Juz’ 6- An Nisaa 148 - Al Ma’idah 81, Topic: Food Glorious Food!!!....Oh, and Imam too

Food Glorious Food!!!....Oh, and Imam too.


The ayah of focus for me in Juz' 6 were ayahs 3-5 from Surah al-Ma'idah.

Most of these ayahs discuss what is made lawful for Muslims, with a great concentration on what kinds of animals are okay for consumption. Amid these descriptions (in ayah 3) is one of the most significant revelations for the Shi'i.

This day those who disbelieve have despaired of your religion. So fear them not, but fear Me! This day I have perfected for you your religion, and completed My Blessing upon you, and have approved for you as religion, Submission (Islam). 

Interestingly, the ayah goes on to talk about the treatment and consumption of animals.

I have never before picked up a Quran which actually provided a Shia interpretation of this phrase within 5:3, so I will share what the commentators say here,

"According to some early Shiite traditions, this verse was reportedly revealed at the site of Ghadir Khumm in Juhfah, where the Prophet and the rest of the pilgrims had halted on their return journey to Madinah after the final pilgrimage. At this site, the Prophet reportedly  declared, "For whomever I am his master, Ali is also his master." Both Sunni and Shiite sources record this event, but it holds special significance for Shiites, who understand the Prophet's statement on this occasion to have been a direct nomination of Ali as spiritual and political leader of the Muslim community after the Prophet, an interpretation not accepted by Sunnis. According to these Twelver Shiite traditions, the "perfection of religion" and "completion of blessing" in this verse are thus said to refer to the establishment of spiritual authority (walayah) in the line of Ali. Some Shiite traditions, however, place both the Prophet's statement regarding Ali and this verse at the time of the Prophet's Farewell Sermon at 'Arafah, rather than at the site of Ghadir Khumm on the return trip to Madinah." (p.275/6)

My first reaction to this is in its placement within the ayah which goes on to discuss animals. Because of my religious/spiritual orientation I do accept the historical narrative of this ayah being revealed at Ghadir Khumm, I keep thinking that the phrases around animal consumption must also be of tremendous significance. Here is the ayah in its entirety. 

Forbidden unto you are carrion and blood, the flesh of swine and that which has been offered to other than God, that which has been strangled or beaten to death, that which has been killed by falling or has been gored to death, that which has been mangled by beasts of prey--save that which you may purify--and that which is sacrificed on stone altars, and that which you allot with diving arrows;that is iniquity. This day those who disbelieve have despaired of your religion. So fear them not, but fear Me! This day I have perfected for you your religion, and completed My Blessing upon you, and have approved for you as religion, Submission (Islam). But whosoever is compelled by hunger, without inclining toward sin, then surely God is Forgiving, Merciful. 

Friends I have talked to have tried to make sense of this in one of two ways:
1. Using the Ring Composition Theory of the Quran. Here is a cursory explanation of the theory.
2. Questioning the validity of the Composition altogether, by noting that those responsible for compiling the Quran had a vested interest in disorienting or even hiding the Ghadir Khumm revelation among more mundane directives and matters.

I am not internally persuaded by either of these explanations but I do want to know more about them, and others. I also don't think we should shut the door on the possibility that the topic of treatment of animals, including their consumption,  is of utmost importance.