Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

CHAPTER 5, VERSES 1-3

بِسْمِ اللَّـهِ الرَّحْمَـٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَوْفُوا بِالْعُقُودِۚ أُحِلَّتْ لَكُم بَهِيمَةُ الْأَنْعَامِ إِلَّا مَا يُتْلَىٰ عَلَيْكُمْ غَيْرَ مُحِلِّي الصَّيْدِ وَأَنتُمْ حُرُمٌۗ إِنَّ اللَّـهَ يَحْكُمُ مَا يُرِيدُ ﴿١﴾ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تُحِلُّوا شَعَائِرَ اللَّـهِ وَلَا الشَّهْرَ الْحَرَامَ وَلَا الْهَدْيَ وَلَا الْقَلَائِدَ وَلَا آمِّينَ الْبَيْتَ الْحَرَامَ يَبْتَغُونَ فَضْلًا مِّن رَّبِّهِمْ وَرِضْوَانًاۚ وَإِذَا حَلَلْتُمْ فَاصْطَادُواۚ وَلَا يَجْرِمَنَّكُمْ شَنَآنُ قَوْمٍ أَن صَدُّوكُمْ عَنِ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ أَن تَعْتَدُواۘ وَتَعَاوَنُوا عَلَى الْبِرِّ وَالتَّقْوَىٰۖ وَلَا تَعَاوَنُوا عَلَى الْإِثْمِ وَالْعُدْوَانِۚ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّـهَۖ إِنَّ اللَّـهَ شَدِيدُ الْعِقَابِ ﴿٢﴾ حُرِّمَتْ عَلَيْكُمُ الْمَيْتَةُ وَالدَّمُ وَلَحْمُ الْخِنزِيرِ وَمَا أُهِلَّ لِغَيْرِ اللَّـهِ بِهِ وَالْمُنْخَنِقَةُ وَالْمَوْقُوذَةُ وَالْمُتَرَدِّيَةُ وَالنَّطِيحَةُ وَمَا أَكَلَ السَّبُعُ إِلَّا مَا ذَكَّيْتُمْ وَمَا ذُبِحَ عَلَى النُّصُبِ وَأَن تَسْتَقْسِمُوا بِالْأَزْلَامِۚ ذَٰلِكُمْ فِسْقٌۗ الْيَوْمَ يَئِسَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا مِن دِينِكُمْ فَلَا تَخْشَوْهُمْ وَاخْشَوْنِۚ الْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْ وَأَتْمَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعْمَتِي وَرَضِيتُ لَكُمُ الْإِسْلَامَ دِينًاۚ فَمَنِ اضْطُرَّ فِي مَخْمَصَةٍ غَيْرَ مُتَجَانِفٍ لِّإِثْمٍۙ فَإِنَّ اللَّـهَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ ﴿٣﴾

In the Name of Allãh, the Beneficent, the Merciful.

O you who believe!fulfil the covenants. The cattle quadrupeds are made lawful for you except that which is recited to you, not violating the prohibition against game when you are under pilgrimage restrictions; surely Allãh orders what He desires (1). O you who believe!do not violate the signs appointed by Allãh nor the sacred month, nor the offering, nor the symbolic garlands, nor those going to the Sacred House seeking the grace and pleasure from their Lord. And when you are free from (the restrictions of) the pilgrimage, then (you may) hunt; and let not hatred of a people - because they hindered you from the Sacred Mosque - incite you to exceed the limits. And help one another in righteousness and piety, and do not help one another in sin and aggression; and fear Allãh; surely Allãh is severe in punishment (2). Forbidden to you is that which dies of itself, and blood, and flesh of swine, and that on which any other name than that of Allãh has been invoked, and the strangled (animal) and that beaten to death, and that killed by a fall and that killed by being smitten with the horn, and that which wild beasts have eaten, except what you slaughter and what is sacrificed on stones set up (for idols) and that you divide by arrows; that is a transgression. This day have those who disbelieve despaired of your religion, so fear them not, and fearMe . This day have I perfected for you your religion and completed My favour on you and chosen for you Islam as a religion; but whoever is compelled by hunger, not inclining wilfully to sin, then surely Allãh is Forgiving, Merciful (3).

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GENERAL COMMENT

If we meditate on the beginning and end of this chapter and ponder on the general verses which have been revealed in it and look at the admonitions and the stories which it contains, we will find that the general theme of the chapter is to call the people to fulfil the covenants and to uphold the valid agreements whatever they might be. It warns against breach of agreement and cautions those who take the covenants lightly. It shows that Allãh has made it His habit to deal with mercy and lighten the burden of those who guard themselves against evil and belief, and then again guard themselves against evil and do good work. On the contrary, He deals harshly with those who commit outrage, exceed the limit and overstep the bounds by throwing away the collar of obedience and going out of the boundary of covenants which have been made in the religion.

That is why you will see that the chapter contains many laws concerning legal punishment and retribution; there are stories of the dinner table, of questioning of the Messiah and of the incident of the two sons of Adam; it also points to a lot of injustices of the Israelites and how they broke the covenants which were taken from them; also there are many verses in which Allãh describes His Grace on the people in various matters like perfecting the religion, completing His favour, making the good things lawful to man and legislating the ways of purification without putting the people into any difficulty and hardship.

This was in confirmity with the time when the chapter was revealed. All reporters agree that it was the last detailed chapter which was revealed to the Messenger of Allãh (s.a.w.a.) nearing the end of his life. It has come in both sects' traditions that it is the abrogating chapter, not the abrogated; and it was proper in this background to emphasize the admonition to fulfil and safeguard the agreements which Allãh has taken from His servants, and to remain firm on it.

COMMENTARY

QUR’ÃN: O you who believe!fulfil the covenants : al-‘Uqūd (اَلْعُقودْ ) is plural of al-‘aqd (اَلْعَقْدْ ), and it means to tie two things together in such a way that it becomes very difficult to separate one from the other.For example, tying a rope or thread with a similar rope or thread. Obviously, both adhere to each other and remain tied. First, this word was used for such phenomenon which could be perceived by the senses; then it was used metaphorically for abstract things like the offer and acceptance in trade or employment, etc. It covers all the covenants and agreements. All these things are called 'al-‘aqd' because the effect of the 'tying' is present there, that is, adherence to each other.

al-‘Aqd, that is covenant, is used for all the religious covenants which Allãh has taken from His servants, like monotheism and all the fundamental cognition and perception, the acts of worship and the laws which were laid down anew or were allowed to continue from previous times, including the proposal and acceptance in trade, etc.

The verse contains the word al-‘uqūd which is plural of al-‘aqd having al (اَلْ ) which signifies comprehensiveness; therefore, this word in this verse encompasses all which could be called ‘aqd (عَقْد = tie, covenant).

The above explanation shows the weakness of what various exegetes have written in its interpretation. Some have said that the covenants refers to those agreements or contracts which people make one with another, like trade deal, marriage and promise or which man binds himself with like oath.

Likewise, some others have said that it refers to those agreements which the people of the time of ignorance had contracted with one another that they will help and support each other against those who would proceed against them with evil intention or transgress against them. It means the pact or treaty which was common in those days.

Similarly, some others have said that it refers to the covenants taken from the People of the Book that they would follow what was written in the Torah and the Gospel. All these interpretations are without any support from the wording of the verse. Moreover, as we have said that a plural joined with 'al' and the common usage of the word al-‘aqd for every type ofcovenant, renders all such expalantions inappropriate. Therefore, the word should be taken in its comprehensive and general meaning.

A DISCOURSE ON THE MEANING OF AL-‘AQD

TheQur’ãn manifestly orders man to honour the covenants as is clear from the Divine words, “fulfil the covenants”. Apparently, the order is general and covers all affairs which could be called a covenant, fulfilling which is necessary. al-‘Aqd is every deed or word which is analogous to the literal tying a sort of connecting one thing with another in such a way that they become inseparable; the tie of trade deal which attaches the merchandise to the buyer giving it into his ownership with full authority to do with it whatever he likes, and the seller after that deal loses the right of ownership and management of the merchandise; or like the ‘aqd of marriage which binds the woman with the man giving him the right to establish sexual relations with her and the woman has no right to allow another man to touch her for this purpose; or like an agreement in which one man binds himself to do for the other party the work agreed upon and he has no right to dishonour that agreement.

TheQur’ãn has emphatically exhorted the people to fulfil the covenant and agreement (with all its meanings and applications), and has put utmost emphasis on it. It has condemned those who break the agreements and threatened them very severely; it has praised those who fulfil their covenants when they make it; there are a lot of verses of this connotation, which need not be quoted here.

The said verses have referred to the covenants without defining them in so many words; it shows that the meaning of covenant was understood by the people with their natural wisdom. It is so, because covenant and its fulfilment are the things which man cannot do without in his life; this essentiality of fulfilment of covenant effects individuals and societies both. If we ponder upon human beings' social life, we will find that all the privileges which we enjoy and all the rights which we take for granted are based on general social covenant and the resulting agreements which spring from it. All the duties towards the society which we feel ourselves bound to fulfil and all the rights which we think we have over the society are based on a practical covenant (even if we have not put it into words). If a man were to break an agreement which he had made with his own free will - merely because now he has power or authority or strength to break it - the first victim would be the social justice, while this justice is the first principle on which man relies for freeing himself from exploitation and servitude.

That is why Allãh has highly emphasized the importance of fulfilling the covenant. He says: And fulfil the promise; verily promise shall be questioned about (17:34). This verse covers individual agreements a man makes with another person (like most of the verses which praise fulfilling the agreement and condemn its breach) as well as collective agreements like the ones made between two nations or two people; rather fulfilling inter-communal agreements is more important in the eyes of religion than the individual ones, because it has more effect in completing the justice; and the disadvantages of their breach will be more pronounced.

We find that the Divine Book forbids very clearly breaking a covenant even in such a place and in such circumstances where it would have been very easy to break it. Allãh says: (This is a) renouncement by Allãh and His Messenger towards those of the idolators with whom you made an agreement. So move about in the land for four months and know that you cannot weaken Allãh and that Allãh will bring disgrace to the unbelievers. An announcement from Allãh and His Messenger to the people on the day of the great pilgrimage that Allãh and His Messenger are free from all responsibilities towards the idolators; therefore if you repent, it will be better for you, and if you turn back, then know that you will not weaken Allãh; and announce painful punishment to those who disbelieve. Except those of the idolaters with whom you made an agreement, then they have not fauled you in anthing and and have not backed up any one against you, so fulfil their agreement to the end of their term; surely Allãh loves those who are careful (of their duty). So when the sacred months have passed away, then slay the idolaters wherever you find them (9:1-5). The verses, as the context shows, were revealed after the conquest of Mecca when Allãh had humiliated the idolaters, destroyed their power and crushed their valour. These verses obliged the Muslims to cleanse the land which they had conquered from the impurity of polytheism, and encouraged them to spill the blood of the polytheists without any restriction or condition, except if they come into the fold of Islam. In spite of that, the same verses make exception for those polytheists with whom the Muslims had a valid agreement of non-aggression; the verses do not allow the Muslims to attack them even when they have weakened and lost their power, even when they have no way of defending or protecting themselves. All this was done to uphold the sanctity of the agreement and out of regard for piety.

Of course, if somebody breaks a covenant after its confirmation, he shall be requitted exactly as he had done. Allãh says: How can there be an agreement for the idolaters with Allãh and with His Messenger; except those with whom you made an agreement at the Sacred Mosque? So long as they are true to you, be true to them; surely Allãh loves those who are careful (of their duty) . They do not pay regard to ties of relationship nor those of covenant in the case of a believer; and these are they who go beyond the limits. But if they repent and keep up prayer and pay zakãt they are your brethren in faith; andWe make the communications clear for a people who know. And if they break their oaths after their agreement and revile your religion, then fight the leaders of unbelief - surely their oaths are nothing - so that they may desist (9:7-12). Also He says: . whoever then acts aggressively against you, inflict the like aggression on him as he has inflicted on you; and fear Allãh . (2:194); again He says: . and let not hatred of a people - because they hindered you from the Sacred Mosque - incite you to exceed the limits. And help one another in righteousness and piety, and do not help one another in sin and aggression; and fear Allãh . (5:2).

In short, Islam believes in sanctity of covenant and obliges man to fulfil it without reservation; it makes no difference whether the said man benefits from that covenant or is harmed by it once the pact has been made. After all, consideration of the social justice is more compulsory and obligatory than the consideration of a private or personal benefit. Of course, if one of the parties breaks his agreement, then the other party can break it to the same extent and act aggressively against him to the same degree. This principle liberates the society from servitude and exploitation; after all the main purpose of religionis to erase the arrogance of the powerful.

By my life!this is one of the lofty teachings brought by Islam for the gudiance of the people, that they should pay attention to the human nature and preserve the social justice on which the human society is based; and that they should remove the injustice of subjugation and exploitation. The Mighty Book has made it clear and the Prophet (s.a.w.a.) proceeded on the same path throughout his noble life. The discourse is related to the Qur’ãn, otherwise, we would have written for you some of his stories. If you want to know in detail, you should study his biographies.

Compare how Islam had preserved the sanctity of covenant with the behaviour of civilized and less civilized nations nowadays - especially what we see and hear everyday concerning the dealings of the powerful nations with the weaker ones in their agreements and pacts, and how they fulfilthe agreements so long as it is beneficial to them or supports their national interests and break them unhesitating-ly when it goes against their interest, offering for it lame excuses - then you will see the difference between the two systems and realize who pays regard to the truth and serves the reality.

That is more appropriate for the religion and this suits these people's selfish behaviour. We find two types of logic here: one says that the truth and reality must be preserved with all possible means as only in this way the society will prosper; and the other says that the national interest must be protected by any possible means even if it crushes the truth and reality. The first is the logic of religion; and the second, the logic of all other societies, be they barbaric or civilized, be they dictatorial, democratic or communist, etc.

You must have understood from the above that Islam in its determination concerning agreement and pact is not restricted to the legal agreements only; its decree encompasses all those things on which an edifice is built be it explicit or implicit; Islam admonishes the Muslims to pay full attention to it. There are some other points concerning this theme which you will come across as you read on, God willing.

QUR’ÃN: The cattle quadrupeds are made lawful to you except that which is recited toyou : al-Ihlãl (اَلْاِحْلَالُ = to make lawful); albahīmah (اَلْبَهِيْمَةُ = quadruped from terrestrial and marine animals), as has been explained in Majma‘u 'l-bayãn. Accordingly, the genitive construction, relating quadruped to the cattle, relates the species to its classes, as we say human species, animal genus. Some have said that al-bahīmah is the foetus of the cattle. In any case, the sentence; “the cattle quadrupeds are made lawful for you”, means that eating the meat of eight pairs29 is made lawful to you. The words, “except that which is recited to you”, point to the law described later: Forbidden to you is that which dies of itself . .

QUR’ÃN: not violating the prohibition against game when you are under pilgrimage restrictions; . .: It is a circumstantial clause related to the second person pronoun in the word, “are made lawful for you”, and it indicates that even this lawful category will become unlawful if it was hunted in the condition of ihrãm; for example, if one hunts wild deer, cow or zebra in that condition. Some people have said that the said circumstantial clause is related to the word 'fulfil'; others have said that it is related to the second person pronoun in the words: except that which is recited to you. as-Sayd (اَلصَّيْدُ = to hunt) is a verbal noun used here in the meaning of passive participle, that is, hunted game; al-hurum (اَلْحُرُم ) is plural of al-harãm (اَلْحَرَام ) giving here the meaning of active participle, that is, he who puts himself under restriction of pilgrimage.

QUR’ÃN: O you who believe!do not violate the signs appointed by Allãh nor the sacred month, nor the offering, nor the symbolic garlands, nor those going to the Sacred House seeking the grace and pleasure from their Lord : The believers are addressed again in this verse to indicate importance of maintaining the respect of the things sanctified by Allãh. It was explained earlier that al-ihlãl means to make lawful; as this idea is closely connected to indifference towards respect or honour of the thing made lawful, therefore, it is metaphorically used here in the sense of violating. Its specific meaning will be decided in the contexts of the second construct of the genetive; the signs and symbols appointed by Allãh are violated if one does not pay respect to them or neglects them, a sacred month is violated if one begins fighting in it, and so on.

ash-Sha‘ãir (اَلشَّعَآئِر ) is plural of ash-sha‘īrah (اَلشَّعِيْرَة = sign). Probably here it refers to the guide posts of hajj and its rites. The sacred months are those lunar months in which fighting has been prohibited by Allãh; they are al-Muharram, Rajab, Dhi 'l-qi‘dah and Dhi 'l-hijjah.al-Hady (اَلْهَدْى ) refers to goat, sheep, cow and camels that are taken to the pilgrimage.al-Qalãid (اَلْقَلآئِد ) is plural of alqalãdah (اَلْقَلاَدَة ); it refers to the garland of shoes, etc. which is put in the neck of a sacrificial animal to show that it is meant for sacrifice, in order that nobody should appropriate it. al-Ãmmīn (اَلاَمِّيْن ) is plural of al-ãmm (اَلاَمّ ) which is the active participle of amm (اَمَّ = he headed to); here it refers to those who are on their way to the pilgrimage of the Sacred House “Seeking the grace” is the circumstantial clause to “those going”; al-fadl (اَلْفَضْل = grace) refers to property or material profit. The same is the connotation of the Divine words: So they returned with favour from Allãh and (His) grace; no evil touched them (3:174); there are other verses too of the same meaning; also it may mean the reward of hereafter; or it may have a meaning encompassing the both senses. The exegetes have given several other meanings of the words used here like ash-sha‘ãir and al-qalãid; what we have mentioned is more appropriate in the context, and no purpose will be served by mentioning other interpretations.

QUR’ÃN: And when you are free from (the restrictions of) the pilgrimage, then (you may)hunt : When an imperative comes after prohibition, it only indicates that now the thing or action is allowed and the prohibition is lifted.al-Hall and al-ihlãl (اَلْاِحْلَالُ ، اَلْحَلُّ ) give the same meaning, that is, becoming free from the restrictions of ihrãm.

QUR’ÃN: and let not the hatred of a people - because they hindered you from the Sacred Mosque - incite you to exceed thelimits : Jarama (جَرَمَ ) means 'he carried it', 'he bore it'; that is why disobedience and sin is called al-jarīmah (اَلْجَرِيْمَة ) because the culprit bears its responsibility; this word is also used for monetary fine because it is borne by the culprit.ar-Rãghib says that its real meaning is 'to cut'.ash-Shan’ãn (اَلشَّنْأن = hatred, enmity); an saddūkum (اَنْصَدُّوْ همْ = because they prevented you); it is an explicative apposition or appositional substitute for 'hatred'; the meaning: and let not hatred of a people they hindered you from the Sacred Mosque incite you to exceed the limits when you have vanquished them.

QUR’ÃN: And help one another in righteousness and piety, and do not help one another in sin and aggression; and fear Allãh; . : The meaning is clear. This is the foundation of Islamic culture and ethics. Allãh has explained righteousness in His Book as belief and doing good in the acts of worship and in mutual dealings, as we have explained under the Divine words: . but righteousness is the one who believes in Allãh and the Last Day . (2:177).at-Taqwã (اَلتَّقْوي = to be on one's guard regarding orders and prohibitions of Allãh). To cooperate with one another in righteousness and piety means to join together in true faith and good deeds on the basis of the fear of Allãh; it is the collective good and piety. Its opposite is cooperating with one another in sin and aggression; sin is the evil action which brings regression in a blissful life; aggression is usurping peoples' genuine rights, giving rise to a feeling of insecurity for their lives, honour or property. We have explained this topic under the Divine words: O you who believe!be patient and help each other in patience and remain lined up; and fear (the wrath of) Allãh, that you may be successful, (3:200), in the fourth volume of this book30 .

Then Allãh has emphasized the prohibition of joining together in sin and aggression by saying: and fear Allãh; surely Allãh is severe in punishment. Actually, it is an emphasis over emphasis.

QUR’ÃN: Forbidden to you is that which dies of itself, and blood, and flesh of swine, and that on which any other name than that of Allãh has been invoked: These four were prohibited in the revelations sent long before this chapter.See , for example, in the chapters of “The Cattle” and “The Bee”, both of which were revealed in Mecca and in the chapter of “The Cow” which was the first detailed chapter revealed in Medina. Allãh has said: Say: “I do not find, in that which has been revealed to me, anything forbidden for an eater to eat of except that it be what has died of itself, or blood poured forth, or flesh of swine - for that surely is unclean - or that which is a transgression, other than (the name of) Allãh having been invoked on it; but whoever is forced (to it), not revolting nor exceeding the limit, then surely your Lord is Forgiving, Merciful” (6:145); and He has said: He has only forbidden to you what dies of itself, and blood, and flesh of swine, and that over which any other (name) than (that of) Allãh has been invoked; but whoever is forced (to it), not revolting, nor exceeding the limit, no sin shall be upon him; surely Allãh is Forgiving, Merciful (2:173).

As you see, all these verses forbid the four things mentioned in the beginning of this verse and the exception too is similar to this verse where it says: but whoever is compelled by hunger, not inclining wilfully to sin, then surely Allãh is Forgiving, Merciful. So, this verse's only purpose is to emphasize the previously and repeatedly revealed prohibition of the four items. In fact, this prohibition and especially of the first three items, (that which dies of itself, blood and flesh of swine) was promulgated long before the revelation of the chapters of “The Cattle” and “The Bee” (of Meccan period) because the verse of the chapter of “The Cattle” explains the reason of prohibition that “it is unclean”; it shows that eating unclean things was forbidden; and Allãh says in the ch.74: And uncleanness do shun [vr.5]. This chapter was revealed in the early Meccan period. [It was the second chapter revealed.]

And the strangled (animal) and that beaten to death, and that killed by a fall and that killed by being smitten with the horn, and that which wild beasts have eaten.: Actually it is not a new legislation, because all these come under “that which dies of itself”, (as may be understood from the exception, except what you slaughter); yet they have been mentioned separately to describe various types of dead animals.

Likewise, the words of Allãh, and that is sacrificed on stones set up (for idols) and that you divide by arrows; that is a transgression, forbid these two items for the first time in this chapter, but Allãh has given the reason of their prohibition (or that of the second item) that it is a transgression, and He had before that prohibited transgression in the verse of the chapter of “The Cattle”. Also, the following words: not inclining wilfully to sin, show that the things mentioned here have been forbidden because they are sins; and many verses revealed before it say that sin is prohibited. For example, the verse 173 of the chapter “The Cow”, says: but whoever is forced (to it), not revolting, nor exceeding the limit, no sin shall be upon him. Also, He says: And abandon open and secret sin (6:120); Say: “My Lord has only prohibited indecencies, those of them that are apparent as well as those that are concealed,and sin . .” (7:33)

Now, it is clear that the verse with this list of forbidden items has not promulgated any new order which was not given in previously revealed verses of the Meccan or early Medinite period which had listed the forbidden meats.

QUR’ÃN: and the strangled (animal) and that beaten to death, and that killed by a fall and that killed by being smitten with the horn, and that which wild beasts have eaten, except what you slaughter:

al-Munkhaniqah (اَلْمُنْخَنِقَة ) is the cattle which dies as a result of strangulation. It makes no difference whether it was accidental or intentional; also, the instrument of strangulation has no effect on this ruling; may be a rope was tied around its neck and becoming tight, it clocked breathing or its neck was pressed between two rods; this and similar methods were common in the days of ignorance.al-Mawqūdhah (اَلْمَوْقُوْذَةُ ) is an animal which is beaten until it dies.al-Mutaraddiya (اَلْمُتَرَدِّيَّةُ ) is an animal which falls from a high place like a mountaintop or well, and so on.an-Natīhah (اَلنَّطِيْحَةُ ) is an animal which dies as a result of being gored with horns or tusks of another animal. “and that which wild beasts have eaten”, that is, a beast of prey has eaten some of its flesh resulting in its death. A beast of prey indicates carnivorous animals like lion, wolf, tiger, etc.

“except what you slaughter”, this exception applies to all the five groups mentioned before that. If any of these animals shows some signs of life like breathing or twitching of its tail, etc., and it is at once slaughtered according to the rules of the sharī‘ah (i.e., its four jugular veins are cut), then it is allowed to be eaten. As mentioned just now, the exception covers all five groups and not only the last one. The five groups are included in the term al-maytah (اَلْمَيْتَةُ = that which dies by itself). Animals killed by a fall or gored by another animal with horns are forbidden when they die as a result of that fall or those wounds. It may be understood from the exception “except what you slaughter”.

Obviously, they will not be eaten when they are alive; but when the soul goes out then they can be eaten. Now, either they were slaughtered according tosharī‘ah or not; and Allãh has excepted the slaughter. Therefore, they will only be unlawful when they die as the result of the fall or the said wound without being slaughtered. If a goat, for example, falls into a well and is taken out alive and uninjured and then after a short or long time it dies by itself or is slaughtered then it will not be called an animal that was killed by a fall. The context shows that only such animals are forbidden which are killed ordie because of the causes mentioned in the verse.

These groups of dead animals have been singled out here to remove any possible misunderstanding that probably they were not included in the word, al-maytah because they are not common types. Therefore, Allãh mentioned these rare types with their names in order that there should be no confusion and the prohibitionremains clear.

QUR’ÃN: and what is sacrificied on stones set up (for idols): ar-Rãghib says in Mufradãtu 'l-Qur’ãn : “an-Nasb (اَلنَّصْبُ ) of a thing means setting it down in a projecting position like setting a spear or stone; an-nasīb (اَلنَّصٍيْبُ ) a stone which is set on something in a projecting manner. Its plural is an-nasãib (اَلنَّصَآئبُ ) and an-nusub (اَلنُّصُبُ ).” [This latter is used in this verse.] The Arabs had various stones which they worshipped and on which they slaughtered sacrifices. Allãh says: . as if they were hastening unto a signpost (70:43); and He has said, “and what is sacrificed on stones set up (for idols)”; also its plural comes as al-ansãb (اَلْأنْصَابُ ). Allãh says: . (dedication of) stones (i.e., idols) and (divination by) arrows . (5:90).an-Nusb and an-nasb (اَلنُّصْبُ ، اَلنَّصْبُ ) = trouble, exertion.

The verse forbids eating the flesh of an animal slaughtered on stone; in this way, it prohibits adoption of the customs of the days of ignorance. They had set up around the Ka‘bah stones which they venerated and over which they offered sacrifices. It was a custom of idolatory.

QUR‘ÃN: and that you divide by arrows; . : al-Azlãm (اَلْأزْلَامُ = arrows without head). The division by arrows was done in this way: A camel or another animal was taken and its shares divided; then, the arrows were used to identify the one who would get a share and the one who would not have any; also, the number of shares a man would get was decided by the same arrows. It was a clear gambling and we have given the details under the verse: They ask you about intoxicants and games of chance . (2:219) in vol.2 of this book31 .

ar-Rãghib says: “al-Qism (اَلْقِسْمُ = setting apart the shares). It is said: I divided such and such thing in parts; division of inheritance or war-booty means dividing them to the rightful persons. Allãh says:

. .for each gate there shall be a separate party of them (15:44); And inform them that the water is shared between them (54:28).

Istaqsamtuhu (اٍسْتَقْسَمْتُهُ = I asked him to divide); also, sometimes it is used in the meaning of division itself, as Allãh says: and that you divide by arrows.”

COMMENT: To say that istaqsamah is used here for division is correct in practical application, but the literal meaning still remains the same, that is, to want to divide through arrows, which were used as tools of this game; using the tools is in itself a demand for getting the intended result. Therefore, using the arrow is in itself asking for the division. However, the verse, as the context shows, forbids using the arrows for the camels, etc. to get an apportioned share of the meat.

Some people have said that this phrase forbids using the arrows for divination to find out the good or bad of a course of action and to distinguish a beneficial deed from the harmful one, as for example, when someone wants to go on a journey or to marry or to begin a new work, etc., and uses the arrows to find out whether it is beneficial for him or not. They said that it was a well established custom among the Arabs in the days of ignorance; it was a sort of forcastingwith omens and its details will come in the coming traditions.

COMMENT: The context does not allow the use of this phrase for this meaning. The verse describes and counts the prohibited items of food and has pointed to this in the beginning when it said: The cattle quardrupeds are made lawful for you except that which is recited to you; then it goes on giving the list of ten forbidden food items: that which dies of itself, blood, flesh of swine, an animal on which any other name than that of Allãh is invoked, the strangled one, the one beaten to death, or killed by fall, or as a result of being smitten with the horn, or that which wild beasts have eaten and what is sacrificed on stones set up for idols; then it mentions al-istiqsãm bi 'l-azlãm (اَلْاِسْتِقْسَامُ بِالْاَزْلَامِ ) which can be used in two meanings: i) Dividing meat by gambling, and ii) Divination of goodor evil in the future. How can any one think, after this clear context and the repeated associations, that this phrase in this verse does not denote dividing the meat through arrowsCan anyone who knows the styles of speech entertain any doubt about its meaning?

Let us look at another similar example, al-‘umrah (اَلْعُمْرَةُ ) is a verbal noun which denotes construction, and it has another meaning, that is, pilgrimage of the Sacred House. If this word is used in realtion to a house, both meanings can be applied; but when it comes to the Divine words: And complete the hajj (pilgrimage) and ‘umrah for Allãh (2:196), then only the second meaning can be applied. Thereare many such example.

The indicative in, that is a transgression, may be pointing to the whole list, or to the last two items described after the words, except what you slaughter (because the exception has separated the two groups), or to the last item. Probably, the middle view is the best of all.

QUR’ÃN: This day have those who disbelieve despaired of your religion, so fear them not, and fearMe : The positioning of this speech in midst of this verse and then its connotation are all amazing. If you ponder on the beginning of this verse, that is: Forbidden to you is that which dies of itself, and blood . that is a transgression and then join to it the end part, but whoever is compelled by hunger, not inclining wilfully to sin, then surely Allãh is Forgiving, Merciful, you will see that it is a complete sentence and does not depend for completion of its meaning and explanationof its theme to this part of the verse at all. If you take out these sentences, then the remaining part will perfectly correspond with previously revealed verses in the chapters, “The Cattle”, “The Bee” and “The Cow”, which give the list of the forbidden food items. The verse in the chapter of “The Cow” says: He has only forbidden to you what dies of itself, and blood, and flesh of swine, and that over which any other (name) than (that of) Allãh has been invoked; but whoever is forced (to it), not revolting, nor exceeding the limit, no sin shall be upon him; surely Allãh is Forgiving, Merciful (2:173). Similar wordings are found in the chapters of “The Cattle” and “The Bee”.

It is clear that the Divine words, “This day have those who disbelieve despaired of your religion, . .”, is a paranthetical speech placed in the midst of this verse, yet the main verse does not depend on it for its exposition or explanation. We may say that this speech was actually revealed in the middle of this verse separating the preceding part from the following one; or that the Prophet (s.a.w.a.) himself ordered the sribes to put this speech in this place even though it had no connotation with this verse, and was not even revealed at the same time; or that the compilers put it in this place at the time of compilation although both the parts were revealed at totally different times. None of these probabilities can affect the view we have just mentioned that it is a paranthetical speech.

This view is strengthened by the fact that most, if not all the traditions describing the reason of its revelation - and there are a lot of such traditions - particularly talk about the words of Allãh, “This day have those who disbelieve despaired of your religion . .”, without hinting even once to the beginning of the verse, that is: Forbidden to you is that which dies of itself . This proves that the Divine words, “This day have those who disbelieve . .”, were independently revealed and have no connection with the preceding or the following verses. Thus, the present positioning of this speech in the middle of the verse will have to be attributed either to the Prophet (s.a.w.a.) or to the compilers of theQur’ãn after him.

A tradition in ad-Durru ’l-manthūr somewhat supports this view. It is narrated from ‘Abd ibn Hamīd from ash-Sha‘bī that he said, “The verse: This day I have perfected for you your religion . , was revealed to the Prophet (s.a.w.a.) while he was in ‘Arafãt; and when any verses much pleased him, he used to put them in the beginning of the chapter.” He also said, “And Jibrīl used to teach him how to do it.”

The two sentences, that is: This day have those who disbelieve despaired of your religion . , and: This day have I perfected for you your religion . , have identical themes and no one can have any doubt that the meaning of both are connected with each other. There is very close connection between the despairing of the disbelievers from the Muslims' religion and the perfection of the Muslims' religion; both connotations are joined together in a single theme, both sentences are interconnected and their sides are combined with one another. Add to it the singularity of context in these two sentences.

Further support of this view can be found in the convention of the ancient and modern exegetes - right from the companions of the Prophet and their followers to our contemporaries in these days. All of them take the two sentences jointly as if one completes the other. This unanimous way of explanation shows that all of them believed that these two sentences were revealed together and both of them jointly describe one meaning.

It appears from the above that this paranthetical verse: This day have those who disbelieve despaired of your religion . , and: chosen for you Islam as a religion, is a single speech and its parts are interconnected and the whole speech leads to a single theme which is reflected in the two sentences jointly. It makes not difference whether we say that this speech is connected with the preceding and following sentences or not. The two sentences will remain as one speech; they can never be treated as two talks having two separate aims. Also, it is clear that the word “this day” repeated in both sentences refers to a single day when the disbelievers were despaired and the religion was perfected.

To which day does the adverb, “this day”, refer in these two sentences 1. Does it refer to the time when the Prophet (s.a.w.a.) was commanded to call the people to Islam? Does it mean that Allãh sent to you the Islam, perfected the religion for you, and completed His favours on you and made the disbelievers despaired of your religion?

COMMENT: It cannot be. The context shows that the Muslims already had a religion which the disbelievers were eager to change or destroy altogether, while the Muslims were afraid of them cncerning their religion, but Allãh deprived the disbelievers of their nefarious goal and made Muslims secure and safe; that religion was imperfect and Allãh made it perfect on that day and completed His favours on them. But the Muslims had no religion of their own before the advent of Islam, so, where was the question of the disbelievers having some hope of destroying that religion or of Allãh perfecting it and completing His favours on them? Moreover, if that interpretation is taken seriously, then the sentence: This day have I perfected for you your religion . , should have preceded the sentences: This day have those who disbelieve despaired of your religion . Only in this way, could literary perfection be achieved.

2. Or does “this day” refer to the era after the conquest of Mecca? Because on that day, Allãh had nullified the intriques of the Qurayshite polytheists and destroyed their power; their religion was uprooted and their idols shattered; in this way, they had lost all hope of standing on their feet to prevent the spread of Islam and to fight against it.

COMMENT: This too cannot be. The verse announces that on the day under discussion the religion was perfected and the Divine favours completed; but the religion was yet incomplete in the year 8 AH when Mecca was conquered; there were many obligatory laws promulgated and many permissions and prohibitions laid down between the conquest of Mecca and the death of the Prophet (s.a.w.a.).

Apart from that, “those who disbelieve” covers all the idolaters of Arabia and not all of them and despaired of the Muslims' religion. There were many covenants still valid which obligated the Muslims and many disbelieving tribes not to stand against each other; they still performed the hajj of jãhiliyyah according to the custom of the idolaters; their women still performed hajj completely naked. This had continued until the Messenger of Allãh (s.a.w.a.) sent ‘Alī (a.s.) with the verses of the chapter of the “Repentance” and thus the remnants of the customs of the days of Ignorance were erased.

3. Or does “this day” refer to the period after the revelation of the chapter of “Repentance” [end of the year 9 AH]’Because Islam had spread to almost all areas of the Arabian Peninsula; the customs of the Days of Ignorance were wiped out and the signs of polytheism obliterated. Now, the Muslims did not encounter any polytheist during the hajj rituals and their life was free from the shadow of disbelief; Allãh had given them peace and order (while before that they were scared and afraid), they worshipped Allãh and ascribed none to Him.

COMMENT: This too cannot be. Although the idolaters of Arabia had despaired of the Muslims' religion after the revelation of the chapter of “Repentance” when the customs of the jãhiliyyah were wiped out and polytheism had gone out of the Peninsula, yet the religion was not completed at that time. A lot of rules and regulations were revealed after that, including this chapter of “The Table” which, all agree, was revealed during the last days of the Prophet (s.a.w.a.) and this chapter contains a lot of laws about lawful and unlawful things, penal code and retribution.

It is now clear that the adverb “this day” cannot be taken to mean a long period which might be apparently relevant to the connotation of this verse, for example, the era of the advent of Islam, or the time after the conquest of Mecca or after the revelation of the verses of “Repentance”. The only alternative is to say that “this day” refers to the particular day when this verse was revealed. Does it mean the day when Mecca was conquered or the day when the chapter of “Repentance” was revealed? The objections which we have raised against the second and the third possibilities above are enough to refute these suggestions altogether.

Or does it mean the day of ninth Dhi 'l-hijjah of the last pilgrimage [10 AH] as claimed by many exegetes and shown in some traditions If so, then we will have to decide how the unbelievers had despaired of the Muslims' religion on that day. Does it mean that the polytheists of Quraysh had lost all hope of overpowering the Muslims' religion? But this had happened on the day Mecca was conquered in the year 8AH not on 9th Dhi 'l-hijjah 10 AH. Or does it refer to the despairing of the polytheists of the whole Arabia? But this had already happened at the time of the revelation of the chapter of “Repentance” in the year 9 AH. Or does it relate to the despairing of all the disbelievers - the Jews, the Christians, the fire-worshippers and others (And this all-inclusive meaning is more in keeping with the unrestricted phrase “those who disbelieve”). But those people had not yet despaired of overcoming the Muslims because Islam had not acquired any foothold or power beyond the Arabian peninsula on the day of ‘Arafãt in the year 10 AH.

Looking from another angle, we should again ponder on this day (9th Dhi 'l-hijjah 10 AH): What importance it had which could be in keeping with the Divine words: This day have I perfected for you your religion and completedMy favour on you.

1. It may probably be said that it means perfecting the rituals of hajj in the presence of the Prophet (s.a.w.a.) himself there, as he practically taught them the manãsik of hajj and gave verbal explanations.

COMMENT: Merely teaching the manãsik of hajj cannot be called perfection of religion by any stretch of imagination. First of all, he had ordered them to dohajju 't -tamattu‘ and not many years had passed that it was discontinued32 . Secondly, many important pillars of religion had been established long before that, like prayer, fast, hajj, zakãt, jihãd, etc. How can teaching an obligatory ritual of the religion be called perfection of that obligatory thing? And how canteaching one obligatory part of religion be called perfection of the whole religion?

Moreover, this view cuts the connection between the first sentence (This day have those who disbelieve . .) with the second one (This day have I perfected for you your religion . .). And what is the revelance of despairing of the disbelievers to teaching the peoplehajju 't -tamattu‘ ?

2. It may be said that the perfection of the religion points to the revelation of all pending lawful and unlawful things “this day” in the chapter of “The Table”; after that there came no new halãl or harãm. And with perfection of religion the disbelievers were overwhelmigly despaired and its signs appeared on their faces.

COMMENT: First, we have to decide whowere the disbelievers described by the phrase “those who disbelieve”. If it refers to the disbelievers of Arabia, then Islam had already engulfed them and there was nobody who did not publicly declare to be Muslim. So, who were the despairing disbelieversAnd if it is taken to refer to the non-Arab disbelievers who lived around Arabia, then we have described earlier that they had not despaired on that day of overpowering the Muslims.

Then the claim that the door of legislation was closed on the day of ‘Arafãt is nonsense. There are a lot of traditions which mention revelations of rules and regulations after that day. See, for example, the verse of the summer33 and the verses of interest. It has been narrated from ‘Umar that he said inter alia in a sermon: “Among the last verses of theQur’ãn to be revealed is the verse of interest; the Messenger of Allãh died without explaining it to us. Therefore, leave whatever you feel doubtful about and go to that about which you have no doubt.” Also, al-Bukhãrī has narrated in his Sahīh from Ibn ‘Abbãs that he said, “The last verse revealed to the Prophet (s.a.w.a.) was the verse of interest.” There are many similar traditions.

Nobody should try to say that these traditions are weak; therefore, the verse should have precedence over them; because the verse doesn't explicitly say which day it talks about.The day of ‘Arafãt is just a possibility and for the definite identification of the day, first all other possibilities have to be discarded; and these traditions offer at least opposing views.

3. Somebody may say that the perfection of the religion points to the fact that the Sacred House had exclusively come into their hands and the polytheists were banished from it, the Muslims performed their hajj and there was no polytheist to mingle with them.

COMMENT: We have already said that this had happened one year before the day of ‘Arafãt. Then, why should it be restricted with the adverb “this day” in the verse: This day have I perfected fro you your religion . Even if we accept that this exclusive hold on the Ka‘bah was the completion of the Divine favour, it cannot be said that it was the perfection of the religion. Why should the exclusive possession of the Ka‘bah be called perfecting the religion, when religion is nothing except a collection of the beliefs and regulations Religion could only be perfected if some more parts or chapters were added to it. That the environment became condusive for the implementation of the rules of religion and the snags and the hurdles were removed from practising it is not called perfecting the religion.

Moreover, the difficulty concerning the despair of the disbelievers remains in its place.

4. A writer has tried to combine the above hypotheses which we are giving here in short before commenting on it. He says that perfecting the religion means that Allãh has described these forbidden items of food in detail in order that the Muslims may follow it without being afraid of the disbelievers, because the disbelievers have despaired of the Muslims' religion and Allãh has given strength and power to the Muslims and made them victorious over the infidels.

Why did Allãh mention only the four forbidden things (that which dies of itself, blood, flesh of swine and that on which any other name than that of Allãh has been invoked) in the early days of Islam in some chapters of the Meccan period? And why did He delay giving the details of what comes within its circle which Islam does not like the Muslims to use until Mecca was conquered? It was done to promulgate the prohibition of these filthy things gradually and to show their intense undesirability. It was the same policy which was used in prohibition of liquor step, so that the Arabs should not have an aversion to Islam and should not find it intolerable; and would continue hoping that their poverty-ridden folks (who constituted the majority of the early converts to Islam) would return to their original infidelity.

This detailed description of the forbidden things was revealed after Islam gained strength and Allãh gave the Muslims wealth and power. This was after the polytheists had lost the hope that the Muslims would ever turn away from Islam, they had realized that they could not defeat the Muslims nor could they make them renounce their religion under duress. Now, the believers were in a position where they were not afraid of the disbelievers about their religion or their lives and had no need to deal with them politely.

Thus the adverb “this day” means the day of ‘Arafãt in the year of the Last Pilgrimage. It was the day when this verse was revealed which describes whatever laws had remained undisclosed uptil now; through these laws Islam nullified the remnants of the abasements, evils and superstitions of the days of ignorance. This verse brought the good news to the Muslims that they have gained the upper hand over the polytheists, who were now despaired of the Muslims' religion; now the Muslims did not have any need to deal with them in soft manners or any fear of their reprisals.

Thus, Allãh informs them in this verse that the disbelievers themselves are despaired of their religion; and now that Allãh has changed their weakness to power, their apprehension to tranquility and their poverty to riches, the Muslims should not be afraid of anyone other than Allãh and should refrain and abstain from using the things forbidden in detail in this verse because in this lies the perfection of their religion.

COMMENT: This writer wanted to gather together several of the previously mentioned hypotheses in order to dispel the objections levelled against one possibility with the help of another possibility. But he became embroiled in all the perils together and in the process he corrupted the words and meaning of the verse completely.

He failed to realize that if the disbelievers' despairrefer to that despair which had resulted from the victory and power of Islam, then it had happened on the day Mecca was conquered or, let us say, when the verses of the chapter of “Repentance” were pronounced. Therefore, it would not be correct to announce on the day of ‘Arafãt in the year 10 AH: This day have those who disbelieve despaired of your religion, because they had despaired of it one or two years before. Had it been the case, the verse should have said: Those who disbelieve have already despaired of your religion (as this writer had himself used the same wording while giving his explanation). Or alternatively, it could be said: They are despaired.

Also, he seems oblivious of the fact that if this supposed gradual prohibition of various food items (for which he has mentioned the analogy of prohibition of the intoxicant) means that some food items were prohibited after some others, then you have seen that this verse does not mention any other prohibited items than the previously revealed verses of prohibition had done, that is, the verses of the chapters of “The Cow”, “The Cattle” and “The Bee”; keeping in view that the strangled animals, etc., are merely the details of the dead animals.

And if he means that the previous descriptions were general and this verse gives the details, and it was done because there was a possibility of people refusing to follow the rules, then it is out of place; what was explicitly mentioned in the previous chapters, that is, “the dead animal, blood, flesh of swine and that on which any other name than that of Allãh has been invoked”, were more commonly used in the society, and people should have revolted against that rule more readily than against the rule against strangled animal and that beaten to death, etc., because these situations occur very rarely. If there was any danger of opposition then the first mentioned four things should not have been prohibited so explicitly; and when they were prohibited without any fear, why should there be any hesitation in relatively unimportant examples.

Moreover, even we accept hisinterpretation, it could not be called perfection of religion. How can legislation of some rules be named 'religion'? And how can its promulgation and explanationbe called perfection of religion? Even if we accept it, it would be perfection of a small part of religion and completion of some of the favours, rather than the whole religion and all the favours; while Allãh says: This day have I perfected for you your religion and completedMy favour on you; here, the perfection and completion are all-encompassing without any restriction.

Moreover, Allãh hadlegislated a lot of rules and laws during all the preceding years. What was the speciality of this rule on this day that its legislation or explanation should be called perfection of religion and completion of grace?

Or does the perfection of religion mean that Allãh perfected it by closing the door of legislation after revealing this verse which gives the details of forbidden food items Then what will be said about those rules which were revealed after revelation of this chapter and before the death of the Prophet (s.a.w.a.)? Rather, what will be said about all the rules which were revealed in this very chapter of “The Table” after this verse? Think over it.

Until now, we have left untouched the last clause: and chosen for you Islam as a religion, which means: This day I have chosen for you Islam as a religion. If the speech ends at describing the favours of Allãh on the Muslims by detailing the forbidden food on the day of ‘Arafãt in the year 10 AH, then what will be the revelance of this clause? What special thing happened on that day that Allãh chose Islam as their religion? There was nothing most of the objections levelled against the preceding interpretations apply to this too; and there is no need to repeat them here.

Or does “This day” point to any particular day between the day of ‘Arafãt and the arrival of the Prophet (s.a.w.a.) at Medina when the disbelievers were despaired and the religion was perfected? But again the objections described earlier against other interpretations would be levelled against this, with the same details.

Up to here, we have discussed this verse looking at what has been or could be said about it regarding its interpretation. Now, we shall look at it in the way that is more consistent with the special style of this book.

This day have those who disbelieve despaired or your religion, so fear them not, and fearMe : Despair and disappointment is opposite of hope; and the religion was sent down gradually. In this backdrop, this sentence indicates that disbelievers in the early days of Islam had some hope regarding the Muslims' religion, expecting it to somehow die with the passage of time. This idea of theirs posed a great threat against Islam from time to time and such a situation nessecitated for the believers to be always on guard and live in fear. In this background, the words, “so fear them not” reassure the believers that Allãh would protect them from the danger which was facing them and which had caused them such a fear. Allãh says: A party of the People of the Book desire that they should lead you astray (3:69); also He says: Many of the People of the Book wish that they could turn you back into unbelievers after your faith, out of envy on their part, (even) after the truth has become manifest to them. But pardon and forgive (them) until Allãh should bring about His command. Surely Allãh has power over all things (2:109). The disbelievers were not waiting for something to happen to the Muslims except because of their religion, and they were not angry with them and their hearts were not burning against them but for one reason: The religion of Islam posed a challenge to their supremacy and was ruining their dominance. It puts hinderance against their indulging in the pleasures they were inclined to, and to which they were accustomed all their lives; it was putting a stop to their unrestricted debauchery and wanton behaviour.

What they hated was the religion, not the followers of the religion. Of course, they disliked the Muslims, but it was because of their accptance of the Divine religion. The reason why they wanted to annihilate the Muslims and destroy their society was their intention to put out the Light of Allãh; they wanted to restrengthen the pillars of polytheism which had been shaking because of the impact of Islam; They hoped against hope that they would one day turn the believers into disbelievers, as has been described in the Divine words: that they could turn you back into unbelievers; and He has said: They desire to put out the light of Allãh with their mouths, but Allãh will perfect His light, though the unbelievers may be averse. He it is who sent His Messenger with the guidance and the religion of truth, so that He may make it triumph over the religions, though the polytheists may be averse (61:8-9); Therefore call upon Allãh, being sincere to Him in relgion though averse be the unbelievers (40:14).

In short, their only plan was to cut this blessed tree from its root and demolish this lofty structure from its foundation; they tried to ensure the believers in various ways, spreading hypocrisy in their midst and creating doubts in their hearts in order to corrupting their religion.

In the beginning, they tried to weaken the determination of the Prophet (s.a.w.a.) and enfeeble his resolve for religious da‘wah (propaganda) by offering him worldly riches and honour; as the Divine words point to it: And the chief persons of them break forth, saying: “Go and steadily adhere to your gods; this is most surely a thing sought after” (38:6). Alternatively, they tried flattery and friendly intercourse, as may be seen in the following verses: They wish that you shouldbe pliant so they (too) would be pliant (52:9); And had it not been that We had already firmly established you, you would have been near to incline to them a little (17:74); Say: “O unbelievers! I do not worship that which you worship. Nor do you worship Him Whom I worship.” (109:1-3), as is understood from the traditions giving the reasons of their revelation.

The last thing, which they hoped would bring downfall to Islam, and toll the death bell of the da‘wah, was the idea that Islam would certainly die with the death of its Prophet (s.a.w.a.), as he did not have a male offspring. In their eyes, the Prophet wanted to establish a kingdom in the guise of prophethood, and begin his reign in the name of Divine call and Messengership. When he died or was killed, his traces would be erased, his memory would die and his religion would be forgotten. After all, this is what generally and habitually happens with kings and despotic rulers; no matter how great a power they acquire, how much arrogance they show, their memory dies with their death, and their laws and codes which had kept the people in their bondage are buried with them in their graves. The chapter of “Abundance” refers to this ultimate hope of theirs when it says: Surely your enemy is the one who shall be without posterity (108:3), as is clear from the reason of its revelation34 .

These and similar expectations had kept their hope alive, and they believed that one day they would extinguish the light of the religion. They were under erroneous impression that this pure Divine call was merely a fiction whose falsity will become obvious in the coming days; and the passage of time will erase its tracks and finish it. But gradually, the Islam overcome all its adversaries - the false religions and their believers; the fame of Islam spread far and wide, and the religion acquired strength and power to defeat its enemies; these developments rooted out their hopes, they became despaired as they knewthat they could not spoil the determination of the Prophet, nor could they diminish his zeal; and they had found earlier that he could not be bought by wealth or honour.

Islam's strength and power engulfed them with despair and pessimism; all the endeavours for defeating the Prophet had proved furtile; yet one hope was still alive: The hope that he did not have any male offspring who could succeed him in his mission, to keep the religious da‘wah alive as he was doing; so they hoped that his religion would die with him. It was self-evident that a religion, however perfect it may be in itssharī‘ah and ideology, could not protect itself in the absence of a protector. Clearly, any established tradition and any religion with all its followers could not maintain its purity and freshness by itself, no matter how much its fame had spread in the world and how many people had entered into its fold. It needed someone who could protect it from deterioration and pollution. Also, it was clear that a religion could not be obliterated or annihilated by force or coercion, threats or mischief; or torture and things like that. I could die only with the death of its protectors and those who were apointed to manage its affairs.

All this shows that the total despair of unbelievers could take place only if Allãh was to appoint someone who would stand in the place of the Prophet for protection of religion and management of its affairs, in order that he could properly lead the Muslim ummah on the right path. This was sure to bring in its wake the disappointment and despair of the disbelievers concerning the Muslims' religion. Then the enemies would realize that the religion has already developed and reached the stage where it is not dependent on the person of the Prophet alone; rather it is placed under the care of a group who are true successors of the Prophet. This would be the perfection of the religion as it would discard the transient nature and acquire continuity and eternity; and this would be the completion of the Divine favour. Let us look at the Divine words: Many of the People of the Book wish that they could turn you back into unbelievers after your faith, out of envy on their part, (even) after the truth has become manifest to them. But pardon and forgive (them) until Allãh should bring about His command. Surely Allãh has power over all things (2:109). Very probably, the words: until Allãh should bring about His command, point to this very theme.

This explanation supports what has been narrated in the traditions that the verse was revealed on the day of Ghadīr Khumm, the 18th day of Dhi ’l-hijjah, the year 10 AH, regarding the successorship of ‘Alī (a.s.). In this way, the two sentences will be very clearly connected with each other, and none of the objections mentioned earlier could be levelled against this explanation.

Now, that you have understood the meaning of desparation in this verse, you will appreciate that “this day” in the Divine Speech, “This day have those who disbelieve despaired of your religion”, is an adverb of time related to the verb “have despaired”. The adverb has been placed at the begining of the sentence in order to show this day's importance and grandeur; as it was on this day that the religion passed the stage of personal guardianship of the Prophet and entered into the stage of collective guardianship of the Imãms; in this way, it rose from transiency to permanence and eternity.

On going ahead, we shall find a similar construction in the verse: This day (all) the good things are allowed to you . (5:5). But the verse under discussion cannot be compared with this verse, because the contexts of the two verses are totally different. The verse: This day have those who disbelieve despaired of your religion, is a sort of expostulation against the unbelievers, while the verse: This day (all) the god things are allowed toyou, begins a new subject. Also, the connotations are different. The former is a creative decree which contains good news on one side and warning on the other, while the latter is a legislative decree and describes the Divine grace and favour to the Muslims. This day have those who disbelieve despaired of your religion, shows the grandeur of the day because it brought a very highly beneficial good to the Muslims, that is, desparation of the unbelievers regarding the Muslims' religion. “those who disbelieve” refers to all the disbelievers, be they idolworshippers, Jews, Christians or others, because the clause is unrestricted, as we had described earlier.

The prohibition in the Divine words: so fear them not, and fearMe , is advisory, not obligatory. The connotation is that now that those who until now had posed as a danger to you have despaired, you have no reason to fear them; a man does not spend his energies for something when he has lost all hopes of attaining it; so now you are safe from their side and you should not fear them concerning your religion; therefore, “fear them not, and fear Me”.

The words, “fearMe ” in this context show that the Muslims should now fear Allãh in the matter concerning which they until thenwere afraid of the disbelievers, because now they cannot deprive you of your religion. It is clear that this is a sort of warning to the Muslims; and that is why we have not taken this verse as a statement of favour. This explanation gets strengthened if we remember that the fear of Allãh is obligatory in any case. It is not that it is wãjib in this state but not in that; or with this condition and not with that; therefore, there was no reason to add “and fearMe ” after the clause, “fear them not” if it does not indicate a very special fear in a particular situation.

These sentences should not be compared with the Divine words: . so do not fear them, and fear Me if you are believers (3:175); because the order to fear Allãh in this verse is made conditional to believing; the order is obligatory and the connotation is that the believers are forbidden to fear the disbelievers regarding their safety; rather, they are obliged to fear Allãh alone. The verse, therefore, forbids them to do what was not proper for them, that is, their fearing the disbelievers concerning their ownselves; it makes no difference here whether they are told to fear Allãh or not. That is why the order to fear Allãh has been made conditional to their being the believers, and this condition also expounds the reason of this order.

But the Divine words in the verse under the discussion, “so fear them not and fearMe ”, are not like that. The believers' fear in this verse was the fear concerning their religion; and such a fear was not disliked by Allãh, because in reality it meant the pursuit of the Divine pleasure. When Allãh forbids this fear, it is because the reason causing that fear was no more. They feared the disbelievers because the disbelievers had not despaired of their religion yet; but now that the situation has changed, they no more needed to fear them. Thus, the prohibition here is advisory; and consequently, the order to fear Allãh also is in advisory capacity. The connotation, in short, is that it is necessary that you should be cautious and fearful in the matters of religion; but the cause of fear until now had come from disbelievers and you were afraid of them because till today they had hoped to divert you from your religion; but today they have despaired, and now the cause of fear emanates from Allãh. Therefore, you should be afraid of Him alone. Ponder on it.

The verse because of the words, “so fear them not, and fearMe ”, gives a hint of a warning and threat, because it orders the believers to have a special fear. It is not the general fear which is wãjib for the believers in all conditions and at all times. Let us think on the speciality of this fear and find out why it has been made obligatory.

There is no doubt that the two sentences of this verse, that is: This day have those who disbelieve . ; and, This day have I perfected for you your religion, are inter-related and express the same theme, as we have explained before. The religion which Allãh had perfected this day and the bounty which He has completed this day (in reality both are the same thing) was the thing regarding which the disbelievers had entertained all those hopes and because of which the believers were afraid of them; now Allãh made the disbelievers despaired of that religion, perfected it and completed it and then forbade the believers to fear the disbelievers in this respect; now when He orders them to fear His Ownself, it must refer to the same type of fear, that is, about the religion; they should remain on guard lest Allãh takes away the religion from their hands and remove this gifted favour from them.

Allãh has made it clear that He does not take away any favour axcept when the recepient of that favour shows ingratitude; and He has threatened the ungrateful person very severely: This is because Allãh does never change a bounty which He has conferred upon a people until they change their own condition; and because Allãh is Hearing, Knowing (8:53); . and whoever changes the favour of Allãh after it has come to him, then surely Allãh is severe in requiting (evil) (2:211). And Allãh has set a general parable for its bounties and how it changes when people become ungrateful. He says: And Allãh sets forth a parable: (consider) a town safe and secure to which its means of subsistence come in abundance from every quarter; but it became ungrateful to Allãh's favour, therefore Allãh made it to taste the utmost degree of hunger and fear because of what they wrought (16:112).

The verse beginning from “This day have those who disbelieve”, and ending at “Islam as a religion”.announces that the religion of the Muslims is completely secured against the disbelievers and is safe from every danger which could come from that side; and no corruption or destruction can infiltrate into it except from the Muslims themselves. That would happen if the Muslims showed ingratitude towards this perfect Divine bounty and rejected this complete religion chosen by Him; then Allãh would take away His favour from them and change it to retribution and affliction and would make them taste the utmost degree of hunger and fear. Unfortunately, the Muslims have done it and Allãh has made them suffer the consequences.

If anyone wants to understand how trueis the prophecy of tribulation and trial (which is inferred from the Divine words: fear them not, and fear Me), he should ponder on the condition of the Islamic world today, then he should go back analysing the historical events until he reaches at the roots of these misfortunes and afflictions.

The verses of al-wilãyah (اَلْوِلأيَة = guardianship, mastership) in theQur’ãn are fully connected with the threat and warning contained in this verse. Allãh has not cautioned His servants of Himself except when it concerns the wilãyah; and has said in this respect, time and again: . and Allãh cautions you of Himself . (3:28 & 3:30). To go more deeply in this subject will take us of the scope of this book.

QUR’ÃN: This day have I perfected for you your religion and completedMy favour on you and chosen for you Islam as a religion: al-Ikmãl (اَلأِآْمَالُ = to perfect) and al-itmãm (اَلأِتْمَامُ = to complete) are near to each other in meaning.

ar-Rãghib has said: “A thing is called perfect when it serves the purpose which it is intended for; and it becomes complete when it reaches a stage where it doesn't need anything extra; a thing is called incomplete when it needs something more.”

You can differentiate the meaning of the two words in another way: Effects of the things are of two kinds; some effects spring from it when all its parts and ingredients are in place; if any of its ingredients or conditions is missing, the effect will not take place. We can take the example of the fast; if any of its conditions is violated even for a very small part of the day the fast will be void. Such things are described with the word 'complete”. Allãh says: . then complete the fast till night . (2:187);And the word of your Lord has been completed truly and justly . (6:115).

On the other hand, there are the effects which spring from a thing without waiting for completion of all its ingredients. When one part is found, its related effect will appear; if all ingredients are present the desired effect will appear in its entirety. This is described as perfection. Allãh says: . but he who cannot find (any offering) should fast for three days during the hajj and for seven days when you return; these (make) ten (days) perfect . (2:196); . and that you should perfect the number . (2:185). Theeffect of some parts of this number are seen as are the effects of the whole number. Arabs say: His affairs are complete and his understanding is perfect; but they do not say: His understanding is complete and his affairs are perfect.

There is a difference between al-ikmãl and at-takmīl (اَلأِآْمَالُ، اَلْتَكْمِيْلُ ) as there is between al-itmãm and at-tatmīm (اَلتَّتْمِيْمُ، اَلأِتْمَامُ ). It is the difference between the paradigms of al-if‘ãl and at-taf‘īl (اَلتَّفْعِيْلُ ، اَلأِفْعَالُ )al- If`ãl basically shows instantaneousness of a work while attaf‘ īl shows graduality. However, in a wider sense or as a result of literary evolution, the meanings in both paradigms change; sometimes, they become very different from the meaning of the root word, e.g., al-ifrãt (اَلأٍفْرَاطُ = excess) and at-tafrīt (اَلتَّفْرِيْطُ = negligence), etc. Actually, these meanings were attached to such words at some particular occasions and then regular usage made them inseparable and they became like actual meanings.

It appears from the above discourse that the sentence, “This day have I perfected for you your religion and completed My favour on you”, shows that something has been added to the religion, (which is a collection of beliefs, ideologies and laws) today making it perfect; and the Divine bounty and favour (which was something spiritual) was incomplete and without effect until today when it was completed and now the expected effect is going to result from it.

The favour and bounty is the thing which has affinity with nature of the recipient of that bounty. All the things are inter-connected with each other because they are parts of the system of Divine management and in the long run all have affinity with one another; and most, rather all of them are Divine bounties when they are put parallel to each other, as Allãh says: . and if you count Allãh's bounties you will not be able to number them . (14:34); . and made complete to you His favours outwardly and inwardly . (31:20).

However, Allãh has described some of these favours naming them as evil, vile, game and play and using similar adjectives which are not paiseworthy; as He says: And let not those who disbelieve think that Our granting them respite is good their souls; We grant them respite only that they may increase in sins; and they shall have a disgraceful chastisement (3:178); And this life of the world is nothing but a sport and a play; and as for the next abode, that most surely is the life . (29:64); Let it not deceive you that those who disbelieve go to and fro in the cities (fearlessly). A brief enjoyment!then their abode is hell, and evil is the resting place (3:196-7). There are many other verses like these.

All these verses show that the things which are counted as bounties and Divine favours would really be bounties when they conform with the Divine purpose for which they were given to man. They have been created to serve as the Divine help to man in order that the man cold use them in the way of his real felicity; in other words, when they help the man to be nearer to Allãh through worship and submission to His Mastership. Allãh says: And I have not created the jinn and the human beings except that they should worshipMe (51:56).

All the things and faculties which the man uses with the aim of attaining nearness to Allãh and seeking Divine pleasure are the bounties and favours. Otherwise, they will become an affliction and trial. It means that the things in themselves are neutral. They become favour and bounty because they have in themselves the spirit of servitude and with that praiseworthy usage they come under the Divine wilãyah. This wilãyah results in Divine management of the servants' affairs. It follows that the favour in reality is the Divine wilãyah (mastership, guardianship); and a thing will become bounty when it contains something of that wilãyah. Allãh says: Allãh is the guardian (master) of those who believe; He brings them out of the darkness into the light . (2:257); That is because Allãh is the Master of those who believe, and because the unbelievers have no master for them (47:11); and He says about His Messenger (s.a.w.a.): But no!by your Lord! they do not believe until they make you a Judge of that which has become a matter of disagreement among them, and then do not find any straitness in their hearts as to what you have decided and submit with total submission (4:65). You may find other similar verses in the Qur’ãn.

Islam is a religionbecause it is a collection of what was sent down from Allãh for guidance of His servants, so that they may worship Him properly; and it is a Divine favour and bounty inasmuch as practically it contains in itself the wilãyah of Allãh, the wilãyah of His Messenger and of those vested with authority (ulu 'l-amr) after him.

The wilãyah of Allãh (i.e., His management of the servants' affairs through the religion) cannot be complete except through the wilãyah of His Messenger; nor will the wilãyah of His Messenger be complete without the wilãyah of those vested with authority after him; and that wilãyah means their management of the religious affairs of the ummah with Divine permission. Allãh says: O you who believe!obey Allãh and obey the Messenger and those vested with authority from among you (4:59), we have fully explained this verse before. Again, Allãh says: Only Allãh is your guardian and His Messenger and those who believe, those who keep up prayers and pay the zakãt while they bow (5:55); and we shall explain the verse, God willing, in its place.

Thus, the verse means as follows: Today, and it is the day when those who disbelieve have despaired of your religion, I have perfected for you the whole religious perceptions (which I had revealed to you before) by making the wilãyah obligatory for you; and I have completed My bounty on you, and it is the wilãyah which means management of the religious affairs with Divine guidance. Until now, you were under the wilãyah of Allãh and His Messenger only; but it could work only upto the time the revelations would be coming down from Allãh; it could not work later when the revelation would be cut off, when the Messenger would not remain among the people to safeguard the Divine religion and defend it. It was essential that somebody should be appointed to carry on this responsibility and be vested with the authority after the Messenger of Allãh (s.a.w.a.), to act as the overall authority in the affairs of the religion and the ummah.

The wilãyah is a single project; it was incomplete until it was completed with appointment of the one who was vested with the authority after the Prophet.

Now that the religion has became perfect in its legislation and the bounty of wilãyah is completed, I have chosen for you the Islam as religion, which is the religion of monotheism, in which no one is worshipped except Allãh and no one is obeyed (and obedience is a sort of worship) except Allãh and those whose obedience He has made obligatory for you, that is, the Messenger and the waliyy.

The verse makes it clear that the believers are today enjoying the security after they were afraid before, and that Allãh has chosen for them that they should devotedly adhere to Islam, the religion of monotheism. It is compulsory for them that they should worship Allãh without associating anything with Him; they have only to obey Allãh or him whose obedience has been ordered by Allãh. Now, ponder on the Divine words: Allãh has promised to those of you who believe and do good that He will most certainly make them successors in the earth as He made successors those before them, and that He will most certainly establish for them their religion which He has chosen for them, and that He will most certainly, after their fear, give them security in exchange; they shall worship Me, not associating aught with Me; and whoever disbelieves after this, these it is who are the transgressors (24:55). Then place it parallel to the verses under discussion: This day have those who disbelieve despaired of your religion, so fear them not, and fearMe . This day have I perfected for you your religion and completedMy favour on you and chosen for you Islam as a religion. You will at onece appreciate that this verse is the fulfilment of the promise given in the chapter of “The Light”; the words: they shall worship Me, not associating aught with Me, describe the real purpose of this exercise as may be understood also from the end sentence: and whoever disbelieves after this, these it is who are the transgressors.

The chapter 24, “The Light”, was revealed long before the chapter of “The Table” as it contains the story of slander, the verse of flogging, and that of hijãb (veil) and other such commandments.

QUR’ÃN: but however is compelled by hunger, not inclining wilfully to sin, then surely Allãh is Forgiving,Merciful : al-Makhmasah (اَلْمَخْمَصَة = hunger); at-tajãnuf (اَلتَّجَانُف = to incline); it denotes inclination of the feet to the outer side; its oposite is at-tahãnuf لتَّحَانُف) ) which denotes their inclination to the inner side. The verse, in this context, shows three things:

1. This order is secondary, meant only for emergencies.

2. The permission to take unlawful food is limited to that small amount which removes the pangs of hunger and averts the emergency.

3. The Divine forgiveness and mercy is used in relation to the sins which make one liable to punishment; and likewise, it may be used in connection with the source of those sins, that is, the law contravening which results in sin and brings punishment in its wake.

A DISCOURSE ON SLAUGHTER OF ANIMALS

1. Various Views Concerning Eating of Meat:

There is no doubt that man, like all other animals and vegetables, has been provided with alimentary system with which he ingests those material ingredients which he can process to make them a part of his body and thus keep himself alive. So far as the nature is concerned, there is nothing to prevent him from eating whatever he can chew and swallow, the exceptions being the things which bring harm to him or create aversion.

As for harmfulness, the realization comess when he recognizes that the thing which he wants to eat is harmful to his body as, e.g., it is poisonous or things like that; then he restrains himself from eating it; or when he finds that eating it will cause him spiritual harm, like the things which are forbidden in various religions.This self-restraint is ideational.

As for aversion, it emanates from odiousness and dirtiness which repulses man from the thing; a man does not eat his faeces because by nature he thinks it is dirty (although some children and insane persons have been seen eating it). To this natural repulsion is added what results from religious beliefs or various customs prevalent in different societies. For example, the Muslims treat pork as dirty and unclean while the Christians enjoy eating it. In the same way, the Western people eat many animals which theorientals treat as unclean, like crabs, frogs and rats, etc. This type of aversion results from acquired disposition which we call second nature.

It shows that so far as eating of meats isconcerned, mankind is divided in numerous categories. The spectrum shows on one side total prohibition and on the other unrestricted indulgence. When he uses some meats he follows the dictates of nature, and when he refrains from some items, it emanates from some ideology, or is a result of his second nature.

The Buddhist system prohibited use of all animals altogether. This is one extreme, and its opposite is the excess which was prevalent among uncivilized people, in Africa and elsewhere, who had no hesitation in eating any meat, even the flesh of man.

The Arabs used to eat the meat of quardrupeds and other animals, even rats and lizards; they ate all types of dead catle which they killed by slaughteringor which died by itself, was strangled or beaten to death; they ate what died as a result of a fall, or by being gored by another animal, or which was killed by beasts of prey. They rediculed the Muslims saying: Why is it that you eat what you kill yourselves and do not eat what has been killed by Allãh Many people offer similar objections even today. Some people say: What is the difference between one flesh and the other, when the human body does not get any harm from, especially if it is hygienically prepared, because the digestive system does not differentiate between this and that The Arabs also used to eat blood; they filled the intestine with blood, roasted it and offered it to the guests. During famine days, they used to wound their camels with arrows and drank the blood which came gushing out. Even today, eating of blood is common among many non-Muslims communities.

The Chinese Buddhists are more liberal than the ancient Arabs; reportedly, they eat all types of animals including dogs and cats, even the worms, sea-shells and all types of insects.

Islam has charted a middle course, and has allowed the meats which are agreeable to the normal human nature. It has selected in quardrupeds the cattles like sheep, goats, cows and camels (also horse and donkey, although with dislike); among the birds, it disallowed the birds of prey and allowed those other birds which have craw and those which flap their wings more often and do not have talon; in marine animals, it has allowed some categories of fish, details of which may be found in books of sharī‘ah.

Even while allowing above-mentioned animals, it has prohibited its blood and that which has died ofitself and on which the name of Allãh has not been invoked. The purpose behind these rules is to revitalize the natural canon, inasmuch as the man naturally likes to eat meat. Together with it, Islam respects the correct thinking and normal nature as these too are repulsed from eating those things which may prove harmful to human being or which the human nature thinks odious and unclean.

2. How Allãh Allowed Killing of Animals When the MercyRejects it:

It may be asked: The animal has a spirit which is endowed with feelings similar to that which a man has: man hates the torture of slaughtering, the bitter taste of death and is endowed with the natural love of self. These are the feelings which incite a man to flee from every disliked and dangerous situation.This realization of our own feelings demands from us that we should look with respect and mercy on other human beings, because they too feel the same pain as we do, and all souls are equal. The same argument can be advanced for animal species. How can we inflict on animals the sufferings which we ourselves do not accept How can we exchange their sweet life with bitter death What right do we have to deprive them of the bounty of life which is the best of the bounties Allãh is the most Merciful of all. How can His Mercy allow us to kill an animal for enjoying its meat when both of us are equally His creatures Reply: This question gives precedence to the feelings over therealities. Legislation follows the real good of humanity and not the emotional feelings. We may expound it as follows: Look minutely at all the things which you find around yourselves; you will see that all of them in their creation and continuity follow the law of continuous change. All things without exception do change to other things; and those other things in their turn do change into these things - directly or indirectly. Nothing comes into being unless another thing loses its existence in the process. Nothing continues living on this earth without something else going out of existence. This material world is the world of change and exchange; or you may say, the world of the eater and the eaten. The earthly compounds eat the earth itself by absorbing its chemicals tothemselves changing them to their own images; then after sometime, the earth again eats and destroys them. Again, the vegetable world gets its nourishment from the earth and absorbs the air then later the earth eats it down to its original ingredients, the first elements: and this cycle continues.

How comes the animal world which gets its nourishment from vegetables, water and air. Some animals feed themselves on other animals, like the wild beasts which eat of their preys; and likewise predatory birds eat the pigeons and sparrows. The digestive systems of these carnivorous animals and birds do not accept any other food. The small birds in their turn feed on grain, flies, fleas, insects and mosquitoes, while the mosquitoes feed on blood of man and other animals. Then, finally, the earth devours them all.

Clearly, the system of creation which has overall control on all the creatures, has ordained that man should get nourishment from meats, etc.; then it has guided the various parts of existence towards it. It is the system which has created in human beings the ability to get sustenance from both animals and vegetables. He has in the front of his alimentary system the teeth some of which are made to cut, the others to break, some to tear and others to grind; they are called canines, molars, premolars and incisors; man is not like goat or cow which cannot cut or tear apart, nor is he like beasts of prey which cannot grind or incise.

The faculty of taste with which his mouth is equipped finds the taste of meats pleasant; then other organs of his digestive system likewise find the meats delicious and long for it. All this is a part of creative guidance which proves that the Creator has given him permission to use and eat various meats. How can we separate this creative guidance from lawfulness of the work which this guidance leadsto.

Islam is a natural religion. Its only aim is to revive the tracks of nature which the human ignorance has obliterated. It is bound to declare lawful what the creation guides to and the nature decrees. Islamic legislation revives this natural commandment; and in the same way it restores other arrangements which the Creator has ingrained in our nature. We have already mentioned that it confirms the decree of reason that one should abstain from such meats which are harmful physically or spiritually; and it strengthens the inner feelings by prohibiting what the normal human nature dislikes or feels aversion from. These two principles ultimately are based on the Divine management of the creation; and Islam has given credence to them. It has prohibited that which harms the growthof body and has forbidden that which is injurious to the well-being of human society; for example, that which has been slaughtered in the name of other than Allãh or that which has been obtained through gambling and dividingwith arrows and so on; and it has prohibited those repulsive things which the nature abhors.

As for the idea of mercy which prevents one from torturing or killing other living beings, there is no doubt that mercy is a fine gift of Allãh which has been ingrained in the human nature, and in many animals as well, as we have sometimes observed. But the Creator has not given it the status that it should enjoy absolute power over all affairs, or should command unqualified obedience. The creation itself has not given the mercy free rein; otherwise, there would not have been in this world any trace of grief, disease, suffering and various types of tortures and oppressions.

Moreover, human mercy in itself is not like justice, inasmuch as it is not an absolute noble characteristic which admits no restriction. Had it been so, then it would not have been proper to punish an oppressor for his oppression or to penalize a criminal for his crime; nor would we have been allowed to confront a transgression with similar action. If mercy means this, then the earth and all that is on it would perish.

However, Islam has not neglected the demands of mercy altogether, because it is among the creation's gifts. It has ordered us to deal with the animals with mercy. It has forbidden us to torture the animal at the time of slaughter; it doesn't allowto dissect the limbs of the slaughtered animal before it has died, nor is it allowed to skin it while it is alive. The prohibition of strangling an animal or beating it to death comes under this category of rules. Also, it has forbiddento slaughter an animal with another one looking at it. At the time of slaughtering, many rules based on mercy have been laid down, as for example, the animal should be given water before slaughtering, and so on, details of which can be seen in books of jurisprudence.

When all is said and written, the fact remains that Islam is a religion of reason, not of sentiments; it does not give precedence to the dictates of sentiments over the rules which are meant to bring reform in the human society. It accepts only that sentiment which is accepted by the reason; so in the end, that too becomes the dictate of reason.

As for the talk of Divine Mercy and His being the most Merciful of all, do they think that Allãh is a tender-hearted being? Or that His senses are influenced and He feels pity on some thingsObviously , these are material and physical characteristics and Allãh is far above such things. The Divine Mercy means that Allãh bestows good on someone who deserves it as much as he deserves it That is why sometimes what we think is punishment turns out to be the Mercy from Him, and vice versa. Consequently, according to the reason, it is not good to neglect or discard a beneficial action by listening to what is suggested by our false mercy. Nor is it allowed to be negligent in legislating thesharī‘ah , keeping in view the realities of the creation.

It appears from the above, that Islam follows the dictates of nature when it allows eating of meat, and enforces the the conditions for that, or explains the rules which it has laid down: . the nature made by Allãh in which He has made men; there is no altering of Allãh's creation; that is the right religion, but most people do not know (30:30).

3. Why Does Islam Insist on Slaughter?

It is another question branching from the previous one: We accept that eating meats is allowed by the human nature. Then why did not Islam restrict it to that meat which comes into hand after an animal's deathIt could have allowed that meat which is obtained when an animal dies by itself. Such a rule would have reconciled the creative order of lawfulness of meat with the demand of Mercy which forbids man to torture an animal by killing or slaughter; there was no need to lay down special rites of slaughtering.

Its reply is clear from what we have said in the preceding question. Mercy in this meaning is not to be necessarily pursued; in fact, following the dictates of such mercy will nullify the norm of realities. However, as explained earlier, Islam has not spared any effort to deal with the animals mercifully, as much as was possible in this respect; it has been done in response to this fine human instinct.

Moreover, if we restrict the lawfulness of meat to the one obtained from a dead body, the only result will be the spread of diseases and physical harm which in itself is against the demands of mercy. Such an order will create a critical situation in general which the reason says must be avoided35 .

TRADITIONS I

‘Ikrimah narrates from Ibn ‘Abbãs that he said, “No verse was revealed (with the words): O you who believe!but ‘Alī is its chief and its head. Allãh has admonished the companions of Muhammad (s.a.w.a.) in more than one place, but He has never mentioned ‘Alī except with good (words).” (at-Tafsīr , al-‘Ayyãshī)

The author says: The same hadīth upto the words “its head” has been narrated in Tafsīru ’l-burhãn from Muwaffaq ibn Ahmad from ‘Ikrimah from Ibn ‘Abbãs; al-‘Ayyãshī also has narrated it from ‘Ikrimah; and we have quoted this hadīth earlier from ad-Durru ’l-manthūr. Some traditions quote ar-Ridã (a.s .) as saying: “There is not in the Qur’ãn: O you who believe!except about us.” This hadīth is based on the flow ofQur’ãn or describes the esoteric meaning of the revelation.

‘Abdullãh ibn Sinãn says, “I asked Abū ‘Abdillãh (a.s .) about the words of Allãh: O you who believe!flfil the covenants. He said, '(It means) agreements'“ ( ibid.)

The author says: al-Qummī has also narrated it in his at-Tafsīr from him.

ash-Shaykh at-Tūsī narrates through his chain from Muhammad ibn Muslim that he said, “I asked of one the two (i.e., the 5th or the 6th Imãm, a.s.) about the words of Allãh, the Mighty, the Great: The Cattle quadrupeds are made lawful for you. The Imãm said, 'The foetus in th wom of its mother when hair or wool grows on its body, then its mother's slaughter is also its slaughter and this is what Allãh has meant (here).” (at-Tahdhīb )

The author says: This hadīth is narrated in al-Kãfī and al-Faqīh from Muhammad ibn Muslim from one of the two (a.s.); al-‘Ayyãshī in his Tafsīr has narrated this theme from Muhammad ibn Muslim from one of the two, and from Zurãrah from as-Sãdiq (a.s.); and al-Qummī has also narrated it in his Tafsīr; and at-Tabrisī has narrated it in Majma‘u 'l-bayãn from Abū Ja‘far and Abū ‘Abdillãh (peace be on them).

al-Qummī writes in his Tafsīr under the words of Allãh: O you who believe!do not violate the signs appointed by Allãh . : The signs: Ihrãm, tawãf, prayer in the place of Ibrãhīm, running between Safã and Marwã and other rituals are all among the signs appointed by Allãh. Also, it is among the signs that when a man drives his sacrifice for hajj and puts some signs on it, as for example, if he wounds the camel's hump or some other part of its skin or puts a garland (of old choes) on its neck in order to make the people know that it was a sacrificial animal so that nobody would meddle with it. This is called ash-sha‘ãir (اَلشَّعَائِر = sign, indications) because it indicates to the people its purpose. The words: nor the sacred month, indicate here the month of Dhi 'l-hijjah which is one of the sacred months; nor the offerings, points to the animal which is driven by the pilgrim after he wears ihrãm; nor the symbolic garlands - the garland is made of the shoes in which he has prayed; nor those going to the Sacred House -those who go for pilgrimage of the House. (at-Tafsīr , al-Qummī)

at-Tabrisī says, “Abū Ja‘far al-Bãqir (a.s.) said, 'This verse was revealed concerning a man from Banū Rabī‘ah who was called al-Hutam.” at-Tabrisī goes on to say, as-Suddī has said, 'al-Hutam ibn Hind al-Bakrī came until he reached the Prophet alone, and he had left his group outside Medina; then he asked, “To what do you call (us)?” - The Prophet (s.a.w.a.) had already told his companions, “Today will come to you from Banū Rabī‘ah (a man) who speaks with the tongue of Satan” - When the Prophet (s.a.w.a.) replied, he said, “Give me some time; probably I wil accept Islam; and there are people who I should consult.” Then he went out. The Messenger of Allãh (s.a.w.a.) said, “Surely he entered with a kãfir face and went out with a treacherous back.” Then, al-Hutam passed by some camels of Medina which were left to pasture, and he took all of them and went away; and he was singing (the following lines):

Tonight Hutam rolled up with animal drivers, He is not a herdsman of camles nor a shepherd, Nor is he a butcher working on a butcher's block, They all were asleep, but the son of Hind did not sleep, The night was passing and a young man was enduring it who is straight like an arrow, With well-developed legs and smooth feet.

Then, next year he came for hajj and had put symbolic garlands on the neck of (those) camels. The Messenger of Allãh (s.a.w.a.) was thinking of sending some people to him. Then this verse was revealed: northose going to the Sacred House.” (Majma‘u 'l-bayãn)

at-Tabrisī further says, “Ibn Zayd has said that it was revealed on the day Mecca was conquered about those polytheists who were coming to the House and saying talbīyyah of `umrah. The Muslims said, 'O Messenger of Allãh! These too are polytheists like these (Meccans). Let us aid them.' Then Allãh revealed this verse.”

The author says: at-Tabarī has narrated the first story from as-Suddī and ‘Ikrimah and the second one from Ibn Zayd; ad-Durru ’l-manthūr narrates the second story through Ibn Abī Hãtim from Zayd ibn Aslam and there it is said that it was on the day of al-Hudaybiyyah; but neither story conforms with what is almost unanimously agreed by the exegetes and the narrators that the chapter of “The Table” was revealed in the last pilgrimage. In other words, the Divine orders: . the idolators are nothing but unclean, so they shall not approach the Sacred Mosque after this (very) year . (9:28); . then slay the idolaters wherever you find them . (9:5), were already revealed before the Divine words: nor those going to the Sacred House. So, there is no reason why should this last order be taken to forbid confronting the idolworshippers when they go to the Sacred House, [because they had already ceased to visit it].

Probably, something from these two or similar stories was the reason of the traditions narrated from Ibn ‘Abbãs, Mujãhid, Qatãdah and ad-Dahhãk that the words: nor those going to the Sacred House, are abrogated by the words: then slay the idolators wherever you find them, and the words: the idolators are nothing but unclean, so they shall not approach the Sacred Mosque after this (very) year.al-Qummī also has written about this abrogation in his Tafsīr and it seems that that too is a tradition. But all these traditions should be discarded because the chapter of “The Table” was the last to be revealed and it has been narrated from the Imãms of Ahlu 'l-bayt (a.s.) that this chapter is abrogating, not abrogated. Moreover, the Divine words: This day have I perfected for you your religion . , totally refute the idea that some of its verses would be abrogated. Keeping all this in view, the words: nor those going to the Sacred House, may be taken to be an explanation of the words which follow: and let not the hatred of a people - because they hindered you from the Sacred Mosque - incite you to exceed limits. You should not violate the sanctity of the House they had in the past hindered you from the Sacred House; Nor should you commit transgretion against those who had hindered you from the sacred Mosque before; don't commit any sin like murder against them, nor any lesser transgression and injustice; rather you should cooperate with each other in righteousness and piety.

Ahmad and ‘Abd ibn Hamīd have narrated about the verse: and help one another in righteousness and piety; and al-Bukhãrī has narrated in his Tãrīkh - all from Wãbisah that he said: “I came to the Messenger of Allãh (s.a.w.a.) and I had intended that I would not leave any item of righteousness and sin without asking him about it. (The Prophet) said to me: 'O Wãbisah! Should I tell you what you have come to ask about or you would ask?' I said, 'O Messenger of Allãh!You tellme.' He said, 'You have come to ask about righteousness and sin.' Then the Prophet joined his three fingers and kept poking them at my chest and he was telling, 'O Wãbisah! Ask your heart, ask your heart, righteousness is which the heart gets tranquility and you get peace of mind, and the sin is that which upsets (your) heart and creates uncertainty - even if people give you rullings and rullings.” (ad-Durru ’l-manthūr)

Ahmad, ‘Abd bin Hamīd, Ibn Hibbãn, at-Tabarãnī, al-Hãkim (and he has said that it is correct) and al-Bayhaqī have narrated from Abū Amãmah (that he said), “A man asked the Prophet (s.a.w.a.) about sin. The Prophet said: 'Whatever makes your soul restless, leave it.' He said: 'Then what is īmãn?' The Prophet said, 'Whoever is grieved for his evil (deed) and is pleased with his good (deed) is a believer.’”(ibid.)

Ibn Abī Shaybah, Ahmad, al-Bukhãrī (in al-Adab), Muslim, at-Tirmidhī, al-Hãkim and al-Bayhaqī (in his Shu‘abu 'l-īmãn) have narrated from an-Nawwãs ibn Sam‘ãn that he said, 'The Messenger of Allãh (s.a.w.a.) was asked about righteousness and sin. He said, 'Righteousness is good behaviour and sin is that which keeps your soul restless and you do not like that people should come to know about it.”(ibid.)

The author says: As you see, these traditions are based on the words of Allãh: And the soul and Him who made it perfect, then He inspired it to understand what is wrong for it and right for it (91:7-8); and they support what we have written earlier about the meaning of sin.

at-Tabrisī has written: There is a difference of opinion about it (i.e., the Divine words: nor those going to the Sacred House). It has been said that it is abrogated by the words of Allãh: then slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and this has been written by most of the exegetes; on the other hand, it is said that nothing from this chapter has been abrogated nor from this verse, because it was not lawful to start fighting with the polytheists in the sacred months except when they start it. Then he has said that it is narrated from AbūJa‘far (a.s.).

as-Sadūq narrates through his chain from Abãn ibn Taghlib from Abū Ja‘far Muhammad ibn ‘Alī al-Bãqir (blessings of Allãh be on them) that he said: “Dead body, blood and flesh of swine is known: that on which any other name than that of Allãh has been invoked, that is, what has been slaughtered on idols. As for the strangled (animal), the fire-worshippers did not eat slaughtered animals rather they ate dead ones; they used to strangle cow and sheep, and when it died, they ate it; and that beaten to death: they used to tie its legs and beat it until it died and then they ate it; and that killed by a fall: they used to blindfold it and throw it from a roof, when it died, they ate it; and that killed by being smitten with the horn: they made the rams fight each other and when one of them died, they ate it; and that which wild beasts have eaten, except what you slaughter: they used to eat what was killed by wolf, lion and bear; so Allãh, the Mighty, the Great, prohibited; and what is sacrificed on stones set up (for idols): they (the zoroastrians) used to sacrificed animals in their fire-temple; and the Qurayshites used to worship trees and stones and slaughtered animals on them; and that you divide by arrows; that is a transgression:” He said: “They used to take an animal and divide it into ten parts36 , then they gathered and took out the arrows (and they gave it to a man) and there were 10 arrows, seven of which had got shares and three were without any share. Those with shares were: al-fadhdh, at-taw’am, al-musbil, an-nãfis, al-hils, ar-raqīb and al-mu‘allã, al-fadhdh had one share, at-taw’am two, al-musbil three, an-nãfis four, al-hils five, ar-raqīb six and al-mu‘allã had seven shares. Those without share were as-safīh, al-munīh and al-waghad; and theanimals price was paid by those who did not get any share; and it was gambling, therefore, Allãh prohibited it.” (Man lã yahduruhu 'l-faqīh)

The author says: The meanings given in the tradition in explanation of the strangled animal, that beaten to death and that killed by a fall, aim at explaining the verse through examples (as is clear from the next tradition). Also, the exception of except what you slaughter, attached to and that which wild beasts have eaten, and likewise the words, that is a transgression, which qualifies and that you divide by the arrows, do not mean that this exception or qualification is limited to these single items.

‘Ayyūq ibn Qasūt narrates from Abū ‘Abdillãh (a.s.) concerning these words, that he said, “The strangled animal is that which is strangulated in the neck; that beaten to death is such a sick animal which doesn't feel the pain of slaughter, it does not agitate its limbs nor blood comes out of it; that killed by a fall is that animal which falls down from roof, etc.; that killed by being smitten with the horn is that which is gored by another animal. (at-Tafsīr , al-‘Ayyãshī)

al-Hasan ibn ‘Alī al-Washshã’ narrates from Abu 'l-Hasan ar-Ridã (a.s.); he says, “I heard him saying that the animals which fall from high place, those smitten with the horn and those which wild beasts have eaten, if you get chance of slaughtering it, then (you may) eat it.”(ibid.)

Muhammad ibn ‘Abdillãh narrates from one of his companions that he said, “I said to Abū ‘Abdillãh (a.s.), 'May I be made your ransom! Why did Allãh forbid the dead animal, blood and flesh of swine?' He said, Verily when Allãh, the Blessed, the High, prohibited these to His servants and made the other things lawful to them, it was not because Allãh liked these prohibited things for Himself, Blessed andHigh is He, nor did He dislike other things so allowed His servants to use it. The fact is that He created the creatures and knew what would sustain their bodies and keep them in good health. Therefore, He made it lawful for them as a favour from Himself for their own well-being; and He knew what would be harmful to them, so He forbade it to them and made it unlawful; yet He allowed it for those facing emergencies, and made it lawful to him when his body could not be sustained otherwise; so He ordered him to partake from it to that amount which would avert the emergency, but not any more.' Then the Imãm (a.s.) said, 'As for the dead body, nobody goes near it or eats it but his body becomes weak and thin, and his strength is lost and his generation is discontinued; and one who (habitually) eats dead body will not die but unexpectedly. As for blood, it creates burning thirst and hard-heartedness, mercilessness unkindness; one cannot be sure that he would not kill his child or parents; he cannot be trusted about his firends or companions. As for the flesh of swine, verily Allãh had transformed some groups in various forms, resembling swine, monkey, bear and other such animals; then He prohibited (His servants) to eat the animals of similar shapes in order that they should not be polluted by it and should not take the Divine punishment lightly. As for intoxicants, Allãh has made it unlawful because of its effect and disorder.' Then he said, 'Verily the one addicted to liquor is like the idolwoshipper; it creates in him tremor and takes away his radiance; it destroys his sense of honour, and incites him to indulge in unlawful activities like bloodshed and fornication; when he is intoxicated, there is no guarantee that he would not assault sexually the women who are within his prohibited degree [like mother, daughter or sister] without being aware of it. The liquor does not lead the drinker except to every type of evil.”(ibid.)

TRADITIONS II

Abu 'l-Muayyad Muwaffaq ibn Ahmad [al-Khwãrazmī] has written in his book Fadãil ‘Alī; he says, “Informed me the chief of the memorisers Shahrdãr ibn Shīrwayh ibn Shahrdãr ad-Daylamī among what he wrote to me from Hamadãn, informed us Abu 'l-Fath ‘Abdūs ibn ‘Abdillãh ibn ‘Abdūs al-Hamadãnī in writing, narrated to us ‘Abdullãh ibn Ishãq al-Baghawī, narrated to us al-Husayn ibn ‘Alīl al-Ghanawī, narrated to us Muhammad ibn ‘Abdu 'r-Rahmãn az-Zarrã‘, narrated to us Qays ibn Hafs, narrated to us ‘Alī ibn al-Husayn, narrated to us Abū Hurayrah from Abū Sa‘īd al-Khudrī, 'Verily, the day the Prophet (s.a.w.a.) called the people to Ghadīr Khumm, he ordered so that the thorns under the trees were swept aside, and that was a Thursday, when he called the people to ‘Alī and holding his arm, he lifted it until people were looking at the whiteness of his armpits; then both did not separate from one another until this verse was revealed: This day have I perfected for you your religion and have completed My favour on you and have chosen for you Islam as your religion. Then the Messenger of Allãh (s.a.w.a.) said, “Allãhu Akbar!for perfecting the religion and completing the bounty and for pleasure of the Lord with my Messengership and the wilãyah of ‘Alī.” Then he said, “O Allãh! Love him who loves him (‘Alī) and be enemy of him who has enmity with him (‘Alī) and help him who helps him (`Alī) and forsake him who forsakes him (‘Alī).” '

“Hassãn ibn Thãbit said, 'Do you allow me, O Messenger of Allãh!to compose some lines of poetry?' He said, 'Say it, Allãh will send it down (to you).' So, Hassãn ibn Thãbit said:

On the day of Ghadīr their Prophet was calling them, At Khumm, and how loud was the Prophet as a caller!

That verily I am Your Mawlã, Yes, andyour Waliyy, So they all said and did not show there any blindness:

Your God is our Mawlã and you are our Waliyy.

And you will not find anyone in the creation disobeying this order.

So he said to him, 'Stand up O ‘Alī!because surely, I am pleased for you to be the Imãm and Leader after me.' “

(Ghãyatu 'l-marãm)

al-Hãfiz Abū Nu‘aym has narrated a similar hadīth through his chains from Qays Ibn Rabī‘ from Abū Hãrūn al-‘Abdī from Abū Sa‘īd al-Khudrī; and he has added four lines more at the end of the poem:

So whomsoever I am the Master then this is his Master, Therefore you must be his true helpers and lovers.

Then he prayed (saying): “O Allãh!be friend of his lover and be the enemy of him who has enmity towards ‘Alī.”

(Nuzūlu ’l-Qur’ãn fī Amīri ’l-Mu’minīn ‘Alī ibn Abī Tãlib)

Also, he narrates through his chains from ‘Alī ibn ‘Ãmir from Abu 'l-Hajãf from al-A‘mash from ‘Addah that he said: “This verse came down to the Messenger of Allãh (s.a.w.a.) about ‘Alī ibn Abī Tãlib: O Messenger!deliver what has been revealed to you from Your Lord . ; and (also) Allãh has said: This day have I perfected for you your religion and have completed My favour on you and have chosen for you Islam as your religion.”(ibid.)

Ibrãhīm ibn Muhammad al-Hamawaynī said, informed me ash-Shaykh Tãju 'd-Dīn Abū Tãlib ‘Alī ibn al-Husayn ibn ‘Uthmãn ibn ‘Abdillãh al-Khãzin; he said, informed us al-Imãm Burhãnu 'd-Dīn Nãsir ibn Abi 'l-Makãrim al-Matrazī through Ijãzah; he said, informed us al-Imãm Akhtab Khwãrazm Abu ’l-Muayyad Muwaffaq ibn Ahmad al-Makkī al-Khwãrazmī; he said, informed me the Chief of the memorizers in what he wrote to me from Hamadãn; informed us ar-Raīs Abu ’l-Fath in writing; narrated to us ‘Abdullãh ibn Ishãq al-Baghawī; informed us al-Hasan ibn ‘Aqīl al-Ghanawī; informed us Muhammad ibn ‘Abdillãh az-Zarrã‘; informed us Qays ibn Hafs, he said, narrated to me ‘Alī ibn al-Husayn al-‘Abdī from Abū Hãrūn al-‘Abdī from Abū Sa‘īd al-Khudrī (and he narrated like the first tradition).(ibid.)

al-Hamawaynī has also narrated from the Chief of the memorizers and Abū Mansūr Shahrdãr ibn Shīrwayh ibn Shahdãr ad-Daylamī; he said informed us al-Hasan ibn Ahmad ibn al-Hasan al-Haddãd al-Muqri’ al-Hãfiz from Ahmad ibn ‘Abdillãh ibn Ahmad; he said, informed us Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn ‘Alī; he said, informed us Muhammad ibn ‘Uthmãn ibn Abī Shaybah; he said, informed us Yahyã al-Hammãnī; he said, informed us Qays ibn ar-Rabī‘ from Abū Hãrūn al-‘Abdī from Abū Sa‘īd al-Kudrī (and narrated like the first tradition) (ibid.)

al-Hamawaynī has said after this tradition: “This tradition has many paths to Abū Sa‘d ibn Mãlik al-Khudrī al-Ansãrī.”

as-Sayyid ar-Radī (r.a.) has narrated from Muhammad ibn Ishãq from Abū Ja‘far (a.s.) from his father, from his grandfather that he said, “When the Messenger of Allãh (s.a.w.a.) returned from the Last Pilgrimage, he came down at a place called Dawjãn; then this verse came down: O Messenger!deliver what has been revealed to you from your Lord; and if you do it not, then you have not delivered His message, and Allãh will protect you from the people (5:67). When it was revealed that he would be protected from the people, he (ordered to) call: The prayer in congregation! So, the people gathered near him. He said, 'Who has more authority on you than you have yourselves' All of them cried out and said, 'Allãh and His Messenger.' So he held the hand of ‘Alī ibn Abī Tãlib and said, 'Whomsoever I am the Master, ‘Alī is his Master. O Allãh! befriend him who befriends him, and be enemy of him who is his enemy, and help him who helps him, and forsake him who forsakes him; because he is from me and I am from him, and his status with me is like that of Hãrūn with Mūsã except that there is no prophet after me.' It was the last obligation which Allãh, the High, imposed on the ummah of Muhammad. Then Allãh, the High, revealed to His Prophet: This day have I perfected for you your religion and have completedMy favour on you and have chosen for you Islam as a religion.”

AbūJa‘far (a.s.) said, “So they accepted from the Messenger of Allãh (s.a.w.a.) all the obligations that Allãh had imposed on them: the prayer, fast, zakãt and hajj, and confirmed his truthfulness in all these things.”

Ibn Ishãq said, “I said to AbūJa‘far (a.s.), 'When was that' He said, 'On 19th37 Dhi 'l-hijjah 10 AH38 during his return journey from the last pilgrimage and there were between that and [the death of] the Prophet (s.a.w.a.) 100 days39 , and had heard the Messenger of Allãh at Ghadīr Khumm twelve40 .” (al-Manãqibu 'l-fãkhirah)

Ibnu 'l-Maghãzilī narrates through his chains from Abū Hurayrah that he said, “Whoever will fast on the 18th day of Dhi 'l-hijjah, Allãh will write for him the fast of sixty months; and that is the day of Ghadīr Khumm. At that place, the Prophet took (from the Muslims) the bay‘ah of ‘Alī ibn Abī Tãlib and said, 'Whomsoever I am the Master ‘Alī is his Master, O Allãh!befriend him who befriends him, and be enemy of him who is his enemy, and help him who helps him.' Then ‘Umar ibn al-Khattãb said to him, 'Congratulations! Congratulations!to you, O son of Abū Tćlib!you became my mawlã and mawlã of every believing man and woman.' Then Allãh, the High, sent down the verse: This day have I perfected for you your religion and have completed .“ ( al-Manãqib)

There are traditions like the first one narrated from AbūSa‘īd al-Khudrī in al-Manãqib of Ibn Marduwayh and in Saraqãtu 'sh-shi‘r of al-Marzubãnī.

The author says: as-Suyūtī has narrated in ad-Durru ’l-manthūr the two traditions from AbūSa‘īd al-Khudrī and Abū Hurayrah, and has said that the chains of narrators of both are weak. And it has been narrated through many chains that end at the companions like ‘Umar ibn al-Khattãb, ‘Alī ibn Abī Tãlib, Mu‘ãwiyah and Sumrah that the verse revealed on the day of ‘Arafah in the Last Pilgrimage and it was a Friday. The reliable among these traditions is that which has been narrated from ‘Umar. (as-Suyūtī) has narrated it from al-Hamīdī, ‘Abd ibn Hamīd, Ahmad, al-Bukhãrī, Muslim, ar-Tirmidhī, an-Nasã’ī, Ibn Jarīr, Ibnu ’l-Mundhir, Ibn Hibbãn and al-Bayhaqī (in his as-Sunan) from Tãriq ibn Shahãb from ‘Umar; and has narrated from Ibn Rãhawayh (in his al-Musnad) and ‘Abd ibn Hamīd from Abu ’l-‘Ãliyah from ‘Umar; and also, from Ibn Jarīr, from Qubaysah ibn Abī Dhuayb from ‘Umar; and also from al-Bazzãz from Ibn ‘Abbãs and apparently, he narrates from ‘Umar.

As for the weakness of the chains of narrators of the two traditions, it will not help him at all in proving the weakness of the text of the tradition. We have explained clearly in the foregoing Commentary that the theme of the noble verse does not fit on any hyphothesis except the even of Ghadīr. All other meanings claimed for it are clearly off the mark. Therefore, the two traditions and others of the same meaning conformwith the Book of Allãh - contrary to all other traditions - therefore, only these traditions have to be accepted.

Moreover, these traditions which show that the verse was revealed on the subject of al-wilãyah - there are more than twenty traditions from the Sunnī and Shī‘ah chains - are closely related to the traditions describing the reason of revelation of the Divine words: O Messenger! deliver what has been revealed to you from your Lord . (5:67) - and there are more than fifteen such traditions narrated by both the sects - and all this together is connected with the tradition of Ghadīr: 'Whomsoever I am the Master, ‘Alī is his Master;' and it is a mutawãtir tradition narrated by a huge number of the companions and a great many scholars of both sects have accepted that it is mutawãtir.

And it is agreed upon that this had happened when the Messenger of Allãh (s.a.w.a.) was returning from Mecca to Medina; and this wilãyah (if it is not to be taken as a jest or joke) is an obligatory order like loving the friends of Allãh and keeping aloof from His enemies, which have been explicitly ordered in many verses of the Qur’ãn. Keeping allthis in view, it is not possible to say that this obligatory order of wilãyah was revealed after the revelation of the verse: This day have I perfected for you your religion . Obviously, this verse must have been revealed after the legislation of al-wilãyah. If there are traditions which show something different from this reality, then they are not to be relied upon.

You have already knownwhat is the position of the tradition which as-Suyūtī has narrated from ‘Umar. However, there is one thing to which attention should be drawn. If we look at the two noble verses: O Messenger! deliver what has been revealed to you from your Lord; and if you do it not, then you have not delivered His Message, and Allãh will protect you from the people (as we shall describe its meaning later on), and: This day have I perfected for you your religion . , together with the traditions written about them by both sects, and the mutawãtir traditions of Ghadīr; and then we study the internal condition of the Islamic Society during the last days of the Prophet of Islam (s.a.w.a.), and deeply ponder on all this phenomenon, we will feel certain that the order of al-wilãyah was already revealed some days before the day of Ghadīr, but the Prophet (s.a.w.a.) was hesitating to announce it before the masses, fearing that people would not accept it or would confront the Prophet with evil intentions, which would result in damaging his mission; he was postponing its announcment from today to tomorrow until the the Divine order came: O Prophet!deliver what has been revealed to you . , and this did not leave him any room for delaying.

Accordingly, it may be surmised that Allãh had revealed a major part of this chapter including: This day have I perfected for you your religion . , together with the order of al-wilãyah; and all this happened on the day of ‘Arafah; but the Prophet (s.a.w.a.) postponed the announcement of al-wilãyah upto Ghadīr Khumm, although he recited the verse referring to it on the day of ‘Arafah. As for the traditions which sho its revelation on the day of Ghadīr, it is not improbable that the idea sprang because the Prophet (s.a.w.a.) had recited this verse at the time when he announced the order of al-wilãyah as the verse was revealed for the same purpose.

If we accept this hypothesis, then there would not remain any contradiction between those traditions which say that the verse was revealed about al-wilãyah and those which say that it was revealed on the day of ‘Arafah, as has been narrated from ‘Umar, ‘Alī, Mu‘ãwiyah and Sumrah. There would have been contradiction if one group of the traditions had said that it was revealed on the day of Ghadīr Khumm and the other had said that it was revealed on the day of ‘Arafah.

As for those traditions which take the verse to mean that the religion was perfected by hajj, etc., these are merely the narrators' own interpretations. They are supported neither by the Book of Allãh nor by any reliable explanation of the Prophet (s.a.w.a.).

The hypothesis given above may be inferred from the tradition narrated by al-‘Ayyãshī in his Tafsīr from Ja‘far ibn Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Khuzã‘ī from his father that he said, “I heard Abū ‘Abdillãh (a.s.) saying, 'When the Messenger of Allãh (s.a.w.a.) reached ‘Arafah on Friday, Jibrīl came to him and said, “Verily Allãh sends you salutations and tells you: 'Say to your ummah: “This day I have prefected your religion with wilãyah of ‘Alī ibn Abī Tãlib and completed on you My favour and chosen for you Islam as a religion; and I will not descend on you people after this. I have brought for you the prayer, zakãt, fast and hajj and this is the fifth obligation and I shall not come to you after these four except with that (fifth one).”' “'“

A part from that, there is another difficulty in the tradition narrated from ‘Umar regarding the revelation of this verse on the day of ‘Arafah. All these traditions together describe that some People of the Book - and some name him as Ka‘b - said to ‘Umar, “Verily there is a verse in the Qur’ãn if like that would have been revealed on us, the Jews, we would have taken the day of its revelation as an ‘īd (feast) and the verse is: This day have I perfected for you your religion . “ ‘Umar said to him, “By Allãh! Surely I know the day and it was the day of ‘Arafah during the Last Pilgrimage.”

The wording of the tradition as narrated by Ibn Rãhwayh and ‘Abd ibn Hamīd from Abu ’l-‘Ãliyah is as follows: He says, “They were near‘`Umar and mentioned this verse. A man from the People of the Book said: 'Had we known on which day this verse was revealed we would have taken it as an ‘īd.' ‘Umar said, 'All praise is for Allãh who has made it ‘īd for us and also the next day; it was revealed on the day of ‘Arafah and the next day is the day of sacrifice; thus He perfected the affairs for us; and we understood that the affairs after this will go on deteriorating.”

The theme mentioned at the end of this tradition has been narrated in another way. It is written in ad-Durru ’l-manthūr from Ibn Abī Shaybah and Ibn Jarīr from ‘Antarah that he said, 'When the verse was revealed: This day have I perfected for you your religion . - and it was the day of the great hajj - ‘Umar started weeping; the Prophet (s.a.w.a.) said to him, 'Why are you weeping?' He said, 'The thing which has made me weep is that we were (until now) enjoying the increase in our religion. Now that it has become perfect then nothing ever becomes perfect but starts deteriorating.' The Prophet said, 'You are right.”

There is another tradition resembling a little with the above which is narrated in ad-Durru ’l-manthūr from Ahmad from ‘Alqamah ibn ‘Abdillãh al-Muznī who said, “Narrated to me a man who said, 'I was in the gathering room of ‘Umar ibn al-Khattãb. ‘Umar said to one of those present, “How did you hear the Messenger of Allãh (s.a.w.a.) describing Islam?” He said, “I heard the Messenger of Allãh (s.a.w.a.) saying, 'Verily Islam started [and grew as a camel grows from] a newborn calf, then it grows two teeth41 , then four, then six and then it reaches its peak strength with last set of teeth.' ‘Umar said, “Then there is nothing after completion except deteriorating.”'“

As you see, these traditions are intended to show that this verse of “Perfection of Religion” was revealed on the day of ‘Arafah for a specific purpose. According to them, it wanted to draw the attention of the people to what they were witnessing of triumph of the religion and its independence at Mecca during hajj season.

They want to interprete the perfection of religion and completion of Divine favour as the cleanness of Meccan atmosphere from pollution of polytheism, as all the affairs had come under the Muslims' control; on that day there was no religion there except Islam; and the Muslims had no need to fear their enemies or to remain on guard.

In other words, perfection of religion and completion of the bounty means perfection of what they had been given; they acted upon it without ther being any enemy to mingle with them. According to this interpretation, the religion here does not refer to thesharī‘ah which was laid down by Allãh and which contained tenets, ideologies, beliefs and the religious laws; and likewise, Islam in this verse refers to that Islam which was in their hands and which they followed. We may say that according to these traditions, religion means the form of the religion which could be witnessed in their actions and the same will be the status of Islam. It is this phenomenon which could be subjected to deterioration after reaching its peak; but as for the basic ideologies, faith and the laws laid down by Allãh, they cannot deteriorate after perfection (the idea which is inferred from ‘Umar's words: 'nothing ever becomes perfect but starts deteriorating'). Surely it is the system prevalent in the creation throughout the human history; and the society too is governed by this law; but the religion cannot come under the sway of these social laws. Of course, we are not talking here with those who believe that the religion too is a social phenomenon which is subject to change and evolution like other social formulas.

When you ponder on these matters, you will realize that this interpretation of ‘Umar is not free from shortcomings:

First: What he understood about the meaning of perfection of religion is not applicable to the Divine words: This day have I perfected for you your religion . , as we have explained earlier.

Second: How is it possible that Allãh should count the religion, in the form with which it appeared to the people, as perfect and could ascribe it to His Ownself as a matter of benevolence, just because the land was free from apparent idolworshippers and the society was apparently made up of the Muslims and cleansed from the polytheist enemies - while the very society contained those who were more harmful then the polytheists and more undermining to the Islamic system. They were the hypocrites who had their own secret societies and had infiltrated the inner circle of Islam. They sabotaged the system, turned the affairs upside down, created doubts in the believers' hearts and surreptitiously put in the religion un-Islamic ideas. They posed a greater threat to Islam; and a great number of Qur’ãnic verses and chapters had warned the Muslims of their machinations; as for example, the chapter of “The Hypocrites”, and the warnings given in the chapters of “The Cow”, “Women”, “The Table”, “The Spoils”. “Repentence“ and “The Confederates” and so on.

I wish I knew where did their gang go? How their fire died outBy which strategy their plots were thwarted? And how their falsity was obliterated? When they were present among the Muslims, how was it possible for Allãh to remind the Muslims of His Benevolence just because the exterior of religion had been perfected and apparent bounties had been completed for them? How could He be pleased by the apparent features of Islam merely because He had banished their idolworshipping enemies from Mecca, while the hypocrites were more inimical towards the Muslims, their danger was greater and it has left bitter results after theprophet. All this may be confirmed from the words of Allãh when He addresses His Prophet about them: They are the enemy, therefore beware of them (63:4).

How could Allãh portray it as His Benevolence to the Muslims and describe as perfect the appearance of religion whose inner reality was this Or praise His Bounties as complete when they were mixed with afflictions Or announce His pleasure with the shape of an Islam whose reality was such Allãh, the High, the Great, has said: Nor could I take those who lead (others) astray for aiders (18:51); and He has said about hypocrites - but if you are pleased with them, yet surely Allãh is not pleased with the transgressing people (9:96). (In this verse, the pleasure of Allãh is exclusively related to their hypocricy.)

The verse under discussion is absolutely general and no word has been restricted in any way; it speaks about unconditional perfection, completion and pleasure and unrestricted religion, bounty and Islam.

Objections: The verse, as mentioned earlier, is the fulfilment of the promise given in the chapter of the “Light”: Allãh has promised to those of you who believe and do good that He will most certainly make them successors in the earth as He made successors in the earth as He made successors those before them, and that He will most certainly establish for them their religion which He has chosen for them, and that He will most certainly, after their fear, give them security in exchange; they shall worship Me, not associating aught with Me; (24:55).

This verse, as you see, promises them to establish for them their religion which He has chosen for them. Parallel to that, we find in this verse: I have perfected for you your religion, and, I have chosen for you Islam as a religion. Thus, perfection of their chosen religion means establishing it for them, i.e., cleansing it from mingling of the polytheists. As for the hypocrites, their problem was different, not connected with this mingling. It is the connotation to which those traditions point which say that it was revealed on the day of ‘Arafah. That is why it is said that it refers to the fact that the religious rites, and the Muslims who performed it, had been rescued from mingling of the polytheists.

Reply: There is no doubt that: This day I have perfected . , points to the fulfilment of the promise given in the verse: Allãh has promised to those of you who believe and do good . (24:55); Also, it is accepted that: perfected for your your religion is parallel to the words: most certainly establish their religion which He has chosen for them; but the verse of the chapter of the “Light” begins with the words: Allãh has promised to those of you who believe and do good. Obviously, it was a selected group of the Muslims; appearance of whose deeds fully tallied with their realities, their exterior was one with their inner condition their religious actions were parallel to the religion which was ordained by Allãh. Therefore, establishment of their chosen religion meant perfecting that chosen religion which was in the knowledge, and under the decree, of Allãh, by moulding it in the mould of legislation and gathering all its parts together for them, in order that they should worship Allãh according to that religion, when the unbelievers had despaired of their religion.

That is, as we had said earlier, that perfection of religion means that Allãh perfected it from the point of legislation; now no new obligation was to be revealed after this verse. It does not mean that their actions and particularly their hajjwas cleansed from the rites and hajj of the idolworshippers. In other words, perfection of religion did happen when Allãh raised it to the highest level of development until there was no question of its ever getting deteriorated after completion.

al-Qummī says: “Narrated to me my father from Safwãn ibn Yahyã from al-‘Ulã’ from Muhammad ibn Muslim from Abū Ja‘far (a.s.) that he said, 'The last obligatory order which Allãh revealed was al-wilãyah; therefore no obligatory order was revealed; then was revealed: This day have I perfected for you your religion . atKurã‘ al -Ghamīm; and the Messenger of Allãh (s.a.w.a.) established (announced) it at Juhfah. After that, no obligatory order was revealed.” (at-Tafsīr , al-Qummī)

The author says: This theme has been narrated by at-Tabrisī in Majma‘u 'l-bayãn from al-Bãqir and as-Sãdiq (a.s.); and al-‘Ayyãshī has narrated it in his Tafsīr from Zurãrah from al-Bãqir (a.s.).

ash-Shaykh has narated through his chain from Muhammad ibn Ja‘far ibn Muhammad from his father Abū ‘Abdillãh (a.s.) from the Commander of the Believers ‘Alī (a.s.) that he said, “I heard the Messenger of Allãh (s.a.w.a.) saying, 'The foundation of Islam is on five characteristics, on the two shahãdahs and two associates.' He was told, 'As for the two shahãdahs, we know them, but what are the two associates' He said, 'The prayer and the zakãt, because one of them will not be accepted without the other; and the fast and the pilgrimage of the House of Allãh upon the one who can afford the journey to it; and he completed it with al-wilãyah; then Allãh, the Mighty, the Great, revealed: This day have I perfected for you your religion and completed My favour on you and have chosen for you Islam as a religion.” (al-Amãlī )

There is in Rawdatu 'l-wã‘izīn (by al-Fattãl) a tradition from Ibnu 'l-Fãrisī from AbūJa‘far (a.s.). The tradition narrates the story of the journey of the Prophet (s.a.w.a.) to pilgrimage and then his appointing ‘Alī for al-wilãyah at the time of the return journey to Medina and revelation of this verse; that tradition contains the speech of the Messenger of Allãh (s.a.w.a.) on the day of Ghadīr, and it is a very lengthy speech.

The author says: A similar tradition has been narrated by at-Tabrisī in al-Ihtijãj through a well connected chain from al-Hadramī from Abū Ja‘far al-Bãqir (a.s.); also, al-Kulaynī in al-Kãfī and as-Sadūq in al-‘Uyūn have narrated on revelation of the verse of al-wilãyah, both through their chains from ‘Abdu ’l-‘Azīz ibn Muslim from ar-Ridã (a.s.). The same theme has been narrated by ash-Shaykh in his al-Amãlī through his chain from Ibn Abī ‘Umayr from al-Mufaddal ibn ‘Umar from as-Sãdiq (a.s.) from his grandfather, the Commander of the Believers (a.s.). Also , it has been narrated by at-Tabrisī in Majma‘u 'l-bayãn through his chain from Abū Hãrūn al-‘Abdī from Abū Sa‘īd al-Khudrī; also, by ash-Shaykh in his al-Amãlī through his chain from Ishãq ibn Ismã‘īl an-Naysãbūrī from as-Sãdiq from his father from al-Hasan ibn ‘Alī (peace be on them all). We are not quoting those traditions for the sake of brevity. Whoever wants to see them should consult the books referred to. And Allãh is the Guide.

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