What Does Each Forbidden Food in Al-Ma'idah 5:3 Mean?
حرم الله تعالى أطعمة معينة في القرآن الكريم، فما معنى كل منها؟
Allah has forbidden us to eat:
The Maytatah (dead animals): Any animal that has died naturally ie not by slaughtering
Blood: that which has been drained from a dead animal or other.
The flesh of swine: in any form.
That which is slaughtered as a sacrifice for others than Allah (or has been slaughtered for idols, etc., on which Allah's Name has not been mentioned while slaughtering):
And [those animals] killed by strangling: so they have not been slaughtered to let the blood out.
or by a violent blow: killed by being beaten.
or by a head-long fall : falling from a height and died due to the fall.
or by the goring of horns: killed by another animal that has horns.
And those from which a wild animal has eaten, except what you [are able to] slaughter [before its death]: killed by a predator, such as a lion.
And those which are sacrificed on stone altars: slaughtered at the idols, as mentioned in the following Ayahs.
(He has only forbidden you ˹to eat˺ carrion, blood, swine, and what is slaughtered in the name of any other than Allah.) [Al-Baqarah 2:173]
(Prohibited to you are dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine, and that which has been dedicated to other than Allah, and [those animals] killed by strangling or by a violent blow or by a head-long fall or by the goring of horns, and those from which a wild animal has eaten, except what you [are able to] slaughter [before its death], and those which are sacrificed on stone altars) [Al-Ma'idah 5:3]
الميتة: الذي مات حتف أنفه بغير ذكاة شرعية
الدم المسفوح السائل
لحم الخنزير
ما أهل لغير الله به: ذبح دون ذكر اسم الله عليه
ٱلْمُنْخَنِقَةُ : ما مات خنقا
ٱلْمَوْقُوذَةُ : ما مات بالضرب
ٱلْمُتَرَدِّيَةُ : ما سقط من مكان عال فمات.
ٱلنَّطِيحَةُ : ما مات بفعل نطح البهيمة
مَآ أَكَلَ ٱلسَّبُعُ إِلاَّ مَا ذَكَّيْتُمْ : الذي مات بفعل السباع الأسد وغيره.
مَا ذُبِحَ عَلَى ٱلنُّصُبِ : ذبح عند الأصنام
كما ذكر الله تعالى
(إِنَّمَا حَرَّمَ عَلَيْكُمُ الْمَيْتَةَ وَالدَّمَ وَلَحْمَ الْخِنزِيرِ وَمَا أُهِلَّ بِهِ لِغَيْرِ اللَّهِ ۖ) [البقرة 2: 173]
(حُرِّمَتْ عَلَيْكُمُ ٱلْمَيْتَةُ وَٱلدَّمُ وَلَحْمُ ٱلْخِنْزِيرِ وَمَآ أُهِلَّ لِغَيْرِ ٱللَّهِ بِهِ وَٱلْمُنْخَنِقَةُ وَٱلْمَوْقُوذَةُ وَٱلْمُتَرَدِّيَةُ وَٱلنَّطِيحَةُ وَمَآ أَكَلَ ٱلسَّبُعُ إِلاَّ مَا ذَكَّيْتُمْ وَمَا ذُبِحَ عَلَى ٱلنُّصُبِ) [المائدة 5: 3]
1. What Each Word Means | معاني ألفاظ الآية
Ibn Kathir defines each term: the strangled (munkhaniqah) is what dies by strangling, on purpose or by accident; the beaten (mawqudhah) is struck with something heavy and blunt until it dies, as Ibn Abbas said: beaten with wood; the fallen (mutaraddiyah) falls from a height and dies; the gored (natihah) dies from another's goring, even if the horn wounded it and blood flowed; and what a predator has eaten is what a lion, leopard, tiger, wolf or dog attacked and partly ate, so that it died.
وَالْمُنْخَنِقَةُ وَالْمَوْقُوذَةُ وَالْمُتَرَدِّيَةُ وَالنَّطِيحَةُ وَمَا أَكَلَ السَّبُعُ إِلَّا مَا ذَكَّيْتُمْ (سورة المائدة: 3)
عرف ابن كثير هذه الألفاظ: المنخنقة التي تموت بالخنق إما قصدا أو اتفاقا، والموقوذة التي تضرب بشيء ثقيل غير محدد حتى تموت، قال ابن عباس: هي التي تضرب بالخشب، والمتردية التي تقع من شاهق أو موضع عال فتموت، والنطيحة التي ماتت بسبب نطح غيرها لها وإن جرحها القرن وخرج منها الدم، وما أكل السبع ما عدا عليها أسد أو فهد أو نمر أو ذئب أو كلب فأكل بعضها فماتت.
2. Why Carrion Is Forbidden, and Its Exceptions | علة تحريم الميتة وما يستثنى منها
Ibn Kathir explains that carrion is forbidden because of the congealed blood in it, which is harmful to religion and to the body. Fish are excepted, whether slaughtered or not, because the Prophet said of the sea: its water is pure and its dead are lawful, a hadith Ibn Kathir cites from Malik, Abu Dawud, al-Tirmidhi, al-Nasa'i and Ibn Majah; locusts are excepted too.
بين ابن كثير أن الميتة حرمت لما فيها من الدم المحتقن، فهي ضارة للدين وللبدن، ويستثنى منها السمك، فإنه حلال سواء مات بتذكية أو غيرها، لقول النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم في البحر: "هو الطهور ماؤه الحل ميتته"، ونسبه ابن كثير إلى مالك وأبي داود والترمذي والنسائي وابن ماجه، وكذلك الجراد.
3. The Stone Altars | ما ذبح على النصب
Mujahid and Ibn Jurayj said: an-nusub were stones around the Ka'bah, three hundred and sixty of them according to Ibn Jurayj, at which the Arabs in the time of ignorance slaughtered their sacrifices, as Ibn Kathir reports.
وَمَا ذُبِحَ عَلَى النُّصُبِ (سورة المائدة: 3)
قال مجاهد وابن جريج: كانت النصب حجارة حول الكعبة، قال ابن جريج: وهي ثلاثمائة وستون نصبا، كان العرب في جاهليتها يذبحون عندها، كما نقله ابن كثير.
4. Predators With Fangs | كل ذي ناب من السباع
The Prophet forbade eating every predator with fangs (Sahih al-Bukhari 5530), and every bird with talons (Sahih Muslim 1934). Eating what is forbidden in extreme need is explained in whether a starving person may eat what is forbidden.
نهى رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم عن أكل كل ذي ناب من السباع (صحيح البخاري 5530)، وعن كل ذي مخلب من الطير (صحيح مسلم 1934).
Frequently Asked Questions | الأسئلة الشائعة
Which foods does Al-Ma’idah 5:3 forbid?
Carrion, blood, pork, what is dedicated to other than Allah, the strangled, the beaten, the fallen, the gored, what a predator has eaten, and what is slaughtered on stone altars.
What is al-mawqudhah?
An animal struck with something heavy and blunt until it dies; Ibn Abbas said: beaten with wood.
Is the meat of an animal attacked by a predator lawful?
Not if it died from the attack; it is lawful only if it was reached alive and slaughtered (except what you have slaughtered, 5:3).
Are fish forbidden as carrion?
No. Ibn Kathir notes that fish and locusts are excepted.