Tafheem ul Quran

Surah 2 Al-Baqarah, Ayat 173-173

اِنَّمَا حَرَّمَ عَلَيۡکُمُ الۡمَيۡتَةَ وَالدَّمَ وَلَحۡمَ الۡخِنۡزِيۡرِ وَمَآ اُهِلَّ بِهٖ لِغَيۡرِ اللّٰهِ​ۚ فَمَنِ اضۡطُرَّ غَيۡرَ بَاغٍ وَّلَا عَادٍ فَلَاۤ اِثۡمَ عَلَيۡهِ​ؕ اِنَّ اللّٰهَ غَفُوۡرٌ رَّحِيۡمٌ‏ ﴿2:173﴾

(2:173) He has made unlawful to you only carrion and blood and the flesh of swine and that over which there has been pronounced the name of anyone other than Allah’s.171 But he who is constrained (to eat of them) – and he neither covets them nor exceeds the indispensable limit incurs no sin: Allah is All-Forgiving, All-Compassionate.172


Notes

171. This applies to the flesh of an animal slaughtered in the name of anything and anyone other than God as well as to the food prepared as an offering to someone other than God. God alone is the master of everything - of the animal whose flesh we consume as well as of every other kind of food - and it is He Who has mercifully provided us with them. Hence, if it is appropriate to pronounce any name as an expression of gratitude, of consecration, it can only be the name of God. To use anyone else's name means that we believe that there is some other being either instead of or in addition to God which deserves to be acknowledged as our Lord and Benefactor.

172. This verse grants permission to use prohibited things with three stipulations. First, one must be in a state of extreme compulsion, for example, being gravely ill or being so hungry and thirsty that one's very life is in danger, and a prohibited thing is all that is available to save one's life. Second, the person concerned should have no inclination to violate the Law of God. Third, in consuming the prohibited thing one should not exceed the limits of bare necessity. If a few bites or a few drops are enough to save one's life, one ought not to go beyond the absolute minimum.