Quran Quote  :  Had these indeed been Gods they would not have gone there. But (as it is), all of you shall ever abide in it." - 21:99

Quran-16:114 Surah An-nahl English Translation,Transliteration and Tafsir(Tafseer).

فَكُلُواْ مِمَّا رَزَقَكُمُ ٱللَّهُ حَلَٰلٗا طَيِّبٗا وَٱشۡكُرُواْ نِعۡمَتَ ٱللَّهِ إِن كُنتُمۡ إِيَّاهُ تَعۡبُدُونَ

Transliteration:( Fakuloo mimmaa razaqa kumul laahu halaalan taiyibanw washkuroo ni'matal laahi in kuntum iyyaahu ta'budoon )

114. Then eat [253] out of the provision of Allah, lawful and clean, and be thankful to Allah’s blessing if you worship Him [254]. (Kanzul Imaan Translation)

(114) Then eat of what Allāh has provided for you [which is] lawful and good. And be grateful for the favor of Allāh, if it is [indeed] Him that you worship. (Saheen International Translation)

Surah An-Nahl Ayat 114 Tafsir (Commentry)



  • Tafseer-e-Naeemi (Ahmad Yaar Khan)
  • Ibn Kathir
  • Ala-Madudi
  • Shaheen International

253. Outwardly, this is addressed to the believers. Lawful things are those which are not forbidden. Any good is that which is not unpalatable, it should be tasty and palatable. In other words, piety does not mean man must give up tasty foods, but true piety is to abstain from sins, or lawful things are those which do not become unlawful by themselves, while good things are those which man himself does not make unlawful. 

Thus, while the pig is forbidden, bribery, etc are earnings which are evil and not pure. However, if lawful things are left in the name of the idol, they are neither unlawful nor evil, but are lawful and good. Do not regard them as forbidden, because this verse is revealed to refute this belief that Baheerah, Saaibah, etc. are forbidden animals mention of which is made later.

254. Express gratitude to Allah Almighty in your beliefs, as well as practically and verbally, because the verse give an absolute order for expressing gratitude Believing in the Holy Prophet ﷺ  is an expression of gratitude of belief, obedience to him is practical gratitude and recitation of Hamd (Praise of Allah Almighty) and Na'at (Praise of the Holy prophet  is verbal gratitude.
 

 

Ibn-Kathir

114. So eat of the lawful and good food which Allah has provided for you. And be grateful for Allah’s favor, if it is He Whom you worship. 115. He has only forbidden dead flesh, blood, the flesh of swine, and any animal which is slaughtered as a sacrifice for other than Allah. But if one is forced by necessity, without willful disobedience, nor transgressing, then, Allah is Pardoning, Most Merciful. 116. And do not describe what your tongues have lied about, saying: “This is lawful and this is forbidden,” to invent lies against Allah. Verily, those who invent lies against Allah, will never succeed. 117. A passing brief enjoyment (will be theirs), but they will suffer a painful torment.


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.

﴿وَمَآ أُهِلَّ لِغَيْرِ اللَّهِ بِهِ﴾

(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,

﴿فَمَنِ اضْطُرَّ﴾

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

﴿فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ﴾

(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:

﴿وَلاَ تَقُولُواْ لِمَا تَصِفُ أَلْسِنَتُكُمُ الْكَذِبَ هَـذَا حَلَـلٌ وَهَـذَا حَرَامٌ لِّتَفْتَرُواْ عَلَى اللَّهِ الْكَذِبَ﴾

(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.

﴿لِمَا تَصِفُ﴾

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

﴿إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَفْتَرُونَ عَلَى اللَّهِ الْكَذِبَ لاَ يُفْلِحُونَ﴾

(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:

﴿نُمَتِّعُهُمْ قَلِيلاً ثُمَّ نَضْطَرُّهُمْ إِلَى عَذَابٍ غَلِيظٍ ﴾

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

﴿قُلْ إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَفْتَرُونَ عَلَى اللَّهِ الْكَذِبَ لاَ يُفْلِحُونَ – مَتَـعٌ فِى الدُّنْيَا ثُمَّ إِلَيْنَا مَرْجِعُهُمْ ثُمَّ نُذِيقُهُمُ الْعَذَابَ الشَّدِيدَ بِمَا كَانُواْ يَكْفُرُونَ ﴾

(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)

(16:114) So eat out of the lawful and good sustenance that Allah has bestowed upon you, and thank Allah for His bounty,[113] if it is Him that you serve.[114]

Ala-Maududi

(16:114) So eat out of the lawful and good sustenance that Allah has bestowed upon you, and thank Allah for His bounty,[113] if it is Him that you serve.[114]


113. This shows that the above mentioned famine had come to an end at the time of the revelation of this Surah.

114. Here the observation of the lawful and the unlawful has been made the test of worship of Allah. Those who claim to be the servants of Allah will eat what is lawful and pure and show gratitude to Him and will scrupulously refrain from what is forbidden and impure.

(114) Then eat of what Allāh has provided for you [which is] lawful and good. And be grateful for the favor of Allāh, if it is [indeed] Him that you worship.

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