6. Al-An'aam

God has created different types of food for man, some spreading out over the ground, like melons, and leafy vegetables; some growing on climbing plants like the grapes on the vine; and some growing high up in the trees, like dates and mangoes. Similarly, different kinds of animals, both big and small, have been created to fulfil the needs of man, for example, camels, horses, sheep and goats. Man, the birds and animals and all the green, growing things have come into existence quite independently of each other, but man sees that there is a strong harmony between himself and all the rest of God’s creations. If a man’s body needs nourishment, then outside, on the green trees, wonderful food packets are hanging. If his palate yearns for something delicious to eat, he has only to pluck fruits and then eat them. If his eyes have an aesthetic longing for scenic beauty, then the entire background of nature presents a panorama of scenic beauty and charm. If he needs to eat, ride or despatch goods, then such animals are available here as can serve his transport needs as well as provide him with valuable food. In this way, the entire existence of the universe has become a proclamation of the unity of God, because this uniformity observed in the various phenomena of the universe would not be possible unless its Creator and Lord were one. When a man sees that this great universal provision for him has been arranged without his necessarily deserving it, his heart is filled with gratitude for this freely given blessing. In consequence, this whole matter becomes nourishment for man’s God-fearing instinct, or piety (taqwa). It is the rule of nature that every privilege be accompanied by responsibility. This reminds man of reward and punishment, and induces him to live in this world with the active realisation that one day he has to appear before God to give an account of himself. If these feelings really take hold of a man, then, of necessity, two tendencies will develop in him. One is—whatever he receives—to appreciate that his Lord has a hand in it, and the other is to spend strictly according to his needs and not in excess of this or without occasion. But what Satan does is to divert a man’s mind from the right direction and enmesh it in diverse irrelevant matters.

By nature, there is in man the consciousness of God and the realisation of what is permitted and what is forbidden. Man, in pursuance of his internal urge, wants to make a Supreme Being his God and wants to distinguish between permitted and forbidden things. Satan knows this fact very well. He knows that if a man is allowed to go his own way under normal conditions, he will adopt the straight path of nature. So, in order to blunt man’s natural instinct, he introduces different types of false customs. In the name of God, he invents some imaginary gods. In the name of what is permitted and forbidden, he devises some baseless prohibition. In this way, Satan tries to entangle man in these imaginary matters, so that he should not arrive at the real truth, but stray from the right path; then, seeing himself apparently progressing, he should think that he is on the right path, even though it might be a crooked line and not the straight right path. Those who fall a victim to Satan’s misleading, are transgressors in the eyes of God. God had given them the understanding by which they could have differentiated between Truth and falsehood. But their prejudices warp their minds and, in spite of having the capacity to understand, they remain far removed from the truth.

By nature, there is in man the consciousness of God and the realisation of what is permitted and what is forbidden. Man, in pursuance of his internal urge, wants to make a Supreme Being his God and wants to distinguish between permitted and forbidden things. Satan knows this fact very well. He knows that if a man is allowed to go his own way under normal conditions, he will adopt the straight path of nature. So, in order to blunt man’s natural instinct, he introduces different types of false customs. In the name of God, he invents some imaginary gods. In the name of what is permitted and forbidden, he devises some baseless prohibition. In this way, Satan tries to entangle man in these imaginary matters, so that he should not arrive at the real truth, but stray from the right path; then, seeing himself apparently progressing, he should think that he is on the right path, even though it might be a crooked line and not the straight right path. Those who fall a victim to Satan’s misleading, are transgressors in the eyes of God. God had given them the understanding by which they could have differentiated between Truth and falsehood. But their prejudices warp their minds and, in spite of having the capacity to understand, they remain far removed from the truth.

Among the animals reared by the Arabs for the sake of their meat and milk, etc., four kinds were very well known—sheep, goats, camels and cows. With reference to them, they had framed different types of prohibitory regulations. But they had no authority to back these up save their polytheistic customs. The banning of the meat of the sheep, goat, camel or cow, whether male or female, has no rationality in it. All the meat on them is the best food for man. They do not even have any dirty habits which could make them undesirable for human consumption. Even in the teachings coming down from heaven there is no mention of their being forbidden. Then, why does it happen that different types of restrictive regulations gain currency? The reason for this is satanic inducements.

According to the divine Shariah (Islamic regulations), the truly forbidden things have always been the same as mentioned in the foregoing verse, viz. carrion, out-pouring blood, the meat of pigs and animals slaughtered in the name of any thing or being other than God. Anything else which is forbidden falls into a sub-group of the above-mentioned as a matter of detail. But along with this, among God’s prohibitory laws, another principle is at work, namely, that when a community blessed with His Book adopts the way of arrogance instead of obedience, it is subjected to new difficulties by way of punishment, i.e. such things as were not originally forbidden them in the Divine Shariah are now banned. One way in which this change comes about is that in such a community, leaders arise who are completely ignorant of the reality of the religion. They are conversant only with its outward formalities. The meticulousness which they should apply to the meaningful realities of religion is reserved by them for outward formalities and rites. The result is that unnecessary hair-splitting over externals becomes a set pattern in religion. Such leaders devise self-made outward standards of religion. By a process of extreme exaggeration, they make a simple commandment complicated and a legitimate thing unlawful. For instance, when arrogance set in among the Jews, certain scholars arose among them who, by their hair-splitting arguments, made the rule that for an animal to be deemed fit to eat, it should possess two qualities—one, that its hooves should be cloven or divided, and second, that it should be a cud-chewing animal. Even if one of these conditions was not fulfilled, that animal, according to them, was forbidden. Due to this self-imposed condition, even animals like the camel and the rabbit, etc., were unnecessarily banned. Similarly, by taking up an extreme position about the importance attached to claws, they unnecessarily placed ostriches, swans and ducks in the forbidden category. These unnatural restrictions narrowed their lives, whereas God had intended to give them wider latitude. After rejecting the Truth, man is not immediately seized upon by God. He finds himself free and his life as full as before. For this reason, he erroneously imagines that he is not going to lose anything by not accepting the Truth. He forgets that if he remains safe, it is simply because of the merciful forbearance of God. In spite of man’s arrogance, God gives him the opportunity to redeem himself till the very last moment. Finally, when he has not changed his behaviour, all of a sudden God swoops down on him—sometimes in this world and sometimes both in this world and the Hereafter.

According to the divine Shariah (Islamic regulations), the truly forbidden things have always been the same as mentioned in the foregoing verse, viz. carrion, out-pouring blood, the meat of pigs and animals slaughtered in the name of any thing or being other than God. Anything else which is forbidden falls into a sub-group of the above-mentioned as a matter of detail. But along with this, among God’s prohibitory laws, another principle is at work, namely, that when a community blessed with His Book adopts the way of arrogance instead of obedience, it is subjected to new difficulties by way of punishment, i.e. such things as were not originally forbidden them in the Divine Shariah are now banned. One way in which this change comes about is that in such a community, leaders arise who are completely ignorant of the reality of the religion. They are conversant only with its outward formalities. The meticulousness which they should apply to the meaningful realities of religion is reserved by them for outward formalities and rites. The result is that unnecessary hair-splitting over externals becomes a set pattern in religion. Such leaders devise self-made outward standards of religion. By a process of extreme exaggeration, they make a simple commandment complicated and a legitimate thing unlawful. For instance, when arrogance set in among the Jews, certain scholars arose among them who, by their hair-splitting arguments, made the rule that for an animal to be deemed fit to eat, it should possess two qualities—one, that its hooves should be cloven or divided, and second, that it should be a cud-chewing animal. Even if one of these conditions was not fulfilled, that animal, according to them, was forbidden. Due to this self-imposed condition, even animals like the camel and the rabbit, etc., were unnecessarily banned. Similarly, by taking up an extreme position about the importance attached to claws, they unnecessarily placed ostriches, swans and ducks in the forbidden category. These unnatural restrictions narrowed their lives, whereas God had intended to give them wider latitude. After rejecting the Truth, man is not immediately seized upon by God. He finds himself free and his life as full as before. For this reason, he erroneously imagines that he is not going to lose anything by not accepting the Truth. He forgets that if he remains safe, it is simply because of the merciful forbearance of God. In spite of man’s arrogance, God gives him the opportunity to redeem himself till the very last moment. Finally, when he has not changed his behaviour, all of a sudden God swoops down on him—sometimes in this world and sometimes both in this world and the Hereafter.

The unadulterated missionary call for Truth always stands out as something rather strange. On the one hand, there is the customary religion which enjoys prominence in all social institutions. Centuries of traditions are behind it to lend it weight. On the other hand, there is the call for Truth, which has no time-honoured conventions in its favour. It is difficult, therefore, for people to understand that customary religion, which has such an elevated status and great popularity, will not be to God’s liking. The common presumption is that it has been possible for the customary religion to flourish to this extent because it suited God’s will and pleasure: had it not been so, it would not have spread and endured to this extent. They raise the question of whether God’s favoured religion will be one already enjoying a high status everywhere in this world of God or one which has no standing whatsoever.

The unadulterated missionary call for Truth always stands out as something rather strange. On the one hand, there is the customary religion which enjoys prominence in all social institutions. Centuries of traditions are behind it to lend it weight. On the other hand, there is the call for Truth, which has no time-honoured conventions in its favour. It is difficult, therefore, for people to understand that customary religion, which has such an elevated status and great popularity, will not be to God’s liking. The common presumption is that it has been possible for the customary religion to flourish to this extent because it suited God’s will and pleasure: had it not been so, it would not have spread and endured to this extent. They raise the question of whether God’s favoured religion will be one already enjoying a high status everywhere in this world of God or one which has no standing whatsoever.

God has made this world like one great examination hall in which He has left it up to man to do well or badly in the questions of right and wrong. Of course, differentiating between Truth and falsehood should always be based on real reasoning and not on conjecture or on references to popular custom. But man is not bound to opt for the path of logic. For, instead of forcibly imposing His will on man, God adopted the method of teaching man about what is right or what is wrong and left it to him to tread the right or the wrong path. This means that in the life of the world, argument (reasoning) is God’s representative. When a man bows before a correct or sound argument, it is as if he is bowing down before God, and when he refuses to do so, it is as if he is rejecting God. The reason why a man does not accede to reasoning is that he is unable to rise above his desires. In order to justify his actions, he is prepared to declare falsehood to be truth. His recklessness goes to the extent of ignoring God’s signs. He becomes careless of the fact that finally God is going to have him in His grasp, and gives to other things the importance which he should give to God alone.