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But if ye ask about things When the Our-an is being Revealed, they will be Made plain to you,807 Allah will forgive those: For Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Forbearing. Some people before you Did ask such questions,80S And on that account Lost their faith. 103. It was not Allah Who instituted (superstitions809 Like those of) a slit-ear She-camel, or a she-camel Let loose for free pasture, Or idol sacrifices for Twin-births in animals,
807. Many secrets are wisely hidden from us. If the future were known to us. we need not necessarily be happy. In many cases we should be miserable. If the inner meaning of some of the things we see before our eyes were disclosed to us. it might cause a lot of mischief. Allah's Message. in so far as it is necessary for shaping our conduct. is plain and open to us. But there are many things too deep for us to understand. either individually or collectively. It would be foolish to pry into them. as some people tried to do in the time of the Prophet. Where a mailer is mentioned in the Our-an. we can reverently ask for its meaning. That is not forbidden. But we should never pass the bounds of (1) our own capacity to understand. (2) the time and occasion when we ask questions. and (3) the part of the Universal Plan which it is Allah's purpose to reveal to us. 808. For eXllmple. !he merely fractious questions asked of Moses hy the Jews: ii. 6871. They showed that they had no faith. When foolish questions are asked. and there is no answer. it also shakes the faith of the foolish ones. 809. A number of Arab Pagan superstitions are referred to. The Pagan mind. not understanding the hidden secrets of nature. allributed certain phenomena to divine anger and were assailed by superstitious fears which haunted their lives. If a she-camel or other female domestic animal had a large number of young. she (or one of her offspring) had her ear slit and she was dedicated to a god: such an animal was a ba~lira. On return in safety from a journey. or on recovery from an illness a she路camel was similarly dedicated and let loose for free pasture: she was called a saiba. Where an animal bore twins. certain sacrifices or dedications were made to idols: an animal so dedicated was a "'tl!ila. A stallion-camel dedicated to the gods by certain rites was a ~dm. The particular examples lead to the general truth: that superstition is due to ignorance. and is degrading to men and dishonouring to Allah.
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