سورة الأنعام

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Abu Basir said: I was with Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) while he was reclining. He was reciting the muhkam (decisive) verses of Surah al-An'am which no verse has abrogated. Then he said: Seventy thousand angels accompanied this Surah [at its revelation]: قُلْ تَعَالَوْاْ أَتْلُ مَا حَرَّمَ رَبُّکُمْ عَلَیْکُمْ أَلاَّ تُشْرِکُواْ بِهِ شَیْئًا [Say: Come, I will recite what your Lord has forbidden to you: that you do not associate anything with Him].

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): The verses of the Quran whose ta'wil (interpretation) and tanzil (revelation) are one are every muhkam (definitive) verse concerning the prohibition of some well-known matter that existed in the time of the Arabs, whose ta'wil and tanzil are the same and need no tafsir or explanation beyond their ta'wil, like the word of Allah in prohibition: قُلْ تَعالَوْا أَتْلُ ما حَرَّمَ رَبُّکُمْ عَلَیْکُمْ [Say: Come I will recite what your Lord has forbidden to you]. And in the Quran there are many like these among what Allah has forbidden. And the listener does not need to ask any question about them.

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): وَ بِالْوَالِدَیْنِ إِحْسَانًا [And do good to parents]; what is meant by وَالِدَیْنِ [the two parents] is the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) and the Commander of the Faithful, Ali (peace be upon him).

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Ishaq ibn Ammar narrates: Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: "The pilgrim will never be afflicted with imlaq." I said: "What is meant by imlaq?" The Imam said: "Destitution." Then he said: وَ لا تَقْتُلُوا أَوْلادَکُمْ مِنْ إِمْلاقٍ نَحْنُ نَرْزُقُهُمْ وَ إِیَّاکُمْ [And do not kill your children out of poverty; We provide for them and for you].

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): لا تَقْتُلُوا أَوْلادَکُمْ مِنْ إِمْلاقٍ نَحْنُ نَرْزُقُکُمْ وَ إِیَّاهُمْ وَ لا تَقْرَبُوا الْفَواحِشَ ما ظَهَرَ مِنْها وَ ما بَطَنَ وَ لا تَقْتُلُوا النَّفْسَ الَّتِی حَرَّمَ اللهُ إِلَّا بِالحَقِّ ذلِکُمْ وَصَّاکُمْ بِهِ لَعَلَّکُمْ تَعْقِلُونَ [Do not kill your children out of poverty; We provide for you and for them, and do not draw near to indecencies, whether apparent or hidden, and do not kill the soul which Allah has forbidden except by right; this He has enjoined upon you that you may reason]; is among the muhkam (definitive) verses.

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): لَا تَقْتُلُوا أَوْلادَکُمْ مِنْ إِمْلَاقٍ [Do not kill your children out of poverty]; that is, do not kill your children out of fear of poverty.

Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him): الْفَوَاحِشَ مَا ظَهَرَ مِنْهَا وَ مَا بَطَنَ [indecencies, those of them which are apparent and those which are concealed] — what is meant by مَا ظَهَرَ is marriage with one's father's wife, and what is meant by مَا بَطَنَ is fornication.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Allah has granted us, the Ahl al-Bayt, excellence. How could it not be so when in this verse He says: 'O Ahl al-Bayt, Allah wishes only to remove impurity from you and to purify you thoroughly' (Al-Ahzab/33). Allah has purified us from indecencies, both apparent and hidden; we are upon the path of truth.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): The most important part of religion is knowing the prophets (peace be upon them) and their wilayah (guardianship). Moreover, Allah has made certain things lawful and certain things unlawful until the Day of Resurrection; knowing the prophets and obeying them and their wilayah is the lawful. The lawful is what they deem permissible, and the unlawful is what they deem forbidden. They are the fundamental roots. From them the branches of the lawful come forth — this is their striving. And among their commissions is that they command their followers and the people of their wilayah to lawful acts, such as performing the prayer, giving zakat, fasting the month of Ramadan, hajj and umrah, glorifying the ordinances and sacred rites (mashair), honouring the House of Allah and Masjid al-Haram and the sacred month, purity and the ritual bath for janabah, and all praiseworthy deeds and noble character: 'Indeed, Allah commands justice, kindness (ihsan), and giving to relatives, and He forbids indecency, wrongdoing and oppression; He admonishes you that you may take heed!' (Al-Nahl/90). The enemies of the Prophet are the real unlawful, and their followers, who enter under their command until the Day of Resurrection, are the indecencies and the reprehensible acts, hidden and apparent: wine and gambling, fornication and usury, blood, carrion and pork. They are the real unlawful and the root of every unlawful thing, and the real evil and the root of every evil; from them all wickedness has sprouted. From this same branch come the forbidden things, and their deeming unseemly acts permissible — among them denying the prophets (peace be upon them), rejecting the successors, and committing indecencies such as fornication, theft, drinking wine and intoxicants, consuming the property of the orphan, usury, deception, treachery, and committing every unlawful act and transgression. Whereas Allah commands justice and kindness and maintaining kinship, by which is meant the relatives of the Prophet and following them, and forbids indecencies, reprehensible acts and oppression. They are the enemies of the prophets and the successors of the prophets; He has forbidden loving and obeying them. Allah gives you this admonition that you may take heed.

Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): إِنَّما حَرَّمَ رَبِّیَ الْفَواحِشَ ما ظَهَرَ مِنْها وَ ما بَطَنَ [Say, my Lord has only forbidden indecencies, those that are apparent and those that are concealed]; the Quran has an outward and an inward. What Allah has forbidden is the outward meaning, but the inward of the forbidden things is the leaders of tyranny. And what Allah has made lawful in His Book is its outward; its inward is the true Imams.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): ما ظَهَرَ [that which is apparent] is fornication, and ما بَطَنَ [that which is concealed] is secret friendship with women.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Allah the Exalted is Ghayur (protectively jealous) and loves every one who is Ghayur, and because of His Ghayrah He has forbidden indecencies, both apparent and concealed.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): The killer of a believer is never granted the tawfiq (success) to repent. And Allah the Exalted says: وَ لا تَقْتُلُوا النَّفْسَ الَّتِی حَرَّمَ اللهُ إِلَّا بِالْحَقِّ [And do not kill the soul which Allah has forbidden except by right].

Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him): The sins that cause regret are the killing of one whom Allah has forbidden, and Allah the Exalted has said: وَ لا تَقْتُلُوا النَّفْسَ الَّتِی حَرَّمَ اللهُ [And do not kill the soul which Allah has forbidden].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Abd al-Rahman ibn Kathir narrated from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) that he said: "The major sins are seven; they were revealed concerning us, and [these people] deemed permissible what concerned our right. The first of them is associating partners with Allah the Great, then killing a soul which Allah has forbidden, consuming the property of the orphan, disobedience to parents, accusing a married woman of adultery, fleeing from battle, and denying our right. As for associating partners with Allah: Allah revealed many matters concerning us, and the Noble Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) also said things, and they denied both Allah and the Prophet, and thus became polytheists towards Allah. As for killing a soul which Allah the Exalted has forbidden: they martyred Husayn ibn Ali (peace be upon him) together with his companions. As for consuming the property of the orphan: they destroyed our share of the spoils which Allah gave to us, and gave it to others. As for disobedience to parents: Allah says in the Quran: النَّبِیُّ أَوْلی بِالْمُؤْمِنِینَ مِنْ أَنْفُسِهِمْ وَ أَزْواجُهُ أُمَّهاتُهُمْ [The Prophet has a greater claim on the believers than they have on themselves, and his wives are their mothers] (al-Ahzab/6). They acted contrary to the command of the Noble Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) concerning his offspring, and they were disobedient towards Khadija (peace be upon her), their mother, regarding her children. As for the improper accusation against a married woman: they made this accusation against Fatima (peace be upon her) from their pulpits. As for fleeing from battle: they pledged allegiance to Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) willingly and without compulsion, but then they fled and left Ali (peace be upon him) alone. As for denying our right: it is something that no one disputes about."