In reality, everything is halal, and only that is haram which Allah and His Messenger have declared haram, and that about which they have remained silent is forgiven.
The word أطعمة is the plural of وَمَن لَّمْ يَطْعَمْهُ فَإِنَّهُ مِنِّي and its singular is طعام (food). Food means that which is eaten or drunk, as mentioned in the Quran:
طَعِمَ يَطْعَمُ [Al-Baqarah: 249]
“He who did not taste it (the water) is from me.”
Chapter أَطْعَمَ يُطْعِمُ (hearing) eating – Chapter خَلَقَ لَكُم مَّا فِي الْأَرْضِ جَمِيعًا (actions) feeding.
[Al-Munjid: p. 466, Al-Qamus Al-Muheet: p. 1462]
Legitimacy:
Its evidences are as follows:
➊ وَكُلُوا وَاشْرَبُوا وَلَا تُسْرِفُوا ۚ [Al-Baqarah: 29]
“Whatever is on earth, He has created it for you.”
➋ يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ كُلُوا مِمَّا فِي الْأَرْضِ حَلَالًا طَيِّبًا [Al-A’raf: 31]
“Eat and drink but do not exceed the limits.”
➌ وَيُحِلُّ لَهُمُ الطَّيِّبَاتِ وَيُحَرِّمُ عَلَيْهِمُ الْخَبَائِثَ [Al-Baqarah: 168]
“O people! Eat from what is lawful and pure on earth.”
➍ كل و اشرب والبس وتصدق من غير سرف ولا مخيلة [Al-A’raf: 157]
“He (i.e., the Prophet ﷺ) makes lawful for them the pure things and forbids them the impure.”
➎ There is a Prophetic hadith:
كل ذي ناب من السباع وكل ذي مخلب من الطير
“Eat, drink, wear clothes, and give charity but without extravagance and arrogance.”
[Sahih: Sahih Ibn Majah: 2904, Book of Clothing: Chapter on Wearing Whatever You Like That Does Not Lead to Extravagance or Arrogance, Ibn Majah: 3605, Nasa’i: 2559, Ahmad: 181/2]
◈ All non-impure things are pure and halal; however, the impurity of impure things can be known from the following matters:
➊ The Shariah has explicitly stated that a certain thing is impure, for example, domestic donkeys.
➋ There is a text defining it, for example:
هُوَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ لَكُم مَّا فِي الْأَرْضِ جَمِيعًا
➌ Its impurity is well-known, for example, rats and snakes, etc.
➍ The Shariah has commanded its killing or prohibited its killing, for example, kites and frogs, etc.
➎ It is commonly known that the animal eats carrion, for example, vultures.
➏ If its birth is between halal and haram, then mostly it will be prohibited.
➐ Its impurity is temporary, for example, a rabid animal.
➑ That which is physically harmful to humans, for example, poison.
➒ That which harms the intellect, for example, alcohol and all intoxicating substances, etc.
➓ That which has been slaughtered unlawfully, for example, slaughtered by a disbeliever or slaughtered for other than Allah, etc.
[Al-Ta’leeq ‘ala Subul al-Salam by Sheikh Abdullah Bassam: 1817/4]
Remember that things in which these causes of impurity are not present are halal.
➊ Allah Almighty says:
الحلال ما أحل الله فى كتابه والحرام ما حرم الله فى كتابه وما سكت عنه فهو مما عفا عنه [Al-Baqarah: 29]
“He is Allah who created all things on earth for you.”
➋ It is narrated from Hazrat Salman al-Farsi (RA) that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:
ما أحل الله فى كتاب فهو حلال ، وما حرم فهو حرام ، وما سكت عنه فهو عفو فاقبلوا من الله عافية
“Halal is that which Allah has made lawful in His Book, and haram is that which Allah has made unlawful in His Book, and that about which He has remained silent is among those things He has pardoned.”
[Sahih: Sahih Ibn Majah: 2715, Book of Foods: Chapter on Eating Cheese and Butter, Ibn Majah: 3367, Tirmidhi: 1716, Sahih al-Jami’ al-Saghir: 3195]
➌ It is narrated from Hazrat Abu Darda (RA) that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:
أن الله فـرض فرائض فلا تضيعوها ، وحد حدودا فلا تعتدوها ، وسكت عن أشياء رحمة لكم غير نسيان فلا تبحثوا عنها
“That which Allah has made halal in His Book is halal, and that which He has made haram is haram, and that about which He has remained silent is forgiven; therefore, accept His forgiven things.”
[Hasan: Ghābat Amrām: 2, Kashf al-Astar by Al-Bazzar: 325/3, 2855, Majma’ al-Zawa’id: 171/10, Hakim: 375/2]
➍ It is narrated from Hazrat Abu Tha’laba (RA) that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:
حُرِّمَتْ عَلَيْكُمُ الْمَيْتَةُ
“Indeed, Allah has prescribed some obligations; do not neglect them, and He has set some limits; do not transgress them, and out of mercy, He has remained silent about some things, so do not violate them.”
[Darqutni: 183/4, 42]
The things mentioned in the Book of Allah are haram:
➊ Allah Almighty says:
وَالدَّمُ [Al-Ma’idah: 3]
“Dead meat is forbidden to you.”
Dead meat means that which dies a natural death.
دَماً مَسْفُوْحاً
“And blood”
Blood means وَلَحْمُ الْخِنزِيرِ, i.e., flowing blood.
وَمَا أُهِلَّ لِغَيْرِ اللَّهِ بِهِ
“And the flesh of swine”
Besides the meat, every part of it is unanimously haram.
وَالْمُنْخَنِقَةُ
“That on which any name other than Allah’s has been invoked.”
وَالْمَوْقُوذَةُ
“That which is strangled to death.”
وَالْمُتَرَدِّيَةُ
“That which is beaten to death with a stick or club.”
وَالنَّطِيحَةُ
“That which falls from a height and dies.”
وَمَا أَكَلَ السَّبُعُ
“That which is gored to death by an animal.”
إِلَّا مَا ذَكَّيْتُمْ
“That which wild beasts have torn apart.”
وَمَا ذُبِحَ عَلَى النُّصُبِ
“Except that you slaughter it properly, then it is not forbidden.”
وَأَن تَسْتَقْسِمُوا بِالْأَزْلَامِ
“And that which is sacrificed on stone altars.”
فَمَنِ اضْطُرَّ فِي مَخْمَصَةٍ غَيْرَ مُتَجَانِفٍ لِّإِثْمٍ ۙ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
“Divining by arrows.”
قُل لَّا أَجِدُ فِي مَا أُوحِيَ إِلَيَّ مُحَرَّمًا عَلَىٰ طَاعِمٍ يَطْعَمُهُ إِلَّا أَن يَكُونَ مَيْتَةً أَوْ دَمًا مَّسْفُوحًا أَوْ لَحْمَ خِنزِيرٍ فَإِنَّهُ رِجْسٌ أَوْ فِسْقًا أُهِلَّ لِغَيْرِ اللَّهِ بِهِ [Al-Ma’idah: 3]
“If one is forced by severe hunger, without inclination to sin, then surely Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.”
➋ In another verse it is stated:
غفور الرحيم
[Al-An’am: 145]
“Say, I do not find in what has been revealed to me anything forbidden to eat by one who wishes to eat it, except carrion, or flowing blood, or the flesh of swine—for indeed, it is impure—or that which is dedicated to other than Allah. But whoever is forced by necessity, neither desiring nor transgressing, then indeed, your Lord is Forgiving and Merciful.”
(Ibn Taymiyyah) The apparent madhhab of the four Imams is that eating carrion is obligatory for a compelled person.
[Akhbar al-Ilmiya min al-Ikhtiyarat al-Fiqhiyya: p. 464]
