Lawful food is clear, unspoken matters are pardoned

📖Sunan Ibn Mājah 3367
Salman al-Farisi reported: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was asked about eating ghee, cheese, and wild donkeys. The Prophet ﷺ said: “The lawful is what Allah has made lawful in His Book, and the unlawful is what Allah has made unlawful in His Book. Whatever He has been silent over has been pardoned.

Description & Lesson:
This hadith is a principle of Islamic law – if Allah and His Messenger did not forbid something, it remains permissible. Islam is not a religion of endless restrictions; it only prohibits what harms the soul, body, or society, and everything else is a mercy left open.

It also warns against two extremes:

1. Adding unnecessary prohibitions – making things haram without evidence leads to hardship, division, and innovation.
2. Making halal into haram – this can be a form of arrogance, as if we know better than Allah.

Understanding in Today’s Context:

• Many Muslims today fall into extremes – some try to forbid harmless things out of over-caution, while others make haram things appear halal for personal convenience.
• This hadith reminds us that Islam is complete – we should neither add nor subtract from its rulings.
• If Allah was silent about something in the Qur’an and Sunnah, that silence is a form of mercy – it’s allowed.
• Social and cultural practices should not be treated as religious law unless supported by clear evidence.

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📖Qur’ān 5:87
“O you who have believed, do not prohibit the good things which Allah has made lawful to you, and do not transgress. Indeed, Allah does not like transgressors.”

• This verse warns against self-made restrictions in religion.

📖Qur’ān 16:116
“And do not say about what your tongues assert of untruth, ‘This is lawful and this is unlawful,’ to invent falsehood about Allah. Indeed, those who invent falsehood about Allah will not succeed.”

• Declaring something halal or haram without proof is a serious sin.

📖Qur’ān 7:32
“Say, ‘Who has forbidden the adornment of Allah which He has produced for His servants and the good [lawful] things of provision?’ Say, ‘They are for those who believe during the worldly life, but exclusively for them on the Day of Resurrection.'”

• Allah reminds us that His blessings are meant to be enjoyed within the halal limits.

Why Donkey Meat is Forbidden

The prohibition on donkey meat and other animals with fangs or talons comes directly from the Sunnah (Hadith), not from the Qur’an’s explicit list of haram foods.

How it came

• The event happened during the Battle of Khaybar (7 AH), The Companions were cooking domesticated donkey meat when the Prophet ﷺ announced through a public crier:

Allah and His Messenger forbid you to eat the meat of domesticated donkeys.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Sahih Muslim)

The reason is usually explained as donkeys being used as working animals, and to preserve them. Some scholars also say it was for cleanliness, as they eat filth.

Does the Qur’an support it?

The Qur’an doesn’t list every single haram food; it gives the main categories in Surah Al-Baqarah 2:173 and Al-Ma’idah 5:3 -dead animals, blood, pork, and anything dedicated to other than Allah.

Allah also commands:
📖Surah Al-Hashr 59:7
“And whatever the Messenger gives you – take it; and whatever he forbids you – refrain from it…

This verse gives the Sunnah authority to make something haram even if it’s not in the Qur’an explicitly.

list of common fangs (predatory teeth) and talons (clawed hunters) animals mentioned in Islamic rulings as prohibited:

Animals with fangs (predators)

• Lion
• Tiger
• Leopard
• Wolf
• Hyena
• Dog
• Cat (domestic & wild)
• Fox
• Bear

Birds with talons (clawed hunters)

• Eagle
• Hawk
• Falcon
• Vulture
• Owl
• Kite
• Osprey

📖Mishkat al-Masabih 4105
The Prophet ﷺ said: Ibn Abbas said God’s messenger prohibited every beast of prey with a fang and every bird with a talon.

Why the Qur’an didn’t say it directly

The Qur’an is a book of guidance, not a detailed recipe of halal/haram foods, Allah left many details to the Prophet ﷺ, so the Sunnah explains, expands, and clarifies the Qur’an, Without Sunnah, Muslims wouldn’t know details of Salah, Zakat rates, Hajj rituals, or these specific food prohibitions.

📖Qur’an 33:36
“And it is not for a believing man or a believing woman, when Allah and His Messenger have decided a matter, to have any choice about their affair. And whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger has certainly gone far astray.”

This makes it clear that even if something is in Hadith but not explicitly in the Qur’an, it is still binding, because obeying the Messenger ﷺ is part of obeying Allah.