Eat, Give the Due, and Do Not Waste

Having mentioned all of this, Allah (swt) turns to some of the great bounties He has given to men — for this is still Sūrat al-Anʿām, and full of inherently understood facts. So Allah (swt) turns again. There was some discussion earlier; here is more upon the fruits: the zaytūn, the olive, and the pomegranates. The banana is not mentioned in the Qur'an; the apple is not mentioned in the Qur'an; nor is the orange; but the zaytūn and the rummān are. The olive and the pomegranate are certainly mentioned. Subḥān Allāh, for that reason alone one ought to take a little of them. Why should they be mentioned? Because there are many benefits in them. There is no space here for a whole discussion of olive oil and olives, or of pomegranates for that matter; but it is certainly a thing to consider: it is a Qur'anic description; it is mentioned; it has been chosen.

So Allah says:

Kulū min thamarihi idhā athmar: when it yields its crops, eat of it. Wa-ātū ḥaqqahu yawma ḥaṣādih: but always give the due from it; that is necessary. Wa-lā tusrifū — and this is not here alone; there is another verse besides — wa-lā tusrifū. The notion of isrāf is extravagance: that a man has much does not mean he may be extravagant, and overspend, or buy and then waste. Many do so. They buy from Costco, but not in a measured way, since in many cases one must buy in bulk — Costco, Makro, and "buy one, get one free". They will probably forbid that before long, and make it unlawful in England, if they have not done so already, since it merely induces people to hoard. There is so much of it — subḥān Allāh, the whole manner in which our economy works produces such waste. Consider: when you buy a sandwich in the shops, do you ever see one made of the end slices? They are always the middle slices. Where do the end slices go? One may see in certain photographs whole truckloads simply disposed of. Farmers were pouring milk away, because at that time they could not supply hotels and the like; there was no contingency in place to feed the poor, who suffer the world over.

Allah (swt) then mentions the various kinds of cattle and animals: thamāniyata azwāj, from verse 143:

All of that discussion of the animals is there: the benefit of them; that they are used for riding, for carrying oneself and one's goods; that they are used for food, to be eaten. Allah has placed so many benefits in the cattle; they are not to be trifled with. They are used also for milk. These are for you. Islam is not a vegetarian religion, nor is it a matter of overindulgence in meat. In some countries men must eat meat to prove themselves Muslim — in India, for instance, as against the Hindus, on account of the whole question of beef — but that is not so. One eats it when one wishes, from time to time. There are benefits in meat, but one does not eat it daily as though one were obliged to; there is no such obligation. The Prophet (peace be upon him) did not eat meat for the greater part of the time.