Al-Qur'an Surah Al-Ma'idah Verse 1

Mufti Taqi Usmani

O you who believe, fulfill the contracts. The animals from the cattle have been made lawful for you, except that which shall be read over to you, provided that you do not treat hunting as lawful while you are in IHrām. Surely, Allah ordains what He wills.

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

O believers! Honour your obligations. All grazing livestock has been made lawful to you—except what is hereby announced to you and hunting while on pilgrimage. Indeed, Allah commands what He wills.

Ruwwad Translation Center

O you who believe, fulfill your covenants. Lawful to you are all grazing livestock, except what is recited to you, as well as hunting while you are in the state of pilgrimage. Allah ordains what He wills.

A. J. Arberry

O believers, fulfil your bonds. Permitted to you is the beast of the flocks, except that which is now recited to you, so that you deem not game permitted to be hunted when you are in pilgrim sanctity. God decrees whatsoever He desires.

Abdul Haleem

You who believe, fulfil your obligations. Livestock animals are lawful as food for you, with the exception of what is about to be announced to you. You are forbidden to kill game while you are on pilgrimage––God commands what He will,

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

O ye who believe! fulfil the compacts. Allowed unto you is the beast of the flock except that which is rehearsed unto you, not allowing the chase while ye are in a state of sanctity. Verily Allah ordaineth whatsoever He will.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

O ye who believe! fulfil (all) obligations. Lawful unto you (for food) are all four-footed animals, with the exceptions named; But animals of the chase are forbidden while ye are in the sacred precincts or in pilgrim garb; for Allah doth command according to His will and plan.

Abul Ala Maududi

Believers! Honour your bonds! All grazing beasts of the flock are permitted to you except those which are recited to you hereinafter, but you are not allowed to hunt in the state of Ihram (a state of pilgrim sanctity). Indeed Allah decrees as He wills.

Ahmed Ali

O YOU WHO believe, fulfil your obligations. Made lawful (as food) for you are animals except those mentioned (here); but unlawful during Pilgrimage is game. God ordains whatsoever He wills.

Ahmed Raza Khan

O People who Believe! Fulfil your words (agreements); the mute animals are made lawful for you (to eat) except what will be declared to you after this, but do not assume hunting as lawful when you are on the pilgrimage; indeed Allah commands whatever He wills.

Ali Quli Qarai

O you who have faith! Keep your agreements. You are permitted animals of grazing livestock, except what is [now] announced to you, disallowing game while you are in pilgrim sanctity. Indeed Allah decrees whatever He desires.

Ali Ünal

O you who believe! Fulfill the bonds (you have entered into with God and with people). Lawful for you is the flesh of cattle (grazing beasts of the flock), save what is mentioned to you (herewith), and unlawful (for you is) hunted game when you are in the state of pilgrim sanctity. Assuredly, God decrees as He wills.

Amatul Rahman Omar

O you who believe! abide by all (your) obligations. All quadrupeds (of the class) of cattle (and feeding on plants) are made lawful to you (for food) other than those which are enumerated to you (as forbidden). Yet you are forbidden (to kill) game whilst in a pilgrim´s garb or in the Sacred Precincts. Verily, Allâh decrees what He intends.

English Literal

You, you those who believed, fulfill/complete with the contracts; four legged creatures of land and sea except lions (beasts) (of) the camel/livestock is permitted/allowed for you, except what is read/recited on you, not permitting/allowing the hunt/fishing and you are forbidden/respecting for pilgrimage , that God judges/rules what He wills/wants.

Faridul Haque

O People who Believe! Fulfil your words (agreements); the mute animals are made lawful for you (to eat) except what will be declared to you after this, but do not assume hunting as lawful when you are on the pilgrimage; indeed Allah commands whatever He wills.

Hamid S. Aziz

O you who believe! Profane not the Symbols of Allah (things connected with the pilgrimage), nor the sacred month (of pilgrimage), nor the sacrificial offering, nor the garlands (decorating these animals), nor those who sojourn at the sacred house (Kaaba), craving the grace and pleasure of their Lord. But when you are clear of the sacred precincts and the pilgrim´s garb then you may hunt again. And let not hatred against the people who once turned you from the Sacred Mosque tempt you to transgress; but help one another unto righteousness and pious duty. Help not one another unto sin and enmity; but fear (respect and keep your duty to) Allah. Verily, Allah is severe in punishment.

Hilali & Khan

O you who believe! Fulfill (your) obligations. Lawful to you (for food) are all the beasts of cattle except that which will be announced to you (herein), game (also) being unlawful when you assume Ihram for Hajj or 'Umrah (pilgrimage). Verily, Allah commands that which He wills.

Maulana Mohammad Ali

They ask thee for a decision. Say: Allah gives you a decision concerning the person who has neither parents nor children. If a man dies (and) he has no son and he has a sister, hers is half of what he leaves, and he shall be her heir if she has no son. But if there be two (sisters), they shall have two-thirds of what he leaves. And if there are brethren, men and women, then for the male is the like of the portion of two females. Allah makes clear to you, lest you err. And Allah is Knower of all things.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

O you who believe! fulfill the obligations. The cattle quadrupeds are allowed to you except that which is recited to you, not violating the prohibition against game when you are entering upon the performance of the pilgrimage; surely Allah orders what He desires.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

O ye who believe! Fulfil your indentures. The beast of cattle is made lawful unto you (for food) except that which is announced unto you (herein), game being unlawful when ye are on the pilgrimage. Lo! Allah ordaineth that which pleaseth Him.

Muhammad Sarwar

Believers, stand by your contracts (and obligations). Of all animals, cattle has been made lawful for you as food with certain exceptions. Hunting is not lawful for you during ihram (a part of the rituals during pilgrimage). God decrees as He wills.

Qaribullah & Darwish

Believers, fulfill your obligations. It is lawful for you (to eat the flesh of) the beast among cattle other than that which is recited to you, hunting is forbidden while you are on pilgrimage. Allah decrees what He will.

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

O you who believe! Fulfill (your) obligations. Lawful to you (for food) are all the beasts of cattle except that which will be announced to you (herein), game (also) being unlawful when you assume Ihram. Verily, Allah commands that which He wills.

Wahiduddin Khan

Believers, fulfill your obligations. All livestock is lawful for you, other than that which is hereby announced to you. You are forbidden to kill game while you are on a pilgrimage -- God commands what He will.

Talal Itani

O you who believe! Fulfill your commitments. Livestock animals are permitted for you, except those specified to you; but not wild game while you are in pilgrim sanctity. God decrees whatever He wills.

Tafsir jalalayn

O you who believe, fulfil your bonds, the covenants confirmed between you and God and [between you and other] people. Lawful to you is the beast of the flocks, camels, cattle, and sheep [and goats], to eat after slaughtering [them], except that which is now being recited to you, as forbidden in [the verse below] Forbidden to you are carrion...[Q. 5;3]; the exceptive clause here is a discontinuous one, but may also be continuous; the forbidding concerns that which has succumbed to death and the like; game not being lawful to you when you are on pilgrimage (hurum means muhrimn; ghayra, `not', is in the accusative as [it introduces] a circumstantial qualifier referring to the subject of the pronoun lakum, `to you'). Verily, God decrees whatever He desires, in the way of making [things] lawful or otherwise, and there can be no objection thereto.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

Allah says;

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ امَنُواْ أَوْفُواْ بِالْعُقُودِ


O you who believe! Fulfill (your) obligations.

Ibn Abi Hatim recorded that;

a man came to Abdullah bin Mas`ud and said to him, "Advise me."

He said, "When you hear Allah's statement,
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ امَنُواْ
(O you who believe!) then pay full attention, for it is a righteous matter that He is ordaining or an evil thing that He is forbidding."

Khaythamah said,

"Everything in the Qur'an that reads,
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ امَنُواْ
(O you who believe), reads in the Tawrah, `O you who are in need."'

Allah said,
أَوْفُواْ بِالْعُقُودِ
(Fulfill (your) obligations).

Ibn Abbas, Mujahid and others said that;

`obligations' here means treaties.

Ibn Jarir mentioned that there is a consensus for this view.

Ibn Jarir also said that;

it means treaties, such as the alliances that they used to conduct.

Ali bin Abi Talhah reported that Ibn Abbas commented;
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ امَنُواْ أَوْفُواْ بِالْعُقُودِ
(O you who believe! Fulfill (your) obligations),

"Refers to the covenants, meaning, what Allah permitted, prohibited, ordained and set limits for in the Qur'an. Therefore, do not commit treachery or break the covenants. Allah emphasized this command when He said,

وَالَّذِينَ يَنقُضُونَ عَهْدَ اللّهِ مِن بَعْدِ مِيثَاقِهِ

وَيَقْطَعُونَ مَأ أَمَرَ اللّهُ بِهِ أَن يُوصَلَ وَيُفْسِدُونَ فِي الَارْضِ

أُوْلَيِكَ لَهُمُ اللَّعْنَةُ وَلَهُمْ سُوءُ الدَّارِ


And those who break the covenant of Allah, after its ratification, and sever that which Allah has commanded to be joined, and work mischief in the land, on them is the curse, and for them is the unhappy (evil) home (i.e. Hell). (13;25)"

Ad-Dahhak said that,
أَوْفُواْ بِالْعُقُودِ
(Fulfill your obligations),

"Refers to what Allah has permitted and what He has prohibited. Allah has taken the covenant from those who proclaim their faith in the Prophet and the Book to fulfill the obligations that He has ordered for them in the permissible and the impermissible."

Explaining the Lawful and the Unlawful Beasts

Allah said,

أُحِلَّتْ لَكُم بَهِيمَةُ الَانْعَامِ

Lawful to you (for food) are all the beasts of cattle,

camels, cows and sheep, as Al-Hasan, Qatadah and several others stated.

Ibn Jarir said that this Tafsir conforms to the meaning of (`beasts of cattle') that the Arabs had.

We should mention that Ibn Umar, Ibn Abbas and others relied on this Ayah as evidence to allow eating the meat of the fetus if it is found dead in the belly of its slaughtered mother.

There is a Hadith to the same effect collected in the Sunan of Abu Dawud, At-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah and narrated by Abu Sa`id who said,

"We asked, `O Messenger of Allah! When we slaughter a camel, cow or sheep, we sometimes find a fetus in its belly, should we discard it or eat its meat?'

He said,

كُلُوهُ إِنْ شِيْتُمْ فَإِنَّ ذَكَاتَهُ ذَكَاةُ أُمِّه

Eat it if you want, because its slaughter was fulfilled when its mother was slaughtered."

At-Tirmidhi said, "This Hadith is Hasan."

Abu Dawud recorded that Jabir bin Abdullah said that the Messenger of Allah said,

ذَكَاةُ الْجَنِينِ ذَكَاةُ أُمِّه

Proper slaughter of the fetus is fulfilled with the slaughter of its mother.

Only Abu Dawud collected this narration.

Allah's statement,

إِلاَّ مَا يُتْلَى عَلَيْكُمْ

except that which will be announced to you (herein),

Ali bin Abi Talhah reported that Ibn Abbas said that it refers to,

"The flesh of dead animals, blood and the meat of swine."

Qatadah said,

"The meat of dead animals and animals slaughtered without Allah's Name being pronounced at the time of slaughtering."

It appears, and Allah knows best, that the Ayah refers to Allah's other statement,

حُرِّمَتْ عَلَيْكُمُ الْمَيْتَةُ وَالْدَّمُ وَلَحْمُ الْخِنْزِيرِ وَمَا أُهِلَّ لِغَيْرِ اللّهِ بِهِ وَالْمُنْخَنِقَةُ وَالْمَوْقُوذَةُ وَالْمُتَرَدِّيَةُ وَالنَّطِيحَةُ وَمَا أَكَلَ السَّبُعُ

Forbidden to you (for food) are;
Al-Maytah (the dead animals),

blood,

the flesh of swine, and

what has been slaughtered as a sacrifice for others than Allah, and

that which has been killed by strangling, or by a violent blow, or by a headlong fall, or by the goring of horns - and

that which has been (partly) eaten by a wild animal. (5;3),

for although the animals mentioned in this Ayah are types of permissible cattle (except for swine), they become impermissible under the circumstances that the Ayah (5;3) specifies.

This is why Allah said afterwards,
إِلاَّ مَا ذَكَّيْتُمْ وَمَا ذُبِحَ عَلَى النُّصُبِ
(Unless you are able to slaughter it (before its death), (5;3) and that which is sacrificed (slaughtered) on An-Nusub (stone altars)) as the latter type is not permissible, because it can no longer be slaughtered properly.

Hence, Allah's statement,
أُحِلَّتْ لَكُم بَهِيمَةُ الَانْعَامِ إِلاَّ مَا يُتْلَى عَلَيْكُمْ
(Lawful to you are all the beasts of cattle except that which will be announced to you), means,

except the specific circumstances that prohibit some of these which will be announced to you.

Allah said,

غَيْرَ مُحِلِّي الصَّيْدِ وَأَنتُمْ حُرُمٌ

game (also) being unlawful when you assume Ihram.

Some scholars said that;

the general meaning of `cattle' includes domesticated cattle, such as camels, cows and sheep, and wild cattle, such as gazelle, wild cattle and wild donkeys.

Allah made the exceptions mentioned above (dead animals blood, flesh of swine etc.), and prohibited hunting wild beasts while in the state of Ihram.

It was also reported that the meaning here is,

"We have allowed for you all types of cattle in all circumstances, except what We excluded herewith for the one hunting game while in the state of Ihram."

Allah said,

فَمَنِ اضْطُرَّ غَيْرَ بَاغٍ وَلَا عَادٍ

فَإِنَّ اللّهَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ

But if one is forced by necessity, without willful disobedience, and not transgressing, then, Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. (16;115)

This Ayah means, "We allowed eating the meat of dead animals, when one is forced by necessity, under the condition that one is not transgressing the limits or overstepping them."

Here, Allah states, "Just as We allowed the meat of cattle in all conditions and circumstances, then do not hunt game when in the state of Ihram, for this is the decision of Allah, Who is the Most Wise in all that He commands and forbids."

So Allah said;

إِنَّ اللّهَ يَحْكُمُ مَا يُرِيدُ

Verily, Allah commands that which He wills.
The Necessity of Observing the Sanctity of the Sacred Area and the Sacred Months

Allah continues