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

(6:141) It is He who brings forth the orchards, the trellised and the untrellised ones, the date palm, and produce of diverse taste, olives and pomegranates, similar and dissimilar. Eat of its fruit when it fructifies²⁵¹ and give out the due thereof²⁵² on the day of its harvest.²⁵³ Yet, do not over indulge.²⁵⁴ Indeed, He does not approve of the over indulgent.

(6:142) And (of Our sings are) cattle for burden, as well as (those) not for burden.²⁵⁵ Eat of what Allah has provided you and follow not the footsteps of Satan. Surely, he is your avowed enemy.

(6:143) (There are) eight (among the cattle that make) couples²⁵⁶: of the sheep²⁵⁷ a pair, of the goats a pair. Say, ‘Has He forbidden the two males or the two females? Or what the wombs of the two females carry? Tell me by knowledge, if you are true.'

(6:144) Similarly, of the camels is a pair, and of the oxen a pair. Say, ‘Has He forbidden the two males or the two females? Or what the wombs of the two females carry?²⁵⁸ Or, were you witnesses when Allah charged you with this? Who then can do greater wrong than he who fastens a lie upon Allah, to lead the people astray without knowledge?²⁵⁹ Verily, Allah does not guide a wrong doing people.'

Commentary

251. The verse tells us by implication that all that is in the earth is lawful to man, unless there is a commandment to the contrary (Razi).

252. The opinions are divided over whether the "due" is zakah or sadaqah? Ibn Jarir believes that until the institution of zakah, it was sadaqah that was meant. But, later, with the laying down of zakah rules, it is the obligatory zakah that is meant.

253. This verse is the basis of Imam Abu Hanifa's opinion that so far as farm products go, there is no minimum limit, rather, one should give out as zakah one tenth of whatever is harvested, whether that be little or more (Razi). Such is also the opinion of Imam Hanbal (Ma`arif).

Fiqh Points

The following are from Mufti Shafi`

The minimum of wealth, trade goods, or cattle that is liable for zakah has been delineated by the Prophet himself. But ahadith that speak of zakah on farm products do not say anything about the minimum. Hence, zakah must be offered on whatever is produced, less or more. The minimum for various items is as follows:

(i) On any treasure found accidentally, or, gold, silver and such precious metals, one in 5.

(ii) On any farm product that is irrigated with natural water, one in 10.

(iii) On any farm product that is artificially irrigated (by means of canals, wells, etc.), one in 20.

(iv) Savings, (whether in cash or gold), trade goods, etc., one in 40.

It should be apparent from above that the zakah imposed seems to depend on ease or difficulty of procurement of wealth. If it is easily obtained, such as a treasure, then it is one fifth that has to be given away as zakah. Over farm produce, that are irrigated by natural means, such as rain water, one is required to pay off one half of what one would pay over easily found wealth. But if the farm is irrigated by artificial means, that is, requiring greater human effort, then it is reduced to one half of what one would pay over a farm irrigated by natural means. Finally, over the wealth one earns by trade and merchandize, which involves lots of efforts, the amount is one half of the farms irrigated by artificial means.

Quote from Shafi` ends here.

According to the Hanafiyyah, zakah must be paid for every land produce except timber, grass, canes, plants grown for seeds, and plants of medicinal value. Some fruits and vegetables (not all) are also exempt (Alamgiriyyah). But the rules and exemptions are different with other fuqaha' (Au.).

254. The "over indulgence" (israf) is applicable both to giving less as well as to giving out more than necessary, as reported of Thabit b. Qays b. Shimas who, when he went up to pluck his dates, vowed, "no one shall come to me but I shall give him some dates." By the evening he was left with nothing (Ibn Jarir). Mujahid however has said that if you were to spend gold amounting to what Ibn Qubays had, seeking Allah's pleasure, you would not be committing israf. But if you spent a little while displeasing Him, then, that would be israf (Shawkani).

Accordingly, following the harvest, some Companions of the Prophet hung bunches of dates in the mosque. The hungry used a stick to bring down what they needed (Ibn Jarir, Ibn Kathir). In fact, according to a report in Abu Da'ud and Ahmad of good strength the Prophet had ordered that whoever harvested more than 11 wasaqs of dates, should hang a bunch in the mosque for the poor (Shawkani).

255. Ibn Mas`ud, Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid and Hasan have said that "hamulah" of the original alludes to those camels that are used for burden while "farsh" to those of them that are not used for burden because of their youth. But some others, such as Hasan, Qatadah, Suddi, Dahhak, and, according to one report Ibn `Abbas too, have said that "farsh" (so named because of its closeness to the earth), is applicable to any animal that is not used for carrying loads such as the little ones of the camel as well as bovines viz., goats, sheep, etc. (Ibn Jarir). The interpretation of Zayd b. Aslam is that "farsh" alludes to the use of the hide and wool for sleeping on or for covering against cold in winter (Ibn Kathir).

256. Eight that make pairs: that is, sheep, goat, camel, and cow: two of each make a pair. Although there were other domesticated animals, the pagans played their nefarious game of declaring this lawful or that unlawful on these eight (Au.).

"The term zawj denotes a pair of things as well as each of the two constituents of the pair" (Asad).

257. Whatever of the bovine cattle yields wool is Da'n in Arabic (Razi).

258. "Question as to whether the male offspring is lawful and the female is unlawful are presented in some detail to show how unreasonable their superstitions are" (Mawdudi).

259. Suddi, Ibn Zayd and others have said that the pagan Arabs whimsically prohibited this or that of the cattle, or a part of its body, to themselves or to their women. When asked why, they would refer its illegality to God. Allah refuted them in this verse declaring once again that these cattle are lawful unto everyone (Au.). And the first of those who introduced these practices was `Amr b. Luhayy (Zamakhshari).