The Feast (Al-Maa 'edah)
In the name of God, The Most Gracious, The Dispenser of Grace
۞ O YOU who have attained to faith! Be true to your covenants! Lawful to you is the [flesh of every] beast that feeds on plants, save what is mentioned to you [hereinafter]: but you are not allowed to hunt while you are in the state of pilgrimage. Behold, God ordains in accordance with His will. 1 O ye who believe! Profane not Allah's monuments nor the Sacred Month nor the offerings nor the garlands, nor those repairing to the Sacred House, seeking the grace and pleasure of their Lord. But when ye have left the sacred territory, then go hunting (if ye will). And let not your hatred of a folk who (once) stopped your going to the inviolable place of worship seduce you to transgress; but help ye one another unto righteousness and pious duty. Help not one another unto sin and transgression, but keep your duty to Allah. Lo! Allah is severe in punishment. 2 It is unlawful for you to consume the following as food: an animal that has not been properly slaughtered, blood, pork, an animal slaughtered and consecrated in the name of someone other than God, an animal killed by strangulation or a violent blow, an animal killed by falling down, an animal which has been gored to death, an animal partly eaten by a wild beast before being properly slaughtered, an animal which has been sacrificed on the stone blocks (which pagans worshipped), and any flesh divided by casting superstitious and gambling arrows (a pagan tradition), which is a sin. Today, the unbelievers have lost hope about your religion. Do not be afraid of them but have fear of Me. On this day I have perfected your religion, completed My favors to you, and have chosen Islam as your religion. If anyone not (normally) inclined to sin is forced by hunger to eat unlawful substances instead of proper food, he may do so to spare his life. God is All-forgiving and All-merciful. 3 They ask you what is lawful to them. Say: 'The good things are lawful to you, as well as that which you have taught the birds and beasts of prey to catch, teaching them of what Allah has taught you. Eat of what they catch for you, pronouncing upon it the Name of Allah. And fear Allah, Allah is Swift at reckoning' 4 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, 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 dowers, taking them in honest wedlock, not in fornication, nor as secret love-companions. 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. 5