Name: The name of this surah is Al Anam which means the cattle. It has twenty sections and one hundred and sixty-five verses. The real objective of the surah is to explain the Oneness of God and in this connection, there is a mention of three polytheistic customs that existed around cattle in Arabia. These customs included honoring and respecting some camels, goats etcetera almost to a polytheistic level. These honored animals were left to graze without any restrictions, were not ridden and were not slaughtered for meat. There were other idolatrous practices of the same type. The real object of Islam is not simply to preach Unity to an intellectual elite to make them happy so that they could invite other likeminded to this lofty concept but to make an impression of Unity in the practical lives of the common man. The idea is to remove all vestiges of superstitions and idolatrous practices from their traditions and customs. Hence the name proposed for the surah in which Unity is explained is one that has a connection with every person’s household and with customs that dwelled therein and had formed an integral part of their life for centuries. This is not just an imaginary idea but a reality that Oneness of God cannot be established unless the customs that are polytheistic in nature and are an integral part of practical life are uprooted.
As an example one can look at India and if one puts idol worship, human worship, and many other forms of polytheistic worship that exists in that country on one side and the polytheistic honoring of cows on the other, it would be easier for a person to eradicate the different forms of worshipping but nobody except a strong preacher of perfect Unity would be able to eradicate the polytheistic honoring of the cow which exists in the psyche and practical life of every Hindu. Swami Dayananda gave the Hindus a superficial teaching of Oneness and weaned many people from idol worship, but he was unable to do away with the polytheistic respect for the cow. The result is that the Hindu nation remains far removed from true monotheism even now. The marvel of the Quran and the Holy Prophet is that they not only practically did away with the dangerous idol worship and established the Oneness of God but they also uprooted all vestiges to prevent any recurrence. They did not consider their reform complete until all superstitions and idolatrous practices were destroyed.
Summary of the Chapter: The real topic of this surah is Oneness of God and this subject is stressed from the beginning to the end. Incidental mention of Messengership is connected to the main theme as monotheism is established by sending messengers. In the same connection, there is mention of the ultimate failure of the rejectors and the gradual and ultimate historical success of the believers. There is no straying from the main subject throughout the chapter.
The first section contradicts the plurality of gods, that is the belief of those who propose two gods and along with it there is a mention of the message sent to the world to establish monotheism and what happens to rejectors. The second section contradicts the polytheistic worshipping of other than God, and the third section states that polytheism is such that its votaries will themselves manifest disgust with it one day and attention is drawn to the testimony of human nature. The fourth mentions the final consequence of rejection, and the fifth gives the punishment for exploitation. The sixth mentions the rewards and favors for believers of monotheism and the seventh and eighth explain the requital for actions and the rationale for it. The ninth section informs that Abraham, the patriarch of prophets, was a monotheist and the argument he had with his nation is mentioned. The tenth section informs that all prophets were monotheists, and the eleventh mentions the revelation of the Holy Prophet. In the twelfth section the powers of Allah are mentioned to evidence His Oneness and along with it is mentioned the gradual success of monotheism. The thirteenth section declares that Allah is not in need of a wife or son, and the different facets of polytheism are rebutted. The fourteenth once again refers to the opposition of polytheists and the fifteenth to the result of their planning. The sixteenth and seventeenth sections refute and falsify polytheism and polytheistic practices. The eighteenth section gives items prohibited for consumption and mentions the false objections of polytheists. The nineteenth explains the practical aspects of monotheism. It is not merely a verbal admission or merely a dispensation of polytheistic customs, but the real purpose of monotheism is to follow the correct rules for living, and in that context the rules for safeguarding life and property are given. The twentieth section states that the correct knowledge of monotheism is given by the Quran and its practical implications can be seen in the example of the Holy Prophet. All Muslims should endeavor to reach this lofty status. The surah is brought to an end on the one hand by refuting polytheism and on the other by giving the good tidings that when the Muslims are firmly established in accordance with these correct principles of monotheism, God will make them rulers in this world because it is only the group that is the well-wisher of humanity which deserves to rule over them. There is also a warning that if they abandon these rules, the rulership will be taken away from them.
The status of Al Anam in the arrangement of the chapters: This surah was revealed in Makkah and in terms of revelation is of a much earlier period than the previous four surahs. In the arrangement of the surahs, however, it has been kept after those later revelations although its subject which is Oneness of God is such that it should have preceded the last four. It is true that the Quran considers monotheism as foundational and that is why it opens with: ٱلۡحَمۡدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ ٱلۡعَـٰلَمِينَ (Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds) (1:1). Surah Al Baqarah also starts with belief in the unseen and the very first commands of the Quran is: يَـٰٓأَيُّہَا ٱلنَّاسُ ٱعۡبُدُواْ رَبَّكُمُ (O men, serve your Lord) (2:21) and فَلَا تَجۡعَلُواْ لِلَّهِ أَندَادً۬ا (so do not set up rivals with Allah) (2:22). Surah Ahl Imran also starts with the Oneness of Allah. However, since the issue of Unity is an intellectual issue, hence the education of the Muslims is started with a surah in which they are taught ways for their welfare and success, namely Surah Baqarah, and Surah Ahl Imran completes the subjects of Baqarah. Along with this, these surahs refute the erroneous beliefs of the Jews and Christians. Then surah Al Nisa explains economic rules and Al Maidah cultural rules. After all these practical life lessons, the subject of Unity of godhead is taken up so that the Muslims may understand what their priority needs are.
Relationship with Surah Al Maidah: This surah has a special relationship with surah Al Maidah which it follows. In Maidah, attention is drawn to fulfil the obligations (5:1) and the biggest obligation is to believe in the Unity of God. This subject is explored in detail in Anam. There is also a relationship with the ending of Maidah where the Christian doctrine of the sonship of God is refuted which is the biggest manifestation of the association of partners with Allah in the world. In Anam all other forms of polytheism are mentioned and the subject is taken to perfection. This is the reason why although this surah is about polytheism, the Christian belief is not mentioned in detail and is dismissed with a simple: أَنَّىٰ يَكُونُ لَهُ ۥ وَلَدٌ۬ وَلَمۡ تَكُن لَّهُ ۥ صَـٰحِبَةٌ۬ۖ (How could He have a son when He has no consort?) (6:101).
Date of revelation: There is consensus that this surah was revealed in Makkah. There is a narration by Ibn Abbas that the whole of this surah was revealed in one night in Makkah. Other narrations also support the view that the whole surah was revealed in one go in Makkah. Some people who have claimed that two or three of its verses were revealed in Madinah are mistaken. Mention of Jews or the revelation of some commands of shariah in Makkan revelations is an established fact. For example, permissible and prohibited foods are mentioned in Surah Al Nahl which is decidedly Makkan and surah Al Anam was revealed after Al Nahl because Al Anam refers to the permissible and prohibited foods provision in Al Nahl: قُل لَّآ أَجِدُ فِى مَآ أُوحِىَ إِلَىَّ مُحَرَّمًا (Say: I find not in that which is revealed to me aught forbidden…) (5:145). Circumstantial evidence indicates that this surah was revealed in the last year of the Holy Prophet’s period in Makkah. The revelation of such a lengthy surah in one go and its perfect retention by the Holy Prophet is one miracle out of the many miracles of the Quran. There is no doubt that some people have a very good memory and can remember some verses of poetry only after hearing them once, some can hear a story once and repeat it. Poetic verses and stories assist retention, but the surah has no poetry or stories. Instead, it is apparently a very intellectual and dry treatise on the Unity of Godhood which on the face of it is very disjointed and has no flow. Further, it is not a fable or story in which if a few words get left out or substituted, the story is not damaged and neither is it poetry where it will not matter if a word or two are replaced by appropriate substitute words. This is a text in which even the vowel points cannot be changed and not a single word can be dropped or added. It is written down soon after revelation and others memorize it from the written text. The Holy Prophet himself cannot read the written text but recites the surah in prayers. Because of these requirements, there is a great need to safeguard each and every word and their vowel points and this the Holy Prophet is able to do even when he listens to this long surah of twenty sections and one hundred and sixty five verses just once from the mouth of the angel. This is the miracle to which the Quran draws attention in the following words: سَنُقۡرِئُكَ فَلَا تَنسَىٰٓ (We shall make thee recite so thou shalt not forget) (87:6), that is the sign that it is being taught by God is that the Holy Prophet will not forget. This is a huge claim and its fulfillment, which is verified by history is a miracle. The next verse to the above cited verse states إِلَّا مَا شَآءَ ٱللَّهُ (Except what Allah please) (87:7) and this has led some people to think that the Holy Prophet used to forget some parts of the Quran. (I seek Allah’s protection from saying this). Such an interpretation renders the meaning nonsensical for then it would read: We shall make thee recite so thou shalt not forget except what Allah please. This makes thou shall not forget meaningless. This is definitely not the meaning of the verses. Here إِلَّا is استثنائے منقطع (terminates and provides an exception). The meaning of the verses is that you will never forget what God teaches you but this is not so because your memory is so great that you never forget anything because in other matters you do forget what Allah pleases. However, you never forget what is revealed. In fact, this is the miracle in what Allah teaches because a human who forgets other things does not forget even a single word of Divine revelation. This only enhances the miracle. On the one hand, such long surahs are revealed in one go and on the other some surahs are revealed piecemeal at different times. The revealed portions are written down and the Holy Prophet instructs those memorizing the Quran where each piece goes and makes them memorize accordingly. The miracle is that in his own recitation not a single word is ever dropped and the Quran is never read out of order even though there was no complete written copy of the Quran with all the portions in the right place. This fact alone is such a big miracle of the Holy Prophet that its like is not met in any other prophet.
Bayan-ul-Quran 