[And when] He commanded them to eat from what benefits them and helps them in thanking Him, warning against eating what their sight perceives - He followed it with a decisive prohibition specifically against eating what harms them in their bodies and morals. This is what opposes the first in its being free [from the noble name]. He said, ﴿And do not eat from that which has not been mentioned﴾, meaning: from that which cannot accept the mentioning of ﴿the name of Allah﴾, meaning: that from which nothing is taken except from Him; for He has all perfection, thus He has complete encompassing. He indicated with the tool of elevation to sincerity and the negation of associating partners, saying: ﴿upon﴾ Him, meaning: because Allah has prohibited it, thus it has become impure in essence or meaning: it has become harmful to the body and soul from that which has been mentioned upon it other than His name - glorified is He - (p-246) by what is indicated by [its] naming as sin, and the interpretation of sin in another verse by that which has been slaughtered for other than Allah, and likewise what is in its meaning of that which has died or was forbidden for other than that. And His name, exalted is He, is free from being mentioned upon what is unlawful; if it is mentioned upon it, it was played with and did not purify it. As for what was lawful and the name of Allah was not mentioned upon it [nor any other], it is lawful, as in the authentic narration: 'From Aisha - may Allah be pleased with her - she said: They said, O Messenger of Allah! Indeed, there are people who have recently turned to polytheism who bring us meat, and we do not know if they mention the name of Allah or not! He said: (You mention the name of Allah and eat.)' Al-Baghawi said: And if the mentioning were a condition for permissibility, then doubt in its existence would prevent eating it, like the doubt in the origin of the slaughter. End of quote.

And when the estimation was: for indeed it is vile in itself and harmful, He added to it His saying: ﴿And indeed﴾, meaning: eating from it or it itself being the cause ﴿is indeed a sin﴾. Thus He made it the essence of sin - which is to deviate from what is appropriate to what is not appropriate - for it is deeply rooted in being the cause of what has been established among them of its matter and has spread from its evil. And this is evidence for what I have interpreted, for indeed forgetfulness [is not] a cause of sin, and that which the mentioning was left upon due to forgetfulness is not sin, and the one who forgets is not sinful - as Al-Bukhari said. And to that is the indication of what was narrated: 'From Aisha - may Allah be pleased with her - that a people said to the Prophet ﷺ: Indeed, a people come to us with meat, and we do not know if the name of Allah was mentioned upon it or not! He said: (You mention the name of Allah upon it and eat.)' She said: And they were recently turned from disbelief.' End of quote. All of this indicates that the intended meaning is that it is from that which is permissible for its slaughter, and the intended meaning is not to make the mentioning a condition for the action.

And when doubts may sometimes shake firm beliefs, he warned against them: "And indeed, the devils" means: the wicked ones among the rebellious jinn and humans who are far from good, prepared for evil, burning with the curse of the rebellious jinn and humans. "They inspire" means: they whisper a profound and swift whispering "to their allies" means: those who are close to them in nature, prepared to accept their words. "To argue with you" means: they will lead you away from what you have been commanded by saying to you: 'What Allah has killed is more rightful for eating than what you have killed with your own hands' - and similar to that. The people of the Sacred House should not stand in other than it, and the stranger should not be equal to them in circumambulation in his garments. And the vow to the idols is like the vow to the Kaaba, and similar to this are their superstitions upon which they have built their affairs based on the desires they acknowledge to be misleading and harmful. They are excessive in condemning following it and inclining towards it. It is enough to demolish all their doubts in general that the possessor of religion and the owner of the kingdom has prohibited them.

And when the estimation is: if you obey them, you have left guidance and followed desires, and it is known that desires return to polytheism - he added to this his saying: "And if you obey them" means: the polytheists in their religion by what they say about leaving the eating of what has been mentioned the name of Allah upon it and eating from what the name of Allah has not been mentioned upon it, or in anything they have argued with you about. "Indeed, you are surely polytheists" means: you and they are equal in polytheism just as if you named other than Allah upon your sacrifices in the manner of worship; because whoever follows the command of other than Allah has indeed associated him with Allah, as the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said in the hadith of Adi ibn Hatim, may Allah be pleased with him, in His saying: "They took their rabbis and monks as lords besides Allah" [At-Tawbah: 31] from the fact that their worship of them is their permitting what they have permitted and their prohibiting what they have prohibited. Thus, the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, alerted to the fact that names follow meanings. Sheikh of Islam, the reviver of religion, Al-Nawawi, the Shafi'i, stated in the chapter of sacrifices from the book of Al-Rawdah: It has been reported in Al-Shamil and others from the text of Al-Shafi'i that if the people of the Book have a sacrifice that they slaughter in the name of other than Allah, like the Messiah, it is not permissible. And in the book of Qadi Ibn Kajj, it is stated that if a Jew slaughters for Moses and a Christian for Jesus - peace be upon them - or for the cross, his sacrifice is prohibited. And if a Muslim slaughters for the Kaaba or for the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, it should be said: it is prohibited; because he slaughtered for other than Allah, glorified and exalted is He. He said: And Abu Al-Hasan brought forth another view that it is permissible because the Muslim slaughters for Allah and does not believe in the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, what the Christian believes in Jesus - peace be upon him.

He said: And if he slaughters for the idol, his slaughtering is not to be eaten, whether the slaughterer is a Muslim or a Christian. In his commentary on this, Sheikh Ibrahim al-Marwazi stated that what is slaughtered when welcoming the Sultan as a means of drawing closer to him, the people of Bukhara have ruled it as forbidden because it is from that which has been dedicated to other than Allah. And know that slaughtering for the deity in His name is equivalent to prostrating to Him. Each of these is a type of glorification and worship specific to Allah, the Exalted, who is deserving of worship. So whoever slaughters for other than Him, whether an animal or an inanimate object like an idol, with the intention of glorification and worship, his slaughtering is not permissible, and his action is like disbelief, just as one who prostrates to other than Allah in a prostration of worship. Likewise, if he slaughters for him and for others in this manner. However, if he slaughters for other than him not in this manner - such as sacrificing or slaughtering for the Kaaba in glorification of it because it is the House of Allah, or for the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, this does not prevent the permissibility of the slaughtering. To this meaning, the saying of the one who says: I have dedicated it to the Sacred House or to the Kaaba returns. And from this category is the slaughtering when welcoming the Sultan, for it is an expression of joy at his arrival, equivalent to the slaughtering of the 'aqiqah for the birth of a newborn. Such an act does not necessitate disbelief. Likewise, prostrating to other than Allah in humility and submission. Therefore, if the slaughterer says: In the name of Allah and the name of Muhammad, and intends: I slaughter in the name of Allah and seek blessings by the name of Muhammad, it should not be prohibited. And the saying of the one who says: That is not permissible, can be understood as the wording being disliked; because what is disliked can validly negate the permissibility and absolute allowance of it. Al-Rafi'i reported that there was a dispute about this among the people of Qazwin that led to a fitnah regarding whether his slaughtering is permissible and whether he disbelieves by that! He said: And the correct view is what we have clarified; Sheikh Muhyi al-Din said: And what supports what he said - meaning Al-Rafi'i - is what Sheikh Ibrahim al-Marwazi mentioned in his commentary: He said: The author of al-Taqrib narrated from al-Shafi'i, may Allah have mercy on him, that if a Christian names other than Allah, like the Messiah, his slaughtering is not permissible. The author of al-Taqrib said: Its meaning is that he slaughters it for him. However, if he mentions the Messiah in the sense of sending blessings upon the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, it is permissible. He said: And Al-Halimi said: It is permissible absolutely even if he names the Messiah - and Allah knows best. Then he said in the scattered issues: The third: Ibn Kajj said: Whoever slaughters a sheep and says: I slaughter for the pleasure of so-and-so, the slaughtering is permissible; because he does not direct it to him unlike the one who draws closer by slaughtering to the idol. And Al-Ruyani said: Indeed, whoever slaughters for the jinn and intends by it to draw closer to Allah, the Exalted, to ward off their evil from him, it is permissible, and if he intends the slaughtering for them, it is forbidden. And what clarifies for you the secret of this arrangement and enhances its beauty is that all these verses are from His saying, the Exalted.

'Indeed, Allah is the Splitter of the grain and the seed.' [Al-An'am: 95] To the end of the surah is a detail of His saying, the Most High, at the beginning of the surah: 'Say, 'Should I take besides Allah a protector, the Creator of the heavens and the earth?' [Al-An'am: 14] So when He mentioned His creation of the heavens and the earth by saying, 'Indeed, Allah is the Splitter of the grain and the seed.' [Al-An'am: 95] and similar to it, and denied taking others besides Him by saying, 'And they made for Allah partners from the jinn.' [Al-An'am: 100] and what is similar to it, He said, 'So eat.' [Al-An'am: 118] This is a reference to 'And He feeds but is not fed.' [Al-An'am: 14] and His saying: 'Or is one who was dead and We gave him life?' [Al-An'am: 122] and His saying: 'So whoever Allah intends to guide...' [Al-An'am: 125] and similar to them is a reference to His saying: 'Say, 'Indeed, I have been commanded to be the first of the Muslims.' [Al-An'am: 14] and His saying: 'And the Day We will gather them all together...' [Al-An'am: 22] and similar to it indicates: 'Indeed, I fear, if I disobey my Lord, the punishment of a tremendous Day.' [Al-An'am: 15]

And when the detail concluded at His saying, "So they will soon know," He began to elaborate on it again with His saying: "And they made for Allah from what He created of crops and livestock a share" [Al-An'am: 136] to its end. The secret in the repetition is that when something is affirmed or denied, and the proofs are established for affirming what has been affirmed and denying what has been denied, then if that is repeated in another style, it becomes more firmly established in the self and more attached to the heart. This is especially true if the second style, as is the habit of the Qur'an, includes an increase in clarity and a reminder of what has not been previously mentioned, particularly if the expression is superior and the words are sweet and pleasant. You are aware that all of this is the way of the Qur'an in its styles of eloquence. Al-Ghazali said in the beginning of his book, "The Jewels," in the section that includes the opening chapter having eight categories: His second saying, "The Most Gracious, the Most Merciful" [Al-Fatiha: 3], is an indication of the attribute once again. Do not think that it is repeated, for there is no repetition in the Qur'an. The limit of repetition is what does not contain additional benefit. The mention of mercy after the mention of "the worlds" and before the mention of "the Master of the Day of Judgment" [Al-Fatiha: 4] contains two great benefits in detailing the flows of mercy. Then the mention of what results from it is that one of them is directed towards the creation of every world among the worlds in its most complete and best forms and providing it with everything it needs. The second is directed towards what follows it by referring to the mercy on the Day of Resurrection at the bestowal of eternal dominion. He said: And the explanation of that is lengthy, and the intended point is that there is no repetition in the Qur'an. If you see something repeated from the apparent perspective, then look to its precedents and consequences to uncover for you the additional benefit in its repetition. This concludes. And in that, there is another point, which is that "The Most Gracious" refers to what He said regarding lordship in the two creations: the first and the second. And "The Most Merciful" specifically indicates what is pleasing to divinity regarding the second creation and the second preservation by the mercy of recompense, and to what is understood by the specific regarding the blessing for those whom mercy does not specifically encompass, as has been indicated in the opening chapter.