6:139 Al-An'aam (The Cattle)

ومن آرائهم السخيفة أنهم يجعلون بعض الأنعام، ويعينونها –محرما ما في بطنها على الإناث دون الذكور، فيقولون: { مَا فِي بُطُونِ هَذِهِ الْأَنْعَامِ خَالِصَةٌ لِذُكُورِنَا } أي: حلال لهم، لا يشاركهم فيها النساء، { وَمُحَرَّمٌ عَلَى أَزْوَاجِنَا } أي: نسائنا، هذا إذا ولد حيا، وإن يكن ما [في] بطنها يولد ميتا، فهم فيه شركاء، أي: فهو حلال للذكور والإناث. { سَيَجْزِيهِمْ } الله { وَصْفَهُمْ } حين وصفوا ما أحله الله بأنه حرام، ووصفوا الحرام بالحلال، فناقضوا شرع الله وخالفوه، ونسبوا ذلك إلى الله. { إِنَّهُ حَكِيمٌ } حيث أمهل لهم، ومكنهم مما هم فيه من الضلال. { عَلِيمٌ } بهم، لا تخفى عليه خافية، وهو تعالى يعلم بهم وبما قالوه عليه وافتروه، وهو يعافيهم ويرزقهم جل جلاله.

قال أبو إسحاق السبيعي عن عبد الله بن أبى الهذيل عن ابن عباس "وقالوا ما في بطون هذه الأنعام خالصة لذكورنا" الآية قال اللبن وقال العوفي عن ابن عباس "وقالوا ما في بطون هذه الأنعام خالصة لذكورنا" فهو اللبن كانوا يحرمونه على إناثهم ويشربه ذكرانهم وكانت الشاة إذا ولدت ذكرا ذبحوه وكان للرجال دون النساء وإن كانت أنثى تركت فلم تذبح وإن كانت ميتة فهم فيه شركاء فنهى الله عن ذلك. وكذا قال السدي وقال الشعبي: البحيرة لا يأكل من لبنها إلا الرجال وإن مات منها شيء أكله الرجال والنساء. وكذا قال عكرمة وقتادة وعبد الرحمن بن زيد بن أسلم وقال مجاهد في قوله "وقالوا ما في بطون هذه الأنعام خالصة لذكورنا ومحرم على أزواجنا" قال هي السائبة والبحيرة وقال أبو العالية ومجاهد وقتادة في قول الله "سيجزيهم وصفهم" أي قولهم الكذب في ذلك يعني كقوله تعالى "ولا تقولوا لما تصف ألسنتكم الكذب. هذا حلال وهذا حرام لتفتروا على الله الكذب إن الذين يفترون على الله الكذب لا يفلحون متاع" الآية "إنه حكيم" أي في أفعاله وأقواله وشرعه وقدره "عليم" بأعمال عباده من خير وشر وسيجزيهم عليها أتم الجزاء.

وَقَالُواْ مَا فِى بُطُونِ هَـذِهِ الأَنْعَـمِ خَالِصَةٌ لِّذُكُورِنَا

(And they say: "What is in the bellies of such and such cattle is for our males alone...") refers to milk. `Awfi said that Ibn `Abbas said about this Ayah,

وَقَالُواْ مَا فِى بُطُونِ هَـذِهِ الأَنْعَـمِ خَالِصَةٌ لِّذُكُورِنَا

(And they say: "What is in the bellies of such and such cattle is for our males alone...") "It is about milk, which they prohibited for their females and allowed only their males to drink. When a sheep would give birth to a male sheep, they would slaughter it and feed it to their males, but not to their females. If the newly born lamb was a female, they would not slaughter it, but if it was stillborn, they would share in it (with their females)! Allah forbade this practice." Similar was said by As-Suddi. Ash-Sha`bi said, "The Bahirah's milk was only given to the men. But if any cattle from the Bahirah died, both men and women would share in eating it." Similar was said by `Ikrimah, Qatadah and `Abdur-Rahman bin Zayd bin Aslam. Mujahid commented;

وَقَالُواْ مَا فِى بُطُونِ هَـذِهِ الأَنْعَـمِ خَالِصَةٌ لِّذُكُورِنَا وَمُحَرَّمٌ عَلَى أَزْوَجِنَا

(And they say: "What is in the bellies of such and such cattle is for our males alone, and forbidden to our females...") "It refers to the Sa'ibah and the Bahirah." Abu Al-`Aliyah, Mujahid and Qatadah said that Allah's statement,

سَيَجْزِيهِمْ وَصْفَهُمْ

(He will punish them for their attribution. ) means, uttering such falsehood. This is explained by Allah's statement,

وَلاَ تَقُولُواْ لِمَا تَصِفُ أَلْسِنَتُكُمُ الْكَذِبَ هَـذَا حَلَـلٌ وَهَـذَا حَرَامٌ لِّتَفْتَرُواْ عَلَى اللَّهِ الْكَذِبَ إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَفْتَرُونَ عَلَى اللَّهِ الْكَذِبَ لاَ يُفْلِحُونَ

(And say not concerning that which your tongues falsely utter: "This is lawful and this is forbidden." so as to invent lies against Allah. Verily, those who invent lies against Allah will never prosper.) 16:116 Allah said,

إِنَّهُ حَكِيمٌ

(Verily, He is All-Wise.) in His actions, statements, Law and decree,

عَلِيمٌ

(All-Knower), in the actions of His servants, whether good or evil, and He will recompense them for these deeds completely.

And they say ‘That which is within the bellies of these forbidden cattle namely the camels they call Sā’ibas or Bahīras is reserved permitted for our males and forbidden to our spouses that is the women; but if it be dead read maytatun or maytatan and the verb as either feminine takun or masculine yakun ‘if it be’ then they all may be partakers thereof’. He God will assuredly requite them for their describing this and that as either permitted or forbidden with the appropriate requital thereof. Surely He is Wise in His actions Knowing of His creatures.

Linkage of Verses

Described in the previous verses were false beliefs of the mushriks of Arabia while the present verses recount their practical errors and ignorant customs. The customs of Jahiliyyah mentioned in these verses are: (1) They took out a portion in the name of Allah from grains and fruits, and some in the name of idols and Jinns. Then, if by chance, some part of what belonged to the portion of Allah got mixed up with the portion reserved for idols, they would let it stay mixed as it was. When the position was the reverse of it, they would take it out and make the portion set for idols even. The excuse was that Allah is need-free. A cut in His share does not harm Him while the partners need it - so, their share should not be decreased. This evil custom was mentioned earlier in verse 136.

(2) The second custom was that they would release animals they called Bahirah and Sa'ibah in the name of idols and said that they were doing it for the pleasure of Allah. Here too, the portion allotted to idols was that the act of worship was intended for them - and the portion allotted to Allah was that they aimed to please Allah.

(3) The third custom was that of killing their female children.

(4) The fourth custom was that they would endow some tillage in the name of idols saying that only men could use its produce. Giving or not giving a share from it to women depended on their will. Women had no right to demand.

(5) They would do the same thing with cattle when they would restrict their use for men only.

(6) They considered the quadruped animals they released in the name of idols as unlawful for purposes of riding or carrying loads.

(7) There were quadruped animals they would specify. Using them at any time, they would not pronounce the name of Allah, neither when milking, nor when riding and nor when slaughtering.

(8) The eighth custom was that they would release animals in the name of idols, naming them as Bahirah or Sa'ibah. When, at the time

of slaughter, the calf came out alive, they would slaughter it as well - but, would take it as lawful for men only; for women, they took it to be unlawful - and if the calf was born still, it was supposed to be lawful for everyone.

(9) Even milk from some animals was considered lawful for men and unlawful for women.

(10) They took reverence for four kinds of animals: Bahirah, Sa'ibah, Wasilah and Hami, as an act of worship.

[ All these narrations appear in Ad-Durr Al-Manthur and Ruh al-Mani from Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas, Mujahid, Ibn Zayd and As-Suddiy with exegetic deductions of Ibn al-Mundhir, Ibn Abi Hatim, Ibn Abi Ash-Shaybah and Ibn Humayd) [ As in Bayn al-Qur'an of Maulana Thanavi ]