Socio Political Thought Of Shah WaliAllah Rahmatullahi Alaihi

SECTION XV
Causes of the Revelation of a Shari'ah
Peculiar to a particular Era and
Community
112. The cardinal principle in this regard has been provided in the following
words of God: "All food was lawfill to the children of IsrB'il,
before the Torah was revealed, except that which IsrB'il forbade himself.
Say: Bring the Torah and read it, if you are tr~thful".~~ The
background to the above verse is that once the Prophet Ya'qgb (peace
be upotl him) fell seriously ill; thereupon he vowed that if God cured
him, he will prohibit tor himself his most favourite food and drink.
When he was restored to health by God, he prohibited meat and milk
of camel for himself. His sons followed in his footsteps and many
centuries passed on this. Subsequently they [the Children of IsrB'il]
started concealing in their minds a defiance toward their prophets
and eventually they opposed them by eating those things. When our
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) stated that he belonged to
the same faith as IbrBhim, the Jews said: how could he belong to the
same faith and take camel's meat and milk at the same time! God answered
them by saying that all food was originally permissible, but
the camel's meat was prohibited due to something accidental to the
Jews. When prophethood appeared in the children of IsmB'il, who
were free from that accidental impediment, it was no longer necessary
to take that aspect into consideration.
113. Similar is the statement of the Prophet (peace be upon him), concerning
tardwih prayers: "This act of goodness [i.e. tardwih prayers]
has become such a regular feature of your life that I feared that it
might be made obligatory for you; and if it were made obligatory,
you would rl~t have performed it. 0 men, perform it, therefore, at
your homes".25