Tafseer of The Cattle · Al-An'aam · 6:162
Say, "Indeed, my prayer, my rites of sacrifice, my living and my dying are for Allah, Lord of the worlds.
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 discourse on the explanation of His statement: قُلْ إِنَّ صَلاتِي وَنُسُكِي وَمَحْيَايَ وَمَمَاتِي لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ (Say: indeed, my prayer and my sacrifice and my living and my dying belong to Allah, the Lord of the worlds) (162).
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: (Say), O Muḥammad, to these who set up idols and images alongside their Lord, who ask you to follow their desires in the falsehood of worshipping the gods and the idols: (indeed, my prayer and my sacrifice), He says: and my slaughtering (dhabḥ), (and my living), He says: and my life, (and my dying), He says: and my death, (belong to Allah, the Lord of the worlds), that is to say: that all of this belongs purely to Him, apart from that which you have ascribed to Him as associates, O polytheists (mushrikīn), namely the idols, (He has no associate) in anything thereof among His creation, nor does any of them have any share therein, for it is not fitting that this should belong to any other than Him alone. (and to that I have been commanded), He says: and to that my Lord has commanded me. (and I am the first of the Muslims), He says: and I am the first of this community to acknowledge, obey, and submit to his Lord, namely that it is so.
* * *
And in accordance with what we have said regarding this, the exegetes of tafsīr have spoken.
* Mention of those who said: "an-nusuk" in this place means the slaughtering.
14296 – Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of ʿAnbasa, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, on the authority of al-Qāsim ibn Abī Bazza, on the authority of Mujāhid: (indeed, my prayer and my sacrifice), he said: "an-nusuk" are the sacrificial animals at the ḥajj and the ʿumra.
14297 – Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the statement of Allah: (and my sacrifice): my slaughtering at the ḥajj and the ʿumra.
14298 – Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: (and my sacrifice): my sacrificial animal at the ḥajj and the ʿumra.
14299 – Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl – and not Ibn Abī Khālid – on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, concerning His statement: (my prayer and my sacrifice), he said: my slaughtering.
14300 – Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: al-Thawrī informed us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, concerning His statement: (my prayer and my sacrifice), he said: my slaughtering.
14301 – Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mahdī related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ismāʿīl, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr – Ibn Mahdī said: I do not know who this "Ismāʿīl" is! – (my prayer and my sacrifice), he said: my prayer and my sacrificial animal.
14302 – Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq related to us, saying: al-Thawrī related to us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, concerning His statement: (my prayer and my sacrifice), he said: and my sacrificial animal.
14303 – Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: (and my sacrifice), he said: my slaughtering.
14304 – Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to me, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, concerning His statement: (and my sacrifice), he said: my sacrificial animal.
14305 – Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: al-Muḥāribī related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk: (my prayer and my sacrifice), he said: "the prayer" is the prayer, and "an-nusuk" is the slaughtering.
