Islam Guidance

verse96

(96) أُحِلَّ لَكُمْ صَيْدُ الْبَحْرِ وَ طَعامُهُ مَتاعاً لَكُمْ وَ لِلسَّيَّارَةِ وَ حُرِّمَ عَلَيْكُمْ صَيْدُ الْبَرِّ ما دُمْتُمْ حُرُماً وَ اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ الَّذِي إِلَيْهِ تُحْشَرُون

96. " The game of the sea and its food is lawful for you, a provision for you and for the caravans, but the game of the land is forbidden to you so long as you are in pilgrim garb; and be in awe of Allah toward Whom you will be gathered."

Commentary :
The words in this holy verse are about the hunts of the sea. It says:
" The games of the sea and its food is lawful for you, ..."
The objective meaning of `food', mentioned in this verse, is the food which can be prepared from the hunted fish. The verse intends to make two things admissible. One of them is `hunting', and the other is `consuming the food made from the hunted things.'
Then, the Qur'an points to the philosophy of this ordinance, implying that this permission is for the sake that you and the travellers can enjoy it. It says:
"... a provision for you and for the caravans, ..."
In other words, the verse means : for the sake that you do not fall in trouble for nutrition when you are in pilgrim garb, and that you can be able to enjoy one kind of hunting, this permission has been given due to the hunts of the sea.
As an emphasis, the Qur'an returns to the former ordinance once more, and says :
"... but the game of the land is forbidden to you so long as you are in pilgrim garb; ..."
And, at the end of the verse, in order to emphasize upon all the ordinances which were mentioned, it says :
"... and be in awe of Allah toward Whom you will be gathered."

The Philosophy of No Hunting when Being in Pilgrim Garb!
We know that the performance of Hajj and `Umrah is one of the worships that makes man aloof from the world of matter and brings him into an environment full of spiritualities.
In performing the rite of Hajj and `Umrah, the ceremonies of the material life, fights and conflicts, hatreds, sexual desires, and material pleasures, will totally be put aside and the person reaches a kind of godly legitimated asceticism. So, it seems that the prohibition of hunting, while being in pilgrim garb, is also for the same purpose.
Besides, if hunting were an allowed action in Allah's center of pilgrimage, regarding to the large crowd of pilgrims that every year come into this holy land, the existence of many animals of the zone would be destroyed, in particular that, because of dryness and scarcity of water, its animals are not so abundant.
Paying attention to the fact that hunting animals and picking plants of that sacred land is also prohibited, even when the pilgrims to Mecca are not in their pilgrim garb, it makes clear that this commandment has a close connection with the subject of protection of environment and maintaining the plants and animals of the locality.
Therefore, the philosophy of prohibition or making something admissible is not always substantial, but it sometimes depends on the conditions of time and place. Then, geography and history are effective on the ordinance of Allah.
Thus, the abundance of people, and the performance of the worshipping rite, should not be a means of annihilation and destruction for animals and plants.
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