Tafsir of Al-An'am 6:146

"And to those who are Jews..."

Dhu al-zufur (the un-split hoofed) refers to any animal or bird that does not have separated toes. Some of these were originally lawful for them. When they committed injustice, these were forbidden to them. The prohibition encompassed every dhu zufur, as evidenced by His saying: "For the wrongdoing of those who are Jews, We forbade them good things that had been lawful for them" (An-Nisa: 160).

"And of the cattle and the sheep, We forbade them their fat..." This is like saying, "From Zayd, I took his wealth," where the min (from) denotes addition and connection. The meaning is that He forbade them the meat of every dhu zufur and the fat of everything else. Cattle and sheep were left in a state of lawfulness, with only the pure fats forbidden—namely, the thrub (omentum) and the fat of the kidneys.

"Except what their backs carry..." Meaning: except for what is attached to the backs and the sides, such as the sahfah (fat covering the intestines).

"Or the hawaya (intestines)..." Or what is attached to the intestines.

"Or what is mixed with bone..." This refers to the fat of the tail (aliyah). It is also said that al-hawaya is a conjunction linked to "their fat," and the aw (or) functions as it does in the saying: "Sit with al-Hasan or Ibn Sirin."

"That is how We recompensed them for their insolence..." That is, the prohibition of good things was their recompense for their injustice.

"And indeed, We are truthful..." In what We have threatened the disobedient; We do not break it, just as We do not break what We have promised the obedient. When they disobeyed and transgressed, We subjected them to the threat and brought down upon them the punishment.

"So if they deny you..." If they claim that God is vast in mercy, that He does not punish for transgression, and that He breaks His threats out of generosity and nobility, then say to them:

"Your Lord is possessor of vast mercy..." For those who obey Him.

"But His punishment cannot be averted from the criminal people." Do not be deceived by the hope of His mercy into ignoring the fear of His vengeance.

"Those who associate partners will say: 'If Allah had willed, we would not have associated, nor would our fathers, nor would we have forbidden anything.' Likewise did those before them deny until they tasted Our punishment. Say: 'Do you have any knowledge that you can bring forth for us? You follow only assumption, and you are but lying.' Say: 'To Allah belongs the conclusive argument; for if He had willed, He would have guided you all.'"