ﲛ ﲜ ﲝ ﲞ ﲟ ﲠ ﲡ ﲢ ﲣ ﲤ ﲥ ﲦ ﲧ ﲨ ﲩ ﲪ ﲫ ﲬ ﲭ ﲮ ﲯ ﲰ ﲱ
And do not say about what your tongues assert of untruth, "This is lawful and this is unlawful," to invent falsehood about Allah. Indeed, those who invent falsehood about Allah will not succeed.
Tafsir
Verse range: 16:116-117
There are several issues concerning this verse:
Know that when God Almighty restricted the forbidden things to those four (mentioned previously), He strongly emphasized this restriction and exposed the method of the disbelievers who either added to these prohibitions or subtracted from them.
They used to forbid the Bahīrah, the Sā'ibah, the Wasīlah, and the Ḥām. They would also claim that what was in the wombs of these animals was exclusively for their males and forbidden to their wives. Thus, they increased the prohibitions.
Conversely, they also increased what was permissible by permitting carrion, blood, pork, and what was slaughtered in the name of other than God.
Therefore, God Almighty clarified that the prohibitions are only those four, and that their claims regarding what is lawful and unlawful are lies and fabrications against God. He then mentioned a severe threat for this lying.
I argue that since God established this restriction in these four categories, and then stated in this verse that adding to or subtracting from them is a lie and fabrication against God, leading to severe punishment, we know that there is no addition to this restriction. And God knows best.
There are two interpretations regarding the accusative case of al-kadhib (falsehood) in the phrase: {لِمَا تَصِفُ أَلْسِنَتُكُمُ الْكَذِبَ} (limā taṣifu alsinatukum al-kadhiba - for what your tongues describe as falsehood).
The First View: Al-Kisā'ī and Al-Zajjāj held that mā is a maṣdariyyah (a particle indicating a verbal noun). The meaning is: "Do not say, 'This is lawful and this is unlawful,' because of the description your tongues give as falsehood." This is analogous to saying, "Do not say such-and-such because of such-and-such."
The Second View: That mā is a relative pronoun (mawṣūlah). The meaning is: "Do not say, regarding that which your tongues describe as falsehood, 'This is lawful and this is unlawful.'" The preposition fīhi (in it) is omitted because it is understood from the context.
The phrase {تَصِفُ أَلْسِنَتُكُمُ الْكَذِبَ} (taṣifu alsinatukum al-kadhiba - your tongues describe falsehood) is highly eloquent. It is as if the very essence and reality of falsehood are unknown, and the speech of their tongues reveals and clarifies the nature of that falsehood. This is an exaggeration in describing their speech as being the very embodiment of falsehood.
This is similar to the verse by Abū al-‘Alā’ al-Ma‘arrī:
A lightning bolt from Al-Ma‘arrah traveled after weakness, And spent the night in Ramlah describing exhaustion.
The meaning is that the traveling lightning describes exhaustion. Similarly here, their speech is the falsehood. And God knows best.
Then God Almighty said: {لِتَفْتَرُوا عَلَى اللَّهِ الْكَذِبَ} (so that you may invent lies against God).
The meaning is that they attributed this prohibition and permission to God, claiming that He had commanded them to do so. I believe this lām (the lām of purpose) is not for intention, because that fabrication was not their primary goal. Rather, it is the lām of consequence (lām al-‘āqibah), similar to His saying: {لِيَكُونَ لَهُمْ عَدُوًّا وَحُزْنًا} (so that it may become for them an enemy and a source of grief).
Al-Wāḥidī stated that {لِتَفْتَرُوا عَلَى اللَّهِ الْكَذِبَ} is a substitute (badal) for {لِمَا تَصِفُ أَلْسِنَتُكُمُ الْكَذِبَ}, because their description of falsehood is the fabrication against God. Thus, their description of falsehood was explained as fabrication against God.
He then threatened the fabricators, saying: {إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَفْتَرُونَ عَلَى اللَّهِ الْكَذِبَ لَا يُفْلِحُونَ} (Indeed, those who invent lies about God will not succeed).
He then clarified that the enjoyment they experience in this worldly life will soon vanish, saying: {مَتَاعٌ قَلِيلٌ} (a brief enjoyment). Al-Zajjāj said the meaning is: "Their enjoyment is a brief enjoyment." Ibn ‘Abbās said rather, "The enjoyment of the entire world is brief enjoyment." Then they will return to a painful punishment, which is His saying: {وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ} (and they will have a painful punishment).
