Tafseer of Jonas · Yunus · 10:59
Say, "Have you seen what Allah has sent down to you of provision of which you have made [some] lawful and [some] unlawful?" Say, "Has Allah permitted you [to do so], or do you invent [something] about Allah?"
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The explanation of the words of Allah the Exalted: قُلْ أَرَأَيْتُمْ مَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ مِنْ رِزْقٍ فَجَعَلْتُمْ مِنْهُ حَرَامًا وَحَلالا قُلْ آللَّهُ أَذِنَ لَكُمْ أَمْ عَلَى اللَّهِ تَفْتَرُونَ (Say: Have you considered what Allah has sent down to you of provision, and you have made some of it forbidden and some of it permitted? Say: Has Allah given you permission for that, or do you invent lies against Allah?) [10:59]
Abū Jaʿfar says: Allah the Exalted says to His Prophet ﷺ: Say, O Muḥammad, to these polytheists (mushrikīn): "Have you considered" — O people — "what Allah has sent down to you of provision"; that is to say: what Allah has created for you of sustenance and given you a share therein, namely the foodstuffs by which you nourish yourselves — "and you have made some of it forbidden and some of it permitted"; that is to say: you have declared some of it lawful for yourselves and declared some of it forbidden for yourselves. This refers to the forbidding of that which they declared forbidden of their crops which they assigned to their idols, as Allah describes them in this and says: وَجَعَلُوا لِلَّهِ مِمَّا ذَرَأَ مِنَ الْحَرْثِ وَالأَنْعَامِ نَصِيبًا فَقَالُوا هَذَا لِلَّهِ بِزَعْمِهِمْ وَهَذَا لِشُرَكَائِنَا (And they assigned to Allah a share of what He has produced of crops and cattle, and said: "This is for Allah" — according to their claim — "and this is for our associate-partners.") [Sūrat al-Anʿām: 136].
And of the cattle they declared some forbidden by means of slitting the ears (al-tabḥīr) and letting them roam free (al-tasayyub) and the like, as we have expounded earlier in this work.
Allah says to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: Say, O Muḥammad: "Has Allah given you permission" to forbid what you have declared forbidden, "or do you invent lies against Allah?" — that is to say: do you speak falsehood and lie?
* * *
In the same sense as what we have said here, the people of tafsīr have also spoken.
*Mention is made of those who said that:*
17689 — Al-Muthanná related to me, saying: ʿAbdullāh related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: "The people of the Jāhiliyya forbade all sorts of things that Allah had permitted, such as certain garments and other things — and this is the meaning of the words of Allah: 'Say: Have you considered what Allah has sent down to you of provision, and you have made some of it forbidden and some of it permitted' — and this concerns that. Then Allah the Exalted sent down: قُلْ مَنْ حَرَّمَ زِينَةَ اللَّهِ الَّتِي أَخْرَجَ لِعِبَادِهِ (Say: Who has forbidden the adornment of Allah which He has brought forth for His servants?) [Sūrat al-Aʿrāf: 32]."
17690 — Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning the words of Allah: "Say: Have you considered what Allah has sent down to you of provision, and you have made some of it forbidden" — up to the words: "or do you invent lies against Allah?" — He said: "They are the people of assigning associate-partners to Allah (mushrikīn)."
17691 — Al-Qāsim related to me, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ al-Khurāsānī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās concerning the words: "and you have made some of it forbidden and some of it permitted" — he said: "The crops and the cattle." Ibn Jurayj said: Mujāhid said: "The bahāʾir (female camels with slit ears) and the suyayb (freed animals)."
17692 — Al-Muthanná related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibil related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the words: "and you have made some of it forbidden and some of it permitted" — he said: "Concerning the baḥīra and the sāʾiba."
17693 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning the words: "Say: Have you considered what Allah has sent down to you of provision, and you have made some of it forbidden and some of it permitted" — the verse — he said: "Every provision that I have not forbidden, you have declared forbidden for yourselves, whether it be your women, your possessions, or your children — has Allah given you permission for what you have declared forbidden thereof, or do you invent lies against Allah?"
17694 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning the words: "Say: Have you considered what Allah has sent down to you of provision, and you have made some of it forbidden and some of it permitted" — he read on until he reached: "or do you invent lies against Allah?" — and he recited: وَقَالُوا مَا فِي بُطُونِ هَذِهِ الأَنْعَامِ خَالِصَةٌ لِذُكُورِنَا وَمُحَرَّمٌ عَلَى أَزْوَاجِنَا (And they said: "What is in the bellies of these cattle is exclusively for our males and forbidden to our wives.") [Sūrat al-Anʿām: 139], and he recited: وَقَالُوا هَذِهِ أَنْعَامٌ وَحَرْثٌ حِجْرٌ (And they said: "These cattle and crops are set apart.") — until he reached: لا يَذْكُرُونَ اسْمَ اللَّهِ عَلَيْهَا (They do not mention the name of Allah over them.) [Sūrat al-Anʿām: 138] — and he said: "This is the meaning of His words: He gave them a provision, but they declared some of it forbidden and some of it permitted — they forbade a portion and permitted a portion." And he recited: ثَمَانِيَةَ أَزْوَاجٍ مِنَ الضَّأْنِ اثْنَيْنِ وَمِنَ الْمَعْزِ اثْنَيْنِ قُلْ آلذَّكَرَيْنِ حَرَّمَ أَمِ الأُنْثَيَيْنِ أَمَّا اشْتَمَلَتْ عَلَيْهِ أَرْحَامُ الأُنْثَيَيْنِ (Eight pairs: of the sheep two and of the goats two. Say: Has He forbidden the two males, or the two females, or what the wombs of the two females enclose?) — which of these two has He forbidden for those who claim that, and which has He permitted for which? — نَبِّئُونِي بِعِلْمٍ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ صَادِقِينَ * أَمْ كُنْتُمْ شُهَدَاءَ إِذْ وَصَّاكُمُ اللَّهُ بِهَذَا (Inform me with knowledge if you are truthful. Or were you witnesses when Allah enjoined this upon you?) — to the end of the verses [Sūrat al-Anʿām: 144].
17695 — It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faraj, who said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān related to us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning the words: "Say: Have you considered what Allah has sent down to you of provision, and you have made some of it forbidden and some of it permitted" — "This is that which Allah said: وَجَعَلُوا لِلَّهِ مِمَّا ذَرَأَ مِنَ الْحَرْثِ وَالأَنْعَامِ نَصِيبًا (And they assigned to Allah a share of what He has produced of crops and cattle.)" — up to the words: سَاءَ مَا يَحْكُمُونَ (How evil is what they judge.) [Sūrat al-Anʿām: 136]."
