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This is the generally-accepted explanation of the term ma'rushat and ghayr ma'rushat (lit., "those which are and those which are not provided with trellises"). The mention of "gardens" serves here to illustrate the doctrine that everything living and growing - like everything else in the universe - owes its existence to God alone, and that it is, therefore, blasphemous to connect it causally or devotionally with any other power, be it real or imaginary.
See note [85] on verse {99} of this surah.
Or trellised and untrellised.
Ansha-a: see vi. 98, n. 923.
A beautiful passage, with music to match the meaning. Cf. vi. 99 and notes.
"Waste not, want not," says the English proverb. Here the same wisdom is preached from a higher motive. See what magnificent means God provides in nature for the sustenance of all His creatures, because He loves them all. Enjoy them in moderation and be grateful. But commit no excess, and commit no waste: the two things are the same from different angles of vision. If you do, you take away something from other creatures and God would not like your selfishness.
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I.e., by superstitiously declaring as forbidden what God has made lawful to man. All the references to pre-Islamic taboos given in verses {138-140} as well as {142-144} are meant to stress the lawfulness of any food (and, by implication, of any other physical enjoyment) which God has not expressly forbidden through revelation.
Strong cattle like camels and oxen can be used for labour, whereas smaller ones like goats and sheep are not suitable for labour but are good for their meat, milk, hide, etc.
Superstition kills true religion. We come back to the Arab Pagan superstitions about cattle for food. The horse is not mentioned, because horse flesh was not an article of diet and there were no superstitions about it. Sheep and goats, camels and oxen were the usual sources of meat. Sheep and goats were not used as beasts of burden, but camels (of both sexes) were used for carrying burdens, and oxen for the plough, though cows were mainly used for milk and meat. The words "some for burden and some for meat" do not differentiate whole species, except that they give you the first two and the last two categories.
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Lit., "eight [in] pairs - of sheep two and of goats two" (the two other pairs are mentioned in the next verse). This is an outstanding example of the ellipticism often employed in the Qur'an: a mode of expression which cannot be correctly rendered in any other language without the use of explanatory interpolations. The term zawj denotes a pair of things as well as each of the two constituents of a pair: hence my rendering of thamaniyat azwaj (lit., "eight [in] pairs") as "four kinds of cattle of either sex". The particular superstition to which this and the next verse refer is probably identical with the one mentioned in 5:103 .
Lit., "tell me with knowledge" - i.e., not on the basis of guesswork but of knowledge acquired through authentic revelation. The preceding and subsequent ironical questions are meant to bring out the vagueness and inconsistency which characterizes all such superstitious, self-imposed prohibitions.
The superstitions referred to in vi. 139 and v. 106 are further ridiculed in this verse, and the next.
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Lit., "and of camels two, and of bovine cattle two" - thus completing the enumeration of the "eight kinds [i.e., four pairs] of cattle".
Lit., "[thus] to lead people astray". However, the conjunction li prefixed to the verb yudill ("he leads astray") does not denote here - as is usually the case - an intent ("in order that") but, rather, a logical sequel ("and thus..."): a use which is described by the grammarians as lam al-'aqibah, "the letter lam signifying a causal sequence".
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Lit., "forbidden to an eater to eat thereof".
Lit., "a sinful deed" (fisq) - here signifying an idolatrous offering.
Cf. 2:173 and 5:3 .
Blood poured forth: as distinguished from blood adhering to flesh, or the liver, or such other internal organs purifying the blood.
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The construction of the above sentence makes it clear that this prohibition was imposed specifically on the Jews, to the exclusion of believers of later times (Razi).
Cf. Leviticus vii, 23 (where, however, "all manner" of fat of ox, sheep or goat is declared forbidden).
See 3:93 .
Zufur may mean claw or hoof; it is in the singular number; but as no animal has a single claw, and there is no point in a division of claws, we must look to a hoof for the correct interpretation. In the Jewish Law (Leviticus, xi. 3-6), "Whatsoever parteth the hoof, and is cloven-footed, and cheweth the cud, among the beasts" was lawful as food, but the camel, the coney (rabbit), and the hare were not lawful, because they do not "divide the hoof". "Undivided hoof" therefore is the correct interpretation. These three animals, unlawful to the Jews, are lawful in Islam. Cf. iv. 160.
In Leviticus (vii. 23) it is laid down that "ye shall eat no manner of fat, of ox, or of sheep or of goat." As regards the exceptions, it is to be noticed that priests were enjoined (Leviticus, vii. 6) to eat of the fat in the trespass of offering, which was considered holy, viz., "the rump" (back and bone) "and the fat that covereth the inwards" (entrails), (Leviticus, vii.3).
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I.e., regarding the Qur'anic statement in verse {145} that God forbids only a few, clearly-defined categories of food. The pronoun "they" refers to the Jews as well as to the pagan Arabs spoken of in the preceding verses - both of whom claim that God has imposed on man various complicated restrictions in the matter of food. According to the Qur'an, the Jews are wrong in their claim inasmuch as they overlook the fact that the severe Mosaic food laws were a punishment for their past misdeeds see 3:93 and, therefore, intended for them alone; and the pagan Arabs are wrong because their taboos have no divine basis whatsoever and are due to mere superstition.
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I.e., the truth that God has endowed man with the ability to choose between right and wrong. The above verse constitutes a categorical rejection of the doctrine of "predestination" in the commonly-accepted sense of this term.
I.e., knowledge regarding "predestination".
As used by the Pagans, the argument is false, for it implies (a) that men have no personal responsibility, (b) that they are the victims of a Determinism against which they are helpless, and (c) that they might therefore go on doing just what they liked. It is also inconsistent, for if (b) is true, (c) cannot be true. Nor is it meant to be taken seriously.
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In other words, the real relationship between God's knowledge of the future (and therefore the ineluctability of what is to happen in the future) on the one side, and man's free will, on the other - two propositions which, on the face of it, seem to contradict one another - is beyond man's comprehension; but since both are postulated by God, both must be true. The very concept of "God" presupposes His omniscience; and the very concept of morality and moral responsibility presupposes free will on man's part. Had God so willed, every human being would have been forced to live righteously; but this would have amounted to depriving man of his free will, and morality of all its meaning.
On the other hand, the argument cuts true and deep, as from God to His creatures. God is Omnipotent, and can do all that we can conceive. But He, in His Plan, has given man some responsibility, and some choice in order to train man's will. If man fails, he is helped in various ways by God's mercy and grace. But man cannot go on sinning, and in a state of sin, expect God to be pleased with him (vi. 147).
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A reference to the arbitrary prohibitions mentioned in the preceding passages.
Lit., "make [others] equal to their Sustainer": i.e., attribute divine or almost-divine qualities to certain ill-defined natural powers - e.g., believe in "spontaneous" creative evolution, or in a "self-created" universe, or in a mysterious, impersonal elan vital that supposedly underlies all existence, etc.
The Pagan superstitions were of course baseless, and in many cases harmful and debasing. If God's name was taken as supporting them, no true man of God could be taken in, or join in support simply because God's name was taken in vain.
Cf. vi. 1. God, who created and who cherishes and cares for all, should have the first claim on our attention. Those who set up false gods fail to understand God's true governance of their own true destiny.
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In the consensus of all the commentators, the phrase interpolated by me between brackets is clearly implied in the above commandment, since it is mentioned among the things which God has forbidden - and being good towards one's parents is not only not forbidden but, on the contrary, enjoined over and over in the Qur'an.
This may possibly refer to abortions dictated by economic considerations.
Sc., "and not resort to brute force whenever your private interests are involved". The expression "otherwise than in [the pursuit of] justice" refers to the execution of a legal punishment or to killing in a just - that is, defensive - war, or to individual, legitimate self-defence.
For example, in retaliation for intentional killing through legal channels.
Instead of following Pagan superstitions, and being in constant terror of imaginary taboos and prohibitions, we should study the true moral law, whose sanction is God's Law. The first step is that we should recognise that He is the One and Only Lord and Cherisher. The mention of goodness to parents immediately afterwards suggests: (1) that God's love of us and care for us may -on an infinitely higher plane- be understood by our ideal of parental love, which is purely unselfish; (2) that our first duty among our fellow creatures is to our father and mother, whose love leads us to the conception of divine love. Arising from that is the conception of our converse duties to our children. God provides sustenance (material and spiritual) not only for us, but for them; hence any custom like the Pagan custom of sacrificing children of Moloch stands condemned. Then come the moral prohibitions against lewdness and all unseemly acts, relating to sex or otherwise, open or secret. This is followed by the prohibition of killing or fighting. All these things are conformable to our own interests, and therefore true wisdom from our own point of view.
For the comprhensive word haqq I have used the two words "justice and law"; other significations implied are: right, truth, what is becoming, etc. It is not only that human life is sacred, but all life is sacred. Even in killing animals for food, a dedicatory formula "in the name of God" has to be employed, to make it lawful: see n. 698 to v. 5, and n. 962 to vi. 138.
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I.e., after the orphan in one's charge has come of age, the former guardian may "touch" his property, legally, by borrowing from it or otherwise utilizing it with the owner's consent. The phrase rendered by me as "save to improve it" reads, literally, "in a manner that is best", which implies the intent of bettering it.
This refers metonymically to all dealings between men and not only to commercial transactions: hence my interpolation of "in all your dealings".
The meaning is that God does not expect man to behave with "mathematical" equity - which, in view of the many intangible factors involved, is rarely attainable in human dealings - but expects him to do his best towards achieving this ideal.
According to Razi, the phrase "when you voice an opinion" (lit., "when you speak") applies to expressing an opinion on any subject, whether it concerns one personally or not; but the subsequent reference to one's "near of kin" makes it probable that the above injunction relates, in particular, to the giving of evidence in cases under dispute.
See surah {2}, note [19].
i.e., when you testify or judge.
Cf. v. 1, and n. 682.
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Lit., "to become scattered".
Note againe the triple refrain with variations, in vi. 151, 152, and 153. In verse 151, we have the moral law, which it is for our own good to follow: "Thus doth He command you, that ye may learn wisdom." In verse 152, we have to deal justly and rightly with others; we are apt to think too much of ourselves and forget others: "Thus doth He command you, that ye may remember." In verse 153 our attention is called to the Straight Way, the Way of God, the only Way that leads to righteousness: "Thus doth He command you, that ye may be righteous."
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See note [31] on the last paragraph of verse {38} of this surah. In this instance, the stress implied in the use of thumma seems to point to verse {91} of this surah.
I.e., everything that they needed by way of laws and injunctions appropriate to their time and the stage of their development (Razi). See in this connection the phrase, "Unto every one of you have We appointed a [different] law and way of life", occurring in 5:48 , and the corresponding note [66].
The revelation to Moses went into the details of people's lives, and thus served as a practical guide to the Jews and after them to the Christians. Admittedly the Message delivered by Christ dealt with general principles only and in no way with details. The message of Islam as in the Qur-an is the next complete guide in point of time after that of Moses.
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