It is not their meat nor their blood that reaches Allah: it is your piety that reaches Him.................. Quran (Yusuf Ali) 22:37 Exigesis 1 Yusuf Ali: No one should suppose that meat or blood is acceptable to the One True God. It was a Pagan fancy that Allah could be appeased by blood sacrifice. But Allah does accept the offering of our hearts, and as a symbol of such offer, some visible institution is necessary. He has given us power over the brute creation, and permitted us to eat meat, but only if we pronounce His name at the solemn act of taking life, for without this solemn invocation, we are apt to forget the sacredness of life. By the invocation we are reminded that wanton cruelty is not in our thoughts, but only the need of food. Now if we further deny the greater part of the food (some theologians fix the proportion at three-quarters or two-thirds) for the sake of our poorer brethren in solemn assembly in the precincts of the Haram (sacred territory), our symbolic act finds practical expression in benevolence, and that is the virtue sought to be taught. We should be grateful to Allah for His guidance in this matter, in which many Peoples have gone wrong, and we should proclaim the true doctrine so that virtue and charity may increase among men. Exigesis 2 Ibn Kathir: Nothing of its flesh or blood reaches Allah, for He has no need of anything other than Himself. Ibn Abi Hatim recorded that Ibn Jurayj said, The people of the Time of Ignorance used to put the meat of their sacrifices and sprinkle the blood on the House, and the Companions of the Messenger of Allah said, We have more right to do that. Then Allah revealed the words: It is neither their meat nor their blood that reaches Allah, but it is peity from you that reaches Him. That is what He will accept and reward for, as mentioned in the Tradition: Allah does not look to your appearance or your colors, but He looks to your hearts and deeds.
Posted on: Sun, 05 Oct 2014 11:58:49 +0000
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