WHAT IS THE MEANING OF QULU / “EAT” in the context of
the book Quran?
2:168 - O mankind! Eat of what (is) in the earth
lawful (and) good. And (do) not follow (the) footsteps (of) the Shaitaan.
Indeed, he (is) to you an enemy clear. – Standard translation
يَٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ كُلُوا۟ مِمَّا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ حَلَلًۭا طَيِّبًۭا
وَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا۟ خُطُوَتِ ٱلشَّيْطَنِ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّۭ مُّبِينٌ
According to the traditional translation this verse
is saying “O Mankind كُلُوا EAT WHAT IS LAWFUL AND GOOD and DO
NOT FOLLOW SATAN. Indeed he for you an open enemy.
The above verse is equating Allah’s command of eating
lawful good food with eating unlawful food. Eating unlawful food is like
following satan’s step. I hope my inference is right?
Now let’s see what satan command us to do in the next
verse
إِنَّمَا يَأْمُرُكُم بِٱلسُّوٓءِ وَٱلْفَحْشَآءِ وَأَن تَقُولُوا۟
عَلَى ٱللَّهِ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ
2: 169 - Only
he commands you to (do) the evil and the shameful and that you say about Allah
what not you know. – Standard translation
Pay attention to the word إِنَّمَا / ONLY, it means the satan is ONLY ordering us to be evil,
shameful and say about Allah what you don’t know – Here the satan is not
commanding us to EAT haram / unlawful food.
How can “saying about Allah what you don’t know” be
the opposite of eating كُلُوا ?
It must be clear by now that we oppose or fight Satan through enriching (كُلُوا) ourselves through knowledge, intellect and intelligence is كُلُوا . The essence of the word qulu in the book Quran is used for consuming or enriching ourselves by seeking knowledge and not by eating halal foods. The essence of QULU is to be thoughtful, cautious, consume intelligence and enrich ourselves with knowledge so that we do not follow Satan.
Does this mean those who eat pork, lizards, snakes, insects or other types of food not permitted by “Islamic scholars” or eat not properly slaughtered meat and drink alcohol follow the footsteps of Satan?
Akil is a Arabic name of a boy اكيل which also means intelligent, thoughtful, it does not only mean to eat or devour but it also mean to consume, enrich, nourish in the context of the book. Don’t confuse the word اكيل with the word عَقِيْل – Mikaeel مِيكَالَ is also a derivative of word كُلُوا - Mikaeel provides food or nourishment for thought, body and soul. Michael is mentioned explicitly in Bible’s chapter of Revelation 12:7-12, where he does battle with Satan and casts him out of heaven.
In lexicon one of the meaning of اكل is intelligence and judgement رجل ذو اكل means a man possessing intelligence / judgement - check Edward William Lane page 72
