Tafheem ul Quran

Surah 16 An-Nahl, Ayat 114-117

فَكُلُوۡا مِمَّا رَزَقَكُمُ اللّٰهُ حَلٰلًا طَيِّبًا وَّاشۡكُرُوۡا نِعۡمَتَ اللّٰهِ اِنۡ كُنۡـتُمۡ اِيَّاهُ تَعۡبُدُوۡنَ‏ ﴿16:114﴾ اِنَّمَا حَرَّمَ عَلَيۡكُمُ الۡمَيۡتَةَ وَ الدَّمَ وَلَحۡمَ الۡخِنۡزِيۡرِ وَمَاۤ اُهِلَّ لِغَيۡرِ اللّٰهِ بِهٖ​ۚ فَمَنِ اضۡطُرَّ غَيۡرَ بَاغٍ وَّلَا عَادٍ فَاِنَّ اللّٰهَ غَفُوۡرٌ رَّحِيۡمٌ‏ ﴿16:115﴾ وَلَا تَقُوۡلُوۡا لِمَا تَصِفُ اَلۡسِنَـتُكُمُ الۡكَذِبَ هٰذَا حَلٰلٌ وَّهٰذَا حَرَامٌ لِّـتَفۡتَرُوۡا عَلَى اللّٰهِ الۡكَذِبَ​ؕ اِنَّ الَّذِيۡنَ يَفۡتَرُوۡنَ عَلَى اللّٰهِ الۡكَذِبَ لَا يُفۡلِحُوۡنَؕ‏ ﴿16:116﴾ مَتَاعٌ قَلِيۡلٌ وَّلَهُمۡ عَذَابٌ اَلِيۡمٌ‏ ﴿16:117﴾

(16:114) So eat out of the lawful and good sustenance that Allah has bestowed upon you, and thank Allah for His bounty,113 if it is Him that you serve.114 (16:115) Allah has forbidden you only carrion, and blood, and the flesh of swine; also any animal over which the name of any other than Allah has been pronounced. But whoever eats of them under compelling necessity - neither desiring it nor exceeding the limit of absolute necessity - surely for such action Allah is Much Forgiving, Most Merciful.115 (16:116) And do not utter falsehoods by letting your tongues declare: "This is lawful"116 and "That is unlawful," thus fabricating lies against Allah. Surely those who fabricate lies against Allah will never prosper. (16:117) Brief is their enjoyment of the world, and thereafter they shall suffer a painful chastisement.

Notes

113. This shows that the above mentioned famine had come to an end at the time of the revelation of this Surah.

114. Here the observation of the lawful and the unlawful has been made the test of worship of Allah. Those who claim to be the servants of Allah will eat what is lawful and pure and show gratitude to Him and will scrupulously refrain from what is forbidden and impure.

115. Please refer also to (Surah Al-Baqarah, Ayat 173), (Surah Al-Maidah, Ayat 3) and (Surah Al-Anaam, Ayat 145).

116. This verse clearly shows that none but Allah has the right to declare a thing to be lawful or unlawful. Or, in other words, the right of making laws exclusively rests with Allah. Therefore, any person who will dare to decide about the lawful and the unlawful will transgress his powers. Of course, a person, who acknowledges the divine law as the final authority, may deduce from it whether a certain thing or action is lawful or unlawful.

The arrogation of the right of determining the lawful and the unlawful has been declared to be a falsehood on Allah for two reasons:

(1) Such a person, so to say, claims that what he declares to be lawful or unlawful, disregarding the authority of the divine Book, has been made lawful or unlawful by God.

(2) He means to claim that Allah has given up the authority of making lawful and unlawful and has thus left man free to make his own laws for the conduct of life. It is obvious that each of these claims will be a falsehood and a false imputation to Allah.