The Exegesis of the Saying of Allah the Exalted: "They ask you, 'What has been made lawful for them?' Say, 'Lawful for you are the good things and what you have trained as hunting animals, teaching them according to what Allah has taught you.'"

Allah the Exalted said: The doers are the Companions, and the Companions do not ask the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) except about something that benefits them, either in religion or in this world, and it is also a difficulty for them. Allah mentioned in the Qur'an about twelve places where the Companions asked him. Did the Messenger answer them? The verse indicates that he did not answer them, as evidenced by the fact that Allah said to him: meaning in their answer . Know that the question sometimes means asking for money and sometimes means inquiring. If it means asking for money, it takes two objects; if it means inquiring, it takes one object and is then connected to the second with "about" (min). Pay attention: if you want to ask a man for a dirham, you say: "I ask you for a dirham." From this is the saying of Allah the Exalted: meaning whoever asks me for something, so the second object is omitted due to the context indicating it. If you want to ask about a lost item that was lost to you, you say: "I ask you about my lost item," and you say: "So-and-so asked me about a certain issue." The verb "asked" (sala) is connected to the second object with "about" (min). If someone asks: What is the answer to the saying of Allah the Exalted: ? We say the answer to that differs among the scholars. Some said: If a verb is connected to something it is not normally connected to, it implies a meaning that suits the preposition it is connected with. Others said: The preposition is interpreted by the preposition that suits the verb. Do you understand that? If it is connected to its object with a preposition that is customary for it, the matter is clear. Since it is not customary for it to be connected with that preposition, the grammarians differed on whether the preposition is interpreted by what suits the verb or the verb is interpreted by what suits the preposition. Did you understand? Yes, let us see. Allah the Exalted said: What suits ? "From" (min), as He said: But the verse came: According to the view that the preposition means the preposition that suits the verb, we say: The "ba" (with) in His saying: means "from" (min). According to the second view, we seek a meaning that suits the "ba" (with), so the verb that suits the "ba" (with) is to say that implies the meaning of "is poured" (yuraww). In that case, the estimation is: "An eye that is poured with which the servants of Allah drink." Did you understand? Which is more eloquent? The first or the second? The second is more eloquent, because pouring implies drinking, but not vice versa. In that case, the figurative usage is in the verb, not the preposition. This is the view of the Basran grammarians, and it is what the Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) chose in the introduction to his exegesis. We return to the verse: Whoever says the figurative usage is in the preposition says the "ba" (with) here means "about" (min). Whoever says the figurative usage is in the verb says "asked" (sala) here implies the meaning of "answered" (jawa). "A questioner asked, so he was answered with a punishment that will occur," and this is more correct as we said. The verse with us is a question about what? Money or knowledge? Knowledge. "Dha" (this) here means "which" (alladhi). Ibn Malik (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "And like 'dha' after 'ma' of inquiry," meaning like the forms of generality, 'dha' after 'ma' of inquiry, meaning after the interrogative 'ma', i.e., what is it that has been made lawful for them. The doer and the substitute for the doer refer back to 'ma', and the one who made it lawful is Allah. Meaning He made lawful for you the good foods. Allah the Exalted said in describing the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): , and the meaning of the two verses—Allah knows best—is that everything Allah has made lawful is good, and everything He has forbidden is bad. Not every bad thing is forbidden, as evidenced by the fact that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) described garlic as a bad tree but did not forbid it. Meaning and He has made lawful for you what you hunt with what you have trained as hunting animals. "Al-Jawarih" is the plural of "jarahah," which is the one that earns. Meaning you are teaching them, and it is possible that means "hunting animals," i.e., that these earning animals wound what they catch. Meaning the hunting animals meaning in the manner of hunting. "Eat" means in the sense of permissibility, and the command here is for permissibility. And "min" (from) here is partitive, not explanatory. Meaning from what they caught, included with you, or from what they caught for you, meaning carried for you, or something similar according to the view that the verb implies a meaning. As for the view that the figurative usage is in the preposition, "ala" (on) means "li" (for), i.e., from what they caught for you. When? At the time of eating or at the time of sending the hunting animal? Both. In reality, it is both. The Sunnah indicates that one mentions the name when sending the hunting animal, and the Qur'an indicates that one mentions the name when catching and wanting to eat. So the mention of the name is for eating and for sending. "Fear Allah" means take protection from His punishment by doing His commands and avoiding His prohibitions. This sentence is declarative, affirmed by "inna" (indeed), and its purpose is to warn against neglecting the fear of Allah. Whoever does not fear Allah, then Allah the Exalted will hold you accountable for your deeds, and He is swift in reckoning. This includes swiftness in execution from one aspect and swiftness in time from another aspect. As for swiftness in time, how quickly the world passes swiftly, and before one knows it, the person has ended. As for swiftness in execution, Allah the Exalted will hold the creation accountable on the Day of Resurrection, despite their multitude, in half a day, as He said: .