بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ ڪُلُواْ مِن طَيِّبَـٰتِ مَا رَزَقۡنَـٰكُمۡ وَٱشۡكُرُواْ لِلَّهِ إِن ڪُنتُمۡ إِيَّاهُ تَعۡبُدُون() إِنَّمَا حَرَّمَ عَلَيۡڪُمُ ٱلۡمَيۡتَةَ وَٱلدَّمَ وَلَحۡمَ ٱلۡخِنزِيرِ وَمَآ أُهِلَّ بِهِۦ لِغَيۡرِ ٱللَّهِ‌ۖ فَمَنِ ٱضۡطُرَّ غَيۡرَ بَاغٍ۬ وَلَا عَادٍ۬ فَلَآ إِثۡمَ عَلَيۡهِ‌ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَفُورٌ۬ رَّحِيمٌ

O you who believe, eat of the good things We have provided to you and be grateful to Allah, if it is He whom you worship (in real terms). (172) He has only prohibited for you carrion, blood, the flesh of swine and that upon which a name of someone other than ‘Allah’ has been invoked. Then, whoever is compelled by necessity, neither seeking pleasure nor transgressing, there is no sin on him. Verily, Allah is Most-Forgiving, Very-Merciful. (173)

Ruling: Verse 172 forbids eating that which is haram and along with it allows eating that which is halal in all gratefulness to Allah. The reason is that the act of eating haram promotes evil instincts, kills the taste of ibadah and makes the prayers ineffective. In contrast, eating halal generates inner light, creates a distaste for evil deeds, leads towards high morals, and creates a state in which the heart welcomes ibadah and finds the very thought of sin sickening, and of course prayers are answered. Therefore, Allah almighty has told all of his Prophets to eat from the good and do what is righteous: it shows eating that which is halal in all gratefulness to Allah “oh messengers eat oft the good things and do the righties” (Surah Muminun). This shows that eating and using the halal plays a vital role in the chances of a prayer being answered, while living by the haram kills those chances. The Prophet ﷺ has said that there are many people, tired and distressed, who stretch their hands to Allah in prayer fervently, calling oh Lord oh Lord, yet haram is what they eat, haram is what they drink, and haram is what they wear, how then under these conditions could they hope to have their prayers answered. (Sahih Muslim and Tirmithi as quoted by Ibn Katheer) (Maarif Al-Quran V1 pg 424)

Ruling: Allah mentioned four unlawful things in verse 173, dead animal, blood, the flesh of swine and an animal on which the name of anyone other than Allah was mentioned. (Maarif Al Quran V1 pg 425)

Ruling: The maitah or dead animal: This is better known as carrion. From a Sharia perspective, it refers to any such animal not slaughtered according to the rules of the Sharia. So, animals dying on their own or being killed by choking or being hit are considered carrion. However, fish and locusts are an exemption to the category of maitah and do not need to be slaughtered. This is established from the ahadith. The Prophet ﷺ has said “To things dead have been made lawful for us, the fish and the locust” (Ibn Katheer from Ahmad and Ibn Maajah) (Maarif Al Quran) However, the fish that dies on its own and starts to float on the surface of the water is haram. There is a hadith from Jabir Ibn Abdullah RA that the Prophet ﷺ said, “What the sea throws up or if left by the tide, eat it, but whatever dies in it and floats do not eat it.” (Abu Dawud 3815) The consumption of anything from the maitah is haram, the usage and buying and selling of all the edible parts of the maiath is also haram. In this particular verse, it appears as if all parts of the maitah are forbidden. Even though it would not be permissible to eat the non- edible parts of the maitah like bones and skin, its usage and buying\selling is permissible once purified by tanning, drying etc. This is derived from the verse in Surah Anam where Allah says that all the eatable parts of the maitah are forbidden. “Say I do not find in what has been revealed to me, anything prohibited for anyone who eats it unless it be carrion or flowing blood…”(Anam 145) Another ruling is that any part of a living animal which is separated from it is considered maitah. (Maarif Al Quran V1 pg 428)

Ruling: Blood: As clarified in surah Anam verse 145, the forbidden blood is that which is flowing. Any benefit or eating and drinking of this flowing blood is all haram. The blood that remains on the meat of the animal after slaughtering is clean because only the flowing blood is impure. (Maarif Al Quran V1 pg 428)

Ruling: Swine. The Ummah agrees that all parts of the pig including the flesh skin bones etc. are prohibited except the hair. (Qurtubi) Allah mentions the flesh of swine to indicate towards the fact that its whole being is haram whether slaughtered or not. This is because swine is dissimilar to other haram animals that can be cleaned by the slaughter process even though their ability to be eaten stays haram. The commentator of Al Wiqayah says: That animal whose skin becomes pure through tanning, becomes pure by slaughter, likewise its meat becomes clean even though it cannot be eaten. (V1 pg 398) As for the hair bristles, then its usage has been permitted where there is no other alternative for instance the sowing of leather. (Maarif Al Quran V1 pg 430-1)

Ruling: Slaughtered to other than Allah: The last forbidden meat mentioned in the verse was that meat which is dedicated towards anyone other than Allah. There are two main types of this category. The first is to slaughter an animal to seek the pleasure of anyone other than Allah, and to call the name of that other while slaughtering. This is considered maita and is totally unlawful. The second is also to slaughter an animal to seek the pleasure of other than Allah, however, at the time of slaughter, only the name of Allah was mentioned. This too is forbidden in Shariah. (Maarif Al-Quran V1 pg 431)

If a Christian slaughter’s an animal in the name of Jesus, this is also considered maita. (Ahkaam Al-Quran Thanvi V1)

Ruling: All four of these are prohibited on the same level. So, pork is not more prohibited than carrion, as some have misunderstood. (Ahkaam Al-Quran V1)

Ruling: “Then, whoever is compelled by necessity, neither seeking pleasure nor transgressing, there is no sin on him. Verily, Allah is Most-Forgiving, Very-Merciful.” This is the last part of the second verse. After Allah mentioned those four things as prohibited, he mentioned that leeway has been given to eat these four stated things, in the situation where there are no alternatives available to him, to the one in need, and the one to whom hunger, and necessity have driven him to the brink of death, However, he will not actively enjoy it, nor will he eat more than he needs to survive. This ruling is for the one whose life is at stake or in danger of losing one of his limbs, not one who is experiencing ordinary hunger or pain. (Ahkaam Al-Quran Thanvi, V1)

Ruling: Eating of the four mentioned haram items has not been made permissible by Allah in the Quran, rather, Allah said there is no sin on him, meaning, these four things remain prohibited, but the sin is forgiven for the one consuming them because of the state of compulsion he is in. (Maarif Al-Quran V1 pg 436)

Ruling: All four of the above are equal in leeway, therefore, if a mudtar has pork or maitah available to him, he may eat whichever one he wishes. (Ahkaam Al-Quran Jassas V1 pg 127)