Surah 5. Al-Maida, Ayah 5
| الْيَوْمَ أُحِلَّ لَكُمُ الطَّيِّبَاتُ ۖ وَطَعَامُ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ حِلٌّ لَكُمْ وَطَعَامُكُمْ حِلٌّ لَهُمْ ۖ وَالْمُحْصَنَاتُ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنَاتِ وَالْمُحْصَنَاتُ مِنَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْ إِذَا آتَيْتُمُوهُنَّ أُجُورَهُنَّ مُحْصِنِينَ غَيْرَ مُسَافِحِينَ وَلَا مُتَّخِذِي أَخْدَانٍ ۗ وَمَنْ يَكْفُرْ بِالْإِيمَانِ فَقَدْ حَبِطَ عَمَلُهُ وَهُوَ فِي الْآخِرَةِ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ |
| Asad | : | Today, all the good things of life have been made lawful to you. And the food of those who have been vouchsafed revelation aforetime is lawful to you,14 and your food is lawful to them. And [lawful to you are], in wedlock, women from among those who believe [in this divine writ], and, in wedlock, women from among those who have been vouchsafed revelation before your time - provided that you give them their cowers, taking them in honest wedlock, not in fornication, nor as secret love-companions.15 But as for him who rejects belief [in God] - in vain will be all his works: for in the life to come he shall be among the lost.16 |
| Malik | : | Today all good clean things have been made lawful for you; and the food of the People of the Book is also made lawful for you and your food is made lawful for them. Likewise, marriage with chaste free believing women and also chaste women among the People who were given the Book before you is made lawful for you, provided that you give them their dowries and desire chastity, neither committing fornication nor taking them as mistresses. Anyone who commits Kufr with Iman (rejects faith), all his good deeds will be in vain and in the Hereafter he will be one of the losers. |
| Pickthall | : | 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 honor, 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. |
| Yusuf Ali | : | This day are (all) things good and pure made lawful unto you. The food of the People of the Book is lawful unto you and yours is lawful unto them. (Lawful unto you in marriage) are (not only) chaste women who are believers but chaste women among the People of the Book revealed before your time when ye give them their due dowers and desire chastity not lewdness nor secret intrigues. If anyone rejects faith fruitless is his work and in the Hereafter he will be in the ranks of those who have lost (all spiritual good). 699 700 701 |
| Transliteration | : | yas'alon -ka maa-dhaa uh.illa la- -hum qul uh.illa la- -kum at.- t.ayyibaat wa- maa callamtum min al- jawaarih. mukalliben tucallimon -hunna min maa callama -kum 'allaah fa- kulo min maa amsakna calay -kum wa- udhkuro ism 'allaah calay -hi wa- ittaqo 'allaah 'inna 'allaah sarec al- h.isaab |
Note - 14This permission to partake of the food of the followers
of other revealed religions excludes, of course, the
forbidden categories of meat enumerated in verse {3}
above. As a matter of fact, the Law of Moses, too,
forbids them explicitly; and there is no statement
whatsoever in the Gospels to the effect that these
prohibitions were cancelled by Jesus: on the contrary, he
is reported to have said, "Think not that I have come to
destroy the Law [of Moses]...: I am not come to destroy,
but to fulfil" (Matthew v, 17). Thus, the latitude
enjoyed by post-Pauline followers of Jesus in respect of
food does not correspond to what he himself practiced and
enjoined.
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Note - 15Whereas Muslim men are allowed to marry women from among
the followers of another revealed religion, Muslim women
may not marry non-Muslims: the reason being that Islam
enjoins reverence of all the prophets, while the
followers of other religions reject some of them - e.g.,
the Prophet Muhammad or, as is the case with the Jews,
both Muhammad and Jesus. Thus, while a non-Muslim woman
who marries a Muslim can be sure that - despite all
doctrinal differences - the prophets of her faith will be
mentioned with utmost respect in her Muslim environment,
a Muslim woman who would marry a non-Muslim would always
be exposed to an abuse of him whom she regards as God's
Apostle.
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Note - 16The above passage rounds off, as it were, the opening
sentences of this surah, "O you who have attained to
faith, be true to your covenants" - of which belief in
God and the acceptance of His commandments are the
foremost. It is immediately followed by a reference to
prayer: for it is in prayer that man's dependence on God
finds its most conscious and deliberate expression.
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Note - 699The question is for food generally, such as is ordinarily
"good and pure": in the matter of meat it should be
killed with some sort of solemnity analogous to that of
the Takbir. The rules of Islam in this respect being
analogous to those of the People of the Book, there is no
objection to mutual recognition, as opposed to meat
killed by Pagans with superstitious rites. In this
respect the Christian rule is the same: "That ye abstain
from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from
things strangled, and from fornication." (Acts, xv. 29).
Notice the bracketing of fornication with things unlawful
to eat.
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Note - 700Islam is not exclusive. Social intercourse, including
inter-marriage, is permitted with the People of the Book.
A Muslim man may marry a woman from their ranks on the
same terms as he would marry a Muslim woman, i.e., he
must give her an economic and moral status, and must not
be actuated merely by motives of lust or physical desire.
A Muslim woman may not marry a non-Muslim man, because
her Muslim status would be affected; the wife ordinarily
takes the nationality and status given by her husband's
law. Any man or woman, of any race or faith, may, on
accepting Islam, freely marry any Muslim woman or man,
provided it be from motives of purity and chastity and
not of lewdness.
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Note - 701As always, food, cleanliness, social intercourse,
marriage and other interests in life, are linked with our
duty to Allah and faith in Him. Duty and faith are for
our own benefit, here and in the Hereafter.
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This permission to partake of the food of the followers of other revealed religions excludes, of course, the forbidden categories of meat enumerated in verse {3} above. As a matter of fact, the Law of Moses, too, forbids them explicitly; and there is no statement whatsoever in the Gospels to the effect that these prohibitions were cancelled by Jesus: on the contrary, he is reported to have said, "Think not that I have come to destroy the Law [of Moses]...: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil" (Matthew v, 17). Thus, the latitude enjoyed by post-Pauline followers of Jesus in respect of food does not correspond to what he himself practiced and enjoined. |
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Whereas Muslim men are allowed to marry women from among the followers of another revealed religion, Muslim women may not marry non-Muslims: the reason being that Islam enjoins reverence of all the prophets, while the followers of other religions reject some of them - e.g., the Prophet Muhammad or, as is the case with the Jews, both Muhammad and Jesus. Thus, while a non-Muslim woman who marries a Muslim can be sure that - despite all doctrinal differences - the prophets of her faith will be mentioned with utmost respect in her Muslim environment, a Muslim woman who would marry a non-Muslim would always be exposed to an abuse of him whom she regards as God's Apostle. |
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The above passage rounds off, as it were, the opening sentences of this surah, "O you who have attained to faith, be true to your covenants" - of which belief in God and the acceptance of His commandments are the foremost. It is immediately followed by a reference to prayer: for it is in prayer that man's dependence on God finds its most conscious and deliberate expression. |
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The question is for food generally, such as is ordinarily "good and pure": in the matter of meat it should be killed with some sort of solemnity analogous to that of the Takbir. The rules of Islam in this respect being analogous to those of the People of the Book, there is no objection to mutual recognition, as opposed to meat killed by Pagans with superstitious rites. In this respect the Christian rule is the same: "That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication." (Acts, xv. 29). Notice the bracketing of fornication with things unlawful to eat. |
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Islam is not exclusive. Social intercourse, including inter-marriage, is permitted with the People of the Book. A Muslim man may marry a woman from their ranks on the same terms as he would marry a Muslim woman, i.e., he must give her an economic and moral status, and must not be actuated merely by motives of lust or physical desire. A Muslim woman may not marry a non-Muslim man, because her Muslim status would be affected; the wife ordinarily takes the nationality and status given by her husband's law. Any man or woman, of any race or faith, may, on accepting Islam, freely marry any Muslim woman or man, provided it be from motives of purity and chastity and not of lewdness. |
