His saying - glorified and exalted is He -: "And they said, what is in the bellies of these animals is exclusively for our males and forbidden for our females. And if it is a dead animal, then they are partners in it. He will recompense them for their description. Indeed, He is Wise, Knowing." This verse includes a mention of their corrupt beliefs. Their custom regarding some animals was to prohibit what they gave birth to for their women and to specify it for their males. The pronoun in "exclusively"; it is said that it is for emphasis, as it is in "narrator" and others. This is as you say: "So-and-so is exclusively mine"; and although the category of the emphasis pronoun is that it is attached to a form of emphasis like "sign" and "genealogist" and "insight" and similar. It is also said that it is for the feminine of the animals, since what is in their bellies are also animals. It is said that it is according to the feminine of the word "what"; because "what" in this context is in the position of your saying: "a group" and "a total." The majority of the reciters and people read: "exclusively"; with raising. Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, Ibn Jubair, Ibn Abi Abla, and Al-Amash read: "exclusive"; without the pronoun. The raising of these two readings is on the news of the beginning. Ibn Abbas - may Allah be pleased with both of them - read differently, and Al-A'raj, Qatadah, and Sufyan ibn Husayn read: "exclusively"; with lowering. And Sa'id ibn Jubair read - as mentioned by Abu Al-Fath -: "exclusively"; and the lowering of these two readings is on the assumption that the state is from the pronoun in His saying: "in the bellies"; and that the estimation of the speech is: "And they said: what has settled in the bellies of these animals..."; so the verb was omitted and the genitive was carried with the pronoun; and the state is from the pronoun; and the acting in it is the meaning of settling. Abu Al-Fath said: It is correct that it could be a state from "what"; according to the view of Abu Al-Hasan in permitting the precedence of the state over the acting in it. Ibn Abbas also read, as did Abu Haywah and Al-Zuhri: "its exclusive"; by adding "exclusive" to a pronoun that refers back to "what"; and its meaning is: "what has been purified and emerged alive"; and the news - according to the reading of those who lowered "exclusively" in His saying - glorified is He -: "for our males"; and the intended meaning of "what" in His saying - glorified is He - "what is in the bellies"; Al-Suddi said: it is the fetuses; and Ibn Abbas, Qatadah, and Al-Sha'bi said: it is the milk; Al-Tabari said; and the wording encompasses both. And His saying - glorified is He -: "And forbidden"; indicates that the pronoun in "exclusively" is for emphasis; and if it were for femininity, it would have been said: "and forbidden"; and "our females"; he means by it the group of women that is prepared to be wives; this was said by Mujahid; and Al-Tabari reported from Ibn Zayd that what is meant by "our females" is the daughters. Qadi Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: This interpretation is far from being valid. And His saying - glorified is He -: "And if it is a dead animal"; it was from their custom that what emerged from the fetuses dead from those designated animals is lawful for both men and women altogether; and likewise what died from the designated animals themselves.

Ibn Kathir read: "And if it is"; with the 'ya'; "a dead animal"; in the nominative; for he did not attach to the verb the sign of femininity; since the femininity of the subject to which it is attributed is not real; and the meaning is: "And if a dead animal occurs or a dead animal happens"; Ibn Amir read: "And if it is"; with the 'ta'; "a dead animal"; in the nominative; and he attached to the verb the sign of femininity; since the subject in the wording is feminine; and he attributed the verb to the dead animal; as Ibn Kathir did; and Asim read; in the narration of Abu Bakr - may Allah be pleased with him - from him: "It is"; with the 'ta'; "a dead animal"; in the accusative; and he made it feminine; even though the preceding was masculine; because he carried it on the meaning.

Qadi Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: So the estimation is: "And if the soul - or something like it - is a dead animal"; Nafi, Abu Amr, Hamza, al-Kisai, and Asim; in the narration of Hafs: "It is"; with the 'ya'; "a dead animal"; in the accusative; and they made the verb masculine; because they attributed it to the pronoun of what preceded from His saying, the Exalted, "What is in the bellies of these animals"; and it is masculine; and the dead animal was in the accusative as a news; Abu Amr ibn al-Ala said: And this reading is strengthened by His saying, the Exalted, "They understand in it"; and He did not say: "in it"; and Yazid ibn al-Qaqa read: "And if it is a dead animal"; with emphasis; and Abdullah ibn Mas'ud read: "They understand in it equally".

Then He followed it with His warning to them regarding what they described as being among the acts of drawing closer to Allah, the Exalted; and they legislated it from falsehood and slander; "Indeed, He is Wise"; meaning: "In His punishment of them for that"; "Knowing"; of the little of what they say of that; and much of it.