Surah An-Nahl 16:114

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 menyuruh kaum Muslimin untuk memakan makanan yang halal dan baik dari rezeki yang diberikan Allah swt kepada mereka, baik makanan itu berasal dari binatang maupun tanaman. Makanan yang halal ialah makanan dan minuman yang dibenarkan oleh agama untuk dimakan dan diminum. Makanan yang baik ialah makanan dan minuman yang dibenarkan untuk dimakan atau diminum oleh kesehatan, termasuk di dalamnya makanan yang bergizi, enak, dan sehat. Makanan yang halal lagi baik inilah yang diperintahkan oleh Allah untuk dimakan dan diminum. Makanan yang dibenarkan oleh ilmu kesehatan sangat banyak, dan pada dasarnya boleh dimakan dan diminum.

Firman Allah swt:

Wahai orang-orang yang beriman! Makanlah dari rezeki yang baik yang Kami berikan kepada kamu (al-Baqarah/2: 172)

Firman Allah swt:

Mereka bertanya kepadamu (Muhammad), "Apakah yang dihalalkan bagi mereka?" Katakanlah,"Yang dihalalkan bagimu (adalah makanan) yang baik-baik dan (buruan yang ditangkap) oleh binatang pemburu yang telah kamu latih untuk berburu, yang kamu latih menurut apa yang telah diajarkan Allah kepadamu. (al-Ma'idah/5: 4)

Makanan dan minuman yang baik-baik tidak haram dimakan, kecuali bilamana Allah swt atau rasul-Nya mengharamkannya.

Firman Allah swt:

Wahai orang-orang yang beriman! Janganlah kamu mengharamkan apa yang baik yang telah dihalalkan Allah kepadamu, dan janganlah kamu melampaui batas. Sesungguhnya Allah tidak menyukai orang-orang yang melampaui batas. (al-Ma'idah/5: 87)

Makanan yang tersebar di muka bumi dari jenis hewan dan tanaman merupakan nikmat Allah swt yang besar. Manusia seharusnya mensyukuri-nya dengan jalan mengucapkan "Alhamdulillah" dan memanfaatkannya sesuai petunjuk Allah dan rasul-Nya, seperti memakan atau memperjual-belikannya. Nabi saw bersabda:

Sesungguhnya Allah benar-benar senang terhadap hamba yang mengucap-kan "Alhamdulillah". (Riwayat ath-thabrani dari al-Aswad bin Sari')

Termasuk dalam arti bersyukur ialah memelihara dan mengembangkan sumber-sumber bahan makanan agar jangan sampai punah dari permukaan bumi dan untuk memenuhi kebutuhan gizi makanan umat manusia. Dalam memelihara dan mengembangkan hewan atau tanaman itu, kaum Muslimin hendaknya tunduk kepada hukum-hukum Allah yang berlaku, umpamanya tentang ketentuan zakat dan fungsi sosialnya.

Mensyukuri nikmat Allah berarti mengucapkan kalimat syukur ketika memanfaatkan, memelihara, dan mengembangkannya berdasarkan petunjuk-petunjuk Allah, karena Dialah yang memberi anugerah dan kenikmatan itu. Tiap orang mukmin hendaklah menaati ketentuan-ketentuan dan perintah Allah, serta menjauhi larangan-Nya jika benar-benar beriman kepada-Nya.