The Feast (Al-Maa 'edah)
In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful
۞ Believers, fulfill your obligations. It is lawful for you (to eat the flesh of) the beast among cattle other than that which is recited to you, hunting is forbidden while you are on pilgrimage. Allah decrees what He will. 1 O you who believe, do not violate the (sanctity of) offerings to God, nor the rites of the holy month, nor sacrificial cattle with garlands (that are brought to the Ka'bah), nor of the people who flock to the Holy House seeking the bounties of their Lord, and His pleasure. Hunt when you have laid aside the robe of the pilgrim. And do not let your hatred of a people who had barred you from the Holy Mosque lead you to aggression. But help one another in goodness and piety, and do not assist in crime and rebellion, and fear God. Surely God is severe in punishment. 2 Forbidden you is carrion and blood, and the flesh of the swine, and whatsoever has been killed in the name of some other than God, and whatever has been strangled, or killed by a blow or a fall, or by goring, or that which has been mauled by wild beasts unless slaughtered while still alive; and that which has been slaughtered at altars is forbidden, and also dividing the meat by casting lots with arrows. All this is sinful. Today the unbelievers have lost every hope of (despoiling) your creed; so do not fear them, fear Me. Today I have perfected your system of belief and bestowed My favours upon you in full, and have chosen submission (al-Islam) as the creed for you. If one of you is driven by hunger (to eat the forbidden) without the evil intent of sinning, then God is forgiving and kind. 3 (Muhammad), they ask you what has been made lawful for them (as food). Tell them, "All pure things are made lawful for you." If you train dogs or other beasts for hunting, you should train them according to what God has taught you. It, then, is lawful for you to eat the animals that they hunt, provided you mention the Name of God over the prey. Have fear of God. Certainly God's reckoning is swift. 4 Made lawful to you this day are At-Tayyibat [all kinds of Halal (lawful) foods, which Allah has made lawful (meat of slaughtered eatable animals, etc., milk products, fats, vegetables and fruits, etc.). The food (slaughtered cattle, eatable animals, etc.) of the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians) is lawful to you and yours is lawful to them. (Lawful to you in marriage) are chaste women from the believers and chaste women from those who were given the Scripture (Jews and Christians) before your time, when you have given their due Mahr (bridal money given by the husband to his wife at the time of marriage), desiring chastity (i.e. taking them in legal wedlock) not committing illegal sexual intercourse, nor taking them as girl-friends. And whosoever disbelieves in the Oneness of Allah and in all the other Articles of Faith [i.e. His (Allah's), Angels, His Holy Books, His Messengers, the Day of Resurrection and Al-Qadar (Divine Preordainments)], then fruitless is his work, and in the Hereafter he will be among the losers. 5