Tafseer of The Table · Al-Maaida · 5:1
O you who have believed, fulfill [all] contracts. Lawful for you are the animals of grazing livestock except for that which is recited to you [in this Qur'an] - hunting not being permitted while you are in the state of ihram. Indeed, Allah ordains what He intends.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The discourse on the interpretation of His saying, mighty is His remembrance: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَوْفُوا بِالْعُقُودِ ("O you who believe, fulfill the contracts").
Abū Jaʿfar said: He, exalted is His praise, means by His saying "O you who believe, fulfill": O you who have acknowledged the oneness of Allah, have submitted themselves to Him in servitude, have surrendered the divinity to Him, and have affirmed His Messenger Muḥammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, in his prophethood and in what he brought them from their Lord of the ordinances of His religion — "fulfill the contracts," that is: fulfill the covenants you have entered into with your Lord, and the contracts you have concluded with Him and through which you have imposed rights upon yourselves, and by which you have laid obligations upon yourselves toward Allah; so discharge them with fulfillment, completion, and perfection on your part toward Allah in what He has imposed upon you thereby, and toward those with whom you have mutually entered into a contract, in what you have made obligatory upon him thereby toward yourselves; and do not break them, lest you nullify them after their ratification.
* * *
And the people of interpretation differed concerning the "contracts" (al-ʿuqūd), the fulfillment of which Allah, exalted is His praise, commanded with this verse, after they were all agreed that the meaning of "al-ʿuqūd" is the covenants (al-ʿuhūd).
Some of them said: They are the contracts that the people of the Jāhiliyya used to enter into with one another for mutual aid, support, and assistance against whoever would wrong them or seek to harm them, and that is the meaning of the "alliance" (al-ḥilf) that they used to conclude among themselves.
Mention of those who said: the meaning of "al-ʿuqūd" is the covenants.
10893 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya ibn Ṣāliḥ related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning his saying "fulfill the contracts," that is: the covenants.
10894 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the saying of Allah, mighty and exalted is He: "fulfill the contracts," he said: the covenants.
10895 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, the same.
10896 - Sufyān related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of a man, on the authority of Mujāhid, the same.
10897 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: ʿUbayd Allāh related to us, on the authority of Abū Jaʿfar al-Rāzī, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas, he said: We were sitting with Muṭarrif ibn al-Shikhkhīr, and with him was a man who was narrating to them, and he said: "O you who believe, fulfill the contracts," he said: they are the covenants.
10898 - Al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ: "fulfill the contracts," he said: the covenants.
10899 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Abū Khālid al-Aḥmar related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk: "O you who believe, fulfill the contracts," he said: they are the covenants.
10900 - It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faraj, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān informed us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say: "fulfill the contracts," with the covenants.
10901 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning his saying "fulfill the contracts," he said: with the covenants.
10902 - Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "fulfill the contracts," he said: they are the covenants.
10903 - Al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz related to us, saying: I heard al-Thawrī say: "fulfill the contracts," he said: with the covenants.
10904 - Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid, the same.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: And "al-ʿuqūd" is the plural of "ʿaqd," and the origin of "al-ʿaqd" is the joining of one thing to another, namely the binding of them together, as the rope is bound to the rope when it is firmly joined to it. One says of this: "so-and-so concluded a contract between himself and another, and he concludes it," and to this belongs the saying of al-Ḥuṭayʾa:
A people who, when they conclude a contract for their neighbor, firmly knot the cord of confirmation and over it fasten the reinforcement.
And that is when he pledges him fidelity concerning a matter and makes a covenant with him concerning it to fulfill toward him that which he has contracted with him, whether of safety and protection, or of aid, or a marriage, or a sale, or a partnership, or anything else of the contracts.
* * *
Mention of those who pronounced the meaning we have mentioned, of those who said it concerning what is meant by His saying "fulfill the contracts."
10905 - Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning his saying: "O you who believe, fulfill the contracts," that is: with the contract of the Jāhiliyya. It has been related to us that the Prophet of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to say: fulfill the contract of the Jāhiliyya, and conclude no new contract in Islam. And it has been related to us that Furāt ibn Ḥayyān al-ʿIjlī asked the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, about the alliance of the Jāhiliyya, and the Prophet of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: perhaps you are asking about the alliance of Lakhm and Taym Allāh? He said: yes, O Prophet of Allah! He said: Islam only adds strength to it.
10906 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: "fulfill the contracts," he said: the contracts of the Jāhiliyya: the alliance.
* * *
And others said: They are rather the contracts that Allah has taken from His servants concerning belief in Him and obedience to Him, in what He has made lawful and forbidden to them.
*Mention of those who said that:
10907 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh informed us, saying: Muʿāwiya ibn Ṣāliḥ related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning his saying "fulfill the contracts," that is: what He has made lawful and what He has forbidden, and what He has made obligatory, and what limits He has fixed in the whole Qurʾān; so do not be treacherous and break nothing. Then He intensified that and said: وَالَّذِينَ يَنْقُضُونَ عَهْدَ اللَّهِ مِنْ بَعْدِ مِيثَاقِهِ وَيَقْطَعُونَ مَا أَمَرَ اللَّهُ بِهِ أَنْ يُوصَلَ up to His saying: سُوءُ الدَّارِ [Surah Ar-Raʿd: 25] ("And those who break the covenant of Allah after its ratification and sever what Allah has commanded to be joined ... the evil abode").
10908 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: "fulfill the contracts," that which Allah has imposed upon the servants of what He has made lawful to them and what He has forbidden them.
* * *
And others said: They are rather the contracts that people enter into with one another, and that a person concludes for himself.
*Mention of those who said that:
10909 - Sufyān ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of Mūsā ibn ʿUbayda, on the authority of his brother ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUbayda, he said: The contracts are five: the contract of oaths, the contract of marriage, the contract of the covenant, the contract of sale, and the contract of alliance.
10910 - Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Mūsā ibn ʿUbayda, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb al-Quraẓī — or on the authority of his brother ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUbayda, in like manner.
10911 - Yūnus ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning his saying "O you who believe, fulfill the contracts," he said: the contract of the covenant, the contract of the oath, the contract of alliance, the contract of partnership, and the contract of marriage. He said: these contracts are five.
10912 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿUtba ibn Saʿīd al-Ḥimṣī related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Zayd ibn Aslam related to us, saying: my father related to us, concerning the saying of Allah, mighty and exalted is He: "O you who believe, fulfill the contracts," he said: the contracts are five: the contract of marriage, the contract of partnership, the contract of the oath, the contract of the covenant, and the contract of alliance.
* * *
And others said: This verse is rather a command from Allah, exalted is He, to the People of the Book to fulfill that for which He took their covenant, namely to act according to what is in the Tawrāh and the Injīl concerning the affirmation of Muḥammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and of what he brought them from Allah.
*Mention of those who said that:
10913 - Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj: "fulfill the contracts," he said: the covenants that Allah took from the People of the Book: that they act according to what has come to them.
10914 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: al-Layth related to me, saying: Yūnus related to me, saying: Muḥammad ibn Muslim said: I read the letter of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, which he wrote for ʿAmr ibn Ḥazm when he sent him to Najrān. The letter was with Abū Bakr ibn Ḥazm, and in it was: "This is a declaration from Allah and His Messenger": "O you who believe, fulfill the contracts," and he wrote down its verses until he reached: إِنَّ اللَّهَ سَرِيعُ الْحِسَابِ ("Indeed, Allah is swift in reckoning").
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: And the correct of the sayings concerning it is, in our view, what Ibn ʿAbbās said, and that its meaning is: fulfill, O you who believe, the contracts of Allah that He has made obligatory upon you and that He has concluded concerning what He has made lawful to you and what He has forbidden you, and the obligation of which He has imposed upon you, and the limits of which He has clarified to you.
And we have only said that this is more correct than the other sayings because Allah, mighty and exalted is He, followed this passage with the exposition of what He has made lawful and forbidden to His servants, and of what He has imposed upon them as obligations. By this it is known that His saying "fulfill the contracts" is a command from Him to His servants to act according to what He has imposed upon them of obligations and contracts, immediately following this, and a prohibition from Him to them against nullifying that which He has imposed upon them of it, given that His saying "fulfill the contracts" is a command from Him to fulfill every contract that He has made lawful. It is therefore not permissible that anything of it be excluded, until a proof arises for the exception of something thereof to which one must submit. Since the matter is as we have described, the saying of one who directs that to the meaning of the command to fulfill only a part of the contracts whose fulfillment Allah has commanded, to the exclusion of another part, has no ground.
* * *
And as for His saying "fulfill" (awfū): the Arabs have two linguistic variants in it:
The one: "awfū," from the saying of one who says: "awfaytu li-fulān bi-ʿahdihi, ūfī lahu bihi" (I fulfilled toward so-and-so his covenant, I fulfill it toward him).
And the other is from their saying: "wafaytu lahu bi-ʿahdihi afī" (I fulfilled toward him his covenant, I fulfill it).
And "the fulfillment of the covenant" (al-īfāʾ bi-l-ʿahd) is its completion in accordance with the permissible conditions upon which it was concluded.
* * *
The discourse on the interpretation of His saying: أُحِلَّتْ لَكُمْ بَهِيمَةُ الأَنْعَامِ ("The grazing livestock have been made lawful to you").
Abū Jaʿfar said: The people of interpretation differed concerning "the grazing livestock" (bahīmat al-anʿām) which Allah, mighty is His remembrance, mentions in this verse that He has made lawful for us.
Some of them said: It is the livestock in its entirety.
*Mention of those who said that:
10915 - Sufyān ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, on the authority of ʿAwf, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, he said: the grazing livestock, those are the camels, the cattle, and the small cattle.
10916 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning his saying "the grazing livestock have been made lawful to you," he said: the livestock in its entirety.
10917 - Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ibn Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "the grazing livestock have been made lawful to you," he said: the livestock in its entirety.
10918 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas, concerning his saying "the grazing livestock have been made lawful to you," he said: the livestock in its entirety.
10920 - It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faraj, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān informed us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning his saying "the grazing livestock": it is the livestock.
* * *
And others said: He rather meant by His saying "the grazing livestock have been made lawful to you" the fetuses of the livestock found in the bellies of their mothers — when those have been slaughtered or had their throats cut — as dead animals.
*Mention of those who said that:
10921 - Al-Ḥārith ibn Muḥammad related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz related to us, saying: Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Fazārī informed us, on the authority of ʿAṭiyya al-ʿAwfī, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, concerning his saying "the grazing livestock have been made lawful to you." He said: what is in their bellies. He said: I said: if it comes out dead, may I eat it? He said: yes.
10922 - Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Zakariyyā related to us, on the authority of Idrīs al-Awdī, on the authority of ʿAṭiyya, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, in like manner — and he added to it: he said: yes, it is on a par with its lung and its liver.
10923 - Ibn Ḥumayd and Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, both of them saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Qābūs, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: The fetus belongs to the grazing livestock, so eat it.
10924 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Misʿar — and Sufyān, on the authority of Qābūs — on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: that a cow was slaughtered and in its belly a fetus was found, and Ibn ʿAbbās seized the tail of the fetus and said: this belongs to the grazing livestock that have been made lawful to you.
10925 - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Yamān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Qābūs, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: it belongs to the grazing livestock.
10926 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim and Muʾammal related to us, both of them saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Qābūs, on the authority of his father, he said: We slaughtered a cow, and behold, in its belly there was a fetus. We asked Ibn ʿAbbās, and he said: this is one of the grazing livestock.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: And the more correct of the two sayings concerning it is the saying of one who said: He meant by His saying "the grazing livestock have been made lawful to you" the livestock in its entirety: its fetuses, its young, and its adults. For the Arabs do not refrain from calling all of that "animal" and "animals" (bahīma, bahāʾim), and Allah has excluded nothing of it over anything else. So it remains in its generality and its outward meaning, until a proof comes for excluding it to which one must submit.
* * *
And as for "al-naʿam," that is among the Arabs a name for the camels, the cattle, and the small cattle in particular, as He, exalted is His praise, said: وَالأَنْعَامَ خَلَقَهَا لَكُمْ فِيهَا دِفْءٌ وَمَنَافِعُ وَمِنْهَا تَأْكُلُونَ [Surah An-Naḥl: 5] ("And the livestock He created for you; in them is warmth and benefits, and of them you eat"), after which He said: وَالْخَيْلَ وَالْبِغَالَ وَالْحَمِيرَ لِتَرْكَبُوهَا وَزِينَةً [Surah An-Naḥl: 8] ("And the horses, the mules, and the donkeys, that you may ride them and as adornment"); thus He distinguished the genus of livestock from the remaining genera of animal.
And as for "its animals" (bahāʾimuhā), those are its young. And we have only said that the name "animal" (bahīma) remains attached to the adults of it, as it remains attached to the young, because the meaning of the saying of one who says "the grazing livestock" corresponds to his saying "the young of the livestock." And since the meaning of having been brought into the world does not fall away from them after they have grown up, so too the name "animal" does not fall away from them after they have grown up.
* * *
And a group has said: "the grazing livestock" are its wild kinds, such as the gazelles, the wild cattle, and the wild donkeys.
* * *
The discourse on the interpretation of His saying: إِلا مَا يُتْلَى عَلَيْكُمْ ("except what is recited to you").
Abū Jaʿfar said: The people of interpretation differed concerning what Allah meant by His saying "except what is recited to you." Some of them said: Allah meant by it: the young of the camels, the cattle, and the small cattle are lawful to you, except what Allah has clarified to you in what is recited to you by His saying: حُرِّمَتْ عَلَيْكُمُ الْمَيْتَةُ وَالدَّمُ [Surah Al-Māʾida: 3] ("Forbidden to you are the carrion and the blood").
*Mention of those who said that:
10927 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: "the grazing livestock, except what is recited to you," except the carrion and what is named with it.
10928 - Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning his saying "the grazing livestock have been made lawful to you, except what is recited to you," that is: of the carrion that Allah has forbidden and of which He has spoken beforehand.
10929 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda: "except what is recited to you," he said: except the carrion and that over which the name of Allah has not been pronounced.
10930 - Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to me, saying: Aḥmad ibn Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "except what is recited to you," the carrion, the blood, and the flesh of swine.
10931 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "the grazing livestock have been made lawful to you, except what is recited to you," the carrion and the flesh of swine.
10932 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "the grazing livestock have been made lawful to you, except what is recited to you," it is the carrion, the blood, the flesh of swine, and that which has been consecrated to other than Allah.
* * *
And others said: That which Allah has excepted with His saying "except what is recited to you" is rather the swine.
Mention of those who said that:
10933 - ʿAbd Allāh ibn Dāwūd related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "except what is recited to you," he said: the swine.
10934 - It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān informed us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning his saying "except what is recited to you," that is: the swine.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: And the more correct of the two interpretations concerning it is the interpretation of one who said: He meant by it: except what is recited to you concerning Allah's forbidding of what He has forbidden you with His saying: حُرِّمَتْ عَلَيْكُمُ الْمَيْتَةُ ("Forbidden to you is the carrion"). For Allah, mighty and exalted is He, has excepted from what He has made lawful to His servants of the grazing livestock that which He has forbidden them of it. And that which He has forbidden them of it is that which He has clarified in His saying: حُرِّمَتْ عَلَيْكُمُ الْمَيْتَةُ وَالدَّمُ وَلَحْمُ الْخِنْزِيرِ [Surah Al-Māʾida: 3] ("Forbidden to you are the carrion, the blood, and the flesh of swine"). And the swine, even though Allah has forbidden it to us, does not belong to the grazing livestock such that it would be excepted from them. The excepting of what is forbidden to us, from that which belongs to the totality of what precedes the exception, is therefore more plausible than the excepting of what is forbidden, from that which does not belong to the totality of what precedes the exception.
* * *
The discourse on the interpretation of His saying: غَيْرَ مُحِلِّي الصَّيْدِ وَأَنْتُمْ حُرُمٌ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَحْكُمُ مَا يُرِيدُ ("while not permitting the hunt while you are in a state of ritual consecration; indeed, Allah judges what He wills").
Abū Jaʿfar said: The people of interpretation differed concerning its interpretation.
Some of them said: Its meaning is: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَوْفُوا بِالْعُقُودِ = "while not permitting the hunt while you are in a state of ritual consecration" = أُحِلَّتْ لَكُمْ بَهِيمَةُ الأَنْعَامِ. That, then, according to their saying, is of the postponed whose meaning is the foregrounding. The word "ghayr" (without/not) is then — according to the saying of those who make this claim — placed in the accusative as a circumstantial qualifier of what lies in His saying "fulfill" of the mention of "those who believe."
And the interpretation of the words according to their view is: fulfill, O believers, the contracts of Allah that He has imposed upon you in His Book, while you do not permit the hunt while you are in a state of ritual consecration.
* * *
And others said: Its meaning is: the wild grazing livestock are lawful to you, of the gazelles, the wild cattle, and the wild donkeys = "while not permitting the hunt," without permitting the hunting of them, while you are in a state of ritual consecration, "except what is recited to you." The word "ghayr" is then, according to the saying of these, placed in the accusative as a circumstantial qualifier of the "kāf and the mīm" that are in His saying لَكُمْ (to you), with the interpretation: there are made lawful to you, O you who believe, the grazing livestock, without permitting the hunting of them in the state of your ritual consecration.
* * *
And others said: Its meaning is: the grazing livestock in their entirety are lawful to you = إِلا مَا يُتْلَى عَلَيْكُمْ = except what of them was wild, for that is game, and it is not lawful to you while you are in a state of ritual consecration. It is as though the one who said that directed the words to the meaning: the grazing livestock in their entirety are lawful to you = إِلا مَا يُتْلَى عَلَيْكُمْ = except what is clarified to you of the wild kinds of it, without permitting the hunting of them in the state of your ritual consecration. The word "ghayr" is then, according to their saying, placed in the accusative as a circumstantial qualifier of the "kāf and the mīm" in His saying إِلا مَا يُتْلَى عَلَيْكُمْ.
*Mention of those who said that:
10935 - Sufyān ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: ʿUbayd Allāh related to us, on the authority of Abū Jaʿfar al-Rāzī, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas, he said: We were sitting with Muṭarrif ibn al-Shikhkhīr, and with him was a man who was narrating to them and said: "the grazing livestock have been made lawful to you" — game = "while not permitting the hunt while you are in a state of ritual consecration," that is forbidden to you. That is: the wild cattle, the gazelles, and what resembles them.
10936 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas, concerning his saying "the grazing livestock have been made lawful to you, except what is recited to you, while not permitting the hunt while you are in a state of ritual consecration," he said: the livestock is lawful in its entirety, except what of it was wild, for that is game, and it is not lawful when one is in a state of ritual consecration (muḥrim).
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Abū Jaʿfar said: And the more correct of the sayings concerning it — given what the interpretation of the people of interpretation concerning His saying أُحِلَّتْ لَكُمْ بَهِيمَةُ الأَنْعَامِ has lent strength to, namely that it is the livestock with its fetuses and its young, and given the indication of the outward meaning of the Revelation — is the saying of one who said: Its meaning is: fulfill the contracts, while not permitting the hunt while you are in a state of ritual consecration; for the grazing livestock are lawful to you in the state of your ritual consecration or in other of your states, except what is recited to you of the prohibition of it, namely the carrion thereof, the blood, and that which is consecrated to other than Allah.
That is because His saying إِلا مَا يُتْلَى عَلَيْكُمْ, if its meaning were "except the game," then it would have been said: "except what is recited to you of the game, without permitting it." And in Allah's not joining His saying إِلا مَا يُتْلَى عَلَيْكُمْ to what I have mentioned, and in His explicitly mentioning the game in His saying "while not permitting the hunt," lies the clearest proof that His saying إِلا مَا يُتْلَى عَلَيْكُمْ is a statement whose sense is rounded off, and that the meaning of His saying "while not permitting the hunt" stands apart from it.
And likewise, if His saying أُحِلَّتْ لَكُمْ بَهِيمَةُ الأَنْعَامِ intended the wild animals, then there would also be no ground for repeating the mention of the game in His saying "while not permitting the hunt," seeing that the mention of it has already passed earlier, and then it would have been said: "the grazing livestock have been made lawful to you, except what is recited to you, without permitting them while you are in a state of ritual consecration." And in His explicitly mentioning the game in His saying "while not permitting the hunt" lies the clearest proof of the correctness of what we have said concerning its meaning.
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If someone were to say: but the Arabs sometimes mention a thing explicitly by its name while the mention of it by its name has already passed? Then it is answered: that is something they do under the constraint of poetic meter, and it does not belong to the eloquent common usage of their language. And directing the words of Allah to the most eloquent of the languages of the people in whose tongue His words descended is more incumbent — so long as a way to it can be found — than directing them to anything else.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: The meaning of the words, then, is: O you who believe, fulfill the contracts of Allah that He has imposed upon you concerning what He has forbidden and made lawful, while not permitting the hunt in your state of ritual consecration; for in what He has made lawful to you of the slaughtered grazing livestock, to the exclusion of the carrion thereof, there is ample provision for you, and so you have no need of the game in the state of your ritual consecration.
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The discourse on the interpretation of His saying: إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَحْكُمُ مَا يُرِيدُ ("Indeed, Allah judges what He wills") (1).
Abū Jaʿfar said: He, exalted is His praise, means by it: indeed, Allah passes judgment over His creation as He wills — by making lawful what He wished to make lawful, and forbidding what He wished to forbid, and imposing what He chose to impose, and other of His judgments and rulings. So fulfill, O believers, toward Him what He has imposed upon you of making lawful what He has made lawful to you and forbidding what He has forbidden you, and other of His contracts; so do not break them and do not nullify them. As:
10937 - Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning his saying "indeed, Allah judges what He wills," indeed, Allah passes what He has willed over His creation, and He has clarified it to His servants, and imposed His obligations, and fixed His limits, and commanded obedience to Him, and forbade disobedience to Him.
