'Abdullāh Ibn 'Abbās / Muḥammad al-Fīrūzabādī
تفسير : (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.
Jalāl al-Dīn al-Maḥallī
تفسير : 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.
Ali ibn Ahmad al-Wahidi
تفسير : (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. and whoever shuns my practice is not of me'. then he went out and gave a sermon to people in which he said: 'how come some people have forbidden sleeping with women, eating, wearing perfume, sleeping and the desires of this world? i am not commanding you to be priests or monks, for there is no room in my religion for abstention from eating meat and sleeping with women, nor is there room for adoption of monasteries. the wandering of my community consists of fasting and its monasticism is jihad. and worship allah and do not associate anyone with him; perform the greater and lesser pilgrimage, establish the prayer, pay the poor-due, and fast the month of ramadan. those who were before you perished because of their extremism; they made things hard on themselves and so allah made it hard on them. the remains of those people are in monasteries and cloisters'. allah, exalted is he, then revealed this verse, upon which they said: 'o messenger of allah, what is to be done with the vows that we have made?' this is because they had vowed to each other to carry out the things they agreed on. as an answer, allah, exalted is he, revealed (allah will not take you to task for that which is unintentional in your oaths) [2:225]”.
