يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ لَا تُحَرِّمُوا۟ طَيِّبَٰتِ مَآ أَحَلَّ ٱللَّهُ لَكُمْ وَلَا تَعْتَدُوٓا۟ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يُحِبُّ ٱلْمُعْتَدِينَ
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.
Introduction
This is āyah 87 of Sūrat Al-Maaida (The Table Spread), the 112th sūrah in the traditional order of revelation. It was revealed in the Medinan period and sits within Juzʾ 7. Medinan verses often address community life, law, and the building of society.
This introduction is a starting point — the community and Bilal will enrich it over time.
Revelation & occasion
- Period
- Medinan
- Order revealed
- 112 of 114
- Surah
- Al-Maaida (5)
(O ye who believe! Forbid not the good things which Allah hath made lawful for you�) [5:87]. Abu 'Uthman ibn 'Amr al-Mu'adhdhin informed us> Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Hamdan> al-Husayn ibn Nasr ibn Sufyan> Ishaq ibn Mansur> Abu 'Asim> 'Uthman ibn Sa'id>> 'Ikrimah> Ibn 'Abbas who related that a man went to see the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, and said: �I have forbidden meat on myself because whenever I eat it I feel the urge to sleep with women�, and so the verse (O ye who believe! Forbid not the good things which Allah hath made lawful for you) and also (Eat of that which Allah hath bestowed on you as food lawful and good�) [5:88]. The commentators of the Qur'an said: �The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, sat down one day and gave an admonition to people whereby he described the Day of Judgement to them and did not mention anything other than things which would instil fear in them. People cried as a result of the softening of their hearts. Then ten of the prophetic Companions gathered in the house of 'Uthman ibn Maz'un al-Jumahi. They included Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, 'Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud, 'Abd Allah ibn 'Amr, Abu Dharr al-Ghifari, Salim, the client of Abu Hudhayfah, al-Miqdad ibn al-Aswad, Salman al-Farisi and Ma'qil ibn Muqarrin. They agreed to fast the day and stand in prayer at night, never to sleep in their beds, eat meat or fat, never to sleep with their wives or use perfume. They also agreed to wear coarse wool garments, reject the worldly life, wander through the land and become monks, and cut off their male organs. When the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, heard of this, he gathered them and said: 'I was informed that you agreed to do such-and-such things, is this true?' They said: 'It is, but we only meant to do good'. He said to them: 'I was not commanded to do those things, and your own selves have a right over you. Fast and break fast, stand in prayer at night and sleep, for I stand in prayer at night but I also sleep; I sometimes fast and sometimes do not; I eat meat and fat.
Tafsir
Hafiz Ibn Kathir
Chains of transmission
Oral — isnād
- ~610–632 CERevelation & memorisation
Received by the Prophet ﷺ and preserved by the ḥuffāẓ (memorisers) among the Companions.
- 1st century AHMutawātir transmissionawaiting curation
Carried by mass-transmission through the generations of qurrāʾ.
- TodayLiving chainsawaiting curation
Continuous ijāzah chains link reciters today back to the Prophet ﷺ.
Verified isnād chains for this āyah will be added by curators.
Written — the manuscript record
- ~650 CEʿUthmānic codicesawaiting curation
The standardised muṣḥaf sent to the great cities (e.g. the Topkapı and Samarqand codices).
- 8th–10th c.Early Ḥijāzī & Kūfic foliosawaiting curation
Surviving leaves in Birmingham, Sanaa, Paris (BnF) and beyond.
- Modern printModern printawaiting curation
The 1924 Cairo edition → today: the standard printed muṣḥaf used worldwide.
A curated chain of manuscript images for this exact āyah — roughly one per century — is coming. Help us source and verify them.
And now — what do you think?
The text, its history and the classical commentary are laid out above. Share your own understanding, ask a question, or reason with others.
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