His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

﴿And the sacrificial animals We have made for you as among the rites of Allah; for you therein is good. So mention the name of Allah upon them when they are lined up. Then when their sides have fallen, eat from them and feed the contented and the beggar. Thus We have made them subservient to you, that you may be grateful.﴾ ﴿Neither their flesh nor their blood will reach Allah, but what reaches Him is piety from you. Thus We have made them subservient to you, that you may glorify Allah for what He has guided you. And give good tidings to the doers of good.﴾

"The sacrificial animals": is the plural of badnah, which is what has been marked from a she-camel or a cow, as stated by 'Ata and others. It is called that because it becomes fat, or it is said that this name is specific to camels. A group said: "The sacrificial animals": is the plural of badan - with the opening of the letter 'b' and 'd'. Then they disagreed, so some of them said: the sacrificial animals is a singular term referring to the large fat ones among camels and cows, and it is said for the fat ones among men: badan. And some of them said: the sacrificial animals is the plural of badnah like thamarah and thamar. The majority read: "And the sacrificial animal" with the 'd' being silent. Abu Ja'far, Shaiba, Al-Husayn, and Ibn Abu Ishaq read: "The sacrificial animals" with the 'd' being pronounced. It is possible that it is the plural of badnah like thamar. And Allah, exalted is He, enumerated in this verse His blessings upon people in these sacrificial animals. The mention of "the rites" has been previously discussed. And "the good" has been said about it what has been said about "the benefits" that were previously mentioned, and the correct understanding is its generality in the good of this world and the Hereafter. And His saying, exalted is He: "upon them" means: at the time of slaughtering them.

The majority of people read: "lined up" with the 'f' being opened and doubled, which is the plural of saffah, meaning: obedient in their standing. Al-Hasan, Mujahid, Zayd ibn Aslam, Abu Musa Al-Ash'ari, Shaqiq, and Sulayman Al-Taymi, and Al-A'raj read: "lined up" as the plural of safiyah, meaning: pure for the sake of Allah, exalted is He, with no partnership in it for anything as the pre-Islamic Arabs used to associate partners. Al-Hasan also read: "lined up" with the 'f' being broken and with tanween, which is lighter, and it has the same meaning as the previous one, but the 'y' was omitted for ease, which is not according to the norm. There is a view on this. Ibn Mas'ud, Ibn 'Umar, Ibn 'Abbas, and Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Ali read: "lined up" with the 'n' indicating the plural of safinah, which is the one that has raised one of its hands to avoid stumbling. And the safin from horses is the one that raises one of its hands or one of its legs. From this is His saying, exalted is He: ﴿The standing horses﴾ [Sad: 31]. And 'Amr ibn Kulthum said:

We left the horses standing by it, their bridles tied in rows.

And "have fallen" means: they have fallen after being slaughtered. From this is: the sun has set. And from this is the saying of Aws ibn Hajar:

Has the sun and the moon and the stars not been eclipsed for the mountain that is due?

And His saying, exalted is He: "So eat" is an encouragement, and all scholars prefer that a person eat from his sacrifice, and there is reward and compliance in it, as the people of ignorance used not to eat from their sacrifices. And Mujahid, Ibrahim, and Al-Tabari said: it is permissibility.

(p-250) And "the contented": the asker. It is said: The man was content when he asked, with the opening of the noon in the past, and he was content with the kasra of the noon, he is content when he refrains and is self-sufficient with his means. This was said by Al-Khalil. From the first, the saying of Al-Shamakh is:

The wealth of a man rectifies him and makes him self-sufficient, More honorable than being contented.

So the scholars of the statement said: The contented is the asker.

And "the one who is in need": the one who presents himself without asking. This was said by Muhammad ibn Ka'b Al-Qurazi, Mujahid, Ibrahim, Al-Kalbi, and Al-Hasan ibn Abi Al-Hasan. A group contradicted this saying. Al-Tabari reported from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them, that he said: The contented is the one who is self-sufficient with what I have given him, and the one who is in need is the one who presents himself. It was reported from him that he said: The contented is the one who refrains, and the one who is in need is the asker. It was reported from Mujahid that he said: The contented is the neighbor, even if he is wealthy. Abu Raja read "the contented". So on this interpretation, the meaning of the verse is: Feed the one who refrains who does not come asking. Abu Al-Fath ibn Jinni went to the idea that he meant "the contented" and omitted the alif for ease.

And this is far-fetched; for directing it as I mentioned earlier is better. And one only resorts to this if there is no other option. Abu Raja and Amr ibn Ubaid read: "the one who is in need", and the meaning is the same. It is narrated (p-251) from Abu Raja: "and the one who is in need" with the lightening of the ra. And the poet said:

By your life, the one who is in need does not visit our lands, So we may prevent him with the lost and the oppressed.

Ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, went to the idea that the sacrificial animals are in thirds. And Ja'far ibn Muhammad said from his father: I feed the contented and the one who is in need one third, the miserable poor one third, and my family one third. And Ibn Al-Musayyib said: The owner of the sacrificial animal has no more than a quarter of it.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

All of this is based on preference, not obligation. Then Allah, the Most High, said: "Thus", meaning: As I commanded you in all of this, We have subjected it for you. And "perhaps" is a hope regarding us and in relation to our view.

And His saying, the Most High: "will attain" is an expression of emphasis and confirmation, and it means: He will not be raised with Him and will not obtain a cause for reward. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them, said: In the days of ignorance, they would smear the house with blood, and the believers wanted to do that, so Allah, the Most High, forbade that, and this verse was revealed. The meaning is: But he will attain elevation with Him and obtain goodness with Him through piety, meaning sincerity and the performance of good deeds. Malik ibn Dinar, Al-A'raj, Ibn Yamur, and Al-Zuhri read: "You will not attain", "but you will attain it" with a ta in both.

The naming and the takbir for the sacrificial animal and the udhiyah is that the slaughterer says: In the name of Allah, Allah is the Greatest. It has been narrated that His saying, the Most High: "And give good tidings to the doers of good" was revealed regarding the four caliphs, may Allah be pleased with them, as previously mentioned in the one before it. As for the apparent wording, it implies generality for every doer of good.