The people of pre-Islamic times used to eat some things and leave others alone, considering them unclean. Then Allah sent His Prophet (ﷺ) and sent down His Book, marking some things lawful and others unlawful; so what He made lawful is lawful, what he made unlawful is unlawful, and what he said nothing about is allowable. And he recited: "Say: I find not in the message received by me by inspiration any (meat) forbidden to be eaten by one who wishes to eat it...." up to the end of the verse.
Hadith Commentary: The Abrogation of Pre-Islamic Customs
This narration from Sunan Abi Dawud 3800 in the Book of Foods (Kitab Al-At'imah) addresses the fundamental Islamic principle that all matters are presumed permissible unless explicitly prohibited by divine revelation. The pre-Islamic Arabs practiced arbitrary prohibitions based on customs and superstitions, declaring certain foods impure without divine sanction.
Divine Legislation Replaces Human Innovation
Allah sent Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) with the Quran to establish clear boundaries between lawful and unlawful. This abrogated the man-made restrictions of the Jahiliyyah period. The principle established is: whatever Allah declared lawful remains lawful, whatever He prohibited remains prohibited, and whatever He remained silent about falls under His mercy and permissibility.
The Quranic Evidence
The verse referenced (Surah Al-An'am, 6:145) confirms that prohibitions are solely determined by divine revelation, not human opinion. Scholars explain that this establishes the original state of all things as pure and permissible unless evidence indicates otherwise. This applies particularly to foods, where the default ruling is permissibility.
Scholarly Application
Classical scholars derived from this hadith that Muslims should not imitate pre-Islamic practices of arbitrarily prohibiting what Allah has made lawful. The principle of "original permissibility" (al-asl fi al-ashya' al-ibahah) governs matters where no clear textual evidence exists. This reflects Allah's mercy and avoids unnecessary restrictions upon His creation.