Surah Maidah ayat 87 Tafsir Quran 5:87

﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تُحَرِّمُوا طَيِّبَاتِ مَا أَحَلَّ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ وَلَا تَعْتَدُوا ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُحِبُّ الْمُعْتَدِينَ﴾
[ المائدة: 87]

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.

When a number of Companions resolved to practise fasting and night vigil continuously and to abstain from women perfume consumption of meat and sleeping on beds the following was revealed O you who believe do not forbid the good things that God has made lawful for you and do not transgress do not exceed God’s command; God does not love transgressors.

O you who have conformed to Islam: Do not forbid the worthy and wholesome victuals Allah rendered lawful for you to eat, nor carry your concepts of the religion to excess and pass beyond due bounds; Allah does not like those who go beyond the limits prescribed

There is No Monasticism in Islam `Ali bin Abi Talhah said that Ibn `Abbas said, "This Ayah 5:87 was revealed about some of the Companions of the Prophet who said, `We should cut off our male organs, abandon the desires of this life and travel in the land, just as the Ruhban ( monks ) do.' When the Prophet heard of this statement, he summoned them and asked them if they made this statement and they answered `Yes.' The Prophet said,
«لكِنِّي أَصُومُ وَأُفْطِرُ، وَأُصَلِّي، وَأَنَامُ، وَأَنْكِحُ النِّسَاءَ، فَمَنْ أَخَذَ بِسُنَّتِي فَهُوَ مِنِّي، وَمَنْ لَمْ يَأْخُذْ بِسُنَّتِي فَلَيْسَ مِنِّي»
( I fast and break my fast, pray and sleep, and marry women.
Whoever follows my Sunnah is of me, and whoever abandons my Sunnah is not of me. )" Ibn Abi Hatim also collected this Hadith.
Ibn Marduwyah recorded that Al-`Awfi said that Ibn `Abbas narrated a similar Hadith.
It is recorded in the Two Sahihs that `A'ishah said that some of the Companions asked the wives of the Prophet about the acts of worship that he performed in private.
One of them said, "I will not eat meat," another said, "I will not marry women," while the third said, "I will not sleep on the bed." When the Prophet heard this statement, he said,
«مَا بَالُ أَقْوَامٍ يَقُولُ أَحَدُهُمْ كَذَا وَكَذَا، لكِنِّي أَصُومُ وَأُفْطِرُ، وَأَنَامُ وَأَقُومُ، وَآكُلُ اللَّحْمَ، وَأَتَزَوَّجُ النِّسَاءَ، فَمَنْ رَغِبَ عَنْ سُنَّتِي فَلَيْسَ مِنِّي»
( What is the matter with some people who said such and such I fast and break the fast, sleep and wake to stand to pray, eat meat, and marry women.
He who is not pleased with my Sunnah is not of me. ) Allah's statement, وَلاَ تَعْتَدُواْ ( and transgress not. ) means, do not exaggerate and make it hard for yourselves by prohibiting the permissible things.
Do not transgress the limits by excessively indulging in the permissible matters; only use of it what satisfies your need; and do not fall into extravagance.
Allah said in other Ayat, وكُلُواْ وَاشْرَبُواْ وَلاَ تُسْرِفُواْ ( And eat and drink but waste not by extravagance. )7:31, and, وَالَّذِينَ إِذَآ أَنفَقُواْ لَمْ يُسْرِفُواْ وَلَمْ يَقْتُرُواْ وَكَانَ بَيْنَ ذَلِكَ قَوَاماً ( And those, who, when they spend, are neither extravagant nor miserly, but hold a medium (way ) between those ( extremes ).)25:67 So Allah legislated a medium way between those who are extreme and those who fall into shortcomings, and it does not allow excessive application, nor lack of application.
This is why Allah said here, لاَ تُحَرِّمُواْ طَيِّبَـتِ مَآ أَحَلَّ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ وَلاَ تَعْتَدُواْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لاَ يُحِبُّ الْمُعْتَدِينَ ( Make not unlawful the good things which Allah has made lawful to you, and transgress not.
Verily, Allah does not like the transgressors. ) then He said, وَكُلُواْ مِمَّا رَزَقَكُمُ اللَّهُ حَلَـلاً طَيِّباً ( And eat of the things which Allah has provided for you, lawful and good, )5:88, eat of those items that are pure and lawful for you, وَاتَّقُواْ اللَّهَ ( and have Taqwa of Allah, ) in all your affairs, obey Him and seek His pleasure, all the while staying away from defiance and disobedience of Allah, وَاتَّقُواْ اللَّهَ الَّذِى أَنتُم بِهِ مُؤْمِنُونَ ( and have Taqwa of Allah in Whom you believe. )

(5:87) Believers! Do not hold as unlawful the good things which Allah has made lawful to you, *104 and do not exceed the bounds of right. *105 Allah does not love those who transgress the bounds of right.

O you who have believed, do not meaning

*104).
This verse embodies two directives.
The first is that man should not attribute to himself the authority to proclaim things either lawful or unlawful according to his own wishes.
Only that which God has held to be lawful is lawful, and only that which God has declared unlawful is unlawful.
If men were to declare certain things either lawful or unlawful on their own authority, they would not be following the law of God but their own laws.
The second directive is that they should not adopt the course of world-renunciation and abstention from worldly pleasures as the Christian monks, Hindu mendicants, Buddhist bhikshus and illuminist mystics did.
Religious-minded and virtuous people have always tended to consider their physical and carnal desires an impediment to spiritual growth.
They have considered suffering, deprivation from worldly pleasures and abstention from the means of worldly sustenance to be acts of goodness and indispensable for achieving proximity to God.
Even some of the Companions leaned in this direction.
The Prophet ( peace be on him ) once came to know that some Companions had resolved that they would fast without interruption, that instead of spending the night on their beds they would remain awake praying, that they would consume neither meat nor fat, and would have no ( sexual ) relations with women.
The Prophet ( peace be on him ) addressed the people on this subject and said: 'I have not been commanded to do so.
Even your own self has rights against you.
So, fast on certain days and refrain from fasting on others.
Stay awake praying at night and also sleep.
Look at me; 1 sleep as well as stay awake ( praying ); sometimes I fast and sometimes I don't.
I consume meat as well as fat.
Whosoever dislikes my way does not belong to me.' He then added: 'What has happened to people that they have prohibited for themselves women, good food, perfumes, sleep and the pleasures of the world, whereas I have not taught you to become monks and priests.
In my religion there is neither abstention from women nor from meat, neither seclusion nor withdrawal.

For the purposes of self-control my religion has fasting.
As for monasticism, all its benefits can be derived from jihad ( struggle in the way of God ).
Serve God and associate none with Him.
Perform Hajj and 'Umrah, establish Prayers, dispense Zakah and observe the fasts of Ramadan.
Those who were destroyed before you were destroyed because they were severe with themselves, and when they became severe with themselves God became severe with them as well.
It is the remnants of such people who you see in the oratories and hermitages of monks.' ( Ibn Kathir, vol.
2, pp.
626 and 628-9 - Ed. )
There are traditions to the effect that the Prophet ( peace be on him ) once came to know that one of his Companions was always so preoccupied with worship and devotion that he did not approach his wife for long periods.
The Prophet ( peace be on him ) called for him and directed him to go to his wife.
On being told that he was fasting, the Prophet ( peace be on him ) asked him to break the fast and proceed to his wife.
During the reign of 'Umar a lady once lodged the complaint that her husband fasted all day and prayed all night and had no relations with her.
'Umar appointed the famous Successor ( Tabi'i ), Ka'b b.
Thawr al-Azdi to look into the matter.
He issued the judgement that the husband had the right to spend three nights in Prayer if he so wished, but every fourth night was the right of his wife.
( Fiqh al-Sunnah, vol.
2, p.
164 - Ed. )
*105).
'Do not exceed the bounds of right' has a broad signification.
To hold the things which are lawful to be unlawful, and to shun the things declared by God to be clean as if they were unclean, is in itself an act of wrongful excess.
It should be remembered, at the same time, that extravagant indulgence even in clean things is an act of wrongful excess.
Likewise, to overstep the limits of the permissible is also an act of wrongful excess.
God disapproves of all three kinds of excess.

 

There is No Monasticism in Islam `Ali bin Abi Talhah said that Ibn `Abbas said, "This Ayah 5:87 was revealed about some of the Companions of the Prophet who said, `We should cut off our male organs, abandon the desires of this life and travel in the land, just as the Ruhban ( monks ) do.' When the Prophet heard of this statement, he summoned them and asked them if they made this statement and they answered `Yes.' The Prophet said, «لكِنِّي أَصُومُ وَأُفْطِرُ، وَأُصَلِّي، وَأَنَامُ، وَأَنْكِحُ النِّسَاءَ، فَمَنْ أَخَذَ بِسُنَّتِي فَهُوَ مِنِّي، وَمَنْ لَمْ يَأْخُذْ بِسُنَّتِي فَلَيْسَ مِنِّي» ( I fast and break my fast, pray and sleep, and marry women.
Whoever follows my Sunnah is of me, and whoever abandons my Sunnah is not of me. )" Ibn Abi Hatim also collected this Hadith.
Ibn Marduwyah recorded that Al-`Awfi said that Ibn `Abbas narrated a similar Hadith.
It is recorded in the Two Sahihs that `A'ishah said that some of the Companions asked the wives of the Prophet about the acts of worship that he performed in private.
One of them said, "I will not eat meat," another said, "I will not marry women," while the third said, "I will not sleep on the bed." When the Prophet heard this statement, he said, «مَا بَالُ أَقْوَامٍ يَقُولُ أَحَدُهُمْ كَذَا وَكَذَا، لكِنِّي أَصُومُ وَأُفْطِرُ، وَأَنَامُ وَأَقُومُ، وَآكُلُ اللَّحْمَ، وَأَتَزَوَّجُ النِّسَاءَ، فَمَنْ رَغِبَ عَنْ سُنَّتِي فَلَيْسَ مِنِّي» ( What is the matter with some people who said such and such I fast and break the fast, sleep and wake to stand to pray, eat meat, and marry women.
He who is not pleased with my Sunnah is not of me. ) Allah's statement, وَلاَ تَعْتَدُواْ ( and transgress not. ) means, do not exaggerate and make it hard for yourselves by prohibiting the permissible things.
Do not transgress the limits by excessively indulging in the permissible matters; only use of it what satisfies your need; and do not fall into extravagance.
Allah said in other Ayat, وكُلُواْ وَاشْرَبُواْ وَلاَ تُسْرِفُواْ ( And eat and drink but waste not by extravagance. )7:31, and, وَالَّذِينَ إِذَآ أَنفَقُواْ لَمْ يُسْرِفُواْ وَلَمْ يَقْتُرُواْ وَكَانَ بَيْنَ ذَلِكَ قَوَاماً ( And those, who, when they spend, are neither extravagant nor miserly, but hold a medium (way ) between those ( extremes ).)25:67 So Allah legislated a medium way between those who are extreme and those who fall into shortcomings, and it does not allow excessive application, nor lack of application.
This is why Allah said here, لاَ تُحَرِّمُواْ طَيِّبَـتِ مَآ أَحَلَّ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ وَلاَ تَعْتَدُواْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لاَ يُحِبُّ الْمُعْتَدِينَ ( Make not unlawful the good things which Allah has made lawful to you, and transgress not.
Verily, Allah does not like the transgressors. ) then He said, وَكُلُواْ مِمَّا رَزَقَكُمُ اللَّهُ حَلَـلاً طَيِّباً ( And eat of the things which Allah has provided for you, lawful and good, )5:88, eat of those items that are pure and lawful for you, وَاتَّقُواْ اللَّهَ ( and have Taqwa of Allah, ) in all your affairs, obey Him and seek His pleasure, all the while staying away from defiance and disobedience of Allah, وَاتَّقُواْ اللَّهَ الَّذِى أَنتُم بِهِ مُؤْمِنُونَ ( and have Taqwa of Allah in Whom you believe. )

( O ye who believe! Forbid not the good things which Allah hath made lawful for you ) this verse was revealed about ten Companions of the Prophet ( pbuh ) among them were Abu Bakr, ’Umar, ’Ali, ’Abdullah Ibn Mas’ud, ’Uthman Ibn Maz’un al-Jumahi, Miqdad Ibn al-Aswad al-Kindi, and Salim the client of Abu Hudhayfah Ibn ’Utbah, Salman al-Farisi, Abu Dharr, ’Ammar Ibn Yasir-these Companions vowed in the house of ’Uthman Ibn Maz’un that they would not eat or drink except that which was enough to keep them alive, that they would not have sex with their wives, that they would never eat meat or fat and that they would cut off their male organs. But Allah forbade them from such acts, and revealed about them: do not forbid the lawful things that Allah has permitted such as foods, drinks and having sex with your wives ( and transgress not ) by cutting off your male organs. ( Lo! Allah loveth not transgressors ) who move from the lawful to the unlawful by mutilating themselves.

O you who believe! Make not unlawful the Taiyibat (all that is good as regards foods, things, deeds, beliefs, persons, etc.) which Allah has made lawful to you, and transgress not. Verily, Allah does not like the transgressors.

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