LESSON # 389 - All Food Was Lawful Before Israel

LESSON # 389 FROM HOLY QUR’AN

All Food Was Lawful Before Israel

Surah ‘Aali ‘Imran (The Family Of ‘Imran, Chapter - 3)

Verse – 93a of 200, Section –10    (Part – 4)

All food was lawful unto the Children of Israel , save that which Israel forbade himself, (in days) before the Torah was revealed.

Kullut-ta-‘aami  kaana  hillalli- Baniii  ‘Israaa-‘iila  ‘illaa  maa  harrama  ‘Israaa-‘iilu  ‘alaa  nafsihii  min qabli  ‘an-tunaz-zalat-Tawraah.

Lesson

Reason for revelation of this verse is that the Jews said to the Messenger of Allah Almighty (grace, glory, blessings and peace be upon him), “You tell that you are at the Religion of Abraham (peace be upon him), but you eat those things, which were unlawful for the family of Abraham (peace be upon him), for instance; meat of the camel and its milk etc. How can you be a true follower of Abraham (peace be upon him) in this form? Allah Almighty revealed this verse as reply to their criticism.

The things which the people eat now usually, those entire were lawful during the time of Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) and remained lawful until before the revelation of Torah. However, some things were declared unlawful in this Scripture particularly for the children of Israel. As far as it relates to unlawfulness of the meat and milk of the camel, Prophet Jacob (peace be upon him) had sworn not to eat and drink them much before the revelation of Torah and following him, his children had also left the use of these things. The cause to swear was that Prophet Jacob (peace be upon him) was patient of            النساء عرق ‘pain in the joints’. He (peace be upon him) made a vow with Allah Almighty, “Escape me from this pain and if I become healthy, then I shall leave the use of my best favorite thing. Therefore, he (peace be upon him) left the use of meat and milk of the came which were his most favorite things for completion of the vow.

Remember it that as per Islamic Divine Law the vow like this is not lawful to determine any legal thing as illegal. Allah Almighty commands, “Yaaa  ‘ayyu-han-Nabiy-yu  lima  tu-harrima  maa ‘Ahallallaahu lak” (O Prophet! Why do you fix any thing as illegal, which Allah has made legal for you), Surah: Tahriim, section:1. If due to error and omission someone swears then he should break it at once and has to pay expiation.

It is revealed from this statement that some orders out of the previous religious laws of God Almighty were cancelled. Some things were lawful in the beginning, afterwards those were declared unlawful and some were unlawful, which were fixed afterwards as lawful. Therefore, if now there is some difference regarding lawful and unlawful between Muhammadan religious law and the previous religious laws, then there is no reason to be disbelieved in it. Moreover, in the present verse, it has been described leaving any most loving thing by Prophet Jacob (peace be upon him) and in the previous verse it was mentioned to spend most liked thing. Likewise, a light relation has been produced in these both verses.    

 Transliterated Holy Qur’an in Roman Script & English Translation by Marmaduke; Pickthall, Published by Paak Company, 17-Urdu Bazar, Lahore and Lesson collected from Dars e Qur’an published By Idara Islah wa Tableegh, Lahore (translated Urdu to English  by Muhammad Sharif)