Al-An'am · Makki · ayah 118 of 165

Al-An'am 6:118

فَكُلُوا۟ مِمَّا ذُكِرَ ٱسْمُ ٱللَّهِ عَلَيْهِ إِن كُنتُم بِـَٔايَـٰتِهِۦ مُؤْمِنِينَ

“So eat of that [meat] upon which the name of Allāh has been mentioned,[339] if you are believers in His verses [i.e., revealed law].”

Saheeh International

Essence

On food, the first word here is not 'do not' but 'eat': a meal taken under His name becomes a quiet act of faith.

A reflection

A thread round the finger at the hungriest moment

A builder climbs into his van cab at ten past one. He has been on a roof since seven. He opens his lunchbox before the door is shut. The first bite is gone before he has properly sat down.

Hunger is the moment we are most likely to forget everything except the food. That is exactly where this ayah places a name. Eat of that over which the name of Allah has been mentioned.

The word for 'mentioned' is dhukira, from the root of dhikr. The lexicons give it a small, homely picture. A man would tie a thread round his finger so that a need would not slip his mind. That thread was his reminder. Dhikr is the opposite of forgetting, and it lives in two places: the heart and the tongue.

So the name said over food is a thread tied at the very point where forgetting is easiest. Appetite narrows the world to a plate. The name widens it again. It reminds you that this bread, this meat, this water came from somewhere, and from Someone.

The verb 'eat' adds its own quiet note. The lexicons say its root is about wearing away. Food is eaten and is gone. Fire eats wood, and age eats the teeth. Every meal consumes something that once lived or grew. A name said at that moment is a way of not consuming thoughtlessly.

One early scholar, asked about this ayah, said it commands mentioning His name over drink, food and slaughter. He added: and over everything that points to remembering Him. The ayah's first setting is the slaughtered animal. But the thread it ties reaches every table.

The builder needs no ceremony. He needs one word before the first bite. It takes less than a second. It turns a refuelling stop into a gift received.

The full entry has 6 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.