( قُلْ تَعَالَوْا أَتْلُ مَا حَرَّمَ رَبُّكُمْ عَلَيْكُمْ ) (Say, “Come, I will recite what your Lord has prohibited to you.): The word (say) is addressed to the Prophet Mohammad (saws). The prohibitions in the following two verses are about abstract values and the spiritual life which is a life of values, while the previous verses were about lawful and unlawful foods and beverages.
( تَعَالَوْا أَتْلُ ) (Come, I will recite): This is usually an invitation to (come) and listen to a recitation or a reading. But when Allah (swt) says (come), then it is a command to follow Allah’s (swt) Orders with our heads held up high, because these orders come from Allah (swt) the Most High, not from someone equal or equivalent to human beings.
( مَا حَرَّمَ رَبُّكُمْ عَلَيْكُمْ ) (what your Lord has prohibited to you): There are five prohibitions from Allah (swt) that are decreed as commands: ( أَلَّا تُشْرِكُوا بِهِ شَيْئًا ۖ وَبِالْوَالِدَيْنِ إِحْسَانًا ۖ وَلَا تَقْتُلُوا أَوْلَادَكُم مِّنْ إِمْلَاقٍ ۖ نَّحْنُ نَرْزُقُكُمْ وَإِيَّاهُمْ ۖ وَلَا تَقْرَبُوا الْفَوَاحِشَ مَا ظَهَرَ مِنْهَا وَمَا بَطَنَ ۖ وَلَا تَقْتُلُوا النَّفْسَ الَّتِي حَرَّمَ اللَّهُ إِلَّا بِالْحَقِّ) ([He commands] that you not associate anything with Him, and to parents, good treatment, and do not kill your children out of poverty; We will provide for you and them. And do not approach immoralities – what is apparent of them and what is concealed. And do not kill the soul which Allah has forbidden [to be killed] except by [legal] right.).
( ذَٰلِكُمْ وَصَّاكُم بِهِ) (This has He instructed you): There is a difference in meaning between instructions and commandments. Instructions include prominent matters of Islamic legislation. In the Arabic language, the same word used for (instruction) is also used for (a will) which a person writes before his death, and it entails the summary of his life’s experiences. Similar to the instructions given by Prophet (saws) in the Farwell Pilgrimage when he said:
“I do not know, perhaps I will not meet you again after this year. Your blood and your property and your honor are forbidden for you to violate, like the sacredness of this day of yours, in this place of yours, until you meet your Lord and He will ask you about your deeds. Let him who is near convey (this message) to him who is far; have I conveyed the message to you? “[1]
The first prohibition is to associate partners with Him (swt): ([He commands] that you not associate anything with Him). Polytheism means to equate Allah (swt) with one of His creations, such as idols, statues, fire, sun, or moon, or worshipping a human being as if he were a god mankind, or anything else other than Allah (swt). There is lesser and bigger association. Lesser association is ostentation, which is to do something for someone’s sake other than for Allah (swt). The Prophet (saws) said:
“The thing I fear most for my people is lesser polytheism and hidden desire”. I asked: “O’ Messenger of Allah, will your nation associate other with Allah after you? He said: “Yes, they do not worship a sun, nor a moon, nor a stone, nor an idol, but they are ostentatious in what they do.”[2]
For example, performing prayers so that people say that person prays, or giving money for charity so that people say that person is generous, or building a mosque so people say this person built it, or do any kind of good deeds just so that people talk about it; this is all polytheism because the intention behind it was for something other than Allah’s sake (swt). Some people say, “beware of whom we do good to”, but this is unacceptable because when a person does something good, then he should do it because Allah (swt) ordered to do it, and not for the sake of others. Awaiting gratitude from those whom we were good, to is a form of lesser polytheism because it means we only did it so that people speak highly of us. However, if we do something for Allah’s sake (swt), He (swt) will send people who speak highly of what we have done, even if we hear others denying it.
Allah (swt) says:
ادْفَعْ بِالَّتِي هِيَ أَحْسَنُ السَّيِّئَةَ ۚ نَحْنُ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا يَصِفُونَ
(Repel, by [means of] what is best, [their] evil. We are most knowing of what they describe.) (Al-Muminoon: 96)
Polytheism is not only about worshiping something like a stone, a statue, an idol, or a pharaoh, it also means to do something with the intention of pleasing people and not the Lord of the people, Allah (swt).
What is striking is that the second prohibition after polytheism is disobeying parents. Allah (swt) is the Creator of mankind; the human being who is born by reproduction from a mother and a father. Any society that lacks a good relationship between children and parents is a sick, decaying society, regardless of how advanced and modern it may appear to be. Whoever treats his parents badly will not carry any goodness within him towards other people, nor his country, nor anything else.
There is a significant gesture to parents in this verse which honours them with the greatest blessings, for the verse does not say: (and do not disobey your parents) rather it is mention in an affirmative form because Islam forbids any form of disrespect towards the parents. Instead, Allah (swt) says: (and to parents, good treatment), that is to treat parents with kindness.
(نَّحْنُ نَرْزُقُكُمْ وَإِيَّاهُمْ وَلَا تَقْتُلُوا أَوْلَادَكُم مِّنْ إِمْلَاقٍ ) (and do not kill your children out of poverty We will provide for you and them): Look at the high precision in the Holy Quran. Long time ago, they used to kill their children, whether the newborn was a boy or a girl, because they were poor, and they cannot support them. But there is another verse that says:
وَلَا تَقْتُلُوا أَوْلَادَكُمْ خَشْيَةَ إِمْلَاقٍ ۖ نَّحْنُ نَرْزُقُهُمْ وَإِيَّاكُمْ ۚ إِنَّ قَتْلَهُمْ كَانَ خِطْئًا كَبِيرًا
(And do not kill your children for fear of poverty. We provide for them and for you. Indeed, their killing is ever a great sin.) (Al-Israa: 31)
Here the command is not to kill the children out of fear of poverty. But in the verse of the studying, there is an actual state of poverty. Allah (swt) says: (and do not kill your children out of poverty), thus the verse continues: (We will provide for you): because they are poor, (and them): each newborn is provided with his sustenance at birth.
In the other verse in Surah Al-Israa: (And do not kill your children for fear of poverty), is followed by: (We provide for them and for you), here, poverty is not present; rather it is the fear of poverty after receiving a child. Therefore, Allah (swt) says that He (swt) provides for the child and the parents as well. If the person is already poor, then Allah (swt) provides for him even before He (swt) provides for the child.
(وَلَا تَقْرَبُوا الْفَوَاحِشَ مَا ظَهَرَ مِنْهَا وَمَا بَطَنَ) (And do not approach immoralities – what is apparent of them and what is concealed): There is a difference between (do not approach) and (do not do). (Do not approach) is a prohibition against even drawing near to actions that lead to immoralities, whether apparent or concealed. Immorality includes adultery and all related indecencies, that lead to moral degeneracy, or mixing of ancestry and races. Thus, Allah (swt) says: (And do not approach) means, do not even think about it and do not approach suspicious areas that could lead to committing unlawful acts.
( وَمَا بَطَنَ) (and what is concealed): Refers to hidden actions of the heart. A person who does something bad like adultery can be punished by laws and systems, but how can be punished for hidden actions? Envy, hatred, and grudge are hidden immoralities which are even more dangerous than apparent ones because they entice the body to do evil things, and when they manifest in actions of the body, an immorality is committed. For this reason, it is logical to say that religion and morals are forever inseparable. Hidden actions like envy, cheating, hatred, and grudge cannot be treated unless there is inward accountability coming from the heart and mind. This accountability is inspired out of fear of Allah (swt), following the Holy Quran and Divine Messages revealed to the Prophets (PBUT). Thus, we find that such immoralities are commonly prohibited in all religions.
( وَلَا تَقْتُلُوا النَّفْسَ الَّتِي حَرَّمَ اللَّهُ إِلَّا بِالْحَقِّ ) (And do not kill the soul which Allah has forbidden [to be killed] except by [legal] right): Killing of any soul is one of the most prohibitions. Allah (swt) does not say (the killing of a Muslim); rather, it is the killing of any soul. So how it comes that terrorists, extremists, and the enemies of religion and land pretend to be religious, whereas one of the first prohibitions is killing the soul? Allah (swt) says:
مَن قَتَلَ نَفْسًا بِغَيْرِ نَفْسٍ أَوْ فَسَادٍ فِي الْأَرْضِ فَكَأَنَّمَا قَتَلَ النَّاسَ جَمِيعًا وَمَنْ أَحْيَاهَا فَكَأَنَّمَا أَحْيَا النَّاسَ جَمِيعًا
(whoever kills a soul unless for a soul or for corruption [done] in the land – it is as if he had slain mankind entirely. And whoever saves one – it is as if he had saved mankind entirely) (Al-Maida: 32)
(ذَٰلِكُمْ) (This): The demonstrative for singular (this) was used in reference to all the previously mentioned commands because all orders from Allah (swt) are treated as one inseparable unity.
( وَصَّاكُم بِهِ) (has He instructed you): This a reference for all five commandments because Allah (swt).
( لَعَلَّكُمْ تَعْقِلُونَ ) (that you may use reason): These sequential verses have ten commandments, They begin with five, then four, then one. Allah (swt) ends the first five commandments with: (that you may use reason), and this sentence in the verse, is as evidence against those who claim that Islam is not about intellect. Allah (swt) invites us to think with our minds; how could we associate partners with Allah (swt) and equate the Creator with His creations? Would it be reasonable to insult mothers and fathers? Is it reasonable to kill children out of poverty? Do adultery, sodomy, and other indecencies concord with reason? All of these immoralities are mere desires that do not come from the mind. Would our minds accept the killing of an innocent human being for no reason? The Prophet (saws) said:
“A woman entered the (Hell) Fire because of a cat which she had tied, neither giving it food nor setting it free to eat from the vermin of the earth.”[3]
The woman did not kill the cat directly, but she did cause its death. This is a good example of the methodology of the religion of Islam.
No one can claim possession over mind and reason, and say that he is the only intellectuals out there. The Holy Quran uses logic and far-reaching arguments, it respects the human mind because it made the mind is the cornerstone of accountability. That is why a weak-minded person is no longer accountable. Indeed, respect of the human mind is very crustal clear in this verse as well as all other verses of the Holy Quran. The next verse has four new enjoinments:
[1] Sunan Al-Buhayqi Al-Kubra, the Book of Pilgrimage, Hadith No. 9463.
[2] Mujmaa’ Al-Zawa’id Wa Manbaa’ Al-Fawa’id, the third, P.259, Hadith No.5226.
[3] Sahih Al-Bukhari, the Book of Beginning of Creation, Hadith No. 3140.