The Command to eat Lawful Provisions and to be Thankful, and an Explanation of what is Unlawful

Allah orders His believing servants to eat the good and lawful things that He has provided, and to give thanks to Him for that, for He is the Giver and Originator of all favors, Who alone deserves to be worshipped, having no partners or associate. Then Allah mentions what He has forbidden things which harm them in both religious and worldly affairs, i.,e., dead meat, blood and the flesh of pigs.

وَمَآ أُهِلَّ لِغَيْرِ اللَّهِ بِهِ

Sequence and Explanation in Gist

Mentioned in the previous verses was that disbelievers will be punished for their ungratefulness to Allah whose blessings they had been enjoying. In the cited verses, Muslims have been instructed to stay away from ungratefulness, rather be grateful for Halal things Allah has given to them. After that, they were told how the disbelievers and polytheists had become ungrateful by declaring what Allah had made Halal for them as Haram and what Allah had called Haram as Halal. Muslims were warned that they should never do that. Making things Halal and Haram is the exclusive right of their Creator. Doing this on your own amounts to interference in Divine prerogatives, in fact, amounts to at-tributing lies to Allah Ta` ala. Towards the end, it was also said that even those who have committed such evil deeds through ignorance should not lose hope in the mercy of Allah Ta’ ala. Should they repent and believe honestly and truly, Allah Ta’ ala will forgive all sins committed by them.