﴿ يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ لَيَبْلُوَنَّكُمُ ٱللَّهُ بِشَىْءٍۢ مِّنَ ٱلصَّيْدِ تَنَالُهُۥٓ أَيْدِيكُمْ وَرِمَاحُكُمْ لِيَعْلَمَ ٱللَّهُ مَن يَخَافُهُۥ بِٱلْغَيْبِ ۚ فَمَنِ ٱعْتَدَىٰ بَعْدَ ذَٰلِكَ فَلَهُۥ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌۭ ﴾

“O YOU who have attained to faith! Most certainly God will try you by means of the game which may come within the reach of your hands and your weapons [while you are on pilgrimage], so that God might mark out those who fear Him although He is beyond the reach of human perception. And as for him who, after all this, transgresses the bounds of what is right-grievous suffering awaits him!”

During Hajj or ‘umrah (the pilgrimage to the Ka‘bah) it is the rule that before reaching the Ka‘bah, people are required to put on ahram (specified dress) at and from some specified places (miqat). Thereafter, on the journey towards the Ka‘bah, pilgrims come across many birds and animals which they could easily hunt, but this has been declared haram (forbidden). Hunting personally, or through others, is prohibited in these conditions. According to tradition, this verse was revealed during the Hudaybiyyah journey, when the Muslims were clad in ihram with the intention of performing ‘umrah. At that time, many birds and animals were roaming about so close that they could have been easily hunted down with arrows or spears. The Muslims wanted to hunt, as they normally did, to meet their requirements. But they immediately stopped on receiving this order. This order, which is applicable under ihram, has to be followed by the common man in day-to-day life.