الآية رقم (1) - يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ أَوْفُواْ بِالْعُقُودِ أُحِلَّتْ لَكُم بَهِيمَةُ الأَنْعَامِ إِلاَّ مَا يُتْلَى عَلَيْكُمْ غَيْرَ مُحِلِّي الصَّيْدِ وَأَنتُمْ حُرُمٌ إِنَّ اللّهَ يَحْكُمُ مَا يُرِيدُ

(1) - O you who have believed, fulfill [all] contracts. Lawful for you are the animals of grazing livestock except for that which is recited to you [in this Qur'an] - hunting not being permitted while you are in the state of ihram. Indeed, Allah ordains what He intends

As mentioned before: When Allah (swt) begins the verse with the commitment order, He (swt) addresses the believers by saying: “O you who believed.” So Allah (swt) addresses the believers with the relative pronoun: “who”. He (swt) does not say: “O the believers” There is a big difference, if he said: “O believers”, this means that faith has been completed and ended, but when He (swt) says: “O you who have believed”, this gives the meaning that faith is a continuous action, and it cannot be ended, as it is not a transient matter, but it is renewed until what is required is carried out. Allah (swt) says:

 فَلَا وَرَبِّكَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ حَتَّىٰ يُحَكِّمُوكَ فِيمَا شَجَرَ بَيْنَهُمْ ثُمَّ لَا يَجِدُوا فِي أَنفُسِهِمْ حَرَجًا مِّمَّا قَضَيْتَ وَيُسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا

(But no, by your Lord, they will not [truly] believe until they make you, [O Muhammad], judge concerning that over which they dispute among themselves and then find within themselves no discomfort from what you have judged and submit in [full, willing] submission.) (An-Nisa: 65)

And the Prophet (swt) said:

“Faith has over seventy branches, the most excellent of which is the declaration that there is no god but God, and the humblest of which is the removal of what is injurious from the road.”[1]

And said as well:

“No one of you shall become a true believer until he desires for his brother what he desires for himself”.[2]

And said too:

“He does not believe in me, whosoever sleep full at the night, while his neighbor is hungry, and he knows about that.[3]

So the elements of faith are dynamic, the circle of faith is not a circle of belief without action. Rather, faith must have an act that certifies it, so faith is not a transient matter, but it is renewed until all the divine duties are implemented. Allah (swt) says:

  يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا آمِنُوا بِاللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ

(O you who have believed, believe in Allah and His Messenger and the Book that He sent down upon His Messenger) (An-Nisaa: 136)

Meaning, keep on doing the deeds of faith and translate your doctrine which is a belief to deeds that reflect your heart’s faith.

( أَوْفُوا بِالْعُقُودِ ) (…, fulfill [all] contracts ): Surah an-Nisa has mentioned the provisions of marriage contracts, wills, debit and inheritance. Here comes the general command, which is the fulfillment of contracts. The contract is a documented agreement between two parties, reflect rights and obligations. The fulfillment of contracts means the completion of this contract, it either relates to individuals, i.e.: all individuals must complete the contracts, or it relates to methods, i.e. how to complete the contract. This reflects the greatness of this religion and this faith, for in order to prove your faith, the contracts must be completed and fulfilled, and the believer must have credibility with his rights and duties, and the other party with whom he trusts the contract must trust that he will fulfill his obligations in this contract.

( أُحِلَّتْ لَكُم بَهِيمَةُ الْأَنْعَامِ ) (…Lawful for you are the animals of grazing livestock ): The universe has been prepared for the human being, Allah (swt) has prepared for him the requirements of life; He (swt) subjugated to him all the universe and what it contains from inanimate objects, plants, animals, hence, man is in the highest rank among the creatures, and in the second place comes the animal. As such Allah (swt) says:

 أَوَلَمْ يَرَوْا أَنَّا خَلَقْنَا لَهُم مِّمَّا عَمِلَتْ أَيْدِينَا أَنْعَامًا فَهُمْ لَهَا مَالِكُونَ (71) وَذَلَّلْنَاهَا لَهُمْ فَمِنْهَا رَكُوبُهُمْ وَمِنْهَا يَأْكُلُونَ (72) وَلَهُمْ فِيهَا مَنَافِعُ وَمَشَارِبُ ۖ أَفَلَا يَشْكُرُونَ

(Do they not see that We have created for them from what Our hands have made, grazing livestock, and [then] they are their owners? (71) And We have tamed them for them, so some of them they ride, and some of them they eat. (72) And for them therein are [other] benefits and drinks, so will they not be grateful?) (Yassin: 73)

So Allah (swt) subjected the cattle for the man, but He (swt) did not subject to him other animals such as mosquitoes, snakes and scorpions, so you see a person getting tired of a small mosquito in front of him; because it is not tamed for him, so subjecting is a gift from Allah (swt) to man. The first of the gifts that sustain life is that Allah (swt) has made it lawful for us the animals, so what is the meaning of: “grazing livestock” The livestock is ambiguous to us in its affairs, for the animal moves by instinct and the human being moves by the mind, but what conceals the mind in man is desire, so it is said: He became like an animal, when his mind is concealed by misguidance, alcohol, drugs, etc. The livestock are the animals mentioned in the Holy Qur’an, in the words of Allah (swt):

 ثَمَانِيَةَ أَزْوَاجٍ ۖ مِّنَ الضَّأْنِ اثْنَيْنِ وَمِنَ الْمَعْزِ اثْنَيْنِ ۗ قُلْ آلذَّكَرَيْنِ حَرَّمَ أَمِ الْأُنثَيَيْنِ أَمَّا اشْتَمَلَتْ عَلَيْهِ أَرْحَامُ الْأُنثَيَيْنِ ۖ نَبِّئُونِي بِعِلْمٍ إِن كُنتُمْ صَادِقِينَ (143) وَمِنَ الْإِبِلِ اثْنَيْنِ وَمِنَ الْبَقَرِ اثْنَيْنِ ۗ قُلْ آلذَّكَرَيْنِ حَرَّمَ أَمِ الْأُنثَيَيْنِ أَمَّا اشْتَمَلَتْ عَلَيْهِ أَرْحَامُ الْأُنثَيَيْنِ ۖ أَمْ كُنتُمْ شُهَدَاءَ إِذْ وَصَّاكُمُ اللَّهُ بِهَٰذَا ۚ فَمَنْ أَظْلَمُ مِمَّنِ افْتَرَىٰ عَلَى اللَّهِ كَذِبًا لِّيُضِلَّ النَّاسَ بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ ۗ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الظَّالِمِينَ

([They are] eight mates – of the sheep, two and of the goats, two. Say, “Is it the two males He has forbidden or the two females or that which the wombs of the two females contain? Inform me with knowledge, if you should be truthful.” (144) And of the camels, two and of the cattle, two. Say, “Is it the two males He has forbidden or the two females or that which the wombs of the two females contain? Or were you witnesses when Allah charged you with this? Then who is more unjust than one who invents a lie about Allah to mislead the people by [something] other than knowledge? Indeed, Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people.”) (Al-An’am: 143-144)

These are the livestock that Allah (swt) has made lawful for humans to eat, and they are permitted, however, the Messenger of Allah (saws), who is a legislator by the permission of Allah (swt):

 وَمَا آتَاكُمُ الرَّسُولُ فَخُذُوهُ وَمَا نَهَاكُمْ عَنْهُ فَانتَهُوا

(And whatever the Messenger has given you – take; and what he has forbidden you – refrain from.) (Al-Hasher: 7)

He made lawful: antelopes and zebras, and he only forbade every animal with fangs such as carnivores and every bird have a claw. Allah (swt) made this lawful for the sake of man, from these He (swt) prohibited the dead one and that is killed by strangling or by a violent blow or by a head-long fall or by the goring of horns, that is for the sake of human health and for the sake of his purity.

( إِلَّا مَا يُتْلَىٰ عَلَيْكُمْ غَيْرَ مُحِلِّي الصَّيْدِ وَأَنتُمْ حُرُمٌ ) (…except for that which is recited to you [in this Qur’an] – hunting not being permitted while you are in the state of ihram.): Allah (swt) has forbidden hunting during Ihram, which has a time and place. The time is the four sacred months, three of them are sequent: Dhul-Qa’dah, Dhul-Hijjah and Muharram, and one separate: Rajab. So Hunting while you are in the state of Ihram is forbidden. The rulings are issued by the Creator Allah (swt) and the reason and wisdom belong to Allah (swt). Someone may say: What is the reason and the wisdom in that? We say: It is the faith discipline with regard of the rituals of Hajj in relation to the temporal and spatial Ihram. This discipline relates to what Allah (swt) has prohibited in these months of fighting, hunting and some other matters during Ihram, just as when He (swt) stated that the number of circumambulation around the Kaaba are seven not eight which in the human view is better than seven, similarly, throwing the stones, kissing the black stone…. Hence, there is a discipline of faith in the rituals of Hajj that has a certain wisdom, and we have to perform the rituals of worship as the Prophet (saws) said:

“Learn the rituals from me”[4]

[1] Sahih Muslim, Book of Faith, Chapter of Number of Faith Branches, Hadith No. 35.

[2] Sahih al-Bukhari: Book of Faith, Hadith No. 13

[3] Al-Mu’jam al-Kabeer of Tabarani: Chapter of the Letter (Alif), Anas ibn Malik al-Ansari, Hadith No. 751.

[4] Sunan al-Bayhaqi al-Kubra: The Book of Hajj, Hadith No. 9307.