Al-An'am · Makki · ayah 151 of 165

Al-An'am 6:151

۞ قُلْ تَعَالَوْا۟ أَتْلُ مَا حَرَّمَ رَبُّكُمْ عَلَيْكُمْ ۖ أَلَّا تُشْرِكُوا۟ بِهِۦ شَيْـًٔا ۖ وَبِٱلْوَٰلِدَيْنِ إِحْسَـٰنًا ۖ وَلَا تَقْتُلُوٓا۟ أَوْلَـٰدَكُم مِّنْ إِمْلَـٰقٍ ۖ نَّحْنُ نَرْزُقُكُمْ وَإِيَّاهُمْ ۖ وَلَا تَقْرَبُوا۟ ٱلْفَوَٰحِشَ مَا ظَهَرَ مِنْهَا وَمَا بَطَنَ ۖ وَلَا تَقْتُلُوا۟ ٱلنَّفْسَ ٱلَّتِى حَرَّمَ ٱللَّهُ إِلَّا بِٱلْحَقِّ ۚ ذَٰلِكُمْ وَصَّىٰكُم بِهِۦ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَعْقِلُونَ

“Say, "Come, I will recite what your Lord has prohibited to you. [He commands] that you not associate anything with Him, and to parents, good treatment, and do not kill your children out of poverty; We will provide for you and them. And do not approach immoralities - what is apparent of them and what is concealed. And do not kill the soul which Allāh has forbidden [to be killed] except by [legal] right. This has He instructed you that you may use reason."”

Saheeh International

Essence

Against a pile of invented taboos, the Prophet ﷺ says 'Come': here is what your Lord has really forbidden, and it is short.

A reflection

Come: the short list that actually matters

Many people hear this passage as 'the rules'. A list of prohibitions, the strict side of religion, to be obeyed rather than loved. That is the worn-smooth reading.

Notice how it begins. Qul taʿālaw: say, come. One commentary glosses it as 'come here, draw near'. It is the word you use to call someone over to show them something. The list that follows is an invitation before it is a law.

Then notice the context. One major commentary explains that these words were addressed to people who had invented their own prohibitions. They had declared certain cattle and crops off-limits by their own opinion. They had killed their own children. The passage before this ayah records those self-made rules at length. And then: come, I will recite what your Lord has actually forbidden.

The list is strikingly short and strikingly humane. Do not set up partners with Allah. Be excellent to your parents. Do not kill your children for fear of poverty. Do not go near indecency, open or hidden. Do not take a life that Allah has made sacred, except by right, as His law defines. Each item protects something: the heart's direction, the family, the child, decency, life itself.

Picture a new starter handed a ninety-page staff handbook on her first morning. Her supervisor watches her flick through it, then closes it gently. Five things actually matter here, he says, and lists them. The rest is detail. She remembers the five for the rest of her career.

The ayah does the same. It sweeps away a clutter of human taboos and hands over the few things that really matter.

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.