As for the believers who were before them in the time of every Adam and his children, and Iblis and his children, what was born with them was lawful for them, and what was before them was forbidden to them¹, due to the equity (nisfah) of Allah—Blessed and Exalted be He—and His justice among His creation. For He does not punish a people except through those who were tasked with their punishment, according to the saying of the Almighty: {'And no bearer of burdens shall bear the burden of another.}' (Al-An'am 164)."

The division whose outward is prohibited and whose esoteric is permitted

The Learned One (al-'Alim) said: "Therefore, lawfulness (al-tahlil) and prohibition (al-tahrim) occurred regarding the metamorphosis (al-masukhiyyah), and this is its underlying cause ('illah)."

I say: Prohibition and lawfulness are of many types; some are verbal (qawliyyah), and others are practical (fi'liyyah), such as our statement regarding the use of these cattle and metamorphosed creatures. Among them are:

Those whose eating, acquisition, and touching are lawful, such as he-goats, oxen, lambs, geese, chickens, partridges, and the like. Among these lawful things are those whose eating is prohibited after [initially] being lawful, but then becomes lawful again;