Quran Speaks to you

“Say: Come, let me tell you what your Lord has forbidden to you. Do not associate partners with Him. (do not offend against but, rather) be kind to your parents. Do not kill your children because of your poverty. We provide for you and for them. Do not commit any shameful deed, whether open or secret. Do not take any human being’s life-which God has made sacred, except in the course of justice. This he has enjoined upon you so that you may use your reason.”

Surah Al-Anam (Cattle)-6, Verse 151



Surah Al-Anam gives detailed commandments for human life and also gives a detailed outline of what Allah has truly forbidden. Side by side with the list of prohibitions, we find some positive commandments that must be observed. Failure to act on these is also forbidden. When we reflect on these commandments, we find that they provide an outline of our religion as a whole. They form the most essential element in the life of the human conscience as they establish the principle of God’s oneness. They are also most essential for the life of the human family and human community since they ensure mutual security within the society and make cleanliness an important quality of all social transactions. They are indeed pivotal for human life, since they guarantee the rights of every individual, linking them to the need to fulfil the covenant that exists between God and His servants.


“Say: Come, let me tell you what your Lord has forbidden to you.” (Verse 151). The Prophet (Pbuh) is here instructed to speak to people and tell them what their Lord has forbidden to them, not what they allege to have been forbidden. It is their Lord who has made the following items forbidden, because His alone is the position of Lordship which includes the aspects of fostering and directing, as well as issuing legislation. Hence, He is only exercising His authority, because He is the Lord. God alone is the one who enjoys all rights of Lordship.


“Do not associate partners with Him.” (Verse 151). This is the foundation upon which the structure of faith is built. It is to this rule that all duties and obligations should refer and from which all rights and privileges are derived. It must be properly established, before any discussion of commandments, prohibitions, systems and law can take place. The first and most important requirement is that people should acknowledge that God is their Lord who governs their lives in the same way as they believe in His oneness. No partner can be associated with Him either as a deity or as a Lord. People must acknowledge that God alone controls the universe and conducts its affairs, as He indeed holds them accountable on the Day of Judgement for what they have done in this life and rewards them accordingly. They must also acknowledge at the same time and in the same measure that He alone has the authority to provide the law which human beings must administer and enforce. This guiding principle, then purges human conscience of all traces of associating partners with God, purges the human mind from all traces of superstition, human society from the traditions of ignorance and purifies human life from people’s submission to one another.


“ Do not commit any shameful deed, whether open or secret.” (Verse 151).


Since God has urged His servants to take good care of their families, He has also impressed upon them the need to maintain the family foundation, which is also the basis of society. This equates with purity, decency and chastity. Hence they are forbidden to commit all types of indecency, whether openly or secretly. No family can survive and no community can prosper if they sink into shameful indecency, whether open or secret. Purity, cleanliness and chastity are the basic essentials for the healthy living of both the family and the community. Those who like to see indecency spread throughout the community are the ones who try to weaken the structure of the family and to bring about society’s collapse.


The Arabic term translated here as “shameful indecency” refers from the linguistic point of view to everything that goes beyond its proper limits. The term is also frequently used to denote a particular type of indecency, namely adultery and fornication. It is most probably in this sense that the term is used here. If we were to take the general meaning of the word, we should remember that, murder and the squandering of an orphan’s property are both indecencies, but associating partners with God is the greatest indecency of all. Hence, giving the term ‘indecency’ the narrower sense of adultery in this context is perhaps more fitting to the general drift of the surah. It also explains why the plural form is used here. The crime of adultery is normally preceded by actions and circumstances that are also indecent. Clothing which is too revealing, wanton behaviour, uninhibited flirtation with the opposite sex, shameless behaviour, speech and laughter, deliberate temptation and inviting adornments are all indecencies leading to the ultimate-one of adultery. All these may be brought into the open or kept secret. Some may be entertained within oneself while others are expressed in words and actions. They all work together to destroy the structure of the family and to weaken the community from within. In addition, they leave their stains on people’s consciences and limit their concerns to what is petty and abject. Because all these indecencies have their own attraction and temptation, the surah tells us not to go near them. Staying away from them is the best way to avoid the preliminaries and attractions which could weaken one’s resolve. Hence, to cast a second, penetrative look at a woman, after the first casual one, is forbidden, while mixing between men and women is kept within the limits of what is necessary. Tempting movements and loud laughter are also disallowed in a pure Islamic social life. Islam does not like people to expose themselves to attraction as it only makes resistance harder. Islam believes in taking protective measures before there is any need to inflict punishments. It protects consciences, feelings and senses. God knows His creation best and he helps protect them, for He is compassionate and all-knowing. Those who provide all types of temptation and attraction, trying to unleash wild desires, utilising verbal expressions, pictures, films, stories, mixed camps as well as other methods of communication have a certain objective in mind. We know the purpose of their schemes and we know what they would love to do with this religion and what they try to do to the life of the family and the community.