Translation of the Meanings of the Noble Qur'an - English Translation - Dr. Waleed Bleyhesh Omary * - Translations’ Index
Translation of the meanings Ayah: (3) Surah: Al-Mā’idah
حُرِّمَتۡ عَلَيۡكُمُ ٱلۡمَيۡتَةُ وَٱلدَّمُ وَلَحۡمُ ٱلۡخِنزِيرِ وَمَآ أُهِلَّ لِغَيۡرِ ٱللَّهِ بِهِۦ وَٱلۡمُنۡخَنِقَةُ وَٱلۡمَوۡقُوذَةُ وَٱلۡمُتَرَدِّيَةُ وَٱلنَّطِيحَةُ وَمَآ أَكَلَ ٱلسَّبُعُ إِلَّا مَا ذَكَّيۡتُمۡ وَمَا ذُبِحَ عَلَى ٱلنُّصُبِ وَأَن تَسۡتَقۡسِمُواْ بِٱلۡأَزۡلَٰمِۚ ذَٰلِكُمۡ فِسۡقٌۗ ٱلۡيَوۡمَ يَئِسَ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ مِن دِينِكُمۡ فَلَا تَخۡشَوۡهُمۡ وَٱخۡشَوۡنِۚ ٱلۡيَوۡمَ أَكۡمَلۡتُ لَكُمۡ دِينَكُمۡ وَأَتۡمَمۡتُ عَلَيۡكُمۡ نِعۡمَتِي وَرَضِيتُ لَكُمُ ٱلۡإِسۡلَٰمَ دِينٗاۚ فَمَنِ ٱضۡطُرَّ فِي مَخۡمَصَةٍ غَيۡرَ مُتَجَانِفٖ لِّإِثۡمٖ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَفُورٞ رَّحِيمٞ
(3) [1102]Forbidden for you is carrion[1103], ˹spilled˺ blood[1104], the flesh of swine, what was offered ˹as sacrifice˺ to others besides Allah[1105], the strangled[1106], the battered, the fallen, the rammed, what is mangled by beasts of prey – except those ˹of these˺ that you slaughter ˹before their dying˺[1107] – what is slaughtered at the altars of idols, and that you allot shares ˹of meat˺ by drawing lots[1108]; ˹all of ˺ that is a serious contravention[1109]. Today[1110] the Deniers have despaired of ˹undermining˺ your religion, so fear them not but fear Me[1111]; today I have perfected your religion for you[1112], finalized My Favour on you and I approve Islam as a religion for you[1113]. ˹But˺ Whoever is forced by wasting hunger ˹to eat of what is forbidden˺, not swayed by sin[1114], then Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
[1102] What follows are the types of forbidden livestock which may not be taken as food; the exception mentioned in Aya 1 above (cf. al-Rāzī). This aya can be understood in light of this: “O Believers, eat of the good things which We provided for you, and be grateful to Allah, if you indeed worship Him ˹alone˺. *Indeed He ˹Allah˺ made unlawful for you carrion, blood, swine flesh, and what was intended ˹as sacrifice˺ for others than Allah; ˹yet˺ whoever is forced ˹by necessity˺ - neither transgressing nor going to excess - he is not guilty of sin—certainly Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful” (2: 172-173).
[1103] al-Maytah (lit. the ˹meat of ˺ dead ˹animals˺). The ruling here does not include dead sea creatures consumed as food. Abū Hurayrah (رضي الله عنه) narrated that the Prophet (ﷺ), when asked about performing wuḍū’ from sea water, replied: “Its water is purifying ˹ṭahūr˺ and its dead ˹maytah˺ is lawful” (Mālik: 45, Abū Dāwūd: 83, al-Tirmidhī: 69).
[1104] What is unlawful is running blood but not the blood captured in vessels after slaughter (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī, Ibn ʿĀshūr, al-Shinqīṭī): “Say ˹Muhammad˺: “I do not find in what has been revealed to me anything forbidden to eat except carrion, running blood, swine’s flesh – which is impure – or a sinful offering in the name of any other than Allah. But if someone is compelled by necessity – neither driven by desire nor exceeding immediate need – then surely your Lord is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful” (6: 145). This aya was revealed prior to the more detailed 5:3 here wherein God ‘perfected’ the religion for Believers.
[1105] Uhilla li-ghayr Allāh-i bih-i is any sacrificial offering over which any name other than Allah’s has been invoked (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī).
[1106] The following five categories of animals are unlawful to eat because they expired for specific reasons: al-munkhaniqah is the one that perishes because of insufficient oxygen intake, either as a result of strangulation or suffocation; al-mawqūdhah is killed by hitting with a heavy, blunt object; al-mutaraddiyah is the one that falls to death from an elevated place; al-naṭīḥah is the one that perishes because of ramming and/or butting; mā akala al-sabʿ is that which meets death as a result of being bitten by a carnivore (cf. Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī,).
[1107] This exception applies specifically to animals which meet death for certain reasons; should one catch it before it gasps its last breath and one runs the blade through its neck and spills its blood while there is still life in it (dhakāh sharʿiyyah), then it is lawful to eat (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī).
[1108] This was an Arab habit before Islam. It is called al-istiqsām bi al-azlām (lit. divining by casting lots), whereby they had three lots (flat marked pieces of wood) dedicated for divinations. On each there was written either: “My Lord commanded me”, “My Lord forbade me”, or nothing at all. A person would abide by what the lot told him, but if he drew the empty one, he recast again until he drew either one of the other two (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī). Essentially here, they are forbidden to eat meat that has been divided by casting lots or other means of fallacious divination (cf. al-Jazā’irī).
[1109] Fisq is serious infringement of God’s laws. The word is derived from the imagery of a palm date coming out of its protective covering (cf. Ibn Qutaybah, Gharīb al-Qur’ān, al-Iṣfahānī, al-Mufradāt). Rebelling against God’s ordained laws exposes one in the same way as an uncovered palm date is exposed to the elements.
[1110] The day spoken of here is that of ʿArafah during the Prophet’s (ﷺ) Farewell Pilgrimage (ḥajjat al-wadāʿ) in the tenth year of Hijrah (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī) after the great conquest of Makkah and its fall to the Believers, and which is known as the greatest conquest (al-fatḥ al-aʿẓam). Seeing the huge numbers of Believers around the Prophet (ﷺ) on that day, their strength and the solidity of their faith, the Deniers realized, to their great dismay, that Islam as a religion was a reality they had to live with and that it would not be unravelled given the perfection of its laws.
[1111] Now that Believers have seen how strong they are, at last having the upper hand against their enemy, they are told to turn a new page in their history. They are to have no fear in applying the laws of God or in staunchly adhering to them as they were revealed without the slightest alteration.
[1112] That is by making them perform the final pillar of Islam, Hajj, which they were unable to perform before (cf. Ibn Rajab, Laṭā’if al-Maʿārif, p. 279; Ibn ʿĀshūr). Now that the community was ready to receive these rulings, which were either incomplete or not in place before, God has finalized, with full explanation, their religion.
[1113] This is the crowning statement of the whole sura. Ṭāriq Ibn Shihāb (رضي الله عنه) said: “A Jewish man went to ʿUmar (رضي الله عنه) and said: “Leader of Believers, there is an aya in your Book which you recite, had it been revealed to us Jews, we would have dedicated the day on which it was revealed for festivities”. ʿUmar replied: “Which aya?” The Jew said: “… today I have perfected your religion for you, finalized My Favour on you and I approve Islam as a religion for you”. ʿUmar then said: “Indeed I know the day on which it was revealed and the place in which it was revealed. It came down to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) in ʿArafāt on a Friday” (al-Bukhārī: 45, Muslim: 2017
[1114] The forbidden categories stated above can be consumed in such a scenario whereby a person is compelled by overbearing necessity. He should not be irreverent or careless of the matter, and should only eat the necessary amount to repel danger to life (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī).
[1103] al-Maytah (lit. the ˹meat of ˺ dead ˹animals˺). The ruling here does not include dead sea creatures consumed as food. Abū Hurayrah (رضي الله عنه) narrated that the Prophet (ﷺ), when asked about performing wuḍū’ from sea water, replied: “Its water is purifying ˹ṭahūr˺ and its dead ˹maytah˺ is lawful” (Mālik: 45, Abū Dāwūd: 83, al-Tirmidhī: 69).
[1104] What is unlawful is running blood but not the blood captured in vessels after slaughter (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī, Ibn ʿĀshūr, al-Shinqīṭī): “Say ˹Muhammad˺: “I do not find in what has been revealed to me anything forbidden to eat except carrion, running blood, swine’s flesh – which is impure – or a sinful offering in the name of any other than Allah. But if someone is compelled by necessity – neither driven by desire nor exceeding immediate need – then surely your Lord is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful” (6: 145). This aya was revealed prior to the more detailed 5:3 here wherein God ‘perfected’ the religion for Believers.
[1105] Uhilla li-ghayr Allāh-i bih-i is any sacrificial offering over which any name other than Allah’s has been invoked (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī).
[1106] The following five categories of animals are unlawful to eat because they expired for specific reasons: al-munkhaniqah is the one that perishes because of insufficient oxygen intake, either as a result of strangulation or suffocation; al-mawqūdhah is killed by hitting with a heavy, blunt object; al-mutaraddiyah is the one that falls to death from an elevated place; al-naṭīḥah is the one that perishes because of ramming and/or butting; mā akala al-sabʿ is that which meets death as a result of being bitten by a carnivore (cf. Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī,).
[1107] This exception applies specifically to animals which meet death for certain reasons; should one catch it before it gasps its last breath and one runs the blade through its neck and spills its blood while there is still life in it (dhakāh sharʿiyyah), then it is lawful to eat (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī).
[1108] This was an Arab habit before Islam. It is called al-istiqsām bi al-azlām (lit. divining by casting lots), whereby they had three lots (flat marked pieces of wood) dedicated for divinations. On each there was written either: “My Lord commanded me”, “My Lord forbade me”, or nothing at all. A person would abide by what the lot told him, but if he drew the empty one, he recast again until he drew either one of the other two (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī). Essentially here, they are forbidden to eat meat that has been divided by casting lots or other means of fallacious divination (cf. al-Jazā’irī).
[1109] Fisq is serious infringement of God’s laws. The word is derived from the imagery of a palm date coming out of its protective covering (cf. Ibn Qutaybah, Gharīb al-Qur’ān, al-Iṣfahānī, al-Mufradāt). Rebelling against God’s ordained laws exposes one in the same way as an uncovered palm date is exposed to the elements.
[1110] The day spoken of here is that of ʿArafah during the Prophet’s (ﷺ) Farewell Pilgrimage (ḥajjat al-wadāʿ) in the tenth year of Hijrah (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī) after the great conquest of Makkah and its fall to the Believers, and which is known as the greatest conquest (al-fatḥ al-aʿẓam). Seeing the huge numbers of Believers around the Prophet (ﷺ) on that day, their strength and the solidity of their faith, the Deniers realized, to their great dismay, that Islam as a religion was a reality they had to live with and that it would not be unravelled given the perfection of its laws.
[1111] Now that Believers have seen how strong they are, at last having the upper hand against their enemy, they are told to turn a new page in their history. They are to have no fear in applying the laws of God or in staunchly adhering to them as they were revealed without the slightest alteration.
[1112] That is by making them perform the final pillar of Islam, Hajj, which they were unable to perform before (cf. Ibn Rajab, Laṭā’if al-Maʿārif, p. 279; Ibn ʿĀshūr). Now that the community was ready to receive these rulings, which were either incomplete or not in place before, God has finalized, with full explanation, their religion.
[1113] This is the crowning statement of the whole sura. Ṭāriq Ibn Shihāb (رضي الله عنه) said: “A Jewish man went to ʿUmar (رضي الله عنه) and said: “Leader of Believers, there is an aya in your Book which you recite, had it been revealed to us Jews, we would have dedicated the day on which it was revealed for festivities”. ʿUmar replied: “Which aya?” The Jew said: “… today I have perfected your religion for you, finalized My Favour on you and I approve Islam as a religion for you”. ʿUmar then said: “Indeed I know the day on which it was revealed and the place in which it was revealed. It came down to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) in ʿArafāt on a Friday” (al-Bukhārī: 45, Muslim: 2017
[1114] The forbidden categories stated above can be consumed in such a scenario whereby a person is compelled by overbearing necessity. He should not be irreverent or careless of the matter, and should only eat the necessary amount to repel danger to life (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī).
Arabic explanations of the Qur’an:
Translation of the meanings Ayah: (3) Surah: Al-Mā’idah
Translation of the Meanings of the Noble Qur'an - English Translation - Dr. Waleed Bleyhesh Omary - Translations’ Index
Translation of the meanings of the Noble Qur’an into English - in progress - translated by Dr. Walid Bleihesh Al-Omari.