come in the Book, the Sunnah, or the analogy of a jurist.

"And [what] you have taught of hunting animals" This is conjoined to "good things"—meaning, "The good things are lawful for you, and the catch of what you have taught." The noun being qualified is omitted. Alternatively, "what" (mā) can be treated as a conditional particle, with its response being "so eat."

"Hunting animals" (al-jawāriḥ) refers to the predators among beasts and birds, such as the dog, the cheetah, the leopard, the eagle, the falcon, the hawk, and the merlin.

"As trained hunters" The mukallib (trainer) is one who disciplines the hunting animals, trains them to hunt for their owner, and masters them through tricks and methods of discipline and refinement. It is derived from kalb (dog) because discipline is most common in dogs, so it was derived from that word due to its prevalence in that species. Or, it is because any predator is called a kalb. From this is the Prophet’s saying: "O Allah, unleash upon him a dog from Your dogs," referring to a lion. Or, it is from kalb in the sense of ferocity; it is said, "He is a kalb for such-and-such," if he is ferocious toward it.

The accusative case of "as trained hunters" (mukallibīn) is a state (ḥāl) describing "you have taught." If you ask, "What is the benefit of this state when it is already implied by 'you have taught'?" I say: Its benefit is to indicate that one who teaches hunting animals must be an expert, highly trained, and characterized by this skill.

"Teaching them" This is a second state or a new sentence. It contains a profound benefit: that anyone who acquires knowledge must only take it from the most learned of its people, the most insightful in its understanding, and the deepest in its subtleties and truths—even if he must travel great distances to reach them. How many have taken knowledge from someone who is not a master, only to waste their days and bite their fingers in regret when they finally meet the true experts.

"From what Allah has taught you" This refers to the knowledge of training, as it is an inspiration from Allah and acquired through intellect. Or, it refers to what He has taught you to teach them: following the prey, stopping when commanded, returning when called, holding the prey for the owner, and not eating from it.

It has been recited as mukallibīn (with a light lām). Af'ala and fa'ala often share the same meaning. "Holding it for the owner" means not eating from it, based on the Prophet’s words to 'Adī ibn Ḥātim: "If it eats from it, do not eat, for it only caught it for itself."

Scholars have differed: they stipulated that predatory beasts must not eat from the catch because they are trained by beating, but they did not stipulate this for predatory birds. Others did not consider the act of eating at all, making no distinction between holding the whole or part of the catch. It is reported from Salmān, Sa'd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ, and Abū Hurayrah that if a dog eats two-thirds and one-third remains, and you mention the name of Allah over it, then eat.

If you ask, "To what does the pronoun refer in His saying: 'And mention the name of Allah over it'?" I say: It either refers to what they have caught—meaning, mention His name over it when you reach it to slaughter it—or it refers to the hunting animals—meaning, mention His name over them when you release them.