Verses 138–142
6. Al-An'aam · The Cattle
Makkan165 verses
وَقَالُوا۟ هَٰذِهِۦٓ أَنْعَٰمٌۭ وَحَرْثٌ حِجْرٌۭ لَّا يَطْعَمُهَآ إِلَّا مَن نَّشَآءُ بِزَعْمِهِمْ وَأَنْعَٰمٌ حُرِّمَتْ ظُهُورُهَا وَأَنْعَٰمٌۭ لَّا يَذْكُرُونَ ٱسْمَ ٱللَّهِ عَلَيْهَا ٱفْتِرَآءً عَلَيْهِ ۚ سَيَجْزِيهِم بِمَا كَانُوا۟ يَفْتَرُونَ
6:138And they say, ‘These cattle and tillage are a taboo: none may eat them except whom we please,’ so they maintain, and there are cattle whose backs are forbidden and cattle over which they do not mention Allah’s Name, fabricating a lie against Him. Soon He will requite them for what they used to fabricate.1
وَقَالُوا۟ مَا فِى بُطُونِ هَٰذِهِ ٱلْأَنْعَٰمِ خَالِصَةٌۭ لِّذُكُورِنَا وَمُحَرَّمٌ عَلَىٰٓ أَزْوَٰجِنَا ۖ وَإِن يَكُن مَّيْتَةًۭ فَهُمْ فِيهِ شُرَكَآءُ ۚ سَيَجْزِيهِمْ وَصْفَهُمْ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ حَكِيمٌ عَلِيمٌۭ
6:139And they say, ‘That which is in the bellies of these cattle is exclusively for our males and forbidden to our wives. But if it be still-born, they will all share it.’ Soon He will requite them for their allegations. Indeed, He is all-wise, all-knowing.
قَدْ خَسِرَ ٱلَّذِينَ قَتَلُوٓا۟ أَوْلَٰدَهُمْ سَفَهًۢا بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍۢ وَحَرَّمُوا۟ مَا رَزَقَهُمُ ٱللَّهُ ٱفْتِرَآءً عَلَى ٱللَّهِ ۚ قَدْ ضَلُّوا۟ وَمَا كَانُوا۟ مُهْتَدِينَ
6:140They are certainly losers who slay their children foolishly without knowledge, and forbid what Allah has provided them, fabricating a lie against Allah. Certainly, they have gone astray and are not guided.2
۞ وَهُوَ ٱلَّذِىٓ أَنشَأَ جَنَّٰتٍۢ مَّعْرُوشَٰتٍۢ وَغَيْرَ مَعْرُوشَٰتٍۢ وَٱلنَّخْلَ وَٱلزَّرْعَ مُخْتَلِفًا أُكُلُهُۥ وَٱلزَّيْتُونَ وَٱلرُّمَّانَ مُتَشَٰبِهًۭا وَغَيْرَ مُتَشَٰبِهٍۢ ۚ كُلُوا۟ مِن ثَمَرِهِۦٓ إِذَآ أَثْمَرَ وَءَاتُوا۟ حَقَّهُۥ يَوْمَ حَصَادِهِۦ ۖ وَلَا تُسْرِفُوٓا۟ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ لَا يُحِبُّ ٱلْمُسْرِفِينَ
6:141It is He who produces gardens trellised and without trellises, and palm-trees and crops of diverse produce, olives and pomegranates, similar and dissimilar. Eat of its fruits when it fructifies, and give its due on the day of harvest, and do not be wasteful; indeed, He does not like the wasteful.
وَمِنَ ٱلْأَنْعَٰمِ حَمُولَةًۭ وَفَرْشًۭا ۚ كُلُوا۟ مِمَّا رَزَقَكُمُ ٱللَّهُ وَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا۟ خُطُوَٰتِ ٱلشَّيْطَٰنِ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّۭ مُّبِينٌۭ
6:142Of the cattle [some] are for burden and [some] for slaughter. Eat of what Allah has provided you and do not follow in Satan’s footsteps; he is indeed your manifest enemy.4
Tafsir
Commentary on this passage
Verse 138
1.In the western countries the disease of exploitation is spreading. For instance infidels had divided the cultivation and beasts in different ways. Some of it set apart especially for the monopolists of the religion and some set apart for the male and some exploits are different in style, whereas they deprived common people from subsistence of God while Allah is the Provider of subsistence to all. That is why Allah has interpreted their manners as different kinds of defects and made them attentive and said: initially your distribution is wrong and then you tum it to Allah, this is a great calamity but the method of the group of exploitation is the same. They say their thinking and presumptions are religious in nature and in this way they make arrangement of their profits on Allah’s name. After criticism, the fictitious unlawful things are mentioned about the lawful thing in detail and include vegetables and animals in this verse and makes people attentive towards this act that they have no right to interfere in lawful and unlawful things after the giving of detailed explanation. If only Islamic community would be attentive towards this point and would protect themselves from exploitation.
Footnotes
Explanations of words and phrases in these verses
- 1
Animals that are prohibited to all except a selected few.
- 2
They made some anima1s prohibited for themselves due to their classification though Allah had allowed them. Later they fell into satanic deviation and sacrificed their children. They thus fell into severe loss in the world as well as the Hereafter. 3. The ayat has mentioned the defects with the infidels and the polytheists and all of them deserve to be chastised. According to Fakhruddin Razi the seven crimes mentioned therein are making a loss, foolishness, ignorance, making halaal things haraam, excessiveness, deviation and lack of guidance. Imam Razi ‘should have applied this to those who had prohibited Muta because due to it generations have been destroyed and a thing permitted by Allah was made haraam.
- 4
Animals that are laid down and slaughtered or through whose fur floor coverings are prepared.
Benefit
We should know that Haqq Yaumul Hisad does not denote Zakat. Because the command for Zakat was revealed in Medina after Hijrat, while this Surah is Meccan. This is charity other than Zakat. It is given to poor and destitute as a kind gesture and it should be given as such.