His saying - glorified and exalted is He -: ﴿So eat of that upon which the name of Allah has been mentioned if you are believers in His verses﴾ ﴿And why should you not eat of that upon which the name of Allah has been mentioned, while He has explained to you what He has forbidden to you except that to which you are compelled? And indeed, many lead [others] astray by their own desires without knowledge. Indeed, your Lord is most knowing of the transgressors﴾.

The intent of this verse is the prohibition of that which has been slaughtered for idols and others; and of carrion and its types. Thus, the wording came as a command for that which opposes what was intended by the prohibition; and there is no intent in the verse regarding what the believer forgets to mention the name [of Allah] upon; or deliberately omits it. And 'Ata said: This verse is a command to mention the name of Allah, the Most High, upon drinks; and food; and slaughter; and every edible. And His saying, the Most High, ﴿If you are believers in His verses﴾; means: "If you are taking His rulings and commands"; for indeed, belief in them includes and necessitates adherence to them; and submission to them.

And His saying, the Most High, ﴿And why should you not eat﴾; the verse; "And why"; is an interrogative that includes affirmation; (p-449) and the meaning of this statement is: "And what is there for you in not eating?"; So "that"; is in the genitive case; by the estimation of a preposition; and it is correct for it to be in the accusative case; without estimating a preposition; and the one that governs it is the meaning of the verb in His saying, the Most High, ﴿And what is there for you﴾; its estimation is: "What makes you [not eat]?"; and indeed, He has explained to you what He has forbidden; meaning: It has been clarified for you the forbidden from the lawful; and the confusion and doubt have been removed from you?

And Ibn Kathir; and Abu Amr; and Ibn Amer read: "And indeed, it has been explained to you what has been forbidden to you"; in the form of the verb for the object in both verbs; and Nafi and Hafs from Asim read: "And indeed, He has explained"; in the form of the verb for the subject in both verbs; and Abu Bakr - may Allah be pleased with him - read from Asim; and Hamzah; and Al-Kisai: "And indeed, He has explained"; attributing the verb to the subject; "to you what has been forbidden to you"; attributing the verb to the object; and 'Atiyyah Al-Awfi read: "And indeed, it has been clarified"; in the form of the verb for the subject; and the opening of the letter 'sad'; and its lightening; "what has been forbidden"; in the form of the verb for the object; and the meaning: It has clarified the forbidden from the lawful; and has extracted it by clarification; and "And why"; in His saying, the Most High, ﴿except what you are compelled to﴾; intends by it: from all that has been forbidden; like carrion and others; and it is in the accusative case by exception; and the exception is disconnected.

And His saying, glorified and exalted is He, "And indeed many"; He means the disbelievers who oppose and argue about the food, by what we have mentioned of their saying: "You eat what you slaughter, and you do not eat what Allah has slaughtered?" Ibn Kathir and Abu Amr read: "They will lead astray" with a فتح on the ياء, meaning to attribute misguidance to them in this surah; and in "Yunus": "Our Lord, to lead them astray" [Yunus: 88]; and in the surah "Ibrahim": "idols to lead them astray" [Ibrahim: 30]; and in "Al-Hajj": "the second of his sides to lead astray" [Al-Hajj: 9]; and in "Luqman": "to lead astray from the path of Allah without knowledge" [Luqman: 6]; and in "Az-Zumar": "idols to lead them astray" [Az-Zumar: 8]. Nafi and Ibn Amer also read similarly in this and in "Yunus"; and in the four that follow this, they include the ياء, meaning to attribute the misguidance of others to them; and this is more eloquent in condemning them, because every misleader is misguided, but not every misguided one is a misleader. And Asim, Hamza, and Al-Kisai read in the six places: "They will lead astray" with a ضم on the ياء, meaning to attribute the misguidance of others to them. Then He clarified - glorified and exalted is He - in their misguidance that it is in the ugliest of ways; and that it is by desire, not by reflection and contemplation; and "without knowledge" means: without reflection; for one who is misguided by reflection has some excuse; it does not benefit that he has strived. Then He warned them - blessed and exalted is He -: "Indeed, your Lord is most knowing of the transgressors."