Al-An'aam 6:139
The Cattle · ayah 139 of 165
Waqaloo ma fee butoonihathihi al-anAAami khalisatun lithukoorinawamuharramun AAala azwajina wa-inyakun maytatan fahum feehi shurakao sayajzeehim wasfahuminnahu hakeemun AAaleem
Saheeh International translation
Other English translations
Abdel Haleem (Oxford)+
"They also say, ‘The contents of these animals’ wombs will be reserved solely for our men and forbidden to our women, though if the offspring is stillborn they may have a share of it.’ He will punish them for what they attribute to Him: He is all wise, all aware."
Pickthall (classic)+
"And they say: That which is in the bellies of such cattle is reserved for our males and is forbidden to our wives; but if it be born dead, then they (all) may be partakers thereof. He will reward them for their attribution (of such ordinances unto Him). Lo, He is Wise, Aware."
Yusuf Ali (classic)+
"They say: "What is in the wombs of such and such cattle is specially reserved (for food) for our men, and forbidden to our women; but if it is still-born, then all have share therein. For their (false) attribution (of superstitions to Allah), He will soon punish them: for He is full of wisdom and knowledge."
Tafsīr · classical commentary
Ibn Kathir
Abridged English, public domain
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Ibn Kathir
Abridged English, public domain
(And they say: "What is in the bellies of such and such cattle is for our males alone...") refers to milk. `Awfi said that Ibn `Abbas said about this Ayah,
(And they say: "What is in the bellies of such and such cattle is for our males alone...") "It is about milk, which they prohibited for their females and allowed only their males to drink. When a sheep would give birth to a male sheep, they would slaughter it and feed it to their males, but not to their females. If the newly born lamb was a female, they would not slaughter it, but if it was stillborn, they would share in it (with their females)! Allah forbade this practice." Similar was said by As-Suddi. Ash-Sha`bi said, "The Bahirah's milk was only given to the men. But if any cattle from the Bahirah died, both men and women would share in eating it." Similar was said by `Ikrimah, Qatadah and `Abdur-Rahman bin Zayd bin Aslam. Mujahid commented;
(And they say: "What is in the bellies of such and such cattle is for our males alone, and forbidden to our females...") "It refers to the Sa'ibah and the Bahirah." Abu Al-`Aliyah, Mujahid and Qatadah said that Allah's statement,
(He will punish them for their attribution. ) means, uttering such falsehood. This is explained by Allah's statement,
(And say not concerning that which your tongues falsely utter: "This is lawful and this is forbidden." so as to invent lies against Allah. Verily, those who invent lies against Allah will never prosper.) 16:116 Allah said,
(Verily, He is All-Wise.) in His actions, statements, Law and decree,
(All-Knower), in the actions of His servants, whether good or evil, and He will recompense them for these deeds completely.
Tafsir Saʿdi
English translation, public domain
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Tafsir Saʿdi
English translation, public domain
Maʿārif al-Qur'ān
Mufti Shafi Usmani, English
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Maʿārif al-Qur'ān
Mufti Shafi Usmani, English
Linkage of Verses
Described in the previous verses were false beliefs of the mushriks of Arabia while the present verses recount their practical errors and ignorant customs. The customs of Jahiliyyah mentioned in these verses are: (1) They took out a portion in the name of Allah from grains and fruits, and some in the name of idols and Jinns. Then, if by chance, some part of what belonged to the portion of Allah got mixed up with the portion reserved for idols, they would let it stay mixed as it was. When the position was the reverse of it, they would take it out and make the portion set for idols even. The excuse was that Allah is need-free. A cut in His share does not harm Him while the partners need it - so, their share should not be decreased. This evil custom was mentioned earlier in verse 136.
(2) The second custom was that they would release animals they called Bahirah and Sa'ibah in the name of idols and said that they were doing it for the pleasure of Allah. Here too, the portion allotted to idols was that the act of worship was intended for them - and the portion allotted to Allah was that they aimed to please Allah.
(3) The third custom was that of killing their female children.
(4) The fourth custom was that they would endow some tillage in the name of idols saying that only men could use its produce. Giving or not giving a share from it to women depended on their will. Women had no right to demand.
(5) They would do the same thing with cattle when they would restrict their use for men only.
(6) They considered the quadruped animals they released in the name of idols as unlawful for purposes of riding or carrying loads.
(7) There were quadruped animals they would specify. Using them at any time, they would not pronounce the name of Allah, neither when milking, nor when riding and nor when slaughtering.
(8) The eighth custom was that they would release animals in the name of idols, naming them as Bahirah or Sa'ibah. When, at the time
of slaughter, the calf came out alive, they would slaughter it as well - but, would take it as lawful for men only; for women, they took it to be unlawful - and if the calf was born still, it was supposed to be lawful for everyone.
(9) Even milk from some animals was considered lawful for men and unlawful for women.
(10) They took reverence for four kinds of animals: Bahirah, Sa'ibah, Wasilah and Hami, as an act of worship.
[ All these narrations appear in Ad-Durr Al-Manthur and Ruh al-Mani from Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas, Mujahid, Ibn Zayd and As-Suddiy with exegetic deductions of Ibn al-Mundhir, Ibn Abi Hatim, Ibn Abi Ash-Shaybah and Ibn Humayd) [ As in Bayn al-Qur'an of Maulana Thanavi ]
Tafsīr sourced from quran.com's open API. These are classical commentaries; for personal rulings consult a qualified scholar.