Tafsir of An-Nisa' 4:119

(And I will mislead them) from the truth, (and I will arouse in them false desires)—that is, I will say to them: "There is no resurrection behind you, no gathering, no Paradise, no Fire, no reward, and no punishment; therefore, do as you wish." It is also said: I will tempt them with the hope of a long life in this world so that they delay doing good deeds. It is further said: I will tempt them with false desires that incite disobedience, and I will embellish for them the vanities and blossoms of this world. I will summon each one of them to that which his nature inclines toward—as mentioned in the verse—thereby turning them away from obedience. The first interpretation is reported from al-Kalbi.

(And I will command them so they will slit)—by tabtik (slitting), as Abu Hayyan said, or by misguidance, as others said—(the ears of cattle), meaning: they shall cut them from their base, as is reported from Abu Abd Allah, may Allah be pleased with him. Or, they shall split them—as al-Zajjaj said—in compliance with my command, without hesitation or delay, as is indicated by the particle fa (so/then). This refers to what the people of the Age of Ignorance used to do: slitting or cutting the ear of a she-camel when she had given birth five times, the fifth being a male, while forbidding it from being ridden, loaded, or utilized in any other way.

(And I will command them so they will change)—complying with it without delay—(the creation of Allah), from its ordained path, whether in form or attribute. This includes what is done, such as gouging out the eye of a stallion camel if its tenure has lasted until it has produced offspring of its offspring—this is what is called al-hami—as well as the castration of slaves, tattooing, sodomy, lesbianism, and the like. It also includes the worship of the sun, moon, fire, or stones, for example, as well as changing the fitrah (innate nature) of Allah, which is Islam, and employing the limbs and faculties in matters that bring no benefit to the soul nor draw it closer to Allah, the Exalted.

It is reported from the predecessors that they limited the scope to some of these mentioned acts, though the generality of the wording prohibits castration entirely. It is reported that a group of the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, prohibited it. Al-Bayhaqi recorded from Ibn Umar that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) forbade the castration of horses and livestock. Ikrimah claimed that the verse was revealed regarding this. Some permitted it in animals; Ibn al-Mundhir reported from Urwah that he castrated a mule of his, from Tawus that he castrated a camel, and from Muhammad ibn Sirin that he was asked about castrating stallions, and he replied: "There is no harm in it." The same is reported from al-Hasan. Ata was asked about castrating a stallion and saw no harm in it if it was aggressive or of bad temperament.

Al-Nawawi said: It is not permissible to castrate an animal that is not eaten, neither when young nor when old. It is permissible to castrate an animal that is eaten while it is young, because there is an objective for it, which is the quality of its meat, but it is not permissible when it is old. Castration in human beings is forbidden by the consensus of the predecessors and the successors. According to Abu Hanifah, may Allah be pleased with him, it is disliked to purchase eunuchs, employ them, or keep them, because the desire for them invites the act of castrating them.

Excluded from "changing the creation of Allah" are circumcision, tattooing for a necessary purpose, dyeing the beard, trimming what exceeds the Sunnah, and the like. It is reported from Qatadah that he recited the verse and then said: "What is wrong with ignorant people who change the dye of Allah and His color, the Exalted?" But this [ruling] is hardly sound if he intends it to be general, including the Sunnah-approved dyeing, such as dyeing with henna, or even katm (woad) to intimidate the enemy. It is authentically reported from a group of the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, that they did this, among them Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him; and the report of prohibition is applied to other than that.

(And whoever takes Satan as an ally instead of Allah)—by preferring what he invites to over what Allah, the Exalted, has commanded, and by overstepping the obedience of Allah to his obedience. The condition "instead of Allah" is to clarify that following him contradicts following the command of Allah, not as a restrictive clause as some might imagine. As for what has been said—that there is no creature of Allah but that you have an alliance with it if you knew it, and a benefit in its existence if you sought it, and therefore the alliance was restricted by being "instead of Allah"—this stems from ignorance of the true meaning of alliance. So understand.

(He has indeed suffered a manifest loss)—that is, an evident one. And what loss is greater than exchanging Paradise for Hell? And what deal is more losing than losing the pleasure of the All-Merciful for the pleasure of Satan?