The Heifer (Al-Baqarah)

Commentary

(a) Human beings should feel thankful and obedient to God while eating food and drinking water. They should express themselves thus, ‘In accordance with God’s commandment, we are eating and drinking what God has provided us with.’ These emotions evoke in a man the feeling of true devotion to his Maker. But this psychological make-up changes in the case of self-styled beliefs. In that case man’s attention is diverted to the supposed properties of the things he consumes. Therefore, the same divine blessing which is meant to produce feelings of thanksgiving, evoke instead feelings of veneration for material objects. Under the influence of such false beliefs, man comes to accord the position of Creator to the created. If something is held unlawful by God, it is not owing to the sacredness of that thing but rather because it is something impure or the divine law has testified to its uncleanness, e.g. carrion, blood, swine or an animal sacrificed in the name of some idol instead of in the name of God. In cases of extreme necessity where a man’s life may be at stake, he may eat food otherwise forbidden, for instance when suffering extreme hunger and when no other food is available, or in illness, or other such circumstances as may compel him to do so. However, it is essential that such forbidden food should not be taken simply for the pleasure of the palate. That is, one must remain within the bare limits of necessity. ( a) When superstitious beliefs about prohibitions have been accepted by the masses as religious beliefs and held sacred, the religious scholars of the community fail to muster enough courage to declare openly that those beliefs have nothing to do with true religion, for they are afraid that if they did so, they would be severing themselves from the general public to whom they owe their popularity. They may revel in such compromises as bring them wealth and honour, but in the eyes of God, they are the worst offenders. Hiding the truth for worldly considerations is not one of those offences that God will ignore in the Hereafter. These are in fact crimes that deprive man of God’s mercy. Worse still are those, who, instead of accepting the truth when it is presented to them start engaging in meaningless discussions. They develop a propensity to divisiveness and ultimately they stray so far from the truth that there remains no chance of their returning.