The Quran

138

Preface

وَقالوا هٰذِهِ أَنعامٌ وَحَرثٌ حِجرٌ لا يَطعَمُها إِلّا مَن نَشاءُ بِزَعمِهِم وَأَنعامٌ حُرِّمَت ظُهورُها وَأَنعامٌ لا يَذكُرونَ اسمَ اللَّهِ عَلَيهَا افتِراءً عَلَيهِ ۚ سَيَجزيهِم بِما كانوا يَفتَرونَ

Yusuf Ali

And they say that such and such cattle and crops¹ are taboo, and none should eat of them except those whom - so they say - We wish; further, there are cattle forbidden to yoke² or burden, and cattle on which, (at slaughter), the name of God is not³ pronounced; - inventions against God’s name: soon will He requite them for their inventions.

A taboo of certain foods is sometimes a device of the priesthood to get special things for itself. It has to be enforced by pretending that the prohibition for others is by the Will of God. It. is a lie or invention against God-most superstitions are.
Cattle dedicated to heathen gods may be reserved from all useful work; in that case they are a dead loss to the community, and they may, besides, do a great deal of damage to fields and crops.
If meat is killed in the name of heathen gods, it would naturally not be killed by the solemn rite in God’s name, by which alone the killing can be justified for food. See nn. 698-699.