Context from Tafheem: This section continues the theme of distinguishing divine truth from human corruption. Having just warned against following Satan’s footsteps of declaring the unlawful and speaking about God without knowledge, the passage now provides specific examples of those who corrupt scripture for worldly gain. It culminates in the stark image of those who have “bartered guidance for error”—the archetype of spiritual bankruptcy.
سورة البقرة (Surah Al-Baqarah)
آية 168
القرآن: يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ كُلُوا مِمَّا فِي الْأَرْضِ حَلَالًا طَيِّبًا وَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا خُطُوَاتِ الشَّيْطَانِ ۚ إِنَّهُ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ مُّبِينٌ
Translation: O mankind, eat from whatever is on earth [that is] lawful and good and do not follow the footsteps of Satan. Indeed, he is to you a clear enemy.
Explanation (Tafheemul Quran):
Maududi explains this is a universal call. God’s provision is broadly permissible (halal) and wholesome (tayyib). Satan’s “footsteps” include declaring lawful things forbidden, promoting impure things, and instigating ingratitude. He is humanity’s declared enemy.
آية 169
القرآن: إِنَّمَا يَأْمُرُكُم بِالسُّوءِ وَالْفَحْشَاءِ وَأَن تَقُولُوا عَلَى اللَّهِ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ
Translation: He only orders you to evil and immorality and to say about Allah what you do not know.
Explanation: Satan’s commands are twofold: 1) moral corruption (evil and immorality), and 2) religious corruption—”to say about Allah what you do not know.” This includes fabricating religious laws and attributing falsehoods to God, which is the graver sin.
آية 170
القرآن: وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمُ اتَّبِعُوا مَا أَنزَلَ اللَّهُ قَالُوا بَلْ نَتَّبِعُ مَا أَلْفَيْنَا عَلَيْهِ آبَاءَنَا ۚ أَوَلَوْ كَانَ آبَاؤُهُمْ لَا يَعْقِلُونَ شَيْئًا وَلَا يَهْتَدُونَ
Translation: And when it is said to them, “Follow what Allah has revealed,” they say, “Rather, we will follow that which we found our fathers doing.” Even though their fathers understood nothing, nor were they guided?
Explanation: Maududi identifies this as the mentality of the polytheists. When called to revealed truth, they retreat to blind imitation of ancestors (taqlid), even if those ancestors were devoid of reason and guidance. This highlights the irrationality of custom overriding clear revelation.
آية 171
القرآن: وَمَثَلُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا كَمَثَلِ الَّذِي يَنْعِقُ بِمَا لَا يَسْمَعُ إِلَّا دُعَاءً وَنِدَاءً ۚ صُمٌّ بُكْمٌ عُمْيٌ فَهُمْ لَا يَعْقِلُونَ
Translation: And the example of those who disbelieve is like that of one who shouts at what hears nothing but calls and cries. [They are] deaf, dumb and blind, so they do not understand.
Explanation: This powerful simile describes the disbelievers’ response to the Prophet’s call. Like a shepherd shouting at sheep that only hear meaningless noise, the Prophet’s profound message reaches their ears but not their hearts. They are spiritually deaf to truth, dumb in speaking it, and blind to its signs, thus incapable of true understanding.
آية 172
القرآن: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا كُلُوا مِن طَيِّبَاتِ مَا رَزَقْنَاكُمْ وَاشْكُرُوا لِلَّهِ إِن كُنتُمْ إِيَّاهُ تَعْبُدُونَ
Translation: O you who have believed, eat from the good things which We have provided for you and be grateful to Allah, if it should be Him that you worship.
Explanation: The address shifts to the believers. The command is similar to verse 168 but with a crucial addition: “and be grateful to Allah.” Gratitude (shukr) is the proper response to provision. The condition “if it should be Him that you worship” links lawful consumption and gratitude to true worship. One cannot claim to worship God while being ungrateful or rejecting His lawful provisions.
آية 173
القرآن: إِنَّمَا حَرَّمَ عَلَيْكُمُ الْمَيْتَةَ وَالدَّمَ وَلَحْمَ الْخِنزِيرِ وَمَا أُهِلَّ بِهِ لِغَيْرِ اللَّهِ ۖ فَمَنِ اضْطُرَّ غَيْرَ بَاغٍ وَلَا عَادٍ فَلَا إِثْمَ عَلَيْهِ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
Translation: He has only forbidden to you dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine, and that which has been dedicated to other than Allah. But whoever is forced [by necessity], neither desiring [it] nor transgressing [its limit], there is no sin upon him. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.
Explanation: Maududi explains this verse defines the specific, limited prohibitions set by God Himself, contrasting them with the arbitrary restrictions invented by humans (as warned against in v. 168-169). The prohibitions are:
- Carrion (unslaughtered dead meat)
- Flowing blood
- Pork
- Animals sacrificed in the name of any being other than Allah
The verse also establishes the principle of necessity (darurah): in life-threatening hunger, these prohibitions are lifted, provided one does not desire the forbidden nor transgress beyond absolute need. This demonstrates the law’s practicality and divine mercy.
آية 174
القرآن: إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَكْتُمُونَ مَا أَنزَلَ اللَّهُ مِنَ الْكِتَابِ وَيَشْتَرُونَ بِهِ ثَمَنًا قَلِيلًا ۙ أُولَٰئِكَ مَا يَأْكُلُونَ فِي بُطُونِهِمْ إِلَّا النَّارَ وَلَا يُكَلِّمُهُمُ اللَّهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ وَلَا يُزَكِّيهِمْ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ
Translation: Indeed, those who conceal what Allah has sent down of the Book and exchange it for a small price – those consume not into their bellies except the Fire, and Allah will not speak to them on the Day of Resurrection, nor will He purify them. And they will have a painful punishment.
Explanation: This verse returns to the grave sin of the People of the Book’s scholars: concealing scripture’s truth for petty worldly gain. Maududi elaborates on the terrifying consequences:
· “They consume not into their bellies except the Fire”: Their ill-gotten gains are not sustenance but fuel for Hell.
· God will not speak to them: They are deprived of any word of mercy or attention; total abandonment.
· Nor will He purify them: They remain in their filthy state of sin.
· A painful punishment awaits: This is their comprehensive fate.
آية 175
القرآن: أُولَٰئِكَ الَّذِينَ اشْتَرَوُا الضَّلَالَةَ بِالْهُدَىٰ وَالْعَذَابَ بِالْمَغْفِرَةِ ۚ فَمَا أَصْبَرَهُمْ عَلَى النَّارِ
Translation: Those are the ones who exchange guidance for error and forgiveness for punishment. How patient they are for the Fire!
Explanation: This verse, as Maududi states, summarizes their spiritual trade with biting irony. They deliberately chose:
· Error over Guidance.
· Punishment over Forgiveness.
The rhetorical question “How patient they are for the Fire!” mocks their foolish endurance in pursuing a path they know leads to Hell, all for transient worldly gain.
آية 176
القرآن: ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّ اللَّهَ نَزَّلَ الْكِتَابَ بِالْحَقِّ ۗ وَإِنَّ الَّذِينَ اخْتَلَفُوا فِي الْكِتَابِ لَفِي شِقَاقٍ بَعِيدٍ
Translation: That is because Allah has sent down the Book in truth. And indeed, those who differ over the Book are in extreme dissension.
Explanation: Maududi explains the conclusion: their wretched fate is “because Allah has sent down the Book in truth.” The Book is clear and decisive. Therefore, those who create differences and disputes about it—concealing parts, distorting meanings—are not engaged in honest scholarship but are in “extreme dissension” (shiqaq ba’id), meaning they have deviated far from the truth and are in profound, contentious error.
Summary from Tafheemul Quran Perspective (Verses 168-176):
This passage, according to Maududi, contrasts two ways of life:
- The Divine Way: Characterized by grateful enjoyment of lawful provisions, adherence to clear, limited prohibitions, and submission to revealed truth.
- The Corrupted Way: Characterized by blind ancestral tradition, spiritual deafness and blindness, and—most condemnably—the concealment and distortion of divine scripture for petty worldly gain, which is a direct following of Satan’s footsteps.
The core lesson is that truth is clear, and deviations from it—whether through ignorant custom or learned corruption—lead to spiritual ruin and a “bankrupt trade” of eternity for this world. The passage reinforces the believers’ path while serving as a severe warning against any form of religious exploitation.
Messages from Quran 