Al-Ma’idah 5: 1–2
(The Table)
(Madinan Period)
In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate.
(1) Believers! Honour your bonds!1 All grazing beasts of the flock are permitted to you2 except those which are recited to you hereinafter; but you are not allowed to hunt in the state of ihram (the state of Pilgrim Sanctity). Indeed Allah decrees as He wills.
(2) Believers! Neither desecrate the symbols of (devotion to) Allah,3 nor the holy month, ▶
1 People are asked to abide by the limitations and prohibitions laid down in the Qur’an.
2 The Arabic word an[am (cattle) denotes camels, oxen, sheep and goats, whereas the word bahimah means all grazing quadrupeds. The terms in which the injunction is conveyed are bahimat al-an[am (all grazing beasts of the flock). Hence the permission is of wider import and embraces all grazing quadrupeds of the cattle type, i.e. those which do not possess canine teeth, which feed on plants rather than animals, and which resemble the cattle. This implication was elucidated by the Prophet (peace be on him) and is embodied in a tradition in which he prohibited those beasts which kill and eat animals. Likewise, the Prophet (peace be on him) also prohibited birds with claws and those that feed on carrion.
3 Whatever characteristically represents either a particular doctrine, creed, way of thought or conduct is recognized as its symbol. For example, official flags,
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Al-Ma’idah 5: 2
nor the animals of offering, nor the animals wearing collars indicating they are for sacrifice, nor ill-treat those who have set out for the Holy House seeking from their Lord His bounty and good pleasure. But once you are free from Pilgrimage obligations, you are free to hunt. Do not let your wrath against the people who have barred you from the Holy Mosque move you to commit undue transgressions;4 rather, help one another in acts of righteousness and piety, and do not help one another in sin and transgression. ▶
uniforms of the armed forces, coins, notes and stamps are symbols used by governments. Cathedrals, altars and crosses are symbols of Christianity. A special bunch of hair on the head, a special kind of bead-rosary and the temple are symbols of Hinduism. A turban, bracelet and kirpan (a special dagger kept by the Sikhs) are symbols of the Sikh religion. The hammer and sickle are the symbols of Communism. The followers of these ideologies are required to treat these symbols with respect. If a person insults any symbol associated with a particular ideology it is regarded as an act of hostility; and if the person concerned is himself a follower of that ideology then that insult is considered to be tantamount to abandonment of, and revolt against, it. The expression sha[a’ir Allah refers to all those rites which, in opposition to polytheism and outright unbelief and atheism, are the characteristic symbols of exclusive devotion to God.
4 The unbelievers had prevented the Muslims from visiting the Ka[bah. In fact, in violation of the ancient usage of Arabia they had even deprived them of their right to make Pilgrimage. As a result, the Muslims felt inclined to prevent the pagan tribes too from making Pilgrimage by not letting them pass along the routes to Makkah which lay close to the Islamic domains, and to attack their trading caravans during the time of Pilgrimage (Hajj). God prevented them from carrying out this plan through this revelation.
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Al-Ma’idah 5: 3
Fear Allah: Surely Allah is severe in retribution.
(3) Forbidden to you are carrion, blood, the flesh of swine, the animal slaughtered in any name other than Allah’s, the animal which has either been strangled, killed by blows, has died of a fall, or by goring or devoured by a beast of prey – unless it be that which you yourselves might have slaughtered while it was still alive – and forbidden to you also that which was slaughter- ed at the altars.5 You are also forbidden to seek knowledge of your fate by divining arrows. All these are sinful acts. This day the unbelievers have fully despaired of your religion. Do not fear them; but fear Me.6 ▶
5 The word nusub signifies all the places consecrated for offerings to others than the One True God, regardless of whether they are images of wood, stone or anything else.
6 “This day” here does not signify a particular day or a specific date. It refers to that period of time when these verses were revealed. In our usage, too, expressions like “today” or “this day” often have the sense of the “present time”. “This day the unbelievers have fully despaired of your religion” refers to the fact that the Muslims’ religion had developed into a full-fledged system of life, reinforced by the authority and governmental power which it had acquired. The unbelievers who had hitherto resisted its establishment had now despaired of being able to destroy Islam and of forcing the believers to return to their former state of Ignorance. The believers, therefore, no longer needed to fear other humans: they should fear God alone. They were told that they would not be treated lightly
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Al-Ma’idah 5: 4
This day I have perfected for you your religion, and have bestowed upon you My Bounty in full measure, and have been pleased to assign for you Islam as your religion.7 (Follow, then, the lawful and unlawful bounds enjoined upon you.) As for he who is driven by hunger, without being wilfully inclined to sin, surely Allah is All-Forgiving8 All-Compassionate.
(4) They ask you what has been made lawful to them. Say that all clean things have been made lawful to you,9 ▶
if they failed to carry out His commands, especially as there was no longer any justifiable excuse for such failure.
7 The “perfection of religion” mentioned in this verse refers to making it a self-sufficient system of belief and conduct, and an order of social life providing its own answers to the questions with which man is confronted so that in no circumstance would one need to look for guidance to any extraneous source. The bounty referred to in the statement: “I have bestowed upon you My bounty in full measure,” is the bounty of true guidance. The statement: “I have been pleased to assign for you Islam as your religion” means that since the Muslims had proved by their conduct and their striving that they were honest and sincere about the commitment they had made to God in embracing Islam – the commitment to serve and obey Him – He had accepted their sincerity and created the conditions in which they were no longer yoked in bondage to anyone but Him.
