Surah An-Nahl (16) — Ayah 8

(Ayah8) ➊ {وَ الْخَيْلَ وَ الْبِغَالَ وَ الْحَمِيْرَ لِتَرْكَبُوْهَا …:’’ زِيْنَةً ‘‘} is a maf’ul li-ajlih (object of purpose). {’’ وَ يَخْلُقُ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُوْنَ ‘‘} means, apart from those animals already mentioned, Allah continues to create for you things which you do not know. This includes the countless animals which Allah continues to create anew, sometimes through the mixing of different species, sometimes anew in deserts, forests, seas, and in human laboratories, and also all the means of transport and machines that will be invented until the Day of Judgment, which did not exist at the time of the revelation of this verse, including cars, airplanes, and engine-powered ships, etc. And Allah knows best what further inventions there will be. The Qur’an mentioned these things but kept them ambiguous, because if they had been named, many people might have denied them. It is said: {’’اَلنَّاسُ اَعْدَاءٌ لِمَا جَهِلُوْا‘‘} “People oppose that which they do not have knowledge of,” and if they had not been mentioned, then the mention of means of transport faster, more comfortable, and more adorned than animals would have been left out as a proof of Allah’s oneness and favor, which are even more applicable to {’’ سُبْحٰنَ الَّذِيْ سَخَّرَ لَنَا هٰذَا ‘‘} than to animals, and the author of “Zilal al-Qur’an” has written that Allah indicated this so that people would not see any harm in riding new inventions, thinking that our elders only rode camels and horses and only these are mentioned in the Qur’an.

➋ There is consensus on the prohibition of mule and donkey meat, but there is a difference of opinion regarding horse meat. From authentic (Sahih) hadiths of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), its permissibility is established. Some people who consider it forbidden say that Allah here mentioned these three animals separately for riding, apart from other animals, so if eating them were permissible, the blessing of eating them would also have been mentioned along with riding. If this argument is accepted, then since riding is not mentioned among the benefits of the earlier animals, riding them should not be permissible either. (Tabari) Al-Baghawi said that these verses have nothing to do with the statement of halal and haram. Allama al-Sham Jamal al-Din al-Qasimi (may Allah have mercy on him) says that everyone knows this surah is Makki, and if the prohibition of horse meat were established from this, then the prohibition of donkey meat would also be established, whereas donkey meat remained permissible even after these verses. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) prohibited it at the time of Khaybar, and at the same time maintained the permissibility of horse meat. Thus, in Sahih Bukhari, it is narrated from Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) forbade the meat of domestic donkeys and permitted horses. [ بخاري، المغازی، باب غزوۃ خیبر : ۴۲۱۹ ] Asma’ (may Allah be pleased with her) says, “We slaughtered a horse during the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and ate it.” [ بخاری، الذبائح والصید، باب النحر و الذبح : ۵۵۱۰۔ مسلم، الصید و الذبائح، باب إباحۃ أکل لحم الخیل : ۱۹۴۲ ] Similarly, Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) states that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) permitted us to eat horse meat and forbade the meat of domestic donkeys. [ ترمذي، الأطعمۃ، باب ما جاء في أکل لحوم الخیل : ۱۷۹۳۔ نسائی : ۴۳۳۳ ]

Allama Qasimi says that in Abu Dawud, al-Nasa’i, etc., the hadith narrated from Khalid bin Walid (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) forbade every predatory animal with fangs and the meat of horses, mules, and donkeys, its chain contains Salih bin Yahya, about whom there is criticism. Imam Bukhari said: {’’فِيْهِ نَظْرٌ‘‘} and it is not correct to take hadith from such a narrator. Then, even if it is assumed to be authentic, it cannot be presented against the authentic hadiths mentioned above, and it is also possible that this ruling was before Khaybar and was abrogated.

Note: The author of “al-Hidayah” has narrated from Imam Abu Hanifah the dislike (karahah) of horse meat, not its prohibition, and has written: “Some have said that according to him, it is karahah tahrimi (prohibitively disliked), and some have said it is karahah tanzihi (mildly disliked). (In the opinion of the author of al-Hidayah, the first view is more authentic.) However, regarding its milk, it is said that there is no harm in it, because it does not reduce the number of horses used for jihad.” From all this discussion, the difference between horses, donkeys, and mules becomes clear, and also that the reason Imam Abu Hanifah considered horse meat disliked is that they are instruments of jihad, and slaughtering them would reduce their number.

➌ { وَ زِيْنَةً:} From the mention of beauty in the previous verses and adornment in this verse, it is understood that human needs are not limited to eating, drinking, clothing, and riding, but the sense of beauty and adornment is also placed in human nature, and if it is not through forbidden means, then benefiting from it is also a great blessing of Allah.