Tafheem ul Quran

Surah 16 An-Nahl, Ayat 111-119

يَوۡمَ تَاۡتِىۡ كُلُّ نَفۡسٍ تُجَادِلُ عَنۡ نَّفۡسِهَا وَتُوَفّٰى كُلُّ نَفۡسٍ مَّا عَمِلَتۡ وَهُمۡ لَا يُظۡلَمُوۡنَ‏ ﴿16:111﴾ وَضَرَبَ اللّٰهُ مَثَلًا قَرۡيَةً كَانَتۡ اٰمِنَةً مُّطۡمَـئِنَّةً يَّاۡتِيۡهَا رِزۡقُهَا رَغَدًا مِّنۡ كُلِّ مَكَانٍ فَكَفَرَتۡ بِاَنۡعُمِ اللّٰهِ فَاَذَاقَهَا اللّٰهُ لِبَاسَ الۡجُـوۡعِ وَالۡخَـوۡفِ بِمَا كَانُوۡا يَصۡنَعُوۡنَ‏ ﴿16:112﴾ وَلَـقَدۡ جَآءَهُمۡ رَسُوۡلٌ مِّنۡهُمۡ فَكَذَّبُوۡهُ فَاَخَذَهُمُ الۡعَذَابُ وَهُمۡ ظٰلِمُوۡنَ‏ ﴿16:113﴾ فَكُلُوۡا مِمَّا رَزَقَكُمُ اللّٰهُ حَلٰلًا طَيِّبًا وَّاشۡكُرُوۡا نِعۡمَتَ اللّٰهِ اِنۡ كُنۡـتُمۡ اِيَّاهُ تَعۡبُدُوۡنَ‏ ﴿16:114﴾ اِنَّمَا حَرَّمَ عَلَيۡكُمُ الۡمَيۡتَةَ وَ الدَّمَ وَلَحۡمَ الۡخِنۡزِيۡرِ وَمَاۤ اُهِلَّ لِغَيۡرِ اللّٰهِ بِهٖ​ۚ فَمَنِ اضۡطُرَّ غَيۡرَ بَاغٍ وَّلَا عَادٍ فَاِنَّ اللّٰهَ غَفُوۡرٌ رَّحِيۡمٌ‏ ﴿16:115﴾ وَلَا تَقُوۡلُوۡا لِمَا تَصِفُ اَلۡسِنَـتُكُمُ الۡكَذِبَ هٰذَا حَلٰلٌ وَّهٰذَا حَرَامٌ لِّـتَفۡتَرُوۡا عَلَى اللّٰهِ الۡكَذِبَ​ؕ اِنَّ الَّذِيۡنَ يَفۡتَرُوۡنَ عَلَى اللّٰهِ الۡكَذِبَ لَا يُفۡلِحُوۡنَؕ‏ ﴿16:116﴾ مَتَاعٌ قَلِيۡلٌ وَّلَهُمۡ عَذَابٌ اَلِيۡمٌ‏ ﴿16:117﴾ وَعَلَى الَّذِيۡنَ هَادُوۡا حَرَّمۡنَا مَا قَصَصۡنَا عَلَيۡكَ مِنۡ قَبۡلُ​ۚ وَمَا ظَلَمۡنٰهُمۡ وَلٰـكِنۡ كَانُوۡۤا اَنۡفُسَهُمۡ يَظۡلِمُوۡنَ‏ ﴿16:118﴾ ثُمَّ اِنَّ رَبَّكَ لِلَّذِيۡنَ عَمِلُوا السُّوۡۤءَ بِجَهَالَةٍ ثُمَّ تَابُوۡا مِنۡۢ بَعۡدِ ذٰ لِكَ وَاَصۡلَحُوۡۤا ۙ اِنَّ رَبَّكَ مِنۡۢ بَعۡدِهَا لَغَفُوۡرٌ رَّحِيۡمٌ‏  ﴿16:119﴾

(16:111) Allah's judgement will come about them all on the Day when everyone shall come pleading in his defence, and everyone shall be fully requited for his deeds and none shall be wronged in the least. (16:112) Allah sets forth the parable of (the people of) a town who were secure and content and whose sustenance came in abundance from every quarter. But then the people of the town showed ingratitude towards Allah for His bounties, so Allah afflicted them with hunger and fear in punishment for their evil deeds. (16:113) Most certainly a Messenger came to them from among them; but they rejected him, calling him a liar. Therefore chastisement seized them while they engaged in wrong-doing.112 (16:114) So eat out of the lawful and good sustenance that Allah has bestowed upon you, and thank Allah for His bounty,113 if it is Him that you serve.114 (16:115) Allah has forbidden you only carrion, and blood, and the flesh of swine; also any animal over which the name of any other than Allah has been pronounced. But whoever eats of them under compelling necessity - neither desiring it nor exceeding the limit of absolute necessity - surely for such action Allah is Much Forgiving, Most Merciful.115 (16:116) And do not utter falsehoods by letting your tongues declare: "This is lawful"116 and "That is unlawful," thus fabricating lies against Allah. Surely those who fabricate lies against Allah will never prosper. (16:117) Brief is their enjoyment of the world, and thereafter they shall suffer a painful chastisement. (16:118) We have already recounted to you118 what We prohibited117 to the Jews. In so doing We did not wrong them; it is they who wronged themselves. (16:119) But to those who commit evil out of ignorance and then repent and amend their ways, thereafter your Lord will be Much Forgiving, Most Merciful.


Notes

112. That habitation has not been specified here nor have the commentators definitely pointed out which that habitation was. However, there is a saying of Ibn Abbas (which seems to be correct) that the place referred to is Makkah itself. In that case, hunger and fear will mean the famine which prevailed over the people of Makkah for several years during the Prophethood of Muhammad (peace be upon him).

113. This shows that the above mentioned famine had come to an end at the time of the revelation of this Surah.

114. Here the observation of the lawful and the unlawful has been made the test of worship of Allah. Those who claim to be the servants of Allah will eat what is lawful and pure and show gratitude to Him and will scrupulously refrain from what is forbidden and impure.

115. Please refer also to (Surah Al-Baqarah, Ayat 173), (Surah Al-Maidah, Ayat 3) and (Surah Al-Anaam, Ayat 145).

116. This verse clearly shows that none but Allah has the right to declare a thing to be lawful or unlawful. Or, in other words, the right of making laws exclusively rests with Allah. Therefore, any person who will dare to decide about the lawful and the unlawful will transgress his powers. Of course, a person, who acknowledges the divine law as the final authority, may deduce from it whether a certain thing or action is lawful or unlawful.

The arrogation of the right of determining the lawful and the unlawful has been declared to be a falsehood on Allah for two reasons:

(1) Such a person, so to say, claims that what he declares to be lawful or unlawful, disregarding the authority of the divine Book, has been made lawful or unlawful by God.

(2) He means to claim that Allah has given up the authority of making lawful and unlawful and has thus left man free to make his own laws for the conduct of life. It is obvious that each of these claims will be a falsehood and a false imputation to Allah.

118. This refers to: “And We prohibited all animals with claws to those people who had adopted Judaism.” (Surah Al-Anaam, Ayat 146). In this (verse 118) Allah has stated that certain things were made unlawful because of the disobedience of the Jews.

Here a question arises. Which of the two Surahs, Al-Anaam or An-Nahl, was first revealed? This is because in (verse 118), a reference has been made to (verse 146 of Al-Anaam). Also in (verse 119 of Al-Anaam): “And why should you not eat that thing over which Allah’s name has been mentioned, when He has already given you a detail of those things that have been declared to be unlawful for you except in case of extremity?” a reference has been made to (verse 115 of An- Nahl).

This is because these are the only two Makki Surahs in which details of unlawful things have been given. As regards to the question, we are of the opinion that An-NahI was revealed earlier than Al-Anaam, for (verse 119 )of the latter contains a reference to( verse 115) of the former. It appears that after the revelation of Surah Al-Anaam, the disbelievers raised objections in regard to these verses of An-Nahl. So they were referred to (verse 146 of Al-Anaam) in which a few things were made unlawful, especially for the Jews. As this answer concerned An-Nahl, so (verse 118), though it was revealed after the revelation of Al-Anaam, was inserted as a parenthetical clause in An-Nahl.

119. “Abraham was a whole community by himself” for at that time he was the only Muslim in the whole world who was upholding the banner of Islam, while the rest of the world was upholding the banner of unbelief. As that servant of Allah performed the mission which is ordinarily carried out by a whole community, he was not one person but an institution in himself.