Surah Al An'aam Notes (135-140)

(135) Say, "O my people, work according to your position; [for] indeed, I am working. And you are going to know who will have succession in the home. Indeed, the wrongdoers will not succeed.

(136) And the polytheists assign to Allah from that which He created of crops and livestock a share and say, "This is for Allah ," by their claim, " and this is for our partners [associated with Him]." But what is for their "partners" does not reach Allah , while what is for Allah - this reaches their "partners." Evil is that which they rule.

(137) And likewise, to many of the polytheists their partners have made [to seem] pleasing the killing of their children in order to bring about their destruction and to cover them with confusion in their religion. And if Allah had willed, they would not have done so. So leave them and that which they invent.

(138) And they say, "These animals and crops are forbidden; no one may eat from them except whom we will," by their claim. And there are those [camels] whose backs are forbidden [by them] and those upon which the name of Allah is not mentioned - [all of this] an invention of untruth about Him. He will punish them for what they were inventing.

(139) 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.

(140) Those will have lost who killed their children in foolishness without knowledge and prohibited what Allah had provided for them, inventing untruth about Allah . They have gone astray and were not [rightly] guided.

(6:135) [...Say: "O my people! Work according to your way, surely, I too am working and you will come to know.'']

This contains a stern warning and a sure promise, saying; remain on your way, if you think that you are rightly guided, for I will remain on mine.
Makanatikum is a position, location, situation or a rank that a person is in. In the Ayah it means, “Work according to your circumstances.” This is a statement said in Arabic to ask a person to continue doing what he is doing.
What was it that the people of Makkah were doing? They displayed their disbelief and opposition to the Message that the Prophet had brought. And what was the Prophet doing? He was spreading the message of Tauheed.
So the Mushrikeen were told to continue doing what their belief and hostility told them to do and the Prophet too will keep on doing what his belief told him to do. In that, there was no loss for him. But very soon the Mushrikeen will be the ones to find out who will be blessed with the ultimate salvation and success of the Hereafter.
 Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala indeed kept His promise and allowed Muhammad sallAllahu `alayhi wa sallam to prevail in the land and rise above those who defied him. He conquered Makkah from him and made him triumphant over his people who rejected and showed enmity towards him. The Prophet’s rule soon spread over the Arabian Peninsula, Yemen and Bahrain, and all this occurred during his lifetime. After his death, the various lands and provinces were conquered during the time of his successors, may Allah be pleased with them all.

(6:136) Some Acts of Shirk

Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala chastises and criticizes the idolators who invented innovations, Kufr and Shirk, and called on partners and rivals with Allah among His creation, although He created everything.

`Abdur-Rahman bin Zayd bin Aslam commented, “Every type of slaughter that they would assign for Allah, would never be eaten unless they mentioned the names of their idols when slaughtering it. Yet for what they sacrificed in the names of the idols, they would not mention Allah’s Name when slaughtering it.”

(6:137) Shaytan Lured the Idolators to Kill Their Children

Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala says, just as the Shayateen lured the idolators to assign a share for Allah from what He created of agriculture and cattle – and a share for the idols, they also made it seem fair for them to kill their children, for fear of poverty, and burying their daughters alive, for fear of dishonor.

Idol worship and Satan worship had beautified for them killing their own children. They did not realise that they are destroying their own progeny; their own manpower. For example, today people abort their own children without realizing they are destroying themselves.

“…and to cover them with confusion in their religion…” these confusions muddled up the original religion. Now people do not know what was part of the religion and what was not.

“And if Allah had willed, they would not have done so…” meaning, all this occurred by Allah’s leave, will and decree, but He dislikes these practices, and He has the perfect wisdom in every decree. He is never questioned about what He does, but they all will be questioned.

“So leave them and that which they invent,” meaning, avoid and abandon them and what they do, for Allah will judge between you and them.

(6:138) The Idolators Forbade Certain Types of Cattle

The second custom that the Mushrikeen of Arabia used to practice was that they would release animals they called Baheerah and Sa’ibah in the name of idols and said that they were doing it for the pleasure of Allah.

The word Hijr [حِجْر] literally means “to prevent or prohibit”. It is from the same root as hajr which means “a rock”. When we place a rock somewhere it blocks the way.

The Mushrikeen would prohibit certain animals and crops. No one could ride over them, consume them as food or sell off to earn something. Restrictions were applied on them.

They would set another share from these animals and crops and would say, “None should eat of them except those whom we allow.” Who were these people that they allowed? The caretakers of their false gods. They were the righteous in their eyes. These were self-made laws.

(6:139) Another false custom of the Mushrikeen was that whatever was in the bellies of the sacred animals was allowed for the consumption of males alone. This includes both milk and new born baby. The women were prohibited to drink milk of the sacred animals while their men were not. Similarly, the males were allowed to eat of the flesh of the young ones born from the wombs of sacred animals while women were not allowed to eat. However, if the young one was born dead or it died immediately after its birth, both the males and females could partake it.

(6:140) Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala talks about the people who kill their children. They suffer loss in this world as well in the Hereafter.

When a person doesn’t have knowledge he acts foolishly or a person may have knowledge but he is not smart or worldly wise. The idolators suffered loss in this world and there is loss for them in the Hereafter, as well.

As for this life, they lost when they killed their children and made it difficult for themselves by prohibiting some types of their wealth, as an act of innovation that they invented on their own. As for the Hereafter, they will end up in the worst dwellings because they used to lie about Allah and invent falsehood about Him.

“…prohibited what Allah had provided for them…” Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala gave them children and they killed them. Allah provided them with provision and they made it haram upon themselves. If a person is given children and provision and he makes it haram upon himself then he suffers loss in this dunya as well as akhirah.

A person should accept the decree of Allah as it is. He cannot make things halal and haram on his own. If Allah gives him children he accepts them. If he is blessed with a daughter he accepts it. He eats from whatever lawful food Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala has provided him.

Lessons:
- If someone harms you let them continue to do what they are doing and do sabr. The Prophet sallAllahu `alayhi wa sallam faced intense opposition but he did sabr and had tawwakal on Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala and in the end we see that he was successful. Concentrate on your work and a time will come when you will be successful. 
– This ayah teaches us that innovating anything in religion for the sake of “Allah” is forbidden even if it apparently seems good. Today, we have many practices that have no evidence in Deen.
– We should check our actions. When it comes to difficult situation such as we have a limited time or resources whose right is it that we compromise?
– One of the ignorant practices among the Mushrikeen were killing their own children. There were various reasons fear of poverty, fear of embarrassment, fear of dishonor.

– We learn that gender discrimination has emerged from Shirk. 

– This ayah tells us that killing children is a great crime. People kill their children out of fear of hunger. They think as if they are the provider and not Allah.

– True religion is what Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala told us. If one doesn’t follow that path he will suffer loss in this world as well as the next.

(Notes are taken from Ibn Katheer and points from the Lecture by Dr. Farhath Hashmi)