Al-An'am · Makki · ayah 139 of 165

Al-An'am 6:139

وَقَالُوا۟ مَا فِى بُطُونِ هَـٰذِهِ ٱلْأَنْعَـٰمِ خَالِصَةٌ لِّذُكُورِنَا وَمُحَرَّمٌ عَلَىٰٓ أَزْوَٰجِنَا ۖ وَإِن يَكُن مَّيْتَةً فَهُمْ فِيهِ شُرَكَآءُ ۚ سَيَجْزِيهِمْ وَصْفَهُمْ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ حَكِيمٌ عَلِيمٌ

“And they say, "What is in the bellies of these animals[353] is exclusively for our males and forbidden to our females. But if it is [born] dead, then all of them have shares therein." He will punish them for their description.[354] Indeed, He is Wise and Knowing.”

Saheeh International

Essence

They kept the living young for their men and let women share only the stillborn; the Wise, the Knowing, will repay them their own description.

A reflection

When the bridle is in the wrong hands

A ten-year-old is put in charge of sharing out a birthday cake. He cuts generous slices for himself and his friends. The icing roses go to his side of the table. His little sister gets a thin wedge from the edge. He is quite sure it is fair.

The pagans in this ayah were doing the same with their herds. What is in these animals' bellies is for our males alone, they said. Forbidden to our women. Unless it is born dead, and then everyone may share. They had appointed themselves lawgivers, and the law came out shaped exactly like their own appetite.

The ayah ends with two of Allah's names: ḥakīm, ʿalīm. The Wise, the Knowing. The lexicons give the first a striking origin. The ḥakama was the part of a horse's bridle that ran round the jaw. It stopped the horse bolting and kept it under its rider. From that restraint came the judge, who holds back wrongdoing, and wisdom, which holds back folly.

This is where the ego has to shrink. Human beings love to hold the bridle. We like to decide who eats first, who inherits, who counts. But the ayah shows what happens when the bridle is in our hands. It bites the weakest first.

A fair question follows. Why does Allah insist on being the one who rules? Does it suggest a need for control, or for our submission? The ayah's own story answers. The One who needs nothing from anyone has no appetite to serve. He gains nothing from tilting a law. Only such a lawgiver can be trusted to be just to the daughter at the edge of the table.

So His wisdom is not a claim to power for its own sake. It is the guarantee that the bridle is held by someone who will not use it on the weak. That is a mercy, not a demand.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.