The Cattle (Al-An‘am)
Verses 138-140 GROUP_238 6.138-140
138
وَقَالُواْ هَـذِهِ أَنْعَامٌ وَحَرْثٌ حِجْرٌ لاَّ يَطْعَمُهَا إِلاَّ مَن نّشَاء بِزَعْمِهِمْ وَأَنْعَامٌ حُرِّمَتْ ظُهُورُهَا وَأَنْعَامٌ لاَّ يَذْكُرُونَ اسْمَ اللّهِ عَلَيْهَا افْتِرَاء عَلَيْهِ سَيَجْزِيهِم بِمَا كَانُواْ يَفْتَرُونَ
They also say, ‘These animals and these crops are forbidden. None may eat them except those we permit.’ So they claim! There are some animals they exempt from labour and some over which they do not pronounce God’s name, thus committing a sin against Him. He will requite them for the falsehoods they invent.
139
وَقَالُواْ مَا فِي بُطُونِ هَـذِهِ الأَنْعَامِ خَالِصَةٌ لِّذُكُورِنَا وَمُحَرَّمٌ عَلَى أَزْوَاجِنَا وَإِن يَكُن مَّيْتَةً فَهُمْ فِيهِ شُرَكَاء سَيَجْزِيهِمْ وَصْفَهُمْ إِنَّهُ حِكِيمٌ عَلِيمٌ
They say, ‘What is in the wombs of such and such cattle is exclusively for our males and is forbidden to our females. But if it is stillborn, they may have a share of it.’ God will soon punish them for their [false] attribution. He is wise, and all-knowing.
140
قَدْ خَسِرَ الَّذِينَ قَتَلُواْ أَوْلاَدَهُمْ سَفَهًا بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ وَحَرَّمُواْ مَا رَزَقَهُمُ اللّهُ افْتِرَاء عَلَى اللّهِ قَدْ ضَلُّواْ وَمَا كَانُواْ مُهْتَدِينَ
Losers indeed are they who kill their children foolishly and without knowledge and declare as forbidden what God has provided for them as sustenance—a fabrication against God: they have gone astray and have not chosen to be rightly guided.
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Commentary
(a) In ancient times, the people of Arabia used to attribute their religion to Abraham and Ishmael. But, in practice, the religion prevalent there was a self-made one, which their leaders had invented and introduced among them. The offering of their produce and cattle made in the name of God and His alleged partners were subject to strict restrictions of their own conception. For instance, if a freed animal was sacrificed and if a live offspring came out of its womb, then it was held that its meat could be eaten only by males and should not be eaten by females, whereas if the offspring was a dead one, it could be eaten by both males and females. Similarly, it was forbidden to ride on the back of certain animals or to place loads on them. In respect of some animals, it was their belief that God’s name should not be taken while riding, slaughtering or milking them. Such people are far removed from the real requirements of religion, i.e. the human being’s devotion to God and his concern about the Hereafter. Every day, they go beyond the limits fixed by God, but take care to strictly observe rules about irrelevant matters of minor importance. This is one of Satan’s complex strategies He alienates people from the real religion by introducing unrelated matters among them in the name of religion. By creating a tendency to extremism in them, he instils the misunderstanding in man that he (the latter) is steadfast in God’s religion. Extremism in the outer formalities of prayers is the special product of this psychology. A man devoid of sincerity and humility pays meticulous attention to externals, imagining that he has performed the act of prayer to the utmost perfection. (a) How misguided such people are, is clear from the fact that many of them thought the savage act of killing one’s own progeny was quite proper. Such misapprehensions deprive people of the clear provisions made by God, so that while fighting over ordinary problems, they overlook matters which are of greater importance, but which might still be understood by the use of common sense.