145 Page Notes

06 Surah Al-Anam (continued)

Page 145 - Related Hadith/Sunnah

6:132

6:133

6:134

6:135

6:136

6:137

Translation of the meaning by Sahih International.

Page 145 - Related Hadiths and Sunnah

Page 145 of the Quran covers Surah Al-An'am (The Cattle), verses 132 through 137. This portion of the Surah transitions from the cosmic consequences of human actions to a detailed, scathing critique of the specific, highly bizarre superstitious rituals practiced by the pagan Arabs of Mecca during the pre-Islamic era of ignorance (Jahiliyyah).

The Hadiths and Sunnah provide the concrete historical framework needed to understand exactly what customs these verses are abolishing.

1. Verse 133: The Richness and Mercy of God

"And your Lord is the Free of need, the Possessor of mercy. If He wills, He can take you away and give succession after you to whomever He wills, just as He produced you from the descendants of another people." (Quran 6:133)

This verse underscores that God's demands for worship are entirely for human benefit, as He is perfectly independent (Al-Ghani). The Sunnah heavily emphasizes this concept through core theological statements.

• The Hadith Qudsi on God's Independence: The Prophet Muhammad directly echoed the reality of verse 133 in a famous divine narration. He stated that Allah said:
  "O My servants, if the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you, were to be as pious as the most pious heart of any one man among you, that would not increase My kingdom in anything. O My servants, if the first of you and the last of you... were to be as wicked as the most wicked heart of any one man among you, that would not decrease My kingdom in anything..."
  (Sahih Muslim, Book of Virtue, Manners and Ties, Hadith 2577).

2. Verse 135: An Ultimatum to the Opponents

"Say, 'O my people, work according to your position; indeed, I am working. And you are going to know who will have the succession of the home. Indeed, the wrongdoers will not succeed.'" (Quran 6:135)

• The Prophet's Firmness in Mission: This verse acts as an unwavering declaration of the Prophet's absolute certainty in his mission, telling the Quraysh to try their worst. The Sunnah records this exact attitude during the early Meccan period. When the Quraysh elite tried to bargain with him through his uncle Abu Talib, offering him kingship, wealth, or women to stop preaching, the Prophet famously replied:
  "O my uncle! By Allah, if they put the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left hand on condition that I abandon this course, I would not abandon it until Allah has made it victorious or I perish therein."
  (Recorded in Al-Sirah al-Nabawiyyah by Ibn Hisham; also cited by Ibn Kathir).

3. Verse 136: The Arbitrary Dividing of Harvests and Livestock

"And they [i.e., the polytheists] assign to Allah a share of the crops and livestock He created, saying, 'This is for Allah,' by their claim, 'and this is for our partners [idols].' But what is for their 'partners' does not reach Allah, while what is for Allah reaches their 'partners'. Evil is that which they rule." (Quran 6:136)

To understand this verse, the Sunnah provides the historical context of the pagans' highly unfair accounting system.

• The Pagan Custom Explained: In the Sunnah literature and the explanations transmitted by the companions (such as Ibn Abbas), it is detailed that a pagan farmer would split his fields and herds into two sections—one for God and one for his stone idols.

  • If wind or water carried some of the harvest from the "Idol's share" into "Allah's share," the pagans would manually move it back, saying, "Allah is rich and doesn't need this."

  • However, if the wind blew crops from "Allah's share" into the "Idol's share," they would leave it there, saying, "Our idols are poor and need the support."
    (Documented in Tafsir al-Tabari via Ibn Abbas; authenticated under the classical Asbab al-Nuzul).

4. Verse 137: The Illusions of Child-Killing

"And likewise, to many of the polytheists their partners have made pleasing the killing of their children in order to ruin them and cover them with confusion in their religion..." (Quran 6:137)

This verse targets the horrific pre-Islamic practice of female infanticide (Wa'd) and sacrificing children out of fear of poverty or to appease the temple guardians/devils (Shuraka).

• The Gravity of the Sin: The Sunnah strictly categorizes this practice as one of the ultimate crimes against humanity. A companion asked the Prophet:
  "O Messenger of Allah, which sin is the greatest?" He said, "To join partners with Allah though He alone created you." The man asked, "What next?" The Prophet replied, "To kill your child out of fear that they will eat food with you (i.e., share your resources)."
  (Sahih al-Bukhari, Book of Prophetic Commentary, Hadith 4477; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 86).

• The Man Who Instituted the Custom: In a profound historical Hadith, the Prophet identified the exact historical figure who corrupted the religion of Ishmael in Arabia and introduced these deadly superstitious laws (including the shifting of shares and changing religious practices):
  "I saw Amr ibn Luhayy al-Khuza'i dragging his intestines in the Fire. He was the first one to introduce the custom of dedicating animals to idols (Siba) and altering the pure religion of Abraham."
  (Sahih al-Bukhari, Book of the Virtues of the Companions, Hadith 3521).

Canonical Reference Matrix

To cross-reference these points within traditional source texts, focus on:

• Sahih al-Bukhari: Kitab al-Tafsir (Specifically the chapters decoding the pagan animal and harvest distributions under Surah 6) and Kitab Manaqib al-Ansar (handling pre-Islamic history).

• Sahih Muslim: Kitab al-Birr (Divine independence) and Kitab al-Iman (The definition of major sins).

• Tafsir Ibn Kathir (Volume 3): Visually and structurally maps out the agricultural divisions mentioned by the companions under verse 136.