The Tafsir of Surat Al-Ma'idah

The Virtues of Surat Al-Ma'idah; When It was Revealed

At-Tirmidhi recorded that `Abdullah bin `Amr said, "The last Surahs to be revealed were Surat Al-Ma'idah and Surat Al-Fath (chapter 48).'' At-Tirmidhi commented, "This Hadith is Hasan, Gharib.'' and it was also reported that Ibn `Abbas said that the last Surah to be revealed was,

[إِذَا جَآءَ نَصْرُ اللَّهِ وَالْفَتْحُ ]

(When there comes the help of Allah and the Conquest,) Al-Hakim collected a narration similar to that of At-Tirmidhi in his Mustadrak, and he said, "It is Sahih according to the criteria of the Two Shaykhs and they did not record it.'' Al-Hakim narrated that Jubayr bin Nufayr said, "I performed Hajj once and visited `A'ishah and she said to me, `O Jubayr! Do you read (or memorize) Al-Ma'idah ' I answered `Yes.' She said, `It was the last Surah to be revealed. Therefore, whatever permissible matters you find in it, then consider (treat) them permissible. And whatever impermissible matters you find in it, then consider (treat) them impermissible.''' Al-Hakim said, "It is Sahih according to the criteria of the Two Shaykhs and they did not record it. '' Imam Ahmad recorded that `Abdur-Rahman bin Mahdi related that Mu`awiyah bin Salih added this statement in the last Hadith, "I (Jubayr) also asked `A'ishah about the Messenger of Allah's conduct and she answered by saying, `The Qur'an.''' An-Nasa'i also recorded it.

[بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ ]

[يَـأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ أَوْفُواْ بِالْعُقُودِ أُحِلَّتْ لَكُمْ بَهِيمَةُ الاٌّنْعَامِ إِلاَّ مَا يُتْلَى عَلَيْكُمْ غَيْرَ مُحِلِّى الصَّيْدِ وَأَنتُمْ حُرُمٌ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَحْكُمُ مَا يُرِيدُ - يَـأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ لاَ تُحِلُّواْ شَعَآئِرَ اللَّهِ وَلاَ الشَّهْرَ الْحَرَامَ وَلاَ الْهَدْىَ وَلاَ الْقَلَـئِدَ وَلا ءَامِّينَ الْبَيْتَ الْحَرَامَ يَبْتَغُونَ فَضْلاً مِّن رَّبِّهِمْ وَرِضْوَناً وَإِذَا حَلَلْتُمْ فَاصْطَـدُواْ وَلاَ يَجْرِمَنَّكُمْ شَنَآنُ قَوْمٍ أَن صَدُّوكُمْ عَنِ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ أَن تَعْتَدُواْ وَتَعَاوَنُواْ عَلَى الْبرِّ وَالتَّقْوَى وَلاَ تَعَاوَنُواْ عَلَى الإِثْمِ وَالْعُدْوَانِ وَاتَّقُواْ اللَّهَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ شَدِيدُ آلْعِقَابِ ]

(In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.) (1. 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.) (2. O you who believe! Violate not the sanctity of the symbols of Allah, nor of the Sacred Month, nor of the Hady brought for sacrifice, nor the garlands, nor the people coming to the Sacred House (Makkah), seeking the bounty and good pleasure of their Lord. But when you finish the Ihram, then hunt, and let not the hatred of some people in (once) stopping you from Al-Masjid Al-Haram (at Makkah) lead you to transgression. Help you one another in Al-Birr and At-Taqwa, but do not help one another in sin and transgression. And have Taqwa of Allah. Verily, Allah is severe in punishment.) 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,

[يَـأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ]

(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,

[يَـأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ]

(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:

[يَـأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ 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 اللَّهِ مِن بَعْدِ مِيثَـقِهِ وَيَقْطَعُونَ مَآ أَمَرَ اللَّهُ بِهِ أَن يُوصَلَ]

(And those who break the covenant of Allah, after its ratification, and sever that which Allah has commanded to be joined,) until,

[سُوءُ الدَّارِ]

(unhappy (evil) home (i.e. Hell).)'' 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 لَكُمْ بَهِيمَةُ الاٌّنْعَامِ]
(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 شِئْتُمْ 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 وَمَآ أُهِلَّ لِغَيْرِ اللَّهِ بِهِ وَالْمُنْخَنِقَةُ وَالْمَوْقُوذَةُ وَالْمُتَرَدِّيَةُ وَالنَّطِيحَةُ وَمَآ 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) 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 لَكُمْ بَهِيمَةُ الاٌّنْعَامِ 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 مُحِلِّى 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 gazzelle, 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 وَلاَ عَادٍ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ]

(But if one is forced by necessity, without willful disobedience, and not transgressing, then, Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.) 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 اللَّهَ يَحْكُمُ مَا يُرِيدُ]

(Verily, Allah commands that which He wills.)