6:71 Al-An'aam (The Cattle)

{ قُلْ } يا أيها الرسول للمشركين بالله، الداعين معه غيره، الذين يدعونكم إلى دينهم، مبينا وشارحا لوصف آلهتهم، التي يكتفي العاقل بذكر وصفها، عن النهي عنها، فإن كل عاقل إذا تصور مذهب المشركين جزم ببطلانه، قبل أن تقام البراهين على ذلك، فقال: { أَنَدْعُو مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ مَا لَا يَنْفَعُنَا وَلَا يَضُرُّنَا } وهذا وصف، يدخل فيه كل مَن عُبِد مِنْ دون الله، فإنه لا ينفع ولا يضر، وليس له من الأمر شيء، إن الأمر إلا لله. { وَنُرَدُّ عَلَى أَعْقَابِنَا بَعْدَ إِذْ هَدَانَا اللَّهُ } أي: وننقلب بعد هداية الله لنا إلى الضلال، ومن الرشد إلى الغي، ومن الصراط الموصل إلى جنات النعيم، إلى الطرق التي تفضي بسالكها إلى العذاب الأليم. فهذه حال لا يرتضيها ذو رشد، وصاحبها { كَالَّذِي اسْتَهْوَتْهُ الشَّيَاطِينُ فِي الْأَرْضِ } أي: أضلته وتيهته عن طريقه ومنهجه له الموصل إلى مقصده. فبقي { حَيْرَانَ لَهُ أَصْحَابٌ يَدْعُونَهُ إِلَى الْهُدَى } والشياطين يدعونه إلى الردى، فبقي بين الداعيين حائرا وهذه حال الناس كلهم، إلا من عصمه الله تعالى، فإنهم يجدون فيهم جواذب ودواعي متعارضة، دواعي الرسالة والعقل الصحيح، والفطرة المستقيمة { يَدْعُونَهُ إِلَى الْهُدَى } والصعود إلى أعلى عليين. ودواعي الشيطان، ومن سلك مسلكه، والنفس الأمارة بالسوء، يدعونه إلى الضلال، والنزول إلى أسفل سافلين، فمن الناس من يكون مع داعي الهدى، في أموره كلها أو أغلبها، ومنهم من بالعكس من ذلك. ومنهم من يتساوى لديه الداعيان، ويتعارض عنده الجاذبان، وفي هذا الموضع، تعرف أهل السعادة من أهل الشقاوة. وقوله: { قُلْ إِنَّ هُدَى اللَّهِ هُوَ الْهُدَى } أي: ليس الهدى إلا الطريق التي شرعها الله على لسان رسوله، وما عداه، فهو ضلال وردى وهلاك. { وَأُمِرْنَا لِنُسْلِمَ لِرَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ } بأن ننقاد لتوحيده، ونستسلم لأوامره ونواهيه، وندخل تحت عبوديته، فإن هذا أفضل نعمة أنعم الله بها على العباد، وأكمل تربية أوصلها إليهم.

قال السدي قال المشركون للمسلمين اتبعوا سبيلنا واتركوا دين محمد فأنزل الله عز وجل "قل أندعوا من دون الله ما لا ينفعنا ولا يضرنا ونرد على أعقابنا" أي في الكفر "بعد إذ هدانا الله" فيكون مثلنا مثل الذي استهوته الشياطين في الأرض يقول مثلكم إن كفرتم بعد إيمانكم كمثل رجل خرج مع قوم على الطريق فضل الطريق فحيرته الشياطين واستهوته في الأرض وأصحابه على الطريق فجعلوا يدعونه إليهم يقولون ائتنا فإنا على الطريق فأبى أن يأتيهم فذلك مثل من يتبعهم بعد المعرفة بمحمد صلى الله عليه وعلي آله وسلم ومحمد هو الذي يدعو إلى الطريق والطريق هو الإسلام. رواه ابن جرير وقال قتادة "استهوته الشياطين في الأرض" أضلته في الأرض يعني استهوته سيرته كقوله "تهوي إليهم" وقال علي بن أبي طلحة عن ابن عباس في قوله "قل أندعوا من دون الله ما لا ينفعنا ولا يضرنا" الآية. هذا مثل ضربه الله للآلهة ومن يدعو إليها والدعاة الذين يدعون إلى هدى الله عز وجل كمثل رجل ضل عن طريق تائها إذ ناداه مناد يا فلان ابن فلان هلم إلى الطريق وله أصحاب يدعونه يا فلان هلم إلى الطريق فان اتبع الداعي الأول انطلق به حتى يلقيه إلى الهلكة وإن أجاب من يدعوه إلى الهدى اهتدى إلى الطريق وهذه الداعية التي تدعو في البرية من الغيلان يقول مثل من يعبد هذه الآلهة من دون الله فإنه يرى أنه في شيء حتى يأتيه الموت فيستقبل الندامة والهلكة وقوله "كالذي استهوته الشياطين في الأرض" هم الغيلان "يدعونه" باسمه واسم أبيه وجده فيتبعها وهو يرى أنه في شيء فيصبح وقد رمته في هلكة وربما أكلته أو تلقيه في مضلة من الأرض يهلك فيها عطشا فهذا مثل من أجاب الآلهة التي تعبد من دون الله عز وجل رواه ابن جرير وقال ابن أبي نجيح عن مجاهد "كالذي استهوته الشياطين في الأرض حيران"قال رجل حيران يدعوه أصحابه إلى الطريق وذلك مثل من يضل بعد أن هدي وقال العوفي عن ابن عباس قوله "كالذي استهوته الشياطين في الأرض حيران له أصحاب" هو الذي لا يستجيب لهدى الله وهو رجل أطاع الشيطان وعمل في الأرض بالمعصية وحاد عن الحق وضل عنه وله أصحاب يدعونه إلى الهدى ويزعمون أن الذي يأمرونه به هدى يقول الله ذلك لأوليائهم من الإنس "إن الهدى هدى الله" والضلال ما يدعو إليه الجن. رواه ابن جرير ثم قال وهذا يقتضي أن أصحابه يدعونه إلى الضلال ويزعمون أنه هدى قال: وهذا خلاف ظاهر الآية فإن الله أخبر أنهم يدعونه إلى الهدى فغير جائز أن يكون ضلالا وقد أخبر الله أنه هدى وهو كما قال ابن جرير فإن السياق يقتضي أن هذا الذي استهوته الشياطين في الأرض حيران وهو منصوب على الحال أي في حال حيرته وضلاله وجهله وجه المحجة وله أصحاب على المحجة سائرون فجعلوا يدعونه إليهم وإلى الذهاب معهم على الطريقة المثلى وتقدير الكلام فيأبى عليهم ولا يلتفت إليهم ولو شاء الله لهداه ولرد به إلى الطريق ولهذا قال "قل إن هدى الله هو الهدى" كما قال "ومن يهد الله فما له من مضل" وقال "إن تحرص على هداهم فإن الله لا يهدي من يضل وما لهم من ناصرين" وقوله "وأمرنا لنسلم لرب العالمين" أي نخلص له العبادة وحده لا شريك له.

The Parable of Those Who Revert to Disbelief After Faith and Good Deeds

As-Suddi said, "Some idolators said to some Muslims, `Follow us and abandon the religion of Muhammad ﷺ.' Allah sent down the revelation,

قُلْ أَنَدْعُواْ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ مَا لاَ يَنفَعُنَا وَلاَ يَضُرُّنَا وَنُرَدُّ عَلَى أَعْقَـبِنَا

(Say: "Shall we invoke others besides Allah, that can do us neither good nor harm, and shall we turn on our heels...") by reverting to disbelief,

بَعْدَ إِذْ هَدَانَا اللَّهُ

("...after Allah has guided us.") for if we do this, our example will be like he whom the devils have caused to wander in confusion throughout the land. Allah says here, your example, if you revert to disbelief after you believed, is that of a man who went with some people on a road, but he lost his way and the devils led him to wander in confusion over the land. Meanwhile, his companions on the road were calling him to come to them saying, `Come back to us, for we are on the path.' But, he refused to go back to them. This is the example of he who follows the devil after recognizing Muhammad ﷺ, and Muhammad ﷺ is the person who is calling the people to the path, and the path is Islam." Ibn Jarir recorded this statement.Allah's statement, j

كَالَّذِى اسْتَهْوَتْهُ الشَّيَـطِينُ فِى الاٌّرْضِ

(Like one whom the Shayatin (devils) have made to go astray (wandering) through the land, ) refers to ghouls,

يَدْعُونَهُ

(calling him) by his name, his father's and his grandfather's names. So he follows the devils' call thinking that it is a path of guidance, but by the morning he will find himself destroyed and perhaps they eat him. The Jinns will then let him wander in a wasteland where he will die of thirst. This is the example of those who follow the false gods that are being worshipped instead of Allah, Most Honored. Ibn Jarir also recorded this. Allah said,

قُلْ إِنَّ هُدَى اللَّهِ هُوَ الْهُدَى

(Say: "Verily, Allah's guidance is the only guidance,") Allah said in other instances,

وَمَن يَهْدِ اللَّهُ فَمَا لَهُ مِن مُّضِلٍّ

(And whomsoever Allah guides, for him there will be none to misguide him.) 39:37, and,

إِن تَحْرِصْ عَلَى هُدَاهُمْ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ لاَ يَهْدِى مَن يُضِلُّ وَمَا لَهُمْ مِّن نَّـصِرِينَ

(If you covet for their guidance, then verily Allah guides not those whom He makes to go astray. And they will have no helpers.) 17:37 Allah's statement,

وَأُمِرْنَا لِنُسْلِمَ لِرَبِّ الْعَـلَمِينَ

(and we have been commanded to submit to the Lord of all that exists.) means, we were commanded to worship Allah in sincerity to Him alone, without partners.

وَأَنْ أَقِيمُواْ الصَّلوةَ وَاتَّقُوهُ

(And to perform the Salah, and have Taqwa of Him.) meaning, we were commanded to perform the prayer and to fear Allah in all circumstances,

وَهُوَ الَّذِى إِلَيْهِ تُحْشَرُونَ

(and it is He to Whom you shall be gathered.) on the Day of Resurrection.

وَهُوَ الَّذِى خَلَقَ السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضَ بِالْحَقِّ

(It is He Who has created the heavens and the earth in truth.) meaning, in justice, and He is their Originator and Owner Who governs their affairs and the affairs of their inhabitants. Allah said,

وَيَوْمَ يَقُولُ كُن فَيَكُونُ

(and on the Day He will say: "Be!" it shall become.) Referring to the Day of Resurrection, which will come faster than the blink of an eye, when Allah says to it, `Be.'

As-Sur; The Trumpet

Allah's statement,

يَوْمَ يُنفَخُ فِى الصُّوَرِ

(on the Day when the Sur will be blown...) refers to His statement,

وَيَوْمَ يَقُولُ كُن فَيَكُونُ

(and on the Day He will say: "Be!" it shall become.) as we stated above. Or, it means,

وَلَهُ الْمُلْكُ يَوْمَ يُنفَخُ فِى الصُّوَرِ

(His will be the dominion on the Day when the Sur will be blown.) Allah said in other Ayat,

لِّمَنِ الْمُلْكُ الْيَوْمَ لِلَّهِ الْوَحِدِ الْقَهَّارِ

(Whose is the kingdom this Day It is Allah's, the One, the Irresistible!) 40:16, and,

الْمُلْكُ يَوْمَئِذٍ الْحَقُّ لِلرَّحْمَـنِ وَكَانَ يَوْماً عَلَى الْكَـفِرِينَ عَسِيراً

(The sovereignty on that Day will be the true (sovereignty), belonging to the Most Beneficent (Allah), and it will be a hard Day for the disbelievers.) 25:26 The Sur is the Trumpet into which the angel Israfil, peace be upon him, will blow. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,

«إِنَّ إِسْرَافِيلَ قَدِ الْتَقَمَ الصُّورَ، وَحَنَى جَبْهَتَهُ يَنْتَظِرُ مَتَى يُؤْمَر فَيَنْفُخ»

(Israfil has held the Sur in his mouth and lowered his forehead, awaiting the command to blow in it.) Muslim recorded this Hadith in his Sahih. Imam Ahmad recorded that `Abdullah bin `Amr said, "A bedouin man said, `O Allah's Messenger! What is the Sur' He said,

«قَرْنٌ يُنْفَخُ فِيه»

(A Trumpet which will be blown.)"

Say ‘Shall we call upon shall we worship instead of God that which neither profits us if we worship them nor hurts us if we neglect to worship them — these are the idols; and so be turned back and so return to idolatry after God has guided us to Islam? — Like one whom the devils have lured led astray in the earth bewildered confused not knowing where to go hayrān ‘bewildered’ is a circumstantial qualifier referring to the suffixed pronoun hā’ of istahwat-hu ‘whom they have lured’; he has companions a group who call him to guidance that is to say they are there in order to guide him to the right path saying to him “Come to us!”’ but he does not respond to them and he perishes the interrogative statement is meant as a disavowal; the comparative statement beginning with ka’lladhī ‘like one whom’ is a circumstantial qualifier referring to the subject of the verb nuraddu ‘be turned back’. Say ‘Truly God’s guidance which is Islam is the true guidance everything else being error and we have been commanded to submit to the Lord of the Worlds

In the third verse (70), nearly the same subject has been stressed upon in the following words: وَذَرِ‌ الَّذِينَ اتَّخَذُوا دِينَهُمْ لَعِبًا وَلَهْوًا (And avoid those who have taken their faith as game and play ...). The word: ذر (dhar) here is a derivation from: وَذَرِ‌ (wadhara) which means being displeased with something and leaving it. Thus, the verse can be taken either in the sense of leaving people who have turned the true religion, that is, Islam which has been sent for them, into a plaything and a laughing stock; or in the sense that they have left their real faith and taken to fun and play as their very own religion and purpose of life. The outcome of both meanings is nearly the same.

After that, it was said: وَغَرَّ‌تْهُمُ الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا that is, the transitory life of the present world has deceived them. This is a true diagnosis of their real problem. They are so disobedient and wicked because they are be-witched by the glamour of their mortal life totally forgetting that they have another state of life ahead of them. If they had believed in the 'Akhirah (Hereafter) and Qiyamah (The Last Day), they would have never acted so recklessly.

In this verse, the Holy Prophet ﷺ and Muslims at large have been given two orders that they should not only avoid the people identified, but that they should also act positively and continue preaching through the Qur'an and keep putting the fear of Allah's punishment in their hearts.

The detail of this punishment was pointed out at the end of the verse by saying that, should they continue doing what they were doing, they are bound to fall a victim to their own evil conduct. The word used at this place is: تُبسَلَ which means to be detained or be entrapped.

Since man in this world is accustomed to rely on three kinds of sources to escape the punishment of his own error or injustice inflicted on someone. When convenient, he would use the power and influence of his party or group to stay safe against the consequences of his injustice. Then, should he become helpless, he would use recommendations from the influential people. When that too does not work, he would try to secure his freedom from punishment by spending money.

Allah Ta` ala says in this verse that His criminal cannot be saved from punishment by any friend or relative, nor can an intercession by anyone succeed without the permission of Allah, nor can wealth of any kind be accepted - even if the criminal were to possess the wealth of the whole world and wished to give it all in exchange for his freedom from punishment, even then this fidyah will not be accepted from him.

Finally, at the close of the verse, it was said: أُولَـٰئِكَ الَّذِينَ أُبْسِلُوا بِمَا كَسَبُوا ۖ لَهُمْ شَرَ‌ابٌ مِّنْ حَمِيمٍ وَعَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ بِمَا كَانُوا يَكْفُرُ‌ونَ ﴿70﴾ that is, these are the people who have been detained in the punishment of their evil deeds. They will have boiling water to drink in the Jahannam about which it has been said in an-other verse that it will shatter their entrails apart (47:15) and that there will be painful punishments other than that of the boiling water in return for their disbelief and denial.

This verse also tells us that the very company of people who are heedless to the 'Akhirah and are content with their life in the mortal world is fatal for everyone. Its ultimate consequence is that whoever sits in their company shall be subject to the same punishment in which they have been caught up.

The essential objective in these three verses (68-70) is to save Muslims from evil environment and bad company which can be as deadly as poison. Many clear, definite and conclusive statements (Nusus) of the Qur'an and Hadith as well as repeated observation and experience prove that the root of all evils and crimes in which human beings get involved is the evil society and environment in which they grow up. Once snared into it, one slides into evils against personal grain and conscience. Then, comes the stage when, once habituated, the sense of evil dies away - reaching the limit when one starts taking evil as good and good as evil. In al Hadith, the Holy Prophet ﷺ ۔ is reported to have said: When a person gets involved in a sin for the first time, there appears a dot on his heart. This is like a black dot on a white dress which everyone dislikes and gets disturbed with. So, this person too feels the distaste in his heart. But when he, after having done the first one, goes on doing the second and the third sin - and does not re-pent from the past sin - black dots, one after the other, keep appearing on the heart, so much so that the radiant tablet of the heart turns jet black. The outcome is that this person is deprived of the very ability to distinguish between good and bad. The Holy Qur'an identifies it with the word: "ra'n" (rust, stain) when it says: كَلَّا ۖ بَلْ ۜ رَ‌انَ عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِهِم مَّا كَانُوا يَكْسِبُونَ ﴿14﴾(83:14), that is, there is rust on their hearts because of their evil deeds (which has taken away their ability to receive good).

When you come to think of it, wrong environment and bad company really hurt all human beings. They push people into the abyss. May Allah keep all of us protected from them. Therefore, everyone who is responsible for raising children must do their best to keep children safe from such society and environment.

As for the next three verses (71-73), they too deal with the refutation of Shirk (the attribution of partners to Allah) and the affirmation of Tauhid (the Oneness of Allah) and 'Akhirah (the Hereafter, the life to come) as fairly evident from the translation itself.