Zia Sheikh – Tafseer of Surah Nahal Session 2
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أعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرجيم بسم الله الرحمن
الرحيم وَالأَنعَامَ خَلَقَهَا لَكُمْ فِيهَا دِفْهُ وَمَنَافِعُ وَمِنْهَا
تَأْكُلُونَ وَلَكُمْ فِيهَا جَمَالٌ حِينَ تُرِيحُونَ وَحِينَ تَسْرَحُونَ
وَتَحْمِلُ أَثْقَالَكُمْ إِلَى بَلَدٍ لَمْ تَكُونُوا بَالِغِيهِ إِلَّا
بِشِقِ الْأَنفُسِ إِنَّ رَبَّكُمْ لَرَحِيمٌ وَالْخَيْلَ وَالْمِغَالَ
وَالْحَمِيرَ لِتَرُكَبُوهَا وَزِينَهُ وَيَخْلُقُ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ Last
week we started Surah An-Nahl, which means
the bee.
And the discussion of the bee takes place
later in the Surah, in which Allah SWT
describes how He commands the bee to go
to certain flowers and take from their nectar
and make honey.
But we will, inshallah, discuss that when that
comes.
Today, Allah starts off with the discussion of
animals.
And as I mentioned last week, this is
a Makki Surah.
And in Makki Surahs, Allah SWT focuses on
His greatness and His creation to increase the
Iman of the people.
So the purpose of Makki Surahs generally is
for Tawheed and for people to understand the
Oneness of Allah SWT.
That He is the One and Only Creator
and it is in His power to create
everything and anything that He has created.
And we should ponder into His creation so
that we can understand His greatness and His
power.
So these verses that we are about to
read, they talk about the animals that He
has created and the benefits that we derive
from them.
And from that we understand His greatness, inshallah.
Allah SWT says, وَالْأَنْعَامَ خَلَقَهَا And the animals,
He created them.
So the actual sentence is supposed to be
خَلَقَ الْأَنْعَام He created the animals.
But الْأَنْعَام is mentioned in the beginning and
خَلَقَ is mentioned after that.
So the ruling is, in Arabic, تَعْخِيرُ شَيْءٍ
حَقُّهُ التَّعْخِيرُ يُفِيدُ الحَصْرُ If you bring forward
something that is supposed to be afterwards, then
it gives the benefit of stress.
So Allah SWT is focusing, He is telling
us to focus on the animals.
Those things that we see around us, meaning
the animals, Allah is telling us, the animals
Allah created, focus on them, think about them.
As opposed to Allah saying, He created the
animals, which just gives the meaning of His
creation.
Here the emphasis is that the animals are
there, ponder into them, ponder into that creation
of Allah SWT and through that understand Allah
SWT's greatness.
لَكُمْ فِيهَا دِفْعٌ وَمَنَافِعُ وَمِنْهَا تَأْكُلُونَ For you
in them, specifically for you.
Here again we have the same thing.
لَكُمْ is supposed to be the end.
From the center, لَكُمْ is supposed to come
at the end.
But Allah SWT brought it forward.
لَكُمْ means for you.
So because it is being brought forward, Allah
SWT is saying, specifically for you O human
beings.
This is especially for you that Allah SWT
did.
And especially for you in them, in these
animals, there is something called دِفْعٌ.
دِفْعٌ means protection.
And specifically protection from the cold.
So generally, why do we wear the clothes
that we wear?
To protect us from the cold.
And in particular when we wear things made
out of animal skin or wool or animal
hair, it is usually to protect us from
the cold.
So this is what دِفْعٌ means.
So specifically Allah is saying that in these
animals, meaning in their hair, in their skin,
in their wool, there is protection from cold
from you.
Here Allah SWT doesn't mention the protection from
heat.
But later on in the surah, Allah SWT
addresses that issue.
وَجَعَلَ لَكُمْ سَرَابِيلَ تَقِيكُمُ الْحَرَّ وَسَرَابِيلَ تَقِيكُمْ بَأْسَكُمْ
So that inshallah will be discussed later on.
That animal skins are also used for the
purpose of shade in tents.
And that also protects people from heat.
And nowadays we rely on other means to
protect ourselves from the heat.
Like air conditioning and insulation in our houses
and so on.
But here specifically the mention of animals here,
Allah is talking about the protection from the
cold.
لَكُمْ فِيهَا دِفْعٌ وَمَنَافِعٌ And specifically for you
all human beings, those animals have benefits.
What kind of benefits do they have?
They have the benefit of milk, butter, fat.
This is from the perspective of the dairy
products that we derive from their milk.
And this is from all kinds of animals.
Sheep milk, goat milk, cow's milk, buffalo milk,
camel milk.
All of these animals they provide milk for
the humans so that we can benefit from
their different varieties of dairy products that we
can derive from them.
So منافع, this is one type of منفع
or benefit that we can derive from them.
The second thing is, obviously the thing specifically
mentioned right now a minute ago, the issue
of usage of their wool, usage of their
hair, usage of their skin for various products,
for shoes, jackets, clothing, etc.
And finally, using them to carry our weights
and do the works of burden.
And again, nowadays a lot of the stuff
has become mechanical in terms of the farm
animals and so on.
They are not used as much in the
west, but still in many countries, the use
of oxen and horses, etc.
to do plowing and so on, it is
still used.
It is still available in many, many countries.
So, different benefits Allah has given us.
منها تأكلون, and from many of them you
also consume.
This in Arabic is known as, so Allah
SWT used in general منافع, benefits, and then
one of the greatest benefits, this is called
تخصيص بعد التعميم.
Benefits, all general benefits are mentioned, and amongst
them consumption, but specifically Allah SWT mentioned consumption
at the end.
It is focused on something very specific, something
very important, and that is that a living
thing is actually giving up its life for
our consumption.
That's a living thing.
It's a living, breathing animal, just like us,
but it gives up its life so that
we can consume it.
So that we can eat it.
That's something we should pay attention to.
Specifically our kids, when they say, well I
don't want to eat this meat, I don't
want to eat this piece of meat because
it's, I don't know, I don't like it.
Well, an animal actually gave up its life
for you.
An animal gave up its life for you,
so that you could consume it, and you're
complaining about it.
Okay, so Allah SWT specifically says ومنها تأكلون,
and from some of these animals you are
actually eating.
وَلَكُمْ فِيهَا جَمَالٌ حِينَ تُرِيحُونَ وَحِينَ تَسْرَحُونَ And
specifically for you, these animals, there is beauty.
There is beauty when they return back from
the pastures, and when they return to the
pastures.
Pastures meaning the fields to graze.
Okay, so when we look at these animals,
we look at the beautiful horse, that is,
its hide is glimmering in the sun, and
its hair is flowing, and it's galloping in
the wind, and its mane and its tail
are flowing.
We see in it a beauty.
The camel, we see in it a specific
type of beauty.
The cow in it, we see a specific
type of beauty.
So Allah SWT is telling us that specifically
for you, Allah SWT has made a beauty,
when they come back from the pastures, from
grazing, and when they go to the grazing.
So the question is, why does Allah SWT
use come back first, and going later?
Because they go first, and then they come
back afterwards, right?
So the answer to that, the Mufassireen say,
that there is more beauty for a person
who sees the cows when they're coming back
from grazing.
Why?
Because when they're coming back from grazing, and
they're about to be milked, their udders are
full of milk, and a person is wondering
basically, that you know, this looks so wonderful,
and so delicious, that I could just take
that cow and milk it, and I have
so much milk.
When it comes back from grazing, that's when
a person, when he sees these animals, he
appreciates their beauty even more.
So that's why Allah SWT used coming back
before going.
So indeed, specifically for you, in these animals,
there is beauty, when they are coming back
from grazing, and when they're going out for
grazing.
وَتَحْمِلُ أَثْقَالَكُمْ إِلَىٰ بَلَدٍ لَمْ تَكُونُ بَالِغِيْهِ إِلَّا
بِالْحُجْرِ And they carry your weights for you.
They carry your weights for you, to such
lands that you could not have reached, except
with difficulty, with such difficulty of your lives.
So, just imagine, if you had to go
from, even from one town to the other,
nowadays obviously we have the cars, but just
imagine, if you had to take a heavy
burden, let's say a furniture, a couch, and
carry it on your back, from one end
of Estes to the end of Estes, a
mile, mile and a half.
For a human being to do that, it's
impossible.
But put it on a horse, put it
on a camel, put it on an elephant,
they will happily carry it for you, and
they will obey you, and do that from
one end of the street to the other,
and not only that, from one town to
the other, from one country to the other,
they do that for you.
Again, what is mentioned in another verse of
the Qur'an, سُبْحَانَ الَّذِينَ سَفَّرَ لَنَا هَذَا
وَمَا كُنَّ لَهُمْ مُقْرِنِينَ Allah SWT provided us
for these animals, and we couldn't have overpowered
them.
Just imagine a horse, if it wants to
kick you, it's enough to kill you.
Elephants, in many countries, Thailand, India, Africa, people
actually can ride animals, ride elephants, and carry
weight with these elephants, and control the elephants.
A human being is controlling an elephant.
That elephant that can just take you in
its trunk, pick you up and throw you
on the ground, and kill you instantly, and
crush you with its foot, you crush your
head with its foot, a human being is
controlling it.
So this is again, something that Allah SWT
has enabled the human being to do.
So these animals, they carry your weights from
one country to the other, which you couldn't
have done, except with the difficulty of your
lives.
إِنَّ رَبَّكُمْ لَرَءُوفُ رَحِيمٌ Indeed, your Lord, He
is gentle and merciful to you.
Because He knows your weaknesses, and He knows
how weak you are in comparison to the
animals.
So He enabled those animals to be submissive
to you, and to be obedient to you.
This is a command from Allah SWT.
And of course, in this day and age,
the animals have been replaced by vehicles, trucks,
airplanes, ships, and so on.
Again, all have been provided to us by
Allah SWT.
Allah SWT gave us the intelligence to build
those things, and make those things.
So again, everything is from Allah SWT.
خَيْلَ وَالْبِغَالَ وَالْحَمِيرَ لِتَرْكَبُوهَا وَزِينَهُ وَيَخْلُقُ مَا لَا
تَعْلَمُونَ And horses, and mules, and donkeys, so
that you could ride them, and also as
a source of beauty.
So again, people that have these animals, horses,
donkeys, camels, and specifically mentioned here, horses, mules,
and donkeys, so that you can ride them.
And this, so that you can ride them,
it is actually a means of a difference
of opinion amongst the fuqaha, about the consumption
of these animals.
Can you consume them or not?
Which I'll discuss in a minute.
But here, Allah SWT specifically says that you
should use these animals for riding on them,
and there's nothing wrong with that.
And also as a means of beauty.
And He created what you do not know.
He created what you know.
So things we know about animals, and then
there are many many species that we don't
even know about, that Allah SWT has created.
So what about consumption of these meats?
So Imam Abu Hanifa is of the opinion
that horses, mules, and donkeys, Allah SWT specifically
mentioned that they are for your riding.
You should only use them for riding.
Therefore, the consumption of the meat of that
animal is not going to be permissible.
And this is the opinion of the majority
of scholars.
Ibn Abbas is narrated from him that he
used to dislike, disregard as makrooh, the meat
of horses and mules and donkeys, because Allah
SWT has mentioned that animals to be consumed
are mentioned in the ayat before, and specifically
Allah SWT has mentioned these animals and has
said لِتَرْكَبُوهَا so that you can ride them.
So this is the opinion of Ibn Abbas
also.
However, Imam Ahmad narrates from Khalid ibn al
-Walid, he said that the Prophet has forbidden
us from consuming the meat of horse, mule
and donkey.
Okay, so this is again the same opinion.
But it's also mentioned in Sahihain, meaning Bukhari
and Muslim.
Allah SWT, he said The Prophet,
he forbade the consumption of the donkeys, the
wild donkeys, but he gave permission to consume
the meat of horses.
And Jabir also says on the day of
Khaybar, we slaughtered a khayl, meaning a horse,
and also we slaughtered mules and donkeys, but
the Prophet, he forbade us from mules and
donkeys, and he didn't forbid us from consuming
the horse.
And it's mentioned in Sahih Muslim from Asmaa
bint Abi Bakr, she said that we slaughtered
in the time of the Prophet, a horse,
and we consumed it while we were in
Medina.
So the fact that they were in Medina,
this shows it was in the latter part
of the life of the Prophet.
So this shows that the Prophet didn't forbid
them.
So if you go actually to places like
the southern Russian states or the ones that
used to be in Russia, but they've been
made independent, like Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, all of
these countries, actually they consume the meat of
horse quite regularly.
In fact, it's regarded as a delicacy.
Once I was there, and I was aided
by mistake, but I was told afterwards that
this was actually horse meat that you consumed.
So this is actually quite common in those
countries, that it is consumed.
And also, the milk of the female horse
is also consumed regularly in these countries.
So the horse has a very, very specific
role, and it's kind of a very key
part of the life of these people that
live in these southern or ex-Russian states,
and it is part of their life.
In any case, there's a difference of opinion.
Some scholars say it's permissible, some scholars say
it's not permissible to consume the meat of
the horse, but the issue of donkeys and
mules, the majority say that it's not permissible
to consume those.
Those should be only used for riding and
for carrying burdens.
With that, we finish, inshallah.
We'll continue with this next week, starting from
ayah number eight.
I pray that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
gives us the ability to understand what is
being said and heard.