The Feast (Al-Maa 'edah)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ O ye who believe! fulfil the compacts. Allowed unto you is the beast of the flock except that which is rehearsed unto you, not allowing the chase while ye are in a state of sanctity. Verily Allah ordaineth whatsoever 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 to you is carrion, and blood, and the flesh of swine, and that over which any name other than God's has been invoked, and the animal that has been strangled, or beaten to death, or killed by a fall, or gored to death, or savaged by a beast of prey, save that which you [yourselves] may have slaughtered while it was still alive; and [forbidden to you is] all that has been slaughtered on idolatrous altars. And [you are forbidden] to seek to learn through divination what the future may hold in store for you: this is sinful conduct. Today, those who are bent on denying the truth have lost all hope of [your ever forsaking] your religion: do not, then, hold them in awe, but stand in awe of Me! Today have I perfected your religious law for you, and have bestowed upon you the full measure of My blessings, and willed that self-surrender unto Me shall be your religion. As for him, however, who is driven [to what is forbidden] by dire necessity and not by an inclination to sinning - behold, God is much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace. 3 They ask you (O Muhammad SAW) what is lawful for them (as food). Say: "Lawful unto you are At-Tayyibat [all kind of Halal (lawful-good) foods which Allah has made lawful (meat of slaughtered eatable animals, milk products, fats, vegetables and fruits, etc.)]. And those beasts and birds of prey which you have trained as hounds, training and teaching them (to catch) in the manner as directed to you by Allah; so eat of what they catch for you, but pronounce the Name of Allah over it, and fear Allah. Verily, Allah is Swift in reckoning." 4 This day are (all) good things made lawful for you. The food of those who have received the Scripture is lawful for you, and your food is lawful for them. And so are the virtuous women of the believers and the virtuous women of those who received the Scripture before you (lawful for you) when ye give them their marriage portions and live with them in honour, not in fornication, nor taking them as secret concubines. Whoso denieth the faith, his work is vain and he will be among the losers in the Hereafter. 5