Surah An-Nahl 16:116

The Command to eat Lawful Provisions and to be Thankful, and an Explanation of what is Unlawful

Allah orders His believing servants to eat the good and lawful things that He has provided, and to give thanks to Him for that, for He is the Giver and Originator of all favors, Who alone deserves to be worshipped, having no partners or associate. Then Allah mentions what He has forbidden things which harm them in both religious and worldly affairs, i.,e., dead meat, blood and the flesh of pigs.

(and any animal which is slaughtered as a sacrifice for other than Allah.) meaning, it was slaughtered with the mention of a name other than that of Allah. Nevertheless,

(But if one is forced by necessity.) meaning, if one needs to do it, without deliberately disobeying or transgressing, then,

(Allah is Pardoning, Most Merciful.) We have already discussed a similar Ayah in Surat Al-Baqarah, and there is no need to repeat it here. And to Allah be praise. Then Allah forbids us to follow the ways of the idolators who declare things to be permitted or forbidden based upon their own whims and whatever names they agree on, such as the Bahirah (a she-camel whose milk was spared for the idols and nobody was allowed to milk it), the Sa'ibah (a she-camel let loose for free pasture for their false gods, idols, etc., and nothing was allowed to be carried on it), the Wasilah (a she-camel set free for idols because it has given birth to a she-camel at its first delivery and then again gives birth to a she-camel at its second delivery) and the Ham (a stallion camel freed from work for the sake of their idols, after it had finished a number of acts of copulation assigned for it), and so on. All of these were laws and customs that were invented during jahiliyyah. Then Allah says:

(And do not describe what your tongues have lied about, saying: "This is lawful and this is forbidden," to invent lies against Allah.) This includes everyone who comes up with an innovation (Bid`ah) for which he has no evidence from the Shari`ah, or whoever declares something lawful that Allah has forbidden, or whoever declares something unlawful that Allah has permitted, only because it suits his opinions or whim to do so.

(describe what...) meaning, do not speak lies because of what your tongues put forth. Then Allah warns against that by saying:

(Verily, those who invent lies against Allah, will never succeed.) meaning, either in this world or the Hereafter. As for this world, it is transient pleasure, and in the Hereafter, theirs will be a severe punishment, as Allah says:

(We let them enjoy for a little while, then in the end We will drive them into an unrelenting punishment.) (31:24) and

(Verily, those who invent a lie against Allah, will never be successful. (A brief) enjoyment in this world! and then to Us will be their return, then We shall make them taste the severest torment because they disbelieved.) (10:69-70)

Dalam ayat ini, Allah swt melarang kaum Muslimin mengharam-kan atau menghalalkan makanan menurut selera dan hawa nafsu mereka, sebagaimana orang-orang musyrik. Mereka mempunyai kebiasaan meng-haramkan atau menghalalkan binatang semata-mata didasarkan nama istilah yang mereka tetapkan sendiri untuk binatang itu, misalnya: bahirah, sa'ibah, wasilah, dan ham, sebagaimana firman Allah swt:

Allah tidak pernah mensyariatkan adanya bahirah, sa'ibah, wasilah, dan ham. Tetapi orang-orang kafir membuat-buat kedustaan terhadap Allah, dan kebanyakan mereka tidak mengerti. (al-Ma'idah/5: 103)

Dalam menetapkan kehalalan atau keharaman suatu makanan atau minuman harus didasarkan pada dalil syara yang bersumber dari Al-Qur'an dan sunnah. Penetapan hukum tanpa dalil-dalil syara tidak dibenarkan. Hal tersebut termasuk perbuatan yang mengada-ada dan melakukan kebohongan kepada Allah.

Dalam Al-Qur'an disebutkan tentang ucapan kaum musyrikin mengenai ketentuan anak hewan yang masih dalam kandungan induknya. Firman Allah swt:

Dan mereka berkata (pula), "Apa yang ada di dalam perut hewan ternak ini khusus untuk kaum laki-laki kami, haram bagi istri-istri kami." (al-An'am/6: 139)

Karena berakibat sangat buruk terhadap kehidupan beragama, maka Allah memberikan ancaman yang keras kepada mereka yang mengada-adakan kebohongan terhadap Allah. Allah menegaskan bahwa mereka yang berbuat demikian tidak akan mencapai keberhasilan dalam kehidupan mereka, baik di dunia maupun di akhirat. Di dunia, mereka yang suka membuat-buat hukum tanpa dalil yang benar akan dikecam dan ditinggalkan oleh masyara-kat. Kebohongan mereka akan diketahui oleh masyarakat dan mereka akan menjadi sasaran ejekan dan penghinaan.

Dalam Tafsir Ibnu Katsir diungkapkan bahwa termasuk dalam pengertian ayat ini ialah setiap orang yang menciptakan bid'ah (urusan agama) yang tidak punya landasan syara, atau menghalalkan sesuatu yang diharamkan atau mengharamkan sesuatu yang dihalalkan Allah semata-mata berdasarkan pikiran dan seleranya sendiri.