وَقَالُوا۟ مَا فِى بُطُونِ هَـٰذِهِ ٱلْأَنْعَـٰمِ خَالِصَةٌ لِّذُكُورِنَا وَمُحَرَّمٌ عَلَىٰٓ أَزْوَٰجِنَا ۖ وَإِن يَكُن مَّيْتَةً فَهُمْ فِيهِ شُرَكَآءُ ۚ سَيَجْزِيهِمْ وَصْفَهُمْ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ حَكِيمٌ عَلِيمٌ 139
Translations
And they say, "What is in the bellies of these animals is exclusively for our males and forbidden to our females. But if it is [born] dead, then all of them have shares therein." He will punish them for their description. Indeed, He is Wise and Knowing.
Transliteration
Wa qaalou maa fee butooni haazihil-an'ami khalisatun lizzukoori na wa muharramun 'ala azwaji na wa in yakonn mayyitatan fahum feehi shurakaa'. Sayajzihim wasfahum. Innahu hakimun 'aleem.
Tafsir (Explanation)
This ayah condemns the pre-Islamic Arabian practice of prohibiting women from consuming the meat of sacrificial animals while reserving it exclusively for men, and simultaneously allowing women to share in carrion animals (dead meat). Classical scholars like Al-Tabari and Ibn Kathir emphasize that this was an arbitrary, illogical custom rooted in ignorance ('jahiliyyah'), as the Qur'an exposes the hypocrisy of forbidding lawful sustenance to women based on superstition. Allah warns that He will recompense them for their false claims and unjust exclusions, affirming His perfect wisdom and knowledge.
Revelation Context
This ayah addresses the corrupt practices and superstitions of the pre-Islamic Arabs regarding animal sacrifices and food distribution. It appears in the context of Surah Al-An'am's broader theme of refuting polytheistic beliefs and illogical customs. The practice referenced here was tied to idolatrous beliefs about which meats were sacred to their deities, making it a direct critique of jahiliyyah customs that contradicted divine justice and reason.
Related Hadiths
The broader theme relates to Sahih Muslim's teachings on the prohibition of superstitious beliefs about animals. Additionally, hadiths regarding the rights of women to sustenance and inheritance (found in various collections) align with the Qur'an's rejection of arbitrary gender-based exclusions from lawful provisions.
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah teaches believers to reject customs and practices that lack rational or divine basis, and to recognize that gender should never be grounds for depriving others of lawful sustenance and dignity. It calls us to examine our own traditions critically and ensure they align with Islamic principles of justice and equity.
Related Ayahs
وَأَنْ أَقِيمُوا۟ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَٱتَّقُوهُ ۚ وَهُوَ ٱلَّذِىٓ إِلَيْهِ تُحْشَرُونَ
And to establish prayer and fear Him." And it is He to whom you will be gathered.
وَلَقَدْ جِئْتُمُونَا فُرَٰدَىٰ كَمَا خَلَقْنَـٰكُمْ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ وَتَرَكْتُم مَّا خَوَّلْنَـٰكُمْ وَرَآءَ ظُهُورِكُمْ ۖ وَمَا نَرَىٰ مَعَكُمْ شُفَعَآءَكُمُ ٱلَّذِينَ زَعَمْتُمْ أَنَّهُمْ فِيكُمْ شُرَكَـٰٓؤُا۟ ۚ لَقَد تَّقَطَّعَ بَيْنَكُمْ وَضَلَّ عَنكُم مَّا كُنتُمْ تَزْعُمُونَ
[It will be said to them], "And you have certainly come to Us alone [i.e., individually] as We created you the first time, and you have left whatever We bestowed upon you behind you. And We do not see with you your 'intercessors' which you claimed that they were among you associates [of Allāh]. It has [all] been severed between you, and lost from you is what you used to claim."
وَعَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ هَادُوا۟ حَرَّمْنَا كُلَّ ذِى ظُفُرٍ ۖ وَمِنَ ٱلْبَقَرِ وَٱلْغَنَمِ حَرَّمْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ شُحُومَهُمَآ إِلَّا مَا حَمَلَتْ ظُهُورُهُمَآ أَوِ ٱلْحَوَايَآ أَوْ مَا ٱخْتَلَطَ بِعَظْمٍ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ جَزَيْنَـٰهُم بِبَغْيِهِمْ ۖ وَإِنَّا لَصَـٰدِقُونَ
And to those who are Jews We prohibited every animal of uncloven hoof; and of the cattle and the sheep We prohibited to them their fat, except what adheres to their backs or the entrails or what is joined with bone. [By] that We repaid them for their transgression. And indeed, We are truthful.
أَلَمْ يَرَوْا۟ كَمْ أَهْلَكْنَا مِن قَبْلِهِم مِّن قَرْنٍ مَّكَّنَّـٰهُمْ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ مَا لَمْ نُمَكِّن لَّكُمْ وَأَرْسَلْنَا ٱلسَّمَآءَ عَلَيْهِم مِّدْرَارًا وَجَعَلْنَا ٱلْأَنْهَـٰرَ تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهِمْ فَأَهْلَكْنَـٰهُم بِذُنُوبِهِمْ وَأَنشَأْنَا مِنۢ بَعْدِهِمْ قَرْنًا ءَاخَرِينَ
Have they not seen how many generations We destroyed before them which We had established upon the earth as We have not established you? And We sent [rain from] the sky upon them in showers and made rivers flow beneath them; then We destroyed them for their sins and brought forth after them a generation of others.