How Do We Reconcile the Verse of Prohibited Foods with Hadith That Prohibit Different Foods?
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
Surat al-Baqara [2:173] lists forbidden foods with the word ‘innama’ (only), but there are Hadith forbidding additional items like meat from fanged beasts. How do we reconcile this, as ‘innama’ suggests nothing should be added or subtracted?”
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate
I pray you are in good faith and health. Thank you for your question.
The restriction and Quranic message here focus on the prohibition of four specific animals, which the polytheists of Makkah deemed permissible or impermissible based on their pagan beliefs.
Allah (Most High) says, “He has only forbidden you to eat carrion, blood, swine, and what is slaughtered in the name of any other than Allah. But if someone is compelled by necessity—neither driven by desire nor exceeding immediate need—they will not be sinful. Surely Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” [Quran, 2:173]
Context of the Verse
Indeed, other verses from the Quran and Hadith prove the prohibition of many different things. So, the restriction of four things being forbidden here concerns those particular animals only, which the polytheists of Makkah took as halal or haram on the basis of their pagan beliefs.
This has been pointed out in the previous verse, where it is said that the polytheists of Makkah were used to declaring some halal animals as haram for them, and this practice was censured there. Now, it is in contrast to that situation that they are being told here as to how they do not stay away from certain animals that have been declared haram for them, while, at the same time, they stay away from those that are halal in the sight of Allah. Therefore, the ‘restriction’ here should not be taken in the absolute sense as it is relative, especially in opposition to polytheistic beliefs.
[Shafi, Ma‘arif al-Quran]
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Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat
Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied in the UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey. He started his early education in the UK. He went on to complete the hifz of the Quran in India, then enrolled in an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied the secular and ‘Aalimiyya sciences. He then traveled to Karachi, Pakistan. He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for several years. He has taught hifz of the Quran, Tajwid, Fiqh, and many other Islamic sciences to children and adults onsite and online extensively in the UK and Ireland. He taught at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK, where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences. He currently resides in the UK with his wife. His interest is a love of books and gardening.
