Al-An'am 6:71–136

Say, O Messenger, to these idolaters: Shall we worship, besides Allah, idols that have no ability to benefit us, nor can they harm us with? Shall we turn back from faith after Allah has guided us to it? If we do so, we will be like the one whom satans have misled: leaving him confused, not knowing the right path; and where he has companions on the straight path who call him to the truth, but he refuses to respond to their call. Say to them, O Messenger: Allah’s guidance is the true guidance, and He has instructed us to submit to Him, may He be glorified, by being firm in our belief in His Oneness and by worshipping Him alone, because He is the Lord of the Worlds.

I have been instructed to establish the prayer in a complete way. I have also been instructed to be mindful of Allah by fulfilling His instructions and staying away from things He has prohibited. He, alone, is the One Who will gather the servants before Him on the Day of Rising, in order to judge them for their actions.

He is the One Who created the heavens and the earth for a purpose. On the day when Allah will say to something ‘Be’ and it will become, refers to the Day of Rising when Allah will say ‘Rise’ and they will all rise. His word is the truth that will most certainly occur. On the Day of Rising, when the angel Isrāfīl will blow the trumpet for a second time, all control will be Allah’s alone. He knows what is hidden and what can be seen. He is Wise in His creating and handling of matters. He is Aware about the hidden just as He knows the apparent, and nothing is hidden from Him.

Remember, O Messenger, when Abraham (peace be upon him) said to his father, Āzar, who was a idolater: O father, do you make the idols into gods that you worship besides Allah? I think that you and your people who worship idols are clearly misguided from and confused about the path of truth because of your worship of others besides Allah. Allah is the only Being that deserves to be worshipped, and nothing else has a right to be worshipped.

In the same way I showed Abraham the misguidance of his father and his people, I also showed him the vast kingdom of the heavens and the earth, so that he could use that as an indication of Allah’s Oneness and of His being the only One deserving of worship. This also made him certain that Allah is One without any partner and that He has power over everything.

When the darkness of the night came over Abraham, he began to debate with his people in order to bring them from idolatry to monotheism. His people used to worship the stars, so when he saw a star he said, ‘This is my Lord’, with the aim of convincing his people. When the star disappeared, he said, ‘I do not like that which disappears, because the true God is always present and never disappears’. The belief of his people was that gods do not go away and disappear, so he used this same belief of theirs as an argument against them.

When Abraham saw the moon rising, he said to his people, ‘This is my Lord’, continuing his argument against them. When it disappeared, he said, ‘If Allah does not guide me to His Oneness and worship I will certainly become one of the people who are astray from His religion and who worship others besides Him’.

When he saw the sun rising, he said to his people, ‘This thing that is rising is my Lord. It is bigger than the star and the moon’, further continuing his plan of argument and proof against them. When it disappeared, he said, ‘O my people, I am free of what you associate as partners with Allah’.

I have devoted my religion to Allah Who created the heavens and the earth without any precedent, throwing off idolatry and embracing pure monotheism. I am not one of the idolaters who worship others besides Allah.

Abraham’s people, who were idolaters, disputed with him with respect to Allah’s Oneness and they threatened him with their idols. He said to them: Do you argue with me about Allah’s Oneness and worshipping Him alone when my Lord has guided me to it? I do not have any fear of your idols, because they have no ability to harm or benefit, unless Allah wills. Whatever Allah wills happens. Allah’s knowledge covers everything and nothing in the earth or in the heaven is hidden from Him. Will you, then, not be mindful, O people, and stop your disbelief and associating of partners with Allah and believe in Him alone?

How can I be fearful of the idols you worship besides Allah when you have no fear of your associating as partners with Allah things that He created, without having any proof for doing so? Which of the two groups, the monotheists or the idolaters, is more deserving of safety and security? If you know which group is more deserving, then follow that group. The more deserving group is undoubtedly the group of the believers who are monotheists.

Those who believe in Allah follow His laws and did not pollute their faith with polytheism, they will be the ones who will be safe and secure. They are the ones to whom their Lord has shown the path of guidance.

The argument of the setting of the star, moon and sun, which Abraham used to defeat his people in the debate, is My argument, which I showed and gave him to use against his people. I raise in rank whichever of My servants I wish in this world and the Afterlife. Your Lord, O Messenger, is Wise in His creation and handling of matters, and He knows about His servants.

I blessed Abraham with his son Isaac and his grandson Jacob, and I guided each of them to the straight path. Before them, I guided to the path of truth Noah; and from the descendants of Noah, I guided David, his son Solomon, Job, Joseph, Moses and his brother Aaron (peace be upon them). Just as I gave the prophets a reward for doing good, I will give a similar reward to all those who do good, even if they are not prophets.

In a similar way, I guided Zachariah, John, Jesus son of Mary and Elijah (peace be upon them). All these prophets were of the righteous, who were chosen by Allah to be messengers.

In a similar way, I guided Ishmael, Elisha, Jonah, and Lot (peace be upon them). I favoured all of them with prophethood, with Muhammad (peace be upon him) being the best of them, superior to all other people.

I also guided some of their forefathers, descendants and brothers, whom I had willed to guide. I selected them and made them take the straight path: the path of Allah’s Oneness and His obedience.

The guidance they received was Allah’s guidance, which He grants to whomever of His servants He wills. If they had associated others as partners to Allah, then their actions would be void, because associating partners with Allah nullifies good actions.

The prophets mentioned are the ones to whom I had given divine scriptures, wisdom and prophethood. If your people deny any of these things which I have given to them, then I have prepared other people who do not disbelieve, but who accept and hold firm onto it. They are the Emigrants (Muhājirūn) and the Helpers (Anṣār), and all those who follow them in good until the Day of Reward.

Those prophets and their forefathers, descendants and brothers mentioned are truly the people of guidance, so follow and imitate them. Say, O Messenger, to your people: I do not want any reward from you for conveying this Qur’ān. The Qur’ān is simply an advice for the human beings and jinn of the worlds, so that they can be guided to the straight path by it.

The idolaters did not venerate Allah as He should be venerated when they said to their prophet, Muhammad (peace be upon him), ‘Allah has not sent down any revelation to any human being’. Say to them, O Messenger: Who is the One who sent down the Torah to Moses, as a light and guidance for his people? The Jews put it into sheets; and they show what agrees with their desires and conceal what does not, such as the description of Muhammad (peace be upon him). You, O Arabs, were taught the Qur’ān, which neither you nor your predecessors knew. Say to them, O Messenger, ‘Allah sent it down’, then leave them to their ignorance and misguidance, until the most certain thing – death – comes to them.

And this Qur’ān is a book that I revealed to you, O Prophet. It is a blessed book that confirms the heavenly scriptures that came before it, and was revealed to you so that you could warn the people of Mecca and all the people in the East and West to come to the right path. Those who believe in the life of the Hereafter accept this Qur’ān, practice it and guard their prayer by maintaining its requirements, essentials and recommended acts at the times set in the sacred law.

The greatest wrongdoer is the person who makes up lies about Allah by saying, ‘Allah has not revealed anything to any human being’; or by falsely saying, ‘Allah has sent revelation to me’, when Allah did not send any revelation to him; or by saying, ‘I will reveal the like of the Qur’ān that Allah has revealed’. O Messenger, you would see a terrible sight if you could see these wrongdoers at the time of death; and when the angels will stretch out their hands to punish and beat them, and reprimand them by saying: Remove your souls because we are here to take them. Today you will be repaid with a punishment that will disgrace and humiliate you because of the lies that you used to say about Allah by claiming prophethood, revelation or the ability to reveal what Allah has revealed, and because of your being too proud to accept His signs.

They will be told on the Day of Resurrection: You have come to us today individually. Now you do not have any wealth or leadership, and you have come to Me just as I had created you the first time: barefoot, naked and uncircumcised. You have reluctantly left behind what I had given you in the world. I do not see with you today your idols, which you claimed will intercede for you and that they are Allah’s partners with respect to their being deserving of worship. All links between you have been cut. Your claim of their intercession and that they are Allah’s partners has vanished from you.

Allah alone is the One who splits open the seed, from which crops emerge, and the date-stone, from which the date palm sprouts. He creates the living from the dead, just as man and all other animals are formed from sperm; and He creates the dead from the living, just as sperm comes out of a human being and an egg is laid by a chicken. The Being who does this is Allah, the One Who created you. How are you, idolaters, then misled from the truth, despite your witnessing His marvellous creation?

He, may He be glorified, splits the light of dawn from the darkness of the night. He is the One Who has made the night still, in which people can take rest from the tiring and hard work of the day. He is the One Who has made the sun and the moon move according to a precise measure. That marvellous creation is the determination of the Mighty, Whom none can overpower, the One Who knows what is best for His creation.

He, may He be glorified, is the One who created for you, O children of Adam, the stars in the sky, so that you may be guided by them during your travels when the routes on the land and sea are unclear. I have explained the proofs and evidences that indicate My power for a people who reflect and take benefit from them.

He, may He be glorified, is the One Who created you from one soul, which was the soul of your father, Adam. He began your creation by forming your father, Adam, from clay and then He created you from him. He also created for you a place for you to settle in, which is the wombs of your mothers, and a depository in which you are stored, which is the loins of your fathers. I have explained the signs to a people who can understand the words of Allah.

He, may He be glorified, is the One Who sent down rain water from the sky and then with it He caused all types of vegetation to grow. From the vegetation He brought out crops and green trees, from which He produces grain that is packed one of top of the other, as it is found in spikes. From the spathe of the date-palm come clusters that are close to any person standing or sitting. He also brought out grape orchards; and produces olives and pomegranates, the leaves of which are similar but the fruit are different. Look, O people, at the fruit when it first appears and when it ripens. O people, in that there are clear proofs of Allah’s power for a people who believe in Allah. Such people are the ones who will benefit from these proofs.

Yet the idolaters made the jinn partners with Allah in worship believing that the jinn can independently bring benefit and cause harm, whilst Allah alone had created them, so He is most worthy of being worshipped. And out of their ignorance they attributed sons to Allah – as the Jews did with respect to ‘Uzayr’, and the Christians with respect to Jesus – and also daughters. Allah is free and above what the people of falsehood claim about Him.

He, may He be glorified, is the Creator of the heavens and the earth without any precedent. How can he have a child when he has no wife? He created everything and knows everything. Nothing is hidden from Him.

O people, the Being that has those divine attributes is your Lord. You have no lord besides Him, and there is no one worthy of worship besides Him. He is the Creator of everything, so worship Him alone as He is the only one deserving of worship. He takes care of everything.

Vision cannot encompass Him, but His Vision covers and encompasses all things. He is the One Who is Subtle with His righteous servants and is Aware of them.

Clear proofs from your Lord have come to you, O people. Whoever understands them and is mindful, the benefit of that will return to him. Whoever is blind to them and unmindful, it will only be to his loss. It is not my duty to watch over you and record your actions: I am only a messenger from my Lord. He is the One Who watches over you.

Just as I explained the various types of proofs of My Power, I also explain the various types of ayahs containing promises, threats and advice. And so the idolaters will say: This is not revelation: it is merely something you learnt from the People of the Scripture before you. And I did this in order to explain the truth to the believers of the nation of Muhammad (peace be upon them ), as they are the ones who accept the truth and follow it.

Follow, O Messenger, the truth that your Lord reveals to you. There is no one worthy of worship besides Him, may He be glorified. Let your heart not be concerned with the disbelievers and their stubbornness, as their matter is left to Allah.

If Allah willed for them not to associate any one as partner with Him, they would not have done so. I have not made you, O Messenger, a guardian to record their actions, nor are you in charge of them. You are only a messenger and your duty is only to convey the message.

O believers, do not insult the idols that they worship alongside Allah, even though they be deserving of that, for then the idolaters due to ignorance would insult Allah unknowingly, may He be glorified. Just as He made their misguidance fair seeming to them, He makes the behaviour of every nation, be it good or bad, seem good to them and so they act accordingly. Then their return on the Day of Rising is to their Lord, Who will inform them about what they used to do in the world and repay their actions.

The idolaters swear by Allah, with their strongest oaths, that if Muhammad (peace be upon him) brings them one of the signs they asked for, then they will believe. Say to them, O Messenger: I do not have signs so that I may bring them: they are only with Allah, Who sends them down as He wills. And what will inform you, O believers, that if these signs come, as they request, they still will not believe? Instead, they will persist in their denial and stubbornness, because they in fact do not want to be guided.

And I will turn their hearts and vision, by intervening between them and preventing their guidance to the truth, just as I intervened between them and faith in the Qur’ān the first time because of their stubbornness. I will leave them in their misguidance and rebellion against their Lord, confused and wandering.

If I had responded to them by bringing what they requested – by sending down the angels for them to see, and made the dead speak to them about the truth of what you brought, and gathered everything they asked for before their eyes – they still would not have believed in what you brought, unless Allah willed for them to be guided. However, most of them are ignorant of this and do not turn to Allah to grant them guidance.

Just as I tested you with the hostility of these idolaters towards you, I tested every prophet before you. I made for each of them enemies of rebellious men and jinn, who used to whisper evil in the hearts of one another, beautifying falsehood in order to deceive them. If I willed them not to do so, they would not have done that; but I willed it as a test for them. So leave them to their fabrications of disbelief and falsehood, and pay no attention to them.

This is so that the hearts of those who do not accept the Afterlife may incline towards what they whisper to one another, happily accepting such things for themselves, and that they persist in committing the sins and wrongs they were doing.

Say, O Messenger, to these idolaters who worship others together with Allah: Does it make sense for me to accept anyone other than Allah as a judge between us whilst Allah is the One Who has revealed the Qur’ān which sufficiently explains everything. The Jews, to whom I gave the Torah, and the Christians, to whom I gave the Gospel, know that the Qur’ān has been revealed to you, because the proof of that is found in their scriptures. So do not be of those who doubt about what I revealed to you.

The word of your Lord – namely the Qur’ān – is complete in the truthfulness of its statements and the justice of its instructions and prohibitions. There is no one who can alter His words. He is the One Who hears and knows the statements of His servants. Nothing is hidden from him and He will repay their actions.

If you, O Messenger, supposedly followed most of the people on earth, they would mislead you from Allah’s religion. Allah’s custom has always been that the truth is with the minority. Most people follow nothing but speculation that has no basis and they think that those whom they worship will bring them close to Allah, whereas they are completely wrong in believing this.

Your Lord, O Messenger, knows best those people who are misled from His path; and He knows best those who are rightly guided to it. Nothing of that is hidden from Him.

Eat, O people, from that which was slaughtered while using Allah’s name, if you truly accept His clear proofs.

What is it that prevents you, O believers, from eating that which was slaughtered in Allah’s name, when Allah has made clear what is unlawful for you. It is therefore necessary for you to leave that which is forbidden, unless you are forced by necessity to eat it, in which case it will be lawful. Many of the misguided idolaters mislead their followers with their incorrect views. They consider lawful that which Allah has made unlawful (such as carrion), and they consider unlawful that which Allah has made lawful (such as the baḥīrah, waṣīlah, ḥāmī, etc.). Your Lord, O Messenger, knows best those who overstep His limits and He will repay them for their transgression.

O people, avoid committing sins openly or in secret. Those who commit sins, secret or open, will be repaid by Allah for what they did.

O Muslims, do not eat that which was not slaughtered in the name of Allah, whether the name of someone other than Allah was mentioned over it or not. Eating such forbidden food is to abandon obedience to Allah in favour of disobedience. The satans whisper to their friends, inspiring them with doubts, so that they argue with you about eating carrion. If you, O Muslims, were to follow them in the doubts they present for the lawfulness of carrion, then you would be equal to them in associating partners with Allah.

Is the one who was dead prior to receiving Allah’s guidance – due to his disbelief, ignorance and sins, and then He gave him life by guiding him to faith, knowledge and obedience – equal to the one who cannot leave the darkness of disbelief, ignorance and sins, and to whom the paths have become unclear and dark? Just as polytheism, the consumption of carrion, and false arguments were made fair seeming to these idolaters, the sins of the disbelievers were made to seem good to them, so that they are repaid for them on the Day of Rising with a painful punishment.

Just as what transpired with those leaders of Mecca who committed polytheism and barred others from the Way of Allah, He has placed leaders and influential people in every town who use various means and schemes to call towards the path of Satan and oppose the messengers and their followers. In reality, their scheming and planning will eventually only harm them, but they do realise this due to their ignorance and their following of desires.

And when there comes to any of these leaders a verse or a sign which Allah reveals to His Prophet proving his truthfulness, they say: We will never accept this until Allah bestows upon us the Prophethood as He did to those Prophets aforetime. Allah refutes them by saying that He knows best who is most suitable to be appointed to carry out the duties of the mission and He only selects the finest people for prophethood and messengership. These transgressors will be afflicted with disgrace and humiliation because of their arrogance against the truth, and with a severe punishment because of their scheming.

Whomever Allah wishes to guide to the right path, He opens their heart to Islam so they accept it willingly. Whomever He wishes to abandon and not guide, He makes their chest extremely narrow and unable to accept the truth, such that they become like a person climbing into the higher layers of the atmosphere while finding it increasingly difficult to breathe. Just as Allah made this extreme narrowness the condition of the person who goes astray, He will place the punishment on those who do not have faith in Him.

This religion that I have given you, O Messenger, is My straight path, in which there is no crookedness. I have made the ayahs clear for the one who has understanding.

Such people will be awarded Paradise on the Day of Judgement, in which they will be safe from every type of harm and discomfort. Allah will be their Friend, Protector, Supporter and Guardian. This will be their reward for the good actions they used to do.

Remember, O Messenger, the day when Allah will gather both the jinn and humankind. He will address the jinn and tell them that they had misled many people and prevented them from Allah’s path. Their followers among humankind will say in response to their Lord: O our Lord, we benefited from one another: the jinn benefited by having human beings follow them; and the human beings benefited by using the jinn to obtain their desires. And now we have reached the term that You have appointed for us and this is now the Day of Rising. Allah will tell them that the fire of Hell will be their home, where they will live eternally, with the exception of those sinful monotheists whom Allah wills to remove from it. Your Lord, O Messenger, is Wise in His planning and handling of matters; He knows which of His servants deserves the punishment.

Just as I gave some of the rebellious jinn the ability to mislead some people, I will give an authority and power to every evil sinner so that they may influence other sinners-prompting them to do evil and create a dislike in their hearts and turn them away from good. This is a just recompense for the sins they used to commit.

On the Day of Rising, I will address jinn and humankind, and ask them if messengers from their own species had not come to them reciting to them what Allah had revealed to them and warning them that they will meet this day, which is the Day of Rising. They will say: Of course they did. Today we confess against ourselves that Your messengers did communicate Your message to us and we admit the meeting of this day; but we had rejected Your messengers and denied the meeting of this day. The life of the world with its temporary beauty, decorations and luxuries had deceived them, and they will admit against themselves that they disbelieved in Allah and His messengers in the world. Yet this confession and acceptance will not be of any use to them, as the time for its usefulness would have already passed.

The reason for sending messengers to mankind and jinn is so that no one is punished for the crimes they committed without a messenger having been sent to warn them and the invitation reaching them. I only punished a nation after sending messengers to them.

Each one of them will have ranks in accordance to their actions. The person who did a great deal of evil will not be equal to the one who did less. The followers will not be equal to those who were followed. Similarly, the reward for those who do good will not be the same. Your Lord is not unaware of what they used to do. Instead, He is well aware of that. Nothing of it is hidden from Him and He will repay them for their actions.

Your Lord, O Messenger, is Self-sufficient of His servants. He is not in need of them or their worship of Him. Their disbelief in Him does not harm Him. Despite His not being in need of them, He is Merciful towards them.If He wished to destroy you, O disobedient servants, He would destroy you with His punishment, and then after this He would bring others who would have faith in Him and obey Him, just as He created you from the progeny of other people who had come before you.

The resurrection, rising, reckoning and punishment that you are promised, O disbelievers, will most certainly happen. You will not be able to escape from your Lord by running away: He will seize and punish you.

Say, O Messenger: O my people, remain on your path of disbelief and misguidance if you choose, as I have fulfilled my obligation having established the evidence against you by communicating the message to you. I am therefore not concerned about your disbelief and misguidance. Instead, I will remain firm on the path of truth that I follow. Soon you will come to know who will be victorious in the world and inherit the earth, and who will receive the home of the Afterlife. The idolaters will not succeed, neither in this world nor the Afterlife. Their end result will be loss even though they may have some enjoyment in the world.

The idolaters made innovations and false claims in their religion concerning Allah by assigning to Him a share of the crops and livestock that He created, and giving a share of what He created to their idols. Yet the share they gave to their partners does not reach the avenues that Allah requires them to be spent in, such as on the poor and destitute. But what they gave to Allah reaches the idols and is spent on them. How evil is their judgement and distribution!