Surah Al-An'aam (6): Read Online and Download - English Translation

Commentary

Mentioned in previous verses was the obstinate attitude of the disbelievers of Makkah against the veracity of the Qur'an and the Prophet of Islam ﷺ . Despite having seen signs and miracles proving their truth, they remained adamant, event went on to demand miracles of their choice before they could believe. The Qur'an answered this illogical argumentation by saying that the manifestation of miracles they demanded was easy for Allah, but those who were demanding them were obstinate people who would see them yet continue in their wickedness. When they do so, Divine Law will take over, as a result of which, they shall be over-run with mass punishment. That is why the Holy Prophet in his universal mercy, refused to oblige them. He asked them to ponder over the miracles, signs and proofs they have already seen.

The present verses carry evidences which clearly prove the veracity of the Qur'an and that it is the Divine Word.

The substance of what has been said in the first verse (114) is: The difference between you and me is in the case of my being a prophet and messenger of Allah. I claim it and you deny it. But, this case has already been decided by the Judge of judges in my favour in a way that the miracle of the Qur'an itself is more than sufficient a proof of the truth of my claim. This is the same Qur'an which has challenged the nations of the world to come forward - if they doubt its being the Word of Allah - and make a small Surah or 'Ayah to match this Word. Even the eloquent Arabs failed to meet this challenge. Then, there were those opposing Islam, Qur'an and the Prophet of Islam ﷺ enblock at the cost of their lives, properties and honour, even not one from among them rose with one single 'Ayah which would match the words of the miraculous Qur'an. Was this open miracle not good enough to make one accept the truth that a total Ummiyy who was never taught by anyone was reciting what had left Arabia and the world at large wondering? This is a case already decided in the Court of the Judge of all judges - that Muhammad ﷺ is a true Rasul of Allah and the Qur'an is the Kalam (Word) of Allah Jalla Sha'nuhu.

It was regarding this that it was said in the first verse (114): أَفَغَيْرَ‌ اللَّـهِ أَبْتَغِي حَكَمًا (So, is it someone apart from Allah that I should seek as judge). In other words, it means: ` Do you want that I should, after this decision (of Allah Ta` ala to reveal the Qur'an to me), go and look for a judge other than Him? This is impossible. Following that - given there are some particular qualities of the Holy Qur'an which are by themselves the proof of the Qur'an being true and the Word of Allah. For example, it was said: وَهُوَ الَّذِي أَنزَلَ إِلَيْكُمُ الْكِتَابَ مُفَصَّلًا (while He has sent down to you the Book with details) which describes four special perfections of the Qur'an, that is: (1) It has been sent down from Allah Ta ala; (2) It is perfect, miraculous, unchallenged and inimitable; (3) All matters of principle have been given in clear details; and (4) Before the Qur'an, the People of the Book, the Jews and the Christians knew for sure that the Qur'an is the true Word of Allah. Then, those who had regard for truth, said so while those who were hostile would not say so despite that they were sure about it.

After the description of these four qualities of the Holy Qur'an, the address is to the Holy Prophet ﷺ : فَلَا تَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْمُمْتَرِ‌ينَ (So, never be one of those who are suspicious). It means that in the presence of such clear proofs, there is no room for doubt. It is obvious that the Holy Prophet ﷺ was never one of those who were in doubt, nor he could be, as confirmed by his saying reported in Tafsir Ibn Kathir: "Neither I ever doubted, nor I ever asked." This tells us that, though in terms of the words, the address is to the Holy Prophet ﷺ but, in reality, the purpose is to make others hear it. That it has been ascribed to him is a manner in which the aim is to lay emphasis on and heighten the effect of the command - in the sense: ` when this has been said to the Holy Prophet ﷺ who would have the audacity to entertain any doubt?'

Described in the second verse (115), there are two more distinctive qualities of the Holy Qur'an sufficient to prove its being the Divine Word. It is said: وَتَمَّتْ كَلِمَتُ رَ‌بِّكَ صِدْقًا وَعَدْلًا ۚ لَّا مُبَدِّلَ لِكَلِمَاتِهِ (And the Word of your Lord is perfect in truth and justice. None is there to change His Word).

The word: تَمَّتْ (tammat) denotes the state of perfection and: كَلِمَتُ رَ‌بِّكَ (kalimatu Rabbik) refers to the Qur'an (A1-Bahr A1-Muhit, from Sayyidna Qatadah). All subjects of the Qur'an are of two kinds: (1) Those in which lesson-oriented events and conditions of world history, reward on good deeds and warning of punishment on evil deeds have been described; and (2) those in which injunctions relating to human betterment and prosperity have been laid out. It is about these two kinds that the following two qualities of the Qur'an have been identified: صِدْقًا وَعَدْلًا ، that is, perfect in truth and justice. Here, صِدْقً (sidq:truth) belongs to the first kind. It means that all events, conditions, promises or warnings mentioned in the Qur'an are true and correct. There is no possibility of fault or defect or error in them. And: عَدْلً (` adl: justice) relates to the other kind, that is, the injunctions (Ahkam). It means that all injunctions of Allah Jalla Sha'nuhu are based on ` Adl (justice). The sense of Adl covers two meanings: (1) Justice under which no injustice has been done to anyone, nor has any right been compromised or usurped; and (2) اعتدال I` tidal (moderation), that is, not being totally subordinated to the desires of human self, nor being what ingrained human emotions and natural traits cannot bear. This comes to mean that all Divine injunctions are based on justice and moderation, that is, in them, there is no injustice inflicted on anyone, nor do they have hardship and pain which are humanly unbearable - as said elsewhere: لَا يُكَلِّفُ اللَّـهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا (Allah does not obligate anyone except to his capacity - 2:286). Then, along with it, by bringing in the word: تَمَّتْ (tammat: is perfect), it was also pointed out that the Holy Qur'an not only has the qualities of truth and justice, but that it is also perfect and complete in them in all respects.

And that all injunctions of the Qur'an be - for all peoples of the world, for all generations to come and for all changed conditions - based on both justice and moderation is something which, if considered with a little deliberation, can only be possible in nothing but Divine injunctions. No legislative assembly or congress of the world can completely foresee all forthcoming conditions in the present and the future, nor can it make any law which would accommodate all such conditions. Every country and nation makes its laws keeping in view what are usually the prevailing conditions of that country or nation. Then, even those laws are made to undergo changes when their experience proves that many of their provisions have remained contrary to justice and moderation. Now, to make a master law for other nations and peoples, or to make it with a complete consideration of all future events - that which embodies in it the qualities of justice and moderation for every nation, every country and every condition - is something beyond human thought and perception. This can only be in the Word of Allah Subhanuhu wa Ta` ala. Therefore, this fifth quality of the Holy Qur'an, the quality of truth and justice, is impeccable. It demonstrates that all past and present events, promises and warnings, narrated in it are true, wherein the least doubt of their being contrary to the actual cannot be entertained, and that all injunctions given by it are embedded with justice and moderation for the benefit of the whole world for all generations to come right through the Last Day of Qiyamah, in-junctions which inflict no injustice on anyone, nor is there the slightest deviation from the norms of moderation and balance. This is, in itself, the perfect proof of the Qur'an being the Divine Word.

The sixth quality has been identified لَّا مُبَدِّلَ لِكَلِمَاتِهِ that is, there is no one who can change the words of Allah Ta` ala. One form in which such a change can take place is when someone proves a mistake in it because of which it has to be changed; or, that some enemy changes it forcibly. The Word of Allah is pristinely pure and far beyond any such possibilities. He has Himself promised: إِنَّا نَحْنُ نَزَّلْنَا الذِّكْرَ‌ وَإِنَّا لَهُ لَحَافِظُونَ ﴿9﴾ that is, ` We (only We) have revealed the Dhikr (the Qur'an) and, for it, We (only We) are the Protector - 15:9). When so, who can dare break through the protection of Allah and make any changes or alterations in it? For that matter, over fourteen hundred years have passed and there have been, in every century and every age, more people who have been against it as compared in numbers, even in power, with those who have been believing it, but not one of them had the courage to introduce one tiny variance in even a vowel point of the Qur'an. Of course, possible there was a third form of bringing in a change, that is, it be changed through abrogation (naskh) by Allah Ta` ala Himself. Therefore, Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Abbas ؓ said: ` This verse indicates that the noble Prophet ﷺ is the Last Prophet and the Qur'an, the Last Book. After this, there is no probability of an abrogation' - as it has been elucidated in other verses of the Qur'an.

At the end of verse (115), it was said: وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ (and He is All-Hearing, All-Knowing) which means that Allah Jalla Sha'nuhu hears all that is being said by these people and He knows what they do openly and secretly. He will give a return for every deed of theirs in accordance with it.

In the third verse (116), Allah Ta ala tells the Holy Prophet ﷺ that the majority of the progeny of 'Adam living on the earth is in error. Let him not be overawed by this situation and let him ignore what they say or do. The Qur'an has dealt with this subject at several places. In Surah As-Saaffaat, it is said: وَلَقَدْ ضَلَّ قَبْلَهُمْ أَكْثَرُ‌ الْأَوَّلِينَ ﴿71﴾ (And truly before them, many of the ancients went astray (37:71) In Su-rah Yusuf, it is said: وَمَا أَكْثَرُ‌ النَّاسِ وَلَوْ حَرَ‌صْتَ بِمُؤْمِنِينَ ﴿103﴾ (And the majority of people - even if you wish - are not to be believers (12:103). The outcome is that the awe of majority customarily overwhelms an individual and he or she ends up following it. Therefore, the address made to the Holy Prophet ﷺ was:

And if you obey the majority of those on earth, they will make you lose the way of Allah. They follow nothing but whims, and they do nothing but make conjectures.'

The gist of the advice is that he should not be impressed by their numerical majority as a model to follow because they lack principles and go off the right way: At the end of the verse (117), it was said:

` Surely, your Lord knows best those who go astray from His way, and He is the best knower of those who are on the right path (consequently, as the errants shall be punished, the people of the straight path shall be rewarded).

Linkage of Verses

Earlier (116), by saying: وَ اِن تطِع (And if you obey), following people in error was prohibited absolutely. Onward from there, comes the prohibition of such following in a particular matter as necessitated by an event. That event pertains to the lawfulness of what has been slaughtered properly or improperly. The event is that disbelievers tried to put Muslims in doubt by commenting that they did not eat of the animals killed by Allah (i.e. by natural death) while they had no problem with eating of what they killed (slaughtered) themselves (as deduced by Abu Dawud and al-Hakim from Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ ). Some Muslims reported this doubt before the Holy Prophet ﷺ Thereupon, these verses ending at: لَمُشْرِ‌كُونَ (121) were revealed (narrated by Abu Dawud and Al Tirmidhi from Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbs as in Al-Lubab).

The gist of the answer given is: You are Muslims. You observe the injunctions of Allah particularly - and Allah has told you all about the Halal and the Haram. So, keep abiding by it. Do not entertain any doubts about something Halal being حَرَام haram, and something حَرَام haram, being Halal. As for the scruples of disbelievers, just pay no attention to them.

The substantiation of this answer is that rational proofs are required only to prove the basic principles of faith (like Oneness of Allah, the prophethood of His messengers etc.) but once these basic principles are established and admitted, rational arguments are no more required for establishing a subsidiary or consequential rule of the Shari'ah. What is required is to prove that this rule is based on a specific order given by Allah or His messenger. Once it is established that the rule is based on a specific injunction imposed by Allah Ta` ala or His messenger, it cannot be called in question on the basis of rational ar-guments. (because after admitting that the rule is prescribed by Allah Who is all-Wise, all-Powerful, it will always be based on wisdom which might be unknown to us.) Rather, it is sometimes harmful to mention rational wisdom for the rules of Shari'ah, because any wisdom given by one's conjectures will always remain subject to doubts on the basis of counter arguments, and there is no way to find out a certain and absolute wisdom for a subsidiary rule of Shari'ah. However, if it is evident that a person wants to know the wisdom behind a rule of Shari'ah only to seek truth and to satisfy himself, there is no harm in mentioning some possible reasons of a rule before him as a matter of additional knowledge. But in the event that the rational wisdom is asked only for the sake of confrontation, then the proper way for a Muslim should be to ignore such questions and to act according to the prescribed rules without paying attention to the critic. It is true that if a person wants to prove that a subsidiary rule of Shari'ah is repugnant to an absolute principle established by reason, the point raised by him may deserve answer, but the question raised by the mushriks in the present case was not of this nature in any way. Therefore, the Muslims are directed to ignore such absurd questions and keep believing and acting as before.

It is on the basis of the aforesaid principles that the question of Mushriks has not been answered in express terms; However, the expression used has given a subtle indication to the difference between a carrion and an animal slaughtered properly. The text gives permission to eat an animal on which Allah's name is invoked (كُلُوا مِمَّا ذُكِرَ‌ اسْمُ اللَّـهِ عَلَيْهِ It is obvious that Allah's name is invoked on an animal while slaughtering it, therefore, it implies the condition of slaughtering an animal which drains out impure blood from the animal. On the other hand, it is forbidden to eat of an animal on which Allah's name is not invoked وَلَا تَأْكُلُوا مِمَّا لَمْ يُذْكَرِ‌ اسْمُ اللَّـهِ عَلَيْهِ. Not invoking Allah's name may happen in two different situations: (1) Not slaughtering an animal at all (2) slaughtering an animal without invoking Allah's name. Both these situations render the animal Harm according to this verse. Obviously, an animal which dies its natural death is covered under the first situation where its impure blood was not drained out and remaining in the body rendered it impure. That is why it has been held as Haram.

Commentary

The Qur'anic order of reciting the name of Allah implied; مَا ذُكِرَ‌ اسْمُ اللَّـهِ عَلَيْهِ (that upon which the name of Allah has been invoked) includes both kinds of slaughter termed in Islamic Fiqh as "al-dhabh-al-ikhtiyariyy (slaughtering an animal under control) and "al-dhabh-al-idtirariyy„ (hunting an animal out of control with an arrow or a hunting dog or falcon). The name of Allah shall be recited in the latter case when releasing the arrow or the dog or falcon.

Similarly, the words " مَّا ذُكِرَ‌ اسْمُ اللَّـهِ عَلَيْهِ " include reciting actually or as implied. That is why Imam Abu Hanifah (رح) has allowed to eat an animal upon which the reciting of the name of Allah was missed inadvertently. However if it is missed deliberately, it will render the animal Haram.