Day 56 · Surah Al-Maidah Verses 1-5

Al-Ma'idah 1–5

Today's reading opens the rules of lawful and unlawful: keeping promises, prohibition of hunting while in a state of ihram, a list of forbidden foods, to whom one may marry.

• The believers are commanded to keep their promises, to slaughter while mentioning Allah's name, and to cooperate in goodness and God-consciousness.
• It is forbidden to hunt while in a state of ihram, to fight in the sacred months, to overstep bounds, and to help one another in sin and enmity.
• Islam is called a perfect system of life accepted by Allah, evident in particular in the detailed regulations about food.
• Forbidden are carrion, blood, pork, animals slaughtered without Allah's name, those strangled, beaten, fallen, gored, eaten by beasts of prey, and those killed by arrows.
• Permissible are the catch of hunters slaughtered in Allah's name and food of the People of the Book, also marrying righteous women including from the People of the Book, while rejecting these rules nullifies deeds.

Verses 1 and 2 of Surah Al-Ma'idah depict the great mercy of Allah upon the believers. Through His beautiful system such as keeping promises, slaughtering livestock while mentioning His name, and cooperating in goodness and God-consciousness. Besides that, there are His prohibitions that must be obeyed such as hunting during ihram (Hajj or Umrah), fighting in the sacred months, doing things beyond bounds, and helping one another in sin and enmity.

Allah's various commands and prohibitions truly make our life beautiful and balanced so that life feels pleasant and full of His blessings. The key is that God-consciousness is its foundation.

Verses 3-5 continue the discussion of Allah's system consisting of commands and prohibitions. Truly Islam is a system of human life that is very perfect and the only one accepted by Allah after He sent Muhammad as His last Messenger. Among the proofs of the perfection of Islam's teachings is regulating matters of food such as prohibiting the consumption of carrion, blood, pork, animals slaughtered without mentioning Allah's name, those strangled, beaten, fallen, gored, eaten by beasts of prey, slaughtered in the name of idols, and gambling with arrows or other weapons. So perfect is Islam's system that the disbelievers despair of finding fault with it.

All that is good is that which is in accordance with Allah and His Messenger, including the catch of hunters slaughtered in Allah's name and the food of the People of the Book. All of this is lawful for Muslims. Similarly, it is lawful to marry righteous women from the ummah of the Prophet Muhammad and from the People of the Book (those who truly hold fast to the Torah and Injil) and it is forbidden to pursue illicit relations with them (concubines). Rejection of Allah's systems will result in the nullification of all good deeds and will surely make one among the losers in the Hereafter.

Loading the full version…