Quran Garden

Session 420

Chapter 3

Verse 93

All food was lawful for the tribe of Israel except what Israel made unlawful for himself before the Torah was sent down.  Say: "Bring the Torah and recite it if you are telling the truth." (Chapter 3: Verse 93)

Some of the People of the Book rejected Muhammad, peace be upon him, at the beginning of his call to Islam.  They denied the glad tidings of his coming mentioned in the Bible and went as far as erasing his description from their books, although they used to announce it loudly just a few years prior.  God says:

When a Book does come to them from God, confirming what is with them - even though before that they were praying for victory over the disbelievers - when there came to them something they knew to be true, they disbelieved in it: God's curse is on those who disbelieve.  (2:89)

They worked hard to ensure the distortions they made to the Torah remained hidden, but God wanted to expose them.  We had mentioned before the story of the Jewish Rabbis of Medina who faced the problem of a sexual affair between a man and a woman from very prominent families.  The Rabbis wanted to conceal the ruling in the Torah, which is stoning.  So, they suggested that the families should go to Prophet Muhammad, hoping that he would circumvent the Torah and find a socially acceptable solution to them.   

When the Jewish group sat with Prophet Muhammad, they said, "O Messenger of God, judge between these people." He, peace be upon him, replied, "Don't you have a clear ruling for this matter in the Torah?  I will judge according to your scripture." They reluctantly replied, "That would be fair." Prophet Muhammad first explained that the ruling for adultery in Islam is stoning, and then he asked for a part of the Torah to be brought in.  Prophet Muhammad, an illiterate man, pointed to a section in the Torah and a man from the Jewish tribe began to read; when he reached the verse about stoning, he covered it with his hand and skipped ahead.  A companion named Abdullah bin Salam said, "O Messenger of God, did you see him covering the verse with his hand!?" It became clear to everyone that the Jewish leaders wanted to override God's ruling.  In fact, whenever they faced a matter they did not approve, such as the coming of a new prophet from the Arab tribes, they rushed to alter the scriptures to match their whims. 

Likewise, in the verse under study, Allah exposes another example of the corrupt Jewish clergy for all to see.  When Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, said that camels and their milk are permissible to consume, some Rabbis objected and said, "These were forbidden since the days of Abraham, and even before him from the days of Noah.  We cannot accept that eating and drinking from a camel is permissible." Prophet Muhammad replied that whatever God made lawful is permissible, and there was no need for discussion.  

It should have been enough for any clergy to accept that a new messenger from God should be welcomed and supported.  Any new legislation from the heavens overrules all previous rulings.  God says:

God took a pledge from the prophets, saying, "If, after I have bestowed scripture and wisdom upon you, a messenger comes confirming what you have been given, you must believe in him and support him.  Do you affirm this and accept My pledge as binding on you?" They said, "We do." He said, "Then bear witness, and I too will bear witness." (3:81)

Interestingly, camel's meat and milk were never prohibited before.  In other words, the legislation brought by Prophet Muhammad perfectly aligned with the ruling in the Torah.  Thus he, peace be upon him, asked the Rabbis to refer to their book.  He could not say, "Go back and look in the Torah'' unless he was confident it supported his case.  This was the light of our beloved Muhammad.  He was an illiterate man that never read the Torah, but his Lord guided him to the truth.  They brought the Torah and found its words identical to what the Messenger said.  God says:

All food was lawful for the tribe of Israel except what Israel made unlawful for himself before the Torah was sent down.  Say, "Bring the Torah and recite it if you are telling the truth." (Chapter 3: Verse 93)

Some of us choose not to eat certain foods because we do not like them.  Some people stay away from specific foods when they diet or for medical reasons, such as lactose intolerance.  Similarly our beloved Prophet Jacob, who was also known as Israel, chose not to eat certain foods; that did not mean that such foods were religiously unlawful, it was simply his personal choice.  So why did the Rabbis insist that these particular foods were unlawful?  We answer that they did so to cover an ugly episode in their history.  God says:

We forbade for the Jews every animal with undivided hoof and the fat of cattle and sheep, except what is on their backs and in their intestines, or that which sticks to their bones.  This is how We penalized them for their disobedience: We are true to Our word.  (6:146)

Allah informed us that some things - which had always been lawful - were forbidden for the Jews because of their sins.  The phrase "with undivided hoof" means that the toes of the animal are not separate; we find such examples in camels, geese, and ducks.  The prohibitions here were not because these things are harmful; rather, they were a punishment for the injustice the Children of Israel committed against their prophets.  In other words, the camel's meat was made unlawful only for the Israelites, as a punishment.  Abraham, Noah, and all their followers had always enjoyed such meats. 

When something is forbidden (Haram), people often rush to rationalize that it must be harmful to their health.  We answer that, if you insist on finding a reason why something is forbidden, then you have sinned!  There is always wisdom behind what God allows and what He forbids, but His wisdom is not according to what you think.  Thus, I caution you against assuming that everything God forbids is harmful.  He may prohibit things for other reasons, such as to discipline people.  For example, you may tell your children that they cannot eat chocolate this week because they broke the neighbor's window while playing ball.  God says:

For the wrongdoings done by the Jews, We forbade them certain good things that had been permitted to them before: for having frequently obstructed others from God's path, taking usury when they had been forbidden to do so, and for wrongfully devouring other people's property.  For those of them that reject the truth, We have prepared an agonizing torment.  (4:160-161)

             Thus, you should not rush and judge why God made certain things permissible (Halal) or forbidden (Haram).  It is not your business.  A believer may live his or her life while never understanding the harm behind what God has forbidden.  If someone questions, "Why did God forbid that?" say: "It is the Lord's wisdom, not mine."

Why do people transgress over God's teachings?  Why do they take usury?  Why do they unlawfully take the property of others?  They do so to please themselves and indulge in money and power.  For this reason, heavenly legislations sometimes come to deprive them of other pleasures, just as they deprived people of their rights.  For example, in Islamic legislation the murderer is deprived of the victim's inheritance because they want to enjoy the inheritance sooner.  This legislation intends to protect you from your heirs who may value greed more than your life.

This brings us back to the verse.  The Jews of Medina, at the time of Muhammad, wanted to hide their past.  More specifically, they wanted to deny that Allah had punished them for obstructing others from His path, dealing in usury, and wrongfully taking other people's property.  So, they claimed that certain foods, like the meat and milk of camels, were always forbidden since the time of ancient prophets such as Noah.  Allah wanted to expose their lies, both in the Torah and the Quran.  He says:

All food was lawful for the tribe of Israel except what Israel made unlawful for himself before the Torah was sent down.  Say, "Bring the Torah and recite it if you are telling the truth." (Chapter 3: Verse 93)