Do Not Prohibit What Is Lawful (3:93 – 3:94)

Do Not Prohibit What Is Lawful

3:93 All food used to be lawful for the Children of Israel, until Israel imposed certain prohibitions on themselves before the Torah was sent down. Say, “Bring the Torah and read it, if you are truthful.”

3:94 Those who fabricate false prohibitions after this, and attribute them to GOD, are truly wicked.

Appendix 16 – Dietary Prohibitions

The Quran teaches that God is extremely displeased with those who prohibit anything that was not specifically prohibited in the Quran (16:112-116). The upholding of any prohibitions not specifically mentioned in the Quran is tantamount to idolatry (6:142-152). Such prohibitions represent some other god(s) besides God. If you worship God ALONE, you will uphold His teachings ALONE and honor the commandments and prohibitions instituted only by Him.

The absolute specificity of dietary prohibitions in the Quran is best illustrated in . We learn from these two verses that when God prohibits “meat,” He prohibits “meat” and nothing else, and when He prohibits “fat,” that is what He specifically prohibits. These two verses inform us that “the meat” of pigs is prohibited, not “the fat.” Obviously, God knew that in many countries, lard would be used in baked goods and other food products, and that such usage does not render the foods Haraam (prohibited). The Quran specifically prohibits four meats (, , , and ):