Asking questions differentiates between believers and non-believers:

Honorable Brother, with the sixth lesson from the lessons of Al- Maida, and with the fourth verse, which says:

﴾They ask you what food is lawful for them, say: All good clean things are lawful for you, as well as what you have taught your hunting birds and beasts to catch, trainedby you with the knowledge given to you by Allah. Eat what they catch and hold foryou, however, pronounce the name of Allah over it. Have fear of Allah. Allah is swiftin settling the accounts﴿

(Surat-Al Maida)

Dear brother: it is from the characteristics of the Muslim that he asks because he intended to obey Allah; this is the initial decision. He intended to come to Allah with his resource, obedience. For this reason, the difference between the believer and non-believer is that the non-believer doesn't ask, since he dispenses of the obedience to Allah because he rejects the goodness.

﴾So for him who gives in charity, fears Allah and testifies to goodness, We shall facilitate for him the easy way. As for him who is a stingy and considers himself independent of Allah and rejects the goodness, We shall facilitate for him the hard way.﴿

(Surat-Al Layl)

Why does he reject to obey Allah? Because he rejects the hereafter. For this reason brother: the belief in the hereafter is just about to become not less important than the belief in Allah, because all inhabitants of the earth believe, except an irregular group who have a break down their minds that do not believe. If humans believe that there is hereafter, and all people will be called to account on this day about what they did, the charitable will be rewarded and the detrimental will be punished, then it is impossible for the human to disobey Allah the Almighty. For this reason, whenever any of the clauses of the basis of belief are mentioned in the Holy Quran, you can notice that the belief in Allah and the belief in the hereafter are correlated.

Perfection of creation proves complete disposal:

So the case starts from here that a human believes in Allah believes that there is only one God for this universe, and one God exists. He has the most beautiful names and kindest attributes, and the completeness of creation proves the completeness of disposal. It is not possible to be at the same time rich and poor, strong and weak, healthy and sick, handsome and ignoble - it is not possible to be all the same, to reach the end of the life without entering the day of resurrection. This conflicts with the completeness of Allah, because the completeness of creation proves the completeness of disposal. This universe proves that there is Magnificent God, and from the requirements of the magnificence of Allah the Almighty is that there should be a day to settle all accounts. Because the human believes in Allah and in the day of resurrection, he is searching for commands and prohibition. Here comes the word "They ask.” He who does not ask does not believe in the day of resurrection, and he who asks, this is the mark of his belief in the day of resurrection that he is asking. What is the Islamic law about this? What is it that satisfies Allah? Allah the Almighty said:

﴾So ask the people of the message if you do not know.﴿

(Surat An-Nahl)

Who are the People of the message? They are the people of the Quran. It is a requirement for the people of the message to be people of the Quran or people of Islamic jurisprudence, because thorough the universe you know Allah and by the law you worship him. The universe proves the majesty of Allah and the law is the straight path which guides you to Allah. They ask you, so your question about this subject indicates your belief and not asking indicates that you don't believe, so this who don't care if he is eating permissible or sinful deed ? he did a sin or obey, his work does it satisfy Allah or it would anger Allah ?

Believers care of obeying Allah and being safe of His punishment

He who doesn’t care is not a believer, and Allah has described him as dispensing with obeying Allah, while the believer is in need of obeying Allah, and asking for the safety and happiness as long as Allah said:

﴾Prohibited to you are dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine, and that which has been dedicated to other than Allah, and[those animals]killed by strangling or by a violent blow or by a head-long fall or by the goring of horns, and those from which a wild animal has eaten, except what you[are able to]slaughter[before its death], and those which are sacrificed on stone altars, and[prohibited is]that you seek decision through divining arrows. That is gravedisobedience.Thisdaythosewhodisbelieve have despaired of[defeating]your religion; so fear them not, but fear Me. This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favor upon you and have approved for you Islam as religion. But whoever is forced by severe hunger with no inclination to sin - then indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.﴿

(Surat Al-Maaida)

This is the verse of the fifth lesson. These are the believers who adhere to obeying Allah and maintaining their safety from his punishment. Those who are seeking what Allah has, they ask you, so ask the people of the message if you do not know. In another verse:

﴾so ask about Him one well informed﴿

(Surat Al-Furqaan)

I should clarify to you that the religion is very wide, and if someone spent all his life learning, he would reach a very limited space in religion. For this reason, there should be cooperation between scholars. There is no scholar who has fully apprehended Islamic knowledge. Each scholar excels in something and he is in need for his other savant brother to take counsel with his opinion. For this reason, there are those who know Allah strictly and deeply; we may name those people scholars about Allah the Almighty, as He said:

﴾so ask about Him one well informed﴿

The word “They ask you”

The word “they ask you” is mentioned in the Quran more than ten times.
And there are scholars in the Quran, in the Sunnah (the Prophet’s tradition), in Islamic jurisprudence, in Seerah (the biography of Prophet Muhammad) and in history of Islamic legislation. The religion's doors are very wide and no one can cover it entirely; instead, each one surpasses in something and his brother surpasses in something else, and if they cooperated, they would succeed, be raised by Allah and they will grow in all people's opinion. But, if they competed with each other, they would fail and fall from Allah's care and they would be lowly in the followers’ opinion.

﴾So ask about Him one well informed﴿

If the case is related to Allah, then ask one well-informed about Him. If it is related to Islamic jurisprudence then:

﴾So ask the people of the message if you do not know.]

But "They ask you." This verse is mentioned in a considerable number of similar verses, more than ten verses:

﴾They ask you,[O Muhammad], what has been made lawful for them. Say﴿

(Surat Al-Maida)

﴾They ask you, [O Muhammad], what they should spend. Say﴿

(Surat Al-Baqara)

﴾And they ask you about orphans. Say "Improvement for them is best"﴿

(Surat Al-Baqara)

﴾And they ask you about menstruation. Say, "It is harm, so keep away from wives during menstruation﴿

(Surat Al-Baqara)

﴾They ask you, [O Muhammad], about the new moons. Say, "They are measurements of time for the people and for Hajj﴿

(Surat Al-Baqara)

There is no veil or intermediary between the Muslim and his Lord:

Except one verse - if you read it the skin shivers, which is:

﴾And when My servants ask you, [O Muhammad], concerning Me - indeed I am near﴿

(Surat Al-Baqara)

Which means there is no veil nor an intermediary between you and Allah. If the servant says, “O Allah” when he is kneeling, Allah will say, “Here I am, My servant.” If the servant says, “O Allah” when he is prostrating, Allah will say, “Here I am, My servant.” If the servant says, “O Allah” and he is disobedient, Allah will say, “Here I am, here I am, here I am, waiting for you.”
“If the people who turn away know My waiting and longing for them to leave their sins, then their limbs would be cut off in longing to Me. This is My will to he who is turning away, so what about he who is coming to me?”

﴾Go, both of you, to Pharaoh. Indeed, he has transgressed. And speak to him with gentle speech that perhaps he may be reminded or fear [Allah]."﴿

(Surat Taha)

A verse in the Quran! For who? For Pharaoh.

﴾And said, "I am your most exalted lord.﴿

(Surat An Naazi'aat)

﴾I have not known you to have a god other than me.﴿

(Surat Al Qasas)

If a person speaks very gently and leniently in a mosque, and if someone makes a mistake in the mosque that he had no clue about, is it acceptable to punish him severely?

Conditions of supplication:

There is a difference between the morals of Da'wa (call for Islam) and the morals of Jihad (holy war) in the battlefield:

﴾O Prophet, fight against the disbelievers and the hypocrites and be harsh upon them﴿

(Surat At Tawba)

But in the Da'wa (call for Islam) field:

﴾And thereupon the one whom between you and him is enmity [will become]as though he was a devoted friend.﴿

(Surat Fussilat)

﴾And when My servants ask you, [O Muhammad], concerning Me - indeed I am near. I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls uponMe. So let them respond to Me[by obedience]and believe in Me that they may be[rightly]guided.﴿

(Surat Al Baqara)

This means that of the preconditions of Dua’a (supplication) is to believe in Allah, the belief which makes you obey Him. And, from the preconditions as well is to respond to Him by obeying Him, to carry out His orders and to leave what He forbids. Also, from the preconditions of dua’a (supplication) is to supplicate him seriously and sincerely. Yet, there are two kinds of people who are exempted from the preconditions: he who is oppressed not because of his merit but because of the justice in the name of Allah, “The Just”, and the other is he who is compelled. Allah would respond to him not because of his merit but because of the mercy in the name of Allah, “The All-Merciful”.

In dealings things are permitted unless there is a text of prohibition:

﴾They ask you, [O Muhammad], what has been made lawful for them. Say﴿

Asking is the key of knowledge. You can borrow men's minds by asking, while you cannot in any field, except the field of religion, ask without any charge. You cannot enter a doctor’s clinic unless you have the sufficient amount of money to cover the treatment, you cannot enter the lawyer’s office unless you have the sufficient amount of money to cover the litigation fees, and you cannot enter a store unless you have the price amount. Only if you enter the houses of Allah (the Mosques), can you ask about whatever you want without being charged, because the knowledge is applied. When you ask you borrow men's minds, one of the mark of identifications of the believer is that he asks, investigates, verifies, ensures and checks because his religion is valuable to him.
(O son of Adam, your religion is your flesh and blood, take from those who are straight and don't take from those who stray.)

﴾They ask you, [O Muhammad], what has been made lawful for them. Say﴿

O Brother, we have two principal rules: the origin of things is permissible and nothing is prohibited unless there is evidence. There is no evidence for the permission, instead there is for the prohibition. If you say, “This is prohibited”, you should show the evidence. Eating an apple don't need evidence, and drinking cold water don't need evidence because the origin of things is permissible and nothing is prohibited unless there is evidence.

It is the contrary in worshiping. The origin is the prohibition and there is no legislated worship unless there is evidence. To invent prayers, worshipping methods, types of praising Allah and obligating your brother to something which our Prophet did not oblige his companions to do, is forbidden. So the origin of things is permissible and nothing is prohibited unless there is evidence, and the origin in worshiping is the prohibition and there is no legislated worship unless there is evidence. There is no reform for the last of this nation – they do only as did the first, and because Allah the Almighty said:

﴾This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favor upon you and have approved for you Islam as a religion﴿

No act of worship is prescribed except with an evidence:

So, the method of Islam to treat all life's cases is not subject to be modified or changed, and the number of cases which have been treated by Islam are complete, numerically and qualitatively; any addition to the religion is an indictment that it is incomplete, and any subtraction from the religion is an indictment that it is overabundant. And, when we removed from the religion some duties we became the last, our lands became violated, our money was stolen, and our children were killed. When we broke down a duty two hundred years ago and append to our religion something that does not exist initially, we quarreled. If you append (to the religion) you will quarrel, and if you remove you will be weak. There is no reform for the last of this nation; they should do only as the first did.

((It is reported on the authority of Jabir b. Abdullah that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) was saying when he was delivering the sermon: he was praising and glorifying Allah as He is worthy of it then said: “He whom Allah guides has no one who can lead him astray, and he whom Allah leads astray has no one to guide him. The best of the speech is embodied in the Book of Allah, and the best of the guidance is the guidance given by Muhammad. And the most evil affairs are their innovations; and every innovation is heresy and every heresy is error and every error is in hell...))

(Sonan An-Nasa'ee- narrated by Jaber bin Abdullah)

There is no legislated worship unless there is evidence - this is for worshiping - but for conduct, the origin of things is permissible.

﴾They ask you, [O Muhammad], what has been made lawful for them﴿

And the answer was general:

﴾Say, "Lawful for you are [all]good foods﴿

things that are good for your health and spirit. This leads us to the fact that the relation between the thing and its result is a scientific relation, which means a reason to result relation. This is the order of the creator of the universe who is The All-Aware. There is nothing symbolic. Everything prohibited by Allah will distort your safety and happiness, and everything ordered by Allah is good for yourself and your spirit.

Real understanding is to see legal things good and illegal things bad:

This leads us to the following example: while you are walking you notice a board mentioning that the there is a mine field and passing there is forbidden. Undoubtedly, most of people feel indebted to the man who put up this board. They don't see it as suppressing their freedom; instead, they see that it is saving their lives. As well, when you see that all things that are forbidden by Allah are for your safety and happiness and for your hereafter, and all things that are ordered by Allah are the basics for your safety and happiness, this is the real jurisprudence, for you to see that all good is ordered by Allah and all bad is forbidden by Allah. So, what has been made lawful for you all? Say that all good foods are good for your health; however, bad foods which make you sick are forbidden. Some foods sicken you when you eat them excessively, and there are kinds of food which corrupt your body like pig meat so you should not eat it. Also, an excessive amount of beef meat may hurt your health so you should not eat it excessively. There are forbidden qualities and forbidden quantities, so when you believe that all good things are recommended by Islamic law and all bad things are forbidden by Islamic law, since they are from Allah The All-Aware and the Creator, it is similar to when you follow instructions. Without any intention and consideration from you, when you buy an expensive machine which is very useful and very complex, you will respect this bundled paper (instructions) and you check it carefully as it is from the manufacturer, which is the specialist. So you want to translate it and follow all instructions because you are want to keep this machine safe. You are the most complex machine in this universe and there is the Ever-Wise creator who created you; this Creator has instructions for your use and maintenance, so you should follow these instructions.

When dogs are taught they have value and they are mentioned in the Quran:

﴾They ask you what food is lawful for them, say: All good clean things are lawful for you, as well as what you have taught your hunting birds and beasts to catch, trained
by you with the knowledge given to you by Allah. Eat what they catch and hold foryou, however, pronounce the name of Allah over it. Have fear of Allah. Allah is swift
in settling the accounts﴿

This case was worthy before, as the dog was trained. I was informed recently that the expense of training a dog may sometime exceed fifty thousand. A trained dog is distinguished, so it may know to bring the hunt without eating any part of it. So, whenever the dog or eagle is sent, if it has been sent for hunting, the dog's owner pronounces the name of Allah, and the dog brought back the hunt without eating it, then this hunt is lawful for eating. Even dogs have a rank if they are trained. Their name is mentioned in the Holy Quran

﴾As well as what you have taught your hunting birds and beasts to catch﴿

Dear brother, good things are lawful to you. Allah the Almighty has repeated that he permitted good things for us

﴾And the food of those who were given the Scripture is lawful for you﴿

Most Islamic scholars admit that their sacrifices are lawful to you, but the problem is that those who are mentioned in the Holy Quran as people of the Scripture, might not be found today. When a human disbelieves in Allah the Almighty, in His book and in His Prophet, and from the beginning denies the existence of Allah and does not bind himself to anything, then he does not exactly belong to the People of the Scripture. It is the same as one who shows you that he is Muslim in his identity while he contradicts the existence of Allah, doesn’t pray nor fast, and doesn’t care about what is forbidden. Is this person considered Muslim? Not by Allah. For this reason brother, the People of the Scripture who believed in Isa (Jesus) and who believed in the Bible, but when the person initially disbelieves the existence of Allah, and doesn’t care about any system revealed by Allah, then he does not belong to People of the Scripture, then reservation and distance is a must. He allowed you to marry from amongst the People of the Scripture. Allah the Almighty said:

﴾And chaste women from among those who were given the Scripture﴿

This is not a chaste woman. In the West, you may not find one virgin out of one hundred thousand women. She is not chaste woman. You have to bind yourself to the words of Allah.

We must stick to the words of Allah:

﴾This day [all]good foods have been made lawful, and the food of those who were given the Scripture is lawful for you and your food is lawful for them.﴿

There is a note here: the food of those who were given the Scripture is definitely lawful, but what about the food of the infidels who initially don't believe in Allah and don't believe in his method? Secondly, this food may originate from a shocked animal and the blood remained inside and wasn't purified, so there is an issue in this subject. I won't go into this subject since Allah the Almighty has granted us a favor by letting us live in this Islamic country so there is no issue here, but it is a very big issue in Western countries with regard to Muslims living there. It is originally lawful whenever there is no evidence that it is shocked and not slaughtered or absolutely purified. Anyway, there are some who give a legal opinion that it’s okay even if is shocked. There are many dissensions in this case and we can’t discuss specifics right now.

Prevention of excuses:

Certainly, the Muslim women:

﴾And [lawful in marriage are]chaste women from among the believers and chaste women from among those who were given the Scripture﴿

It is lawful to marry them, but there is a good rule with some contemporary Islamic scholars: originally, children follow the stronger of their parents, so if the wife is stronger and she is not a Muslim, then in most cases her children will follow her, and they will grow up and follow her religion. She may take them at any moment and you won't be able to do anything, so there is a problem in applying this rule without exception. There should be reservation. This is named “prevention of excuses” in Islamic jurisprudence: you plant the grape and it is one hundred per cent lawful, but if you were certain that this grape will be sold to the vintner, this would initiate an emergency rule which is not contained in the basic rule. Everything is originally lawful, but if the grapes in this region were not exported except to vintners, this would initiate an emergency rule to close the resource's door, so you are not allowed to plant grapes. You can plant another thing. As well, if it is certain that if you married a woman from among those who were given the Scripture in the West, the children will turn to atheism and forbidden things (like pornography, for example), if you are certain of this, you should slow down and stop then ask the people of the message if you do not know.

Chastity is according to the method of Allah but unlawful sexual intercourse is not:

﴾This day (all) good foods have been made lawful, and the food of those who were given the Scripture is lawful for you and your food is lawful for them. And (lawful in marriage are) chaste women from among the believers and chaste women from among those who were given the Scripture before you, when you have given them their due compensation, desiring chastity, not unlawful sexual intercourse﴿

Their “due compensation” is the dowry and “desiring chastity” is marriage. Fornication is unlawful sexual intercourse. Chastity is conformity to the guidance of Allah and fornication is deviation from the guidance of Allah.

﴾not unlawful sexual intercourse or taking (secret) lovers﴿

Someone might say this is an innocent friendship between boys and girls. Who said this is innocent? There is no innocent friendship between boys and girls.

﴾or taking [secret]lovers. And whoever denies the faith - his work has become worthless, and he, in the Hereafter, will be among the losers﴿

Let's repeat the verses:

﴾They ask you, (O Muhammad), what has been made lawful for them. Say, "Lawful for you are [all]good foods and (game caught by) what you have trained of hunting animals which you train as Allah has taught you. So eat of what they catch for you, and mention the name of Allah upon it, and fear Allah." Indeed, Allah is swift in account.﴿

﴾This day (all) good foods have been made lawful, and the food of those who were given the Scripture is lawful for you and your food is lawful for them. And (lawful in marriage are) chaste women from among the believers and chaste women from among those who were given the Scripture before you, when you have given them their due compensation, desiring chastity, not unlawful sexual intercourse or taking (secret) lovers. And whoever denies the faith - his work has become worthless, and he, in the Hereafter, will be among the losers.﴿

He who denies the faith, along with its outcome orders and prohibitions, his work becomes worthless, and his work turns into bad deeds and he deserves hell. Or, if he does something that seems to be good but he has bad intention, then this polytheist intention will cause him to lose the value of his work, and the work would lose its value or its representation. There is even bad representation or bad intention of the work.

﴾And whoever denies the faith - his work has become worthless, and he, in the Hereafter, will be among the losers.﴿