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In the name of Allah the Merciful, the Beneficent.
Forbidden to you are carrion, blood, the flesh of swine; and that on which the name of any other than Allah has been invoked; and the animals that have been strangled, beaten to death killed by a fall, gored to death or savaged by a beast of prey, save that which you may have slaughtered when alive. (Also forbidden to you are) animals that have been slaughtered on idolatrous altars
And (you are also forbidden) to resort to the vanquishing your religion. Have no fear of them then, but fear Me alone.
This day I have perfected your religion for you and bestowed on you the full measure of My blessings and chosen Islam as a religion for you.
He who is constrained by extreme hunger (to eat of what is forbidden), not intending to commit sin, will find Allah much-Forgiving, Merciful. (The Repast, “Al-Maideh”: 5;3)
The fact that a person who is so hungry that he fears for his life is allowed to eat even forbidden types of food, only shows that Islam asks for what is easy, and always gives situations of necessity the sort of rulings which ensure that no affliction is caused to its followers. In the end, matters are left to the clear intention and to being conscious of what Allah requires of us. A person, who is driven by an extreme situation to eat of these forbidden types having had no intention of committing a sin, will suffer no punishment.
The first verse of this surah had indicated that the flesh of quadrupeds of the class of cattle is permissible to eat with the exceptions that would follow in the surah. Now we have the details of these exceptions. The first three are carrion, blood and the flesh of swine. These have been mentioned as forbidden in Verse 174 of Surah 2, entitled The Cow, or Al Baqarah. It is useful to quote here what we mentioned in commenting on this prohibition as we discussed it earlier:
“A healthy taste turns away from carrion and blood. No one finds either of these two appetizing. Besides it has been medically proven, albeit a long time after the prohibition made in the Qur’an and earlier in the Torah, that germs and harmful objects infest carrion and blood. We cannot be certain that science had discovered all that is harmful in carrion and blood or whether there are other reasons for the prohibition not yet known to man.
“We find nowadays some people disputing the prohibition on the flesh of swine. We begin by stating that by nature the pig is disgusting to any person with sound taste. Allah has forbidden the flesh of taste. Allah had forbidden the flesh of swine a very long time ago, but man has only recently come to realize that pigs have in their bodies and bowels a dangerous parasite, the tape worm, which causes a serious illness. Some people claim that modern cooking methods have neutralized that risk, because the high temperatures that are used in modern cooking kill off all those worms and their eggs. These people forget, however, that it has taken human science long centuries to discover just one risk. Who can guarantee the absence of any other hazard, hitherto unknown to us, in pork and bacon? This divine law has been ahead of human science by many centuries. Does it not deserve, then, our unqualified trust? Does it not deserve to be the final arbiter on what is wholesome and what is not? It is wise, all knowing; and as such we must abide by its teachings, and accept what it makes lawful and what it forbids without question.”
We may add to the foregoing that whether human knowledge will eventually be able to determine the reasons for this prohibition or not, divine Knowledge had made it clear that these types of food are unwholesome. This is all that we need to know, because Allah only forbids what is evil and what harms human life in one aspect or another, whether such harm is known to man or not. Human Knowledge remains short of knowing everything that harms and all that is useful.
Animals on which a name other than that of Allah has been invoked are forbidden because such a practice is essentially contrary to faith, which is based on the fact that Godhead belongs to Allah alone. The first thing that follows from this acknowledgement is that the purpose behind every intention and action must be seeking Allah’s pleasure and that only His name should be invoked before every action and that is His name every step is made.
Therefore, when the name of anyone other than Allah is invoked at the slaughtering of an animal, and indeed when no name is mentioned at such slaughter, the flesh of that animal is forbidden to eat because such an action is basically contrary to faith. It is this moral respect that it is unwholesome and, therefore, it is added to what is physically unwholesome such as carrion, blood and pork.
As for animals which are strangled in one way or another, or beaten or gored to death or killed by a fall or savaged by a beast of pray, they are all types of carrion. Unless these are caught when still alive and slaughtered in the proper Islamic manner, they are forbidden to eat. These details are given here in order to remove any suspicion that these may have a separate ruling. Scholars have spoken in detail on these and given different rulings with regard to “slaughter”, and when an animal is deemed to have been slaughtered. Some scholars consider that if an animal has suffered an injury which is bound to cause its death, it cannot be made lawful even if slaughtered before its death. Other scholars consider that such a slaughter, when the animal is still alive, is appropriate, regardless of the type of injury. We do not intend to go into these details in this commentary.
Before Islam, there were idols in the Ka’aba where the polytheists used to slaughter their animals on these idols. Animals that are slaughtered on such idolatrous altars, wherever they may be, are forbidden to eat because of the place of their slaughter even though the name of Allah may have been mentioned at the time of slaughter, the action itself is one of idolatry.
There remains of the types that have been forbidden in this verse the one which concerns the divining arrows. These arrows were used in pre-Islamic Arabia in order to decide whether to undertake a certain action or not. Different reports suggest that either three or seven arrows were used, with each indicating a different action. The same arrows were also used in gambling. Every one of the gamblers had an arrow. The arrows were mixed and one is drawn. The person whose name is given to that arrow would take the amount of meat given to it. Allah has forbidden resorting to arrows for dividing anything and using these arrows for any division because it is one type of gambling which is totally forbidden. He has also prohibited eating the meat divided in this manner.
“He who is constrained by extreme hunger (to eat of what is forbidden), not intending to commit sin, will find Allah much-Forgiving, Merciful.” A person who is so hungry that he fears for his life, may eat of any of these forbidden types, as long as he does not intend to do what is forbidden and commit a sin. Scholars have given different rulings on how much one is allowed to eat: is it only what is sufficient for him to stay alive? Or is he allowed to eat his fill? Or may he save something for other meals if he fears that he may not find food that is permissible? We need not go into these details here. It is sufficient for our purpose to understand that this religion of ours always asks for what is easy and always gives situations of necessity the sort of rulings which ensure that no affliction is caused to its followers. In the end, matters are left to the clear intention and to being conscious of what Allah requires of us. A person, who is driven by an extreme situation to eat of these forbidden types, having had no intention of committing a sin, will suffer no punishment. He “will find Allah much Forgiving, Merciful.”
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