❖ Dialogue Without Chains 2 (Foods)

O you who deny the Sunnah, don't you know that there are prohibitions and permissions that the Quran did not mention, and the Sunnah is what clarified and explained them to us!!

But Allah said in His Book: (And We have sent down to you the Book as a clarification for all things) and He also said: (He has explained to you in detail what is forbidden to you).

This means everything is explained in the Quran. So, what are the prohibitions and permissions you are talking about?

Well, how do you eat liver, when liver is considered blood, and blood is forbidden to us? How do you eat fish even though it is considered carrion (dead meat)?

I will reply to you from Allah's Book as well, as usual.

Allah says: (Prohibited to you are dead meat and blood).

We understand from this verse that blood is forbidden, but Allah explained the nature of forbidden blood in another verse, saying: (Say, "I do not find within that which was revealed to me [anything] forbidden to one who would eat it unless it be a dead animal or 👈spilled blood👉 or the flesh of swine").

So, the blood that Allah forbade us is only spilled blood, which comes out during slaughter. As for fish being dead meat and thus forbidden, I am surprised you say this! Don't you read the Quran?! Don't you read His saying: (Lawful to you is the game of the 👈sea👉 and its food as provision for you and the travelers).

And Allah also said: (And from each [sea] you eat 👈tender meat👉 and extract ornaments which you wear, and you see the ships therein plowing through [the waves] that you may seek of His bounty).

So, all food from the sea is Halal by Quranic text, not by heritage text!!

There are also foods that the Quran did not explain or detail as Halal or Haram, and the Sunnah is what clarified them to us, such as the meat of predatory animals, cats, or birds of prey. Predatory animals are forbidden, so where is the detail in the Quran?

By what right do you speak for Allah and say those meats are forbidden? My dear brother, food is subject to environment, custom, and the availability of those foods or animals in a specific environment.

For example, in the Arabian Peninsula, many people eat lizards (Dhab), jerboas, locusts, and hyenas. The harsh environment, which has no creatures other than what was mentioned, forces humans to eat what is available out of necessity, and later they might find it palatable, making those foods part of the heritage of that region.

It even reached the point of drinking camel urine and using it as medicine!!

There are also societies that eat hedgehogs!!

The same applies to birds of prey!!

If your soul palates these foods, then eat them!! They are not forbidden by Quranic text.

Returning to the Holy Quran, we found only one prohibition mentioned regarding animals, which is swine (pork). As for everything else, it is left to science, custom, and traditions according to each region; there is no religious prohibition. And certainly, we do not forget benefit and harm in this matter.

Allah says: (He has explained to you in detail what is forbidden to you).

Proscription is by Quranic text only, and whoever forbids something from outside the Quran has made himself a legislator alongside Allah!!

Allah gave us minds to think, analyze, and know through our intellect what is harmful to avoid and what is not harmful to eat.