Surah al-An`am (The Cattle) 6 : 138

وَقَالُوا۟ هَٰذِهِۦٓ أَنْعَٰمٌ وَحَرْثٌ حِجْرٌ لَّا يَطْعَمُهَآ إِلَّا مَن نَّشَآءُ بِزَعْمِهِمْ وَأَنْعَٰمٌ حُرِّمَتْ ظُهُورُهَا وَأَنْعَٰمٌ لَّا يَذْكُرُونَ ٱسْمَ ٱللَّهِ عَلَيْهَا ٱفْتِرَآءً عَلَيْهِ ۚ سَيَجْزِيهِم بِمَا كَانُوا۟ يَفْتَرُونَ

Translations

 
 Muhsin Khan
 Pickthall
 Yusuf Ali
Quran Project
And they say, "These animals and crops are forbidden; no one may eat from them except whom we will," by their claim. And there are those [camels] whose backs are forbidden [by them] and those upon which the name of Allāh is not mentioned - [all of this] an invention of untruth about Him. He will punish them for what they were inventing.

1. Lessons/Guidance/Reflections/Gems

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Explanatory Note

Here God Himself, limitless is He in His Glory, is telling us that those idolaters used to forbid certain things and make others lawful, at their own behest, without referring to any authority or permission from God. 

As has already been mentioned, those usurpers of God’s authority who claimed to derive their legislation from God’s law, assigned certain portions of their agricultural produce and cattle, dedicating them to the partners they associated with God. Then they said that such assigned cattle and produce were forbidden to them to eat. Indeed, they asserted that none would be permitted to eat from them except those which God permitted. Needless to say that the decision in such matters was usually left to priests, clerics and chiefs. They also assigned certain types of cattle and determined that they were forbidden to ride. It is said that those were mentioned in the previous surah and given the Arabic titles Bahirah, Sa’ibah, Wasilah and Hami. They also assigned other cattle and prohibited God’s name from being mentioned over them when they were ridden, milked or slaughtered. This is because they consecrated these to partners they associated with God and whose names they did mention. All these claims were lies they had fabricated against God.

God describes their action saying that by their practices, they invent a lie against God. This means that when they outlined their prohibitions and made their claims, they were simply lying to God and asserting falsehoods against Him. This is because they attributed their prohibitions, as described in God’s Book, to His own authority, claiming that it is He Who had forbidden them. God denies this, making their lies appear as they are, and telling His Messenger and the believers of their false claims.

2. Linguistic Analysis

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Frequency of Root words in this Ayat used in this Surah *


3. Surah Overview

4. Miscellaneous Information

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5. Connected/Related Ayat

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6. Frequency of the word

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7. Period of Revelation

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According to Ibn Abbas, the whole of the Surah was revealed at one sitting at Makkah [during the night]. Asma bint Yazid says, ‘During the revelation of this Surah the Prophet was riding on a she-camel and I was holding her nose-string. The she-camel began to feel the weight so heavily that it seemed as if her bones would break under it.’ We also learn from other narrations that it was revealed during the last year before the migration (Hijrah) and that the Prophet dictated the whole of the Surah the same night that it was revealed. [Mawdudi]

8. Reasons for Revelation

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After determining the period of its revelation it is easier to visualize the background of the Surah. Twelve years had passed since the Prophet had been inviting the people to Islam. The antagonism and persecution by the Quraysh had become most savage and brutal and the majority of the Muslims had to migrate to Abyssinia. Additionally, the two great supporters of the Prophet, Abu Talib and his wife Khadijah were no longer there to help him, so he was deprived of all worldly support. In spite of this he carried on his mission. As a result of this all the good people of Makkah and the surrounding clans gradually began to accept Islam but there the community as a whole was still bent on obstinacy and rejection. Therefore if anyone showed an inclination towards Islam they were subjected to taunts and derision, physical violence and social boycott.

It was in these dark circumstances that a ray of hope gleamed from Yathrib, where Islam began to spread freely by the efforts of some influential people of the tribes of Aws and Khazraj, who had embraced Islam at Makkah. At that time, none but God knew the great hidden potential in this.

To a casual observer it appeared as if Islam was a weak movement, with no material backing, except for some limited support from the Prophet's own family and a few poor followers. Obviously the latter could not give much help because they themselves were being persecuted.

9. Relevant Hadith

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10. Wiki Forum

Comments in this section are statements made by general users – these are not necessarily explanations of the Ayah – rather a place to share personal thoughts and stories…

11. Tafsir Zone

 


12. External Links

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