Tafheem ul Quran

Surah 6 Al-An'am, Ayat 111-121

وَلَوۡ اَنَّـنَا نَزَّلۡنَاۤ اِلَيۡهِمُ الۡمَلٰٓـئِكَةَ وَكَلَّمَهُمُ الۡمَوۡتٰى وَ حَشَرۡنَا عَلَيۡهِمۡ كُلَّ شَىۡءٍ قُبُلًا مَّا كَانُوۡا لِيُؤۡمِنُوۡۤا اِلَّاۤ اَنۡ يَّشَآءَ اللّٰهُ وَلٰـكِنَّ اَكۡثَرَهُمۡ يَجۡهَلُوۡنَ‏ ﴿6:111﴾ وَكَذٰلِكَ جَعَلۡنَا لِكُلِّ نَبِىٍّ عَدُوًّا شَيٰطِيۡنَ الۡاِنۡسِ وَالۡجِنِّ يُوۡحِىۡ بَعۡضُهُمۡ اِلٰى بَعۡضٍ زُخۡرُفَ الۡقَوۡلِ غُرُوۡرًا​ ؕ وَلَوۡ شَآءَ رَبُّكَ مَا فَعَلُوۡهُ​ فَذَرۡهُمۡ وَمَا يَفۡتَرُوۡنَ‏ ﴿6:112﴾ وَلِتَصۡغٰٓى اِلَيۡهِ اَفۡـئِدَةُ الَّذِيۡنَ لَا يُؤۡمِنُوۡنَ بِالۡاٰخِرَةِ وَلِيَرۡضَوۡهُ وَلِيَقۡتَرِفُوۡا مَا هُمۡ مُّقۡتَرِفُوۡنَ‏ ﴿6:113﴾ اَفَغَيۡرَ اللّٰهِ اَبۡتَغِىۡ حَكَمًا وَّهُوَ الَّذِىۡۤ اَنۡزَلَ اِلَيۡكُمُ الۡـكِتٰبَ مُفَصَّلاً​ ؕ وَالَّذِيۡنَ اٰتَيۡنٰهُمُ الۡـكِتٰبَ يَعۡلَمُوۡنَ اَنَّهٗ مُنَزَّلٌ مِّنۡ رَّبِّكَ بِالۡحَـقِّ​ فَلَا تَكُوۡنَنَّ مِنَ الۡمُمۡتَرِيۡنَ‏ ﴿6:114﴾ وَتَمَّتۡ كَلِمَتُ رَبِّكَ صِدۡقًا وَّعَدۡلاً  ؕ لَا مُبَدِّلَ لِكَلِمٰتِهٖ​ ۚ وَهُوَ السَّمِيۡعُ الۡعَلِيۡمُ‏ ﴿6:115﴾ وَاِنۡ تُطِعۡ اَكۡثَرَ مَنۡ فِى الۡاَرۡضِ يُضِلُّوۡكَ عَنۡ سَبِيۡلِ اللّٰهِ​ؕ اِنۡ يَّتَّبِعُوۡنَ اِلَّا الظَّنَّ وَاِنۡ هُمۡ اِلَّا يَخۡرُصُوۡنَ‏ ﴿6:116﴾ اِنَّ رَبَّكَ هُوَ اَعۡلَمُ مَنۡ يَّضِلُّ عَنۡ سَبِيۡلِهٖ​ۚ وَهُوَ اَعۡلَمُ بِالۡمُهۡتَدِيۡنَ‏ ﴿6:117﴾ فَـكُلُوۡا مِمَّا ذُكِرَ اسۡمُ اللّٰهِ عَلَيۡهِ اِنۡ كُنۡتُمۡ بِاٰيٰتِهٖ مُؤۡمِنِيۡنَ‏  ﴿6:118﴾ وَمَا لَـكُمۡ اَلَّا تَاۡكُلُوۡا مِمَّا ذُكِرَ اسۡمُ اللّٰهِ عَلَيۡهِ وَقَدۡ فَصَّلَ لَـكُمۡ مَّا حَرَّمَ عَلَيۡكُمۡ اِلَّا مَا اضۡطُرِرۡتُمۡ اِلَيۡهِؕ وَاِنَّ كَثِيۡرًا لَّيُضِلُّوۡنَ بِاَهۡوَآئِهِمۡ بِغَيۡرِ عِلۡمٍ​ؕ اِنَّ رَبَّكَ هُوَ اَعۡلَمُ بِالۡمُعۡتَدِيۡنَ‏ ﴿6:119﴾ وَذَرُوۡا ظَاهِرَ الۡاِثۡمِ وَبَاطِنَهٗ​ؕ اِنَّ الَّذِيۡنَ یَکْسِبُوۡنَ الۡاِثۡمَ سَيُجۡزَوۡنَ بِمَا كَانُوۡا يَقۡتَرِفُوۡنَ‏ ﴿6:120﴾ وَلَا تَاۡكُلُوۡا مِمَّا لَمۡ يُذۡكَرِ اسۡمُ اللّٰهِ عَلَيۡهِ وَاِنَّهٗ لَفِسۡقٌ ؕ وَاِنَّ الشَّيٰطِيۡنَ لَيُوۡحُوۡنَ اِلٰٓى اَوۡلِيٰٓـئِـهِمۡ لِيُجَادِلُوۡكُمۡ​ ۚ وَاِنۡ اَطَعۡتُمُوۡهُمۡ اِنَّكُمۡ لَمُشۡرِكُوۡنَ‏ ﴿6:121﴾

(6:111) Even if We had sent angels down to them and the dead had spoken to them, and even if We had assembled before them all the things, face to face, they would still not believe unless it be Allah's will that they believe.78 Most of them behave in utter ignorance. (6:112) And so it is that against every Prophet We have set up the evil ones from among men and jinn, some of them inspire others with specious speech only by way of. delusion.79 Had it been your Lord's will, they would not have done it.80 Leave them alone to fabricate what they will. (6:113) So that the hearts of those who do not believe in the Life to Come might incline towards this attractive delusion, and that they may be well pleased with it and might acquire the evils that they are bent on acquiring. (6:114) Shall I look upon anyone apart from Allah for judgement when it is He Who has revealed to you the Book in detail?81 And those whom We gave the Book (before you) know that this (Book) has been revealed in truth by your Lord. Do not, then, be among the doubters.82 (6:115) The Word of your Lord is perfect in truthfulness and justice; no one can change His words. He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing. (6:116) (O Muhammad!) If you obey the majority of those who live on earth, they will lead you away from Allah's path. They only follow idle fancies, indulging in conjecture.83 (6:117) And your - Lord knows well who stray from His path, and also those who are rightly-guided. (6:118) If you believe in the signs of Allah, eat (the flesh) of that over which Allah's name has been pronounced.84 (6:119) And how is it that you do not eat of that over which Allah's name has been pronounced even though He has clearly spelled out to you what He has forbidden you unless you are constrained to it?85 Many indeed say misleading things without knowledge, driven merely by their lowly desires. But your Lord knows well the transgressors. (6:120) Abstain from sin, be it either open or secret. Indeed those who commit sins shall surely be requited for all they have done. (6:121) Do not eat of (the animal) over which the name of Allah has not been pronounced (at the time of its slaughtering), for that is a transgression. And behold, the evil ones do inspire doubts and objections into the hearts of their friends so that they dispute with you;86 but if you obey them, you will surely yourselves turn into those who associate others with Allah in His divinity.87

Notes

78. The people under discussion are so perverse that they do not prefer to embrace the Truth in preference to falsehood by rightly exercising their choice and volition. The only way that is left for them to become lovers of the Truth is, therefore, that by His overpowering will God should render them truth-loving not by their choice and volition, but by metamorphizing their very nature. Such a course, however, goes against the wisdom which underlies the creation of man. Hence it is futile to expect God to intervene in the matter and to force those people to believe by the exercise of His will.

79. The Prophet (peace be on him) is told that he should not be unnerved even if the evil ones among both mankind and the jinn stood united against him and opposed him with all their might. For this was not the first time that such a thing had happened. Whenever a Prophet came and tried to lead people to the Truth, all the satanic forces joined hands to defeat his mission. 'Specious talk' signifies all the trickery and manoeuvring to which the enemy resorts, all his efforts aimed at sowing doubts about Islam and undermining people's faith in it, so as to arouse them against both the Prophet (peace be on him) and his message. Taken as a whole, these are characterized as 'delusion', for the weapons used in their crusade by the opponents of the Truth have the effect of deluding others as well as themselves, no matter how beneficial and successful those weapons may appear to be.

80. Furthermore, we should always bear in mind that, according to the Qur'an, there is a tremendous difference between 'God's will' and 'God's good pleasure'. The failure to differentiate between the two often gives rise to serious misconceptions. If a certain thing takes place in accord with the universal will of God, and thus by His sanction, that does not necessarily mean that God is pleased with it. Nothing at all takes place in the world unless God permits it to take place, unless He makes it a part of His scheme, and unless He makes it possible for that event to take place by creating its necessary conditions. The act of stealing on the part of a thief, the act of homicide on the part of a murderer, the wrong and corruption of the wrong-doer and the corrupt, the unbelief of the unbeliever and the polytheism of the polytheist - none of these are possible without the will of God. Likewise, the faith of the believer and the piety of the pious are inconceivable without the will of God. In short, both these require the will of God. But whereas the things in the first category do not please Him, those in the second do.
Even though the will of God is oriented to ultimate good, the course of the realization of that good is paved with conflict between the forces of light and darkness, of good and evil, of what is sound and pure on the one hand and what is corrupt and defiled on the other. With larger interests in view, God has endowed man with the disposition of obedience as well as of disobedience. He has created in man Abrahamic and Mosaic as well as Nimrodic and Pharaonic potentialities. Both the pure, unadulterated human nature and the satanic urges are ingrained in man's being and have been provided with the opportunity to work themselves out by coming into conflict with each other. He has granted those species of His creatures who are possessed of authority (viz. man and jinn) the freedom to choose between good and evil. Whosoever chooses to act righteously has been given the power to do so, and the same is the case with him who chooses to be evil. People of both categories are in a position to use material resources within the framework of the broader considerations underlying God's- governance of His universe. God will be pleased, however, only with those who are working for good. God likes His creatures to exercise their freedom of choice properly and commit themselves to good of their own volition.
Unlike the angels, who carry out God's commands without resistance from any quarter, the task entrusted to men is to strive to establish the way of life sanctioned by God in the face of opposition and hostility from evil-doers and rebels against Him. In the framework of His universal will, God allows even those who have chosen the path of rebellion to strive for the realization of their goals, even as He grants the believers every opportunity to strive along the path of obedience and service to God. Despite this granting of freedom and choice to all there is no doubt that God is pleased with, and guides, directs, supports and strengthens the believers alone because their overall direction is to His liking. Nevertheless, they should not expect that by His supernatural intervention God will either force those who are disinclined to believe into believing or that He will forcibly remove the satanic forces - among both men and jinn - who are resolved to spare neither their mental and physical energy nor their material resources to impede the triumph of the Truth. Those determined to strive in the cause of the Truth, and of virtue and righteousness are told that they must prove their earnest devotion by waging a fierce struggle against the devotees of falsehood. For had God wanted to use miracles to obliterate falsehood and usher in the reign of the Truth, He would not have required human beings to accomplish the task. He could have simply seen to it that no evil one remained in the world, leaving no possibility for polytheism and unbelief to exist.

81. The implied speaker in this sentence is the Prophet (peace be on him) and the words are addressed to the Muslims. The purpose of the sentence is to impress upon the Muslims that God has elucidated the relevant truths, and has also proclaimed that in their endeavour to make the Truth prevail they will have to follow the path of striving and struggle. The devotees of the Truth should, therefore, resort to those means which human beings normally employ for the successful achievement of their objectives rather than wait for any supernatural intervention that would enable them to achieve their mission without struggle and sacrifice. Moreover, since God Himself had chosen that human effort rather than supernatural intervention should lead to the prevalence of the Truth, who had the power to change this basic fact and bring about the victory of the Truth without any resort to human effort and sacrifice.

82. This is no mere concoction designed to explain away the current problems. All those versed in the Scriptures, and possessing true understanding of the mission of the Prophets (peace be on them all), will confirm that everything in the Qur'an is perfectly true and in fact constitutes that eternal truth which cannot suffer any change or modification.

83. One need not follow the way of life of the majority, for the majority tend to follow their conjectures and fancies rather than sound knowledge. Their beliefs, their ideas and concepts, their philosophies of life, the guiding principles of their conduct, their laws - all these are founded on conjecture. On the contrary, the way of life which pleases God, was revealed by Him and hence is based on true knowledge rather than conjecture. Instead of trying to discover the way of life of the majority, a seeker after truth should, therefore, persevere in the way prescribed by God, even if he finds himself to be a solitary traveller.

84. Many nations have imposed on themselves superfluous religious taboos, which include a variety of dietary restrictions. On the one hand, they have declared lawful many of the things which God has forbidden. On the other, there are many things which God has made lawful but which some people have forbidden to themselves. Some people have even gone so far as to consider eating animals slaughtered in the name of God as unlawful, while those slaughtered with no mention of God's name may be eaten. God repudiates this and urges the Muslims - if they really believe in Him and obey His injunctions - to smash the superstitious and prejudiced notions contrived by human beings in disregard of God's revealed guidance, and to recognize as unlawful all that God has declared to be unlawful, and as lawful all that God has declared to be lawful.

85. See (Surah al-Nahl 16:15). We may observe in passing that this allusion indirectly establishes that Surah al-Nahl was revealed before the present surah.

86. It has been reported in a tradition transmitted by 'Abd Allah b. 'Abbas that the Jewish religious scholars used to prompt the ignorant people of Arabia to address many enquiries to the Prophet (peace be on him) so as to discredit him. One of the questions they taught them to ask was: 'Why is it that an animal killed by (the act of) God should be deemed prohibited, while one killed by us is considered lawful?'This is a common example of the warped mentality of the People of the Book. They strained their minds to contrive such questions so as to create doubts in people's minds and to provide them with intellectual weapons in their fight against the Truth.

87. To acknowledge the overlordship of God, yet to follow at the same time the orders and ways of those who have turned away from Him, amounts to associating others with God in His divinity. True belief in the unity of God consists in orienting one's entire life to the obedience and service of God. Those who believe that any other being besides God is to he acknowledged in principle as having an independent claim on man's unreserved obedience should know that such acknowledgement amounts to associating others with God in His divinity at the level of belief. On the other hand, if they actually do obey those who, in sheer disregard of God's guidance and injunctions, arrogate to themselves the right to declare according to their whims certain things to be lawful and others to be unlawful, and to bid and forbid people as they please, this amounts to associating others with God in His divinity at the level of action.