یٰۤاَیُّهَا O النَّاسُ mankind كُلُوْا Eat مِمَّا of what فِی (is) in الْاَرْضِ the earth حَلٰلًا lawful طَیِّبًا ۖؗ (and) good وَّ لَا And (do) not تَتَّبِعُوْا follow خُطُوٰتِ (the) footsteps (of) الشَّیْطٰنِ ؕ the Shaitaan اِنَّهٗ Indeed, he لَكُمْ (is) to you عَدُوٌّ an enemy مُّبِیْنٌ clear اِنَّمَا Only یَاْمُرُكُمْ he commands you بِالسُّوْٓءِ to (do) the evil وَ الْفَحْشَآءِ and the shameful وَ اَنْ and that تَقُوْلُوْا you say عَلَی about اللّٰهِ Allah مَا what لَا not تَعْلَمُوْنَ you know 2. Al-Baqarah Page 26 وَ اِذَا And when قِیْلَ it is said لَهُمُ to them اتَّبِعُوْا Follow مَاۤ what اَنْزَلَ has revealed اللّٰهُ Allah قَالُوْا they said بَلْ Nay نَتَّبِعُ we follow مَاۤ what اَلْفَیْنَا we found عَلَیْهِ [on it] اٰبَآءَنَا ؕ our forefathers (following) اَوَ لَوْ Even though كَانَ [were] اٰبَآؤُهُمْ their forefathers لَا (did) not یَعْقِلُوْنَ understand شَیْـًٔا anything وَّ لَا and not یَهْتَدُوْنَ were they guided وَ مَثَلُ And (the) example الَّذِیْنَ (of) those who كَفَرُوْا disbelieve[d] كَمَثَلِ (is) like (the) example الَّذِیْ (of) the one who یَنْعِقُ shouts بِمَا at what لَا not یَسْمَعُ (does) hear اِلَّا except دُعَآءً calls وَّ نِدَآءً ؕ and cries صُمٌّۢ deaf بُكْمٌ dumb عُمْیٌ (and) blind فَهُمْ [so] they لَا (do) not یَعْقِلُوْنَ understand یٰۤاَیُّهَا O you الَّذِیْنَ who اٰمَنُوْا believe[d] كُلُوْا Eat مِنْ from طَیِّبٰتِ (the) good مَا what رَزَقْنٰكُمْ We have provided you وَ اشْكُرُوْا and be grateful لِلّٰهِ to Allah اِنْ if كُنْتُمْ you اِیَّاهُ alone تَعْبُدُوْنَ worship Him اِنَّمَا Only حَرَّمَ He has forbidden عَلَیْكُمُ to you الْمَیْتَةَ the dead animals وَ الدَّمَ and [the] blood وَ لَحْمَ and flesh الْخِنْزِیْرِ (of) swine وَ مَاۤ and what اُهِلَّ has been dedicated بِهٖ [with it] لِغَیْرِ to other than اللّٰهِ ۚ Allah فَمَنِ So whoever اضْطُرَّ (is) forced by necessity غَیْرَ without بَاغٍ (being) disobedient وَّ لَا and not عَادٍ transgressor فَلَاۤ then no اِثْمَ sin عَلَیْهِ ؕ on him اِنَّ Indeed اللّٰهَ Allah غَفُوْرٌ (is) Oft-Forgiving رَّحِیْمٌ Most Merciful اِنَّ Indeed الَّذِیْنَ those who یَكْتُمُوْنَ conceal مَاۤ what اَنْزَلَ (has) revealed اللّٰهُ Allah (has) مِنَ of الْكِتٰبِ the Book وَ یَشْتَرُوْنَ and they purchase بِهٖ there with ثَمَنًا a gain قَلِیْلًا ۙ little اُولٰٓىِٕكَ Those مَا not یَاْكُلُوْنَ they eat فِیْ in بُطُوْنِهِمْ their bellies اِلَّا except النَّارَ the Fire وَ لَا And not یُكَلِّمُهُمُ will speak to them اللّٰهُ Allah یَوْمَ (on the) Day الْقِیٰمَةِ (of) [the] Judgment وَ لَا and not یُزَكِّیْهِمْ ۖۚ will He purify them وَ لَهُمْ and for them عَذَابٌ (is) a punishment اَلِیْمٌ painful اُولٰٓىِٕكَ Those الَّذِیْنَ (are) they who اشْتَرَوُا purchase[d] الضَّلٰلَةَ [the] astraying بِالْهُدٰی for [the] Guidance وَ الْعَذَابَ and [the] punishment بِالْمَغْفِرَةِ ۚ for [the] forgiveness فَمَاۤ So what (is) اَصْبَرَهُمْ their endurance عَلَی on النَّارِ the Fire! ذٰلِكَ That بِاَنَّ (is) because اللّٰهَ Allah نَزَّلَ revealed الْكِتٰبَ the Book بِالْحَقِّ ؕ with [the] Truth وَ اِنَّ And indeed الَّذِیْنَ those اخْتَلَفُوْا who differed فِی in الْكِتٰبِ the Book لَفِیْ (are) surely in شِقَاقٍۭ schism بَعِیْدٍ۠ far
(2:168) O people! Eat of the lawful and pure things in the earth and follow not in the footsteps of Satan.166 For surely he is your open enemy;
(2:169) he only commands you to do evil and commit acts of indecency and to ascribe to Allah the things concerning which you have no knowledge (that He really is their source).167
(2:170) And when they are told: “Follow what Allah has revealed,” they say: “No, we shall follow what we found our forefathers adhering to.”168 What! Even if their forefathers were devoid of understanding and right guidance?
(2:171) Those who have refused to follow the Way of Allah resemble cattle; when the shepherd calls them they hear nothing except shouting and crying;169 they are deaf, dumb and blind, and so they understand nothing.
(2:172) Believers! Eat of the pure things wherewith We have provided you for sustenance and give thanks to Allah170 if it is Him that you serve.
(2:173) He has made unlawful to you only carrion and blood and the flesh of swine and that over which there has been pronounced the name of anyone other than Allah’s.171 But he who is constrained (to eat of them) – and he neither covets them nor exceeds the indispensable limit incurs no sin: Allah is All-Forgiving, All-Compassionate.172
(2:174) Those who conceal anything of the Book revealed by Allah and sell it away for a trifling gain are merely filling their bellies with Fire.173 Allah will neither address them on the Day of Resurrection, nor shall He pronounce them “pure”.174 A painful chastisement lies in store for them.
(2:175) They are the ones who bought error in exchange for true guidance, and chastisement in exchange for forgiveness. How patient they are in enduring the Fire!
(2:176) This is so because Allah revealed the Book with the Truth, but those who disagreed concerning the Book veered far away from the Truth.
166. The demand made here is that they should violate all those taboos in matters of food and drink which have their basis in superstitious beliefs or irrational usages.
167. The notion that all superstitious customs and taboos are God-given religious teachings is an example of satanic deception, pure and simple, since there is no evidence whatsoever to suggest that they are from God.
168. The only possible argument and justification for these taboos was that they had been sanctified by the practice of their forefathers from whom they had allegedly come down generation after generation. Fickle-minded as they were, they deemed this argument to be sufficiently persuasive.
169. This parable has two aspects. On the one hand, it suggests that these people are like herds of irrational animals, dumb cattle, that always follow their herdsmen, moving on as they hear their calls without understanding what they mean. (Thus these people follow their leaders even though they do not grasp where it is they are being led to - Ed.) On the other hand, it also suggests that when the Truth is preached to them they show such insensitivity to it that one may as well be addressing animals who merely comprehend sounds but are incapable of understanding their meaning. The expression lends itself to both interpretations.
170. The believers are told that if by having believed they have committed themselves to following the Law of God as they claim then they should abandon all taboos and prohibitions imposed by the pundits and priests, by the rabbis and church fathers, by the monks and recluses, and by their own forefathers. Although they were required to abstain from whatever had been prohibited by God, they ought to feel no compunction with regard to consuming all that He had permitted. This has also been alluded to in the saying of the Prophet reported in a Tradition in the following words: 'Whoever prays in our manner, turns towards our qiblah (in Prayer), and eats (the flesh) of our slaughtered (animals), that person is Muslim. (Bukhari, 'K. al-Salah', 28; 'K. al-Adahi', 12; Muslim, 'K. al-Adahi', 6; Nasai, 'K. al-lman', 9; 'K. al-Dahaya', 17 - Ed.) This means that in spite of praying and facing towards the qiblah, a person is not fully assimilated into Islam as long as he maintains the pre-Islamic taboos in matters of eating and drinking and holds on to the fetters of superstition forged by the victims of Ignorance. A person's adherence to these taboos is indicative of the fact that the poison of Ignorance continues to flow in his veins.
171. This applies to the flesh of an animal slaughtered in the name of anything and anyone other than God as well as to the food prepared as an offering to someone other than God. God alone is the master of everything - of the animal whose flesh we consume as well as of every other kind of food - and it is He Who has mercifully provided us with them. Hence, if it is appropriate to pronounce any name as an expression of gratitude, of consecration, it can only be the name of God. To use anyone else's name means that we believe that there is some other being either instead of or in addition to God which deserves to be acknowledged as our Lord and Benefactor.
172. This verse grants permission to use prohibited things with three stipulations. First, one must be in a state of extreme compulsion, for example, being gravely ill or being so hungry and thirsty that one's very life is in danger, and a prohibited thing is all that is available to save one's life. Second, the person concerned should have no inclination to violate the Law of God. Third, in consuming the prohibited thing one should not exceed the limits of bare necessity. If a few bites or a few drops are enough to save one's life, one ought not to go beyond the absolute minimum.
173. This means that the blame for the growth of whole new codes consisting of superstitions, perverted customs, and unjustifiable taboos lay squarely on the shoulders of those religious scholars who had knowledge of the Scriptures but failed to transmit their knowledge to the common people. Moreover, later, when erroneous practices began to spread among them they remained mute spectators of this drama. Indeed, some of them kept wilfully silent about these matters thinking that their interests would be better served if the Scripture remained a sealed book and its injunctions were kept beyond the access of the common people.
174. This is a refutation of the false claims made by their religious leaders and a clarification of the misconceptions regarding their positions and privileges which these leaders had been spreading among the common people. They spared no efforts to give the impression that they were sacred beings and that anyone who attached himself to them would necessarily earn God's forgiveness through their intercession. Here God is telling them that He takes no notice of people who are unworthy to intercede for themselves, let alone able to intercede for others.