Al-Baqarah · Madani · ayah 173 of 286

Al-Baqarah 2:173

إِنَّمَا حَرَّمَ عَلَيْكُمُ ٱلْمَيْتَةَ وَٱلدَّمَ وَلَحْمَ ٱلْخِنزِيرِ وَمَآ أُهِلَّ بِهِۦ لِغَيْرِ ٱللَّهِ ۖ فَمَنِ ٱضْطُرَّ غَيْرَ بَاغٍ وَلَا عَادٍ فَلَآ إِثْمَ عَلَيْهِ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ

“He has only forbidden to you dead animals,[60] blood, the flesh of swine, and that which has been dedicated to other than Allāh. But whoever is forced [by necessity], neither desiring [it] nor transgressing [its limit], there is no sin upon him. Indeed, Allāh is Forgiving and Merciful.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Allah forbids only a short list, and writes the exception for necessity into the law itself, because He is Forgiving and Merciful.

A reflection

A Lawgiver who writes in the exception

A school sends a pupil home for wearing the wrong shoes. The office knows his family was evicted the week before, and that these are the only shoes he has. The rule is the rule, says the letter. Nobody who wrote it had imagined his week.

This ayah is a law, and its Author imagined every week. He lists what is forbidden. In the same breath He adds the exception. Whoever is compelled, 'neither seeking it nor going beyond need', commits no sin. Then He signs the law with two names: 'Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.'

A modern commentary calls the exception part of Allah's grace and ease. The mercy is not an afterthought tacked on by a lenient official. It is written into the law by the Lawgiver.

Here is the challenge to our pride. When we hold a little authority, as parents, managers or committee members, we often love rules and resent exceptions. Exceptions feel like losing control. The One who owns every creature, and needs nothing from any of them, wrote the exception Himself. The higher the authority, the more room it can afford to make.

Does a God who issues prohibitions simply want obedience for its own sake? He gains nothing from it (35:15). The same commentary says plainly that He forbade these things because they harm us. A Lawgiver who needed control would leave no gaps. This one ends His law by naming His forgiveness.

The pupil with the wrong shoes needed someone at the office who thought like this ayah. Perhaps, next time, that person could be you.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.