Surah Al-An'am 6:141-144 - Quran Translation Commentary

141. And it is He who produced gardens, with creepers²⁵⁵ and upright plants,²⁵⁶ and date palms and farms with different crops, and olive and pomegranate similar to one another and dissimilar²⁵⁷ (in taste). Eat of their fruits when they ripen and pay the dues thereof on the harvest day,²⁵⁸ And do not spend prodigally. Verily Allah does not like the prodigals.²⁵⁹

142. And of the cattle He created some for burden and some of low height.²⁶⁰ Eat what Allah has provided for you, and follow not the footsteps of Satan, for he is an open foe to you.

¹⁴³. There are eight²⁶¹ pairs: of the sheep two and of the goats two. Ask them: “Has He forbidden the two males or the two females, or the young ones contained in the wombs of the two females? Tell me with knowledge, if you are truthful”. ²⁶²

144. And (Similarly) of the camels two and of oxen two. Ask them: “Has He forbidden the two males or the two females, or the young ones contained in their wombs? Were you present when Allah commanded such a thing?”²⁶³ Then who is more wicked than a person who invents a lie concerning Allah to lead men astray without knowledge? Verily Allah does not guide people who do wrong.

Commentary

255. That is: Creepers like grapes, etc. which are grown on trelisses.

256. Upright plants which are not required to be grown on trelisses, which can be huge trees or small plants of cucumber or watermelon, etc.

257. The idea is to invite attention to the fact that on the earth various kinds of foods and fruits have been provided for man, which not only meet his basic needs but also give pleasure and satisfaction, otherwise for living just a piece of bread was enough. The high taste and the sense of refinement given to man has been satisfied by God by providing extremely enjoyable fruits and varieties of food. It is Allah’s great favours that He has granted all these delicacies to man, so that he may be grateful to Him. But man is a strange being. He en- prophet (Sal- Lal-Lahu Alaihi Wa-sallam) as under: “That which was irrigated by the rain-water or that springs or that which has been irrigated by the water from floods, etc. for them is the Ushr,i.e. the tenth part, and for that which has been irrigated artificially, in them is nisf- Ushr, i.e. half of the tenth part.” -(Bukhari) Ushr means one-tenth of the total produce (ten ‘percent) and Nisf-Ushr means twentieth part (five per cent) of the total produce – to be paid as zakat. The second principle which has been made clear is that the zakat of the fruits and farm produce becomes due on the harvest day. As many times in the year Zakat will have to be paid as there would be harvests in the year. The third principle is that immediately on harvesting the crop, zakat should be paid without delay.

258. The idea is to bring home to man that it is absolutely wrong for him to think that the right of enjoying these gifts and favours of Allah are for him alone and that there is no share for Allah in them. All these gifts have been given to man in order to test him, and Allah has fixed His share in them so that He may see who pays His dues and who does not.

Allah’s dues or share in the produce have been shown in detail by the prophet (P.b.u.h.) in ahadith. Here the command about paying the dues is given in the outline, so that man should first realize that he has to pay dues of Allah. After this realisation, he can turn to the Shariah for finding out the details.

This is a Maccan Surah, in which the command of paying Allah’s dues is given, which shows that the command of paying zakat from the produce of fruits and crops was revealed in Makkah only. It shows how important this form of worship – Zakat–is in Islam.

In the verse the farm produce and fruits have been mentioned. with this command there is this instruction that the dues there of should be paid on the harvest day itself. The one principle of Shariah which clearly emerged from this is that in every kind of food produce, crops and every kind of fruits there is Allah’s share and due. This due has been explained by the prophet (Sal- Lal-Lahu Alaihi Wa-sallam) as under :

“That which was irrigated by the rain-water or that springs or that which has been irrigated by the water from floods, etc. for them is the Ushr,i.e. the tenth part, and for that which has been irrigated artificially, in them is nisf- Ushr, i.e. half of the tenth part.” -(Bukhari)

Ushr means one-tenth of the total produce (ten ‘percent) and Nisf-Ushr means twentieth part (five per cent) of the total produce – to be paid as zakat. The second principle which has been made clear is that the zakat of the fruits and farm produce becomes due on the harvest day. As many times in the year Zakat will have to be paid as there would be harvests in the year.

The third principle is that immediately on Harvesting the crop. Zakat should be paid without delay.

259. The word “Israf” used here means crossing the limit in spending. A man who spends unduly is unable to satisfy his own desires, how can he be expected to pay the dues of others?

260. Among the cattle’s there are some that are tall, like camels, bullocks, etc., which are used as beasts of burden and for riding, etc., and there are some that are of low height as if they walk touching the ground, like sheep, goats, etc. whose flesh and milk is used by men as food.

There are eight pairs: of the sheep two and of the goats two. Ask them: “Has He forbidden the two males or the two females, or the young ones contained in the wombs of the two females? Tell me with knowledge, if you are truthful” (Al-Quran)

261. The animals which are domesticated by Arabs for their milk and flesh supply are’Al- An’am’ (cattle) and are of four kinds: sheep, goat, camel and cow–buffalo included in the cow category, but it is not found in Arabia. The pairs of these four animals make eight.

The Arabs considered these eight animals lawful as food, but owing to polytheistic considerations they declared some of them as forbidden in certain conditions, for example if an offspring of an animal was, born alive its flesh was considered lawful for men but forbidden to women, but if the offspring were to be still-born, then its flesh was lawful for both men and women. Similarly, the milk of certain animals and riding on their back was forbidden to them in certain conditions. (See Surah Maidah, Verse No.103 and Note No.249). Here this very superstition of theirs is described.

262. That is: It is not right to consider a thing lawful or forbidden merely on the basis of conjecture or superstition, because considering a thing forbidden. would mean that Allah has declared it as forbidden, and to attribute a thing to Allah on the basis of mere conjecture is absolutely false. Only that thing can be attributed to Allah which is supported by an evidence based on knowledge. It is obvious that such an evidence can only be a revelation from God. Therefore, if this evidence can be found in the teachings of prophet Ibrahim or in any command in previous Divine Scriptures, provided it is authentic, then produce it.

This demand or challenge of producing evidence based on knowledge is not for the Arabs only but for all the nations of the world, who have declared the flesh of certain animals as forbidden owing to their superstitions, e.g. the flesh of the cow or the flesh of all animals.

263. That is: How did you come to know that the flesh of this particular kind of she-camel or cow or their off springs has been forbidden to you by Allah? You cannot point out any support for this contention in the Shariah of any prophet, then were you given this command directly by God, and did you hear this command ‘directly with your ears? And when both these things are not true, then what other meaning can be given to this command that you have invented a Shariah of your customs, and which you are falsely ascribing to God?