Surah 10. Yunus, Ayah 59

This connects with the statement, in verse {57}, that the Qur'an offers to man a complete guidance towards the good life and spiritual fulfilment in this world, and happiness in the life to come. As already mentioned in surah {2}, note [4], the term rizq connotes all that may be good and useful to man, be it of a physical nature (in the conventional sense of "means of sustenance") or belonging to the realm of the mind (like reason, knowledge, etc.) or of the spirit (like faith, kindness, patience, etc.). Thus, it applies exclusively to positive, beneficial means of sustenance and never to things or phenomena which are morally reprehensible and/or physically or socially injurious.

Lit., "and thereupon you have made some of it forbidden (haram) and [some of it] lawful (halal)". The fact that it is God who "has bestowed upon you from on high" (anzala 'alaykum) - i.e., has willed that man should make use of - all that can be qualified as rizq, automatically makes all its manifestations lawful (Zamakhshari). In accordance with the doctrine that everything which has not been expressly forbidden by the Qur'an or the explicit teachings of the Prophet is eo ipso lawful, this verse takes a clear-cut stand against all arbitrary prohibitions invented by man or artificially "deduced" from the Qur'an or the Prophet's sunnah (Manar XI. 409 f.: see also note [58] on verse {36} of this surah, as well as {5:101-102} and the corresponding notes). In its wider sense, the above verse relates to people who refuse to be guided by revelation and prefer to "follow nothing but conjecture" (verse {36}).

 This refers to 6:138-139.

"Sustenance" is to be taken in both the literal and the metaphorical sense. In the literal sense, what fine and varied things Allah has provided for us on land and in sea and air, in the vegetable, animal, and mineral kingdoms? Yet narrow minds put artificial barriers against their use. In the metaphorical sense, what enchanting fields of knowledge and spiritual endeavour are provided in our individual and social lives? And who is to say that some are lawful and others forbidden? Supposing they were so in special circumstances, it is not right to attribute artificial restrictions of that kind to Allah and falsely erect religious sanctions against them.