6:40 Al-An'aam (The Cattle)

يقول تعالى لرسوله: { قُلْ } للمشركين بالله، العادلين به غيره: { أَرَأَيْتَكُمْ إِنْ أَتَاكُمْ عَذَابُ اللَّهِ أَوْ أَتَتْكُمُ السَّاعَةُ أَغَيْرَ اللَّهِ تَدْعُونَ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ صَادِقِينَ } أي: إذا حصلت هذه المشقات، وهذه الكروب، التي يضطر إلى دفعها، هل تدعون آلهتكم وأصنامكم، أم تدعون ربكم الملك الحق المبين.

يخبر تعالى أنه الفعال لما يريد المتصرف في خلقه بما يشاء وأنه لا معقب لحكمه ولا يقدر أحد على صرف حكمه عن خلقه بل هو وحده لا شريك له الذي إذا سئل يجيب لمن يشاء ولهذا قال "قل أرأيتكم إن أتاكم عذاب الله أو أتتكم الساعة" أي أتاكم هذا أو هذا "أغير الله تدعون إن كنتم صادقين" أي لا تدعون غيره لعلمكم أنه لا يقدر أحد على رفع ذلك سواه ولهذا قال "إن كنتم صادقين" أي في اتخاذكم آلهة معه.

The Idolators Call On Allah Alone During Torment and Distress

Allah states that He does what He wills with His creatures and none can resist His decision or avert what He decrees for them. He is the One Who has no partners, Who accepts the supplication from whomever He wills. Allah said,

قُلْ أَرَأَيْتُكُم إِنْ أَتَـكُمْ عَذَابُ اللَّهِ أَوْ أَتَتْكُمْ السَّاعَةُ أَغَيْرَ اللَّهِ تَدْعُونَ إِن كُنتُمْ صَـدِقِينَ

(Say: "Tell me if Allah's torment comes upon you, or the Hour comes upon you, would you then call upon any one other than Allah (Reply) if you are truthful!") This means, you -- disbelievers -- will not call other than Allah in this case, because you know that none except He is able to remove the affliction. Allah said,

إِن كُنتُمْ صَـدِقِينَ

(if you are truthful) by taking gods besides Him.

بَلْ إِيَّـهُ تَدْعُونَ فَيَكْشِفُ مَا تَدْعُونَ إِلَيْهِ إِنْ شَآءَ وَتَنسَوْنَ مَا تُشْرِكُونَ

(Nay! To Him alone you call, and, if He willed, He would remove that (distress) for which you call upon Him, and you forget at that time whatever partners you joined with Him (in worship)!) for in times of necessity, you only call on Allah and forget your idols and false deities. In another Ayah, Allah said;

وَإِذَا مَسَّكُمُ الْضُّرُّ فِى الْبَحْرِ ضَلَّ مَن تَدْعُونَ إِلاَ إِيَّاهُ

(And when harm touches you upon the sea, those that you call upon besides Him vanish from you except Him (Allah)) 17:67. Allah said;

وَلَقَدْ أَرْسَلنَآ إِلَى أُمَمٍ مِّن قَبْلِكَ فَأَخَذْنَـهُمْ بِالْبَأْسَآءِ

(Verily, We sent (Messengers) to many nations before you. And We seized them with extreme poverty...) That is, loss of wealth and diminished provisions,

وَالضَّرَّآءِ

(and loss of health) various illnesses, diseases and pain,

لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَضَرَّعُونَ

(so that they might believe with humility) and call Allah and supplicate to Him with humbleness and humility. Allah said;

فَلَوْلا إِذْ جَآءَهُمْ بَأْسُنَا تَضَرَّعُواْ

(When Our torment reached them, why then did they not believe with humility) Meaning: Why do they not believe and humble themselves before Us when We test them with disaster'

وَلَـكِن قَسَتْ قُلُوبُهُمْ

(But their hearts became hardened,) for their hearts are not soft or humble,

وَزَيَّنَ لَهُمُ الشَّيْطَـنُ مَا كَانُواّ يَعْمَلُونَ

(and Shaytan made fair-seeming to them that which they used to do. ) That is, Shirk, defiance and rebellion.

فَلَمَّا نَسُواْ مَا ذُكِّرُواْ بِهِ

(So, when they forgot (the warning) with which they had been reminded,) by ignoring and turning away from it,

فَتَحْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ أَبْوَابَ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ

(We opened to them the gates of everything,) Meaning: `We opened the gates of provisions for them from wherever they wished, so that We deceive them.' We seek refuge with Allah from such an end. This is why Allah said,

حَتَّى إِذَا فَرِحُواْ بِمَآ أُوتُواْ

f(until in the midst of their enjoyment in that which they were given,) such as wealth, children and provisions,

أَخَذْنَـهُمْ بَغْتَةً فَإِذَا هُمْ مُّبْلِسُونَ

(all of a sudden, We took them to punishment and lo! They were plunged into destruction with deep regrets and sorrows.) They have no hope for any type of good thing. Al-Hasan Al-Basri said, "Whomever Allah gives provision and he thinks that Allah is not testing him, has no wisdom. Whomever has little provision and thinks that Allah will not look at (provide for) him, has no wisdom." He then recited the Ayah,

فَلَمَّا نَسُواْ مَا ذُكِّرُواْ بِهِ فَتَحْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ أَبْوَابَ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ حَتَّى إِذَا فَرِحُواْ بِمَآ أُوتُواْ أَخَذْنَـهُمْ بَغْتَةً فَإِذَا هُمْ مُّبْلِسُونَ

(So, when they forgot (the warning) with which they had been reminded, We opened to them the gates of every (pleasant) thing, until in the midst of their enjoyment in that which they were given, all of a sudden, We took them to punishment, and lo! They were plunged into destruction with deep regrets and sorrows.) He added, "By the Lord of the Ka`bah! Allah deceived these people, when He gave them what they wished, and then they were punished." Ibn Abi Hatim recorded this statement.

Say O Muhammad (s) to the Meccans ‘Do you see yourselves that is inform me if God’s chastisement comes upon you in this world or the Hour the Resurrection which includes this chastisement comes upon you suddenly will ye call upon any other than God? No! If you speak truly!’ that the idols can benefit you then call upon them.

The sixth verse (38): وَمَا مِن دَابَّةٍ (there is no creature moving …) tells us that, on the day of Qiyamah, animals will also be given life along with human beings. Following a narration of Sayyidna Abu Hurairah ؓ ، it has been reported by Ibn Jarir, Ibn Abi Hatim and Baihaqi that, on the day of Qiyamah, all animals, beasts and birds will also be given life once again. Such will be the measure of Divine justice that a horned animal which had hit the hornless one shall be subjected to retaliation, as would be the case with others too. And when all injustices have been vindicated, all of them would be commanded to become dust - and then, dust they shall become. This would be the time when the disbeliever will say: يَا لَيْتَنِي كُنتُ تُرَ‌ابًا [ 78:40] that is, ` would that I too were to become dust, and thus saved from the punishment of Hell!'.

In another narration, again from Sayyidna Abu Hurairah ؓ ، Imam Al-Baghawi reports that the Holy Prophet ﷺ said: On the day of Qiyamah, rights of all holders of rights shall be vindicated, to the limit that a hornless goat shall be vindicated against the horned one.

Maximum Regard for the Rights of Allah's Creation

Everyone knows that animals have not been obligated to observe the percepts of any Shari` ah or code of laws. Only human beings and Jinns have been so obligated. And it is obvious that the jurisdiction of reward and punishment does not apply to the non-obligated. Therefore, ` Ulama' have said that the retaliation against the behaviour of animals on the day of Resurrection will not be because of their being obligated, but it will be because of the Lord's utmost regard for equity and justice - based on which the cruelty of one living creature against' the other living creature will be recompensed, with no reward or punishment to follow for the rest of their behaviour. This tells us that the matter of mutual rights, and their infringements, pertaining to the creation of Allah is so serious that even non-obligated animals have not been left as exempted from it. But, it is regrettable that there are even many religiously-observing people who would act negligently about it.

Say: “Do you see: Were God's chastisement to come to you or were the Hour to come to you, would you supplicate other than God, if you are truthful?” If harm touches you, whom will you want to remove it? If an affair turns against you, from whom will you hope for gentleness in it? The poor child of Adam who does not know the worth of this gentleness and does not recog- nize the danger of this exaltedness! This verse is both a manifestation of His exaltedness, majesty, and unneediness toward the servants, and a preparation for His gentleness, bounteousness, and largesse of mercy toward them. He is saying, “If in My lordhood I should assault these creatures because of justice, who is it that will hold that assault back from them and come to their aid? Were I suddenly to bring forth the banner of the resurrection from the ambush of the Unseen, where will these servants flee? Whose hand will they grasp? Whom will they call?” Then, with His own generosity, he answers: