Al-An'am · Makki · ayah 146 of 165

Al-An'am 6:146

وَعَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ هَادُوا۟ حَرَّمْنَا كُلَّ ذِى ظُفُرٍ ۖ وَمِنَ ٱلْبَقَرِ وَٱلْغَنَمِ حَرَّمْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ شُحُومَهُمَآ إِلَّا مَا حَمَلَتْ ظُهُورُهُمَآ أَوِ ٱلْحَوَايَآ أَوْ مَا ٱخْتَلَطَ بِعَظْمٍ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ جَزَيْنَـٰهُم بِبَغْيِهِمْ ۖ وَإِنَّا لَصَـٰدِقُونَ

“And to those who are Jews We prohibited every animal of uncloven hoof; and of the cattle and the sheep We prohibited to them their fat, except what adheres to their backs or the entrails or what is joined with bone. [By] that We repaid them for their transgression. And indeed, We are truthful.”

Saheeh International

Essence

After invented taboos, a real one: Allah owns a restriction He once placed, names its cause plainly, and lets every reader learn.

A reflection

'We forbade', and no one else to blame

A woman inherits her father's printing firm in a bad year. Twelve jobs must go. Her managers suggest a gentle letter: the decision reflects 'the previous leadership's investments'. It would be partly true, and it would spare her. She signs the letters herself instead. 'I made this decision,' she writes, 'and here is why.' Some staff are angry. None of them can say she hid.

Read the ayah slowly and notice its voice. Ḥarramnā, We forbade, appears twice. Jazaynāhum, We recompensed them. Innā la-ṣādiqūn, and We are truthful. Nothing is passed to a predecessor or wrapped in passive verbs. The commentators record that some had said these things were forbidden because Israel forbade them to himself. The ayah answers plainly: We did it, and here is the cause.

Set this beside the ayat just before it. The Makkans had put their own rules into Allah's mouth. Here Allah takes His real ruling as His own and names its reason. The contrast is the whole lesson. False authority hides behind His name. True authority speaks in its own.

The lexicons give ṣidq a picture: a spear shaft that is hard and sound right through, which does not snap when tested. A truthful word is like that shaft. Lean on it and it holds.

Our egos manage hard news constantly. We soften, deflect and blame the system, because we need to be liked. Allah needs nobody's approval. That is precisely why He can speak so plainly. Someone may ask whether insisting 'We are truthful' is self-praise. In a creature it might be defensive. From Him it is said for our sake, so we can rest our weight on the record.

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.