Al-Mā’idah 5:1

The issue

This verse first commands Muslims to keep all their obligations ( compacts, covenants

or contracts). Then it adds this declaration: “Lawful for you are brute beasts....” This

statement means that these animals, al-an‘ām or “cattle” in Arabic (e.g., camels, cows, and sheep), have been made lawful to be eaten as food after slaughter. What is the connection between the fulfilment of compacts and the lawfulness of certain types of meats?

There are several different definitions to the term “compacts”:

• Covenants: General contracts.

• Oaths: Obligations or commitments pledged by Muslims before the Islāmic era.

The following speech is attributed to Muhammad: “Remain faithful to the oaths of

jāhilīya (the pre-Islāmic era) and do not introduce new oaths in Islām.”

• Covenants: Binding agreements or promises, specifically those which Allah made

with his servants because of their faith in him and their obedience toward what he

had made lawful or unlawful to them.

• Contracts: Agreements between people, or agreements that an individual makes

with him or herself. Examples of contracts issued are marriage contracts, business

contracts, sworn contracts, covenant contracts, and oath contracts.

• Allah’s command: To the People of the Book to remain faithful to the covenant

found in the Torah and the Injīl with regard to believing what Muhammad has also

commanded.

Even if we take any of these suggested interpretations regarding these types of

“compacts,” we continue to wonder where the link exists between the two parts of this

verse.

If we are to read, “O ye who believe! fulfill your compacts.-Lawful for you are brute

beasts,” we again see a problem we have encountered with other Qur’ānic verses.

Although undetected in the English translation of the verse, there is a missing expression

in the Arabic—in this case, before the word “lawful,” there is no break in this verse.

The period found in the English translations after the word “compacts” is not in the

Arabic text that unites the two phrases as one sentence. This omission indicates that

the writing down of the Qur’ān was not subjected to strict standards. Of course, this

laxity resulted from the lack of sufficient education and literacy among the Muslims of

that era. This gap in the verse was noticed by Islāmic apologists who state that it refers

to the contracts that are required by Allah of the believers, concerning what he (Allah)

has permitted, forbidden, and commanded.

The renowned scholar, al-Zamakhsharī, offers this summary:

It appears to be Allah’s covenants with his people in his religion

permitting what was permitted and forbidding what was forbidden.

And that the entire topic (fulfilling of contracts) was introduced in the

first part of the verse and then was followed by more details when Allah

said, ‘Lawful for you.’

Notice that al-Zamakhsharī uses the phrase, “It appears,” denoting doubt.

In an attempt to call attention away from the weakness of eloquence in the verse, a

fabricated story is told about al-Kindī, known as the philosopher of the Arabs. When

he was asked by his friends to make them a book similar to the Qur’ān, he replied with

this assessment:

“Yes, I can make parts like it.” Then he went into seclusion for many

days, and then he reappeared and said, “By God, I cannot, and no one

can endure to do so! I have opened the Qur’ān and there appeared

before me sūra al-Mā’ida, and so I looked and there Allah had spoken

of faithfulness and forbade breaking the oath. He also gave a general

injunction of what is permissible, and then made one exception after

another. Then He told of his omnipotence and wisdom in two lines.”

Since Q 5.1 is an example of the weakness in structure and meaning found in the

Arabic, this story was invented to conceal these facts, claiming that the philosopher of the Arabs, al-Kindī, were unable to imitate them.