005- AL-MĀʾIDAH
THE TABLE SPREAD
Al-Māʾidah
A Madinan sūrah, al-Māʾidah contains verses that are considered to be among the last that the Prophet Muhammad received, and all of its verses were revealed after the conquest of Makkah in 8/630. The sūrah itself is one of the last complete sūrahs revealed to the Prophet, along with alFatḥ (Sūrah 48), although al-Naṣr (Sūrah 110) is widely believed to have been the last. The triumphant line in v. 3, This day I have perfected for you your religion, and completed My Blessing upon you, and have approved for you as religion, Submission (Islam), is one of several individual verses variously reported to be the last that the Prophet received before his death (the others are 2:281; 4:176; 9:128–29; 110:1–3). This verse and several others in the sūrah were reportedly revealed in the course of the Prophet’s parting sermon during the Farewell Pilgrimage in 10/632. According to several reports, the Prophet received this sūrah while he was riding on a camel. The camel could not bear the weight of its descent, however, and the Prophet had to dismount. The sūrah takes its name from the miraculous table spread with food (almāʾidah) that God sends down to Jesus and his apostles at their request in vv. 112–15.
The opening section of the sūrah, vv. 1–11, contains various ritual and legal prescriptions concerning the pilgrimage, lawful foods, intermarriage, and ritual purity interspersed with reminders of God’s blessings upon the Muslim community and of the necessity of fulfilling the covenant with Him. The tone of these opening lines is religiously triumphant and hopeful and, with its repeated mention of God’s blessings and His covenant, bears some comparison with Moses’ final sermon as recounted in the Biblical book of Deuteronomy.
The content of this sūrah is concerned primarily with two major issues: The first is the establishment of a series of ritual and legal rulings considered to be definitive by virtue of the late revelation of the sūrah. Some assert that no ruling in this sūrah was ever abrogated, although some claim that parts of v. 2 and v. 106 have been abrogated (IK). The Prophet is reported to have said, “O people! Sūrat al-Māʾidah is among the last that came down, so whatever it makes licit, you should consider licit, and whatever it makes forbidden, you should consider forbidden”, and a similar statement is attributed to the Prophet’s wife ʿĀʾishah. Its rulings include prescriptions concerning the pilgrimage or ḥajj (vv. 1–2, 95–97), dietary law (vv. 3–5, 87–88), wine and gambling (vv. 90–91), and making bequests (vv. 106–8). This sūrah also establishes the legal punishments (ḥudūd; sing. ḥadd) for those who wage war against God and His Messenger, and endeavor to work corruption upon the earth (v. 33), understood to pertain to exceedingly violent crimes against the community, including armed robbery and aggression (vv. 33–34), as well as theft (vv. 38–39). The “call to prayer” is also mentioned exclusively in v. 58, although it does not refer to it by its technical term, adhān.
The second and larger issue with which the sūrah is concerned is the definitive establishment of relations between the Muslim community and the People of the Book. On the one hand, this sūrah contains much criticism of Jews and Christians. They are accused of breaking or forgetting their covenants with God (vv. 12–14); Christians are chastised for exaggerated claims of divinity for Jesus and his mother (vv. 17–18, 116); and the Israelites’ refusal to obey Moses’ command to fight is recounted (vv. 20–26). At the same time, there is a discussion of the normalizing of relations between Muslims and the People of the Book that also includes the establishment of some boundaries. Thus in v. 5, Muslims are allowed to eat their food and to marry women from among them, thereby allowing for substantial social relations between Muslims and the People of the Book. But in vv. 51–57, political boundaries are established between these communities, as Muslims are warned not to take Jews and Christians as protectors to the exclusion of members of the Muslim religious community (although Islamic Law does allow treaties of alliance between the Muslim state, or states, and Christian or Jewish political entities). Vv. 41–47 concern the ability of the Prophet, and by extension the authority of the Islamic state, to render judgment in legal disputes among the People of the Book; they also establish that these two communities have their own “law and way” (v. 48) and that they should judge themselves according to their own scriptures (vv. 43–47). Vv. 82–85 present a beautiful portrait of Christian devotion, and the very end of the sūrah recounts Jesus’ extraordinary miracles (vv. 110–15)—including the unique story of the table spread (al-māʾidah) and its descent from Heaven —but concludes with a warning about those Christians who disbelieved thereafter. The sūrah ends with a final statement of God’s complete Sovereignty and Power over all things.
(source: “The Study Quran” a new translation and commentary by Seyyed Hossein Nasr)
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