Exegesis of the saying of Allah the Exalted: “... and what is slaughtered upon the standing stones, and that you seek decision by the arrows of divination. That is open sinfulness. Today, the disbelievers have despaired of your religion.”

means what is slaughtered upon the idols. They used to slaughter upon the idols to draw near to them, and this is shirk (associating partners with Allah). This is different from His saying: because in the first case, the name of anyone other than Allah was not mentioned over it, whether it was in front of an idol or away from the idol. This refers to what is slaughtered upon the idol, where the idol is before him and he slaughters for this idol. Then Allah, Mighty and Majestic, said: meaning it is forbidden for you to seek decision by the arrows of divination. The connection between this issue and what came before it is apparent, because the one who seeks decision by the arrows of divination intends to reach what is best for him, and likewise here regarding food and drink, he intends to consume what is best for him.
What is the meaning of seeking decision by the arrows of divination? Seeking decision means seeking the portion, i.e., seeking what Allah has apportioned for you. In Islam, it is similar to istikhara (the prayer for guidance in a decision). In the pre-Islamic age of ignorance, when one of them wanted to do something and the right course was not clear to him, he would seek decision by the arrows of divination, which is the plural of azlam, and they are the lots. He would seek decision with them by writing on them: “Do it,” “Do not do it,” and the third had nothing on it. Then he would put them in a bag or something similar and mix them, then draw one out. If “Do it” came out, he would do it; if “Do not do it” came out, he would not do it; and if the third came out, he would repeat it. They only made the third one, which had neither “Do it” nor “Do not do it,” in order to prolong the seeking of decision, because if there were only two, one would come out on the first try. But they made the third so that the seeking of decision would be delayed, perhaps so that they would prefer one thing over another. Allah the Exalted said: The reference is to everything mentioned before, or to seeking decision by the arrows of divination? The rule is that if it is possible for the demonstrative noun or pronoun to refer to everything mentioned before, it is understood to refer to it. And His saying: The meaning of fisq (open sinfulness) is: exiting from obedience. From this is their saying: “The fruit has fisq’d,” meaning when it comes out of its shell. Likewise, the one who exits from obedience is a fasiq (open sinner), having exited from what he should be upon. Then Allah, Mighty and Majestic, said: The “al” here is for the definite, known. Have you finished? The present day means the day in which this verse was revealed meaning they despaired of changing it or altering it, because the religion, Islam — and praise be to Allah — spread, became manifest, and appeared. Because there is no need for fear now, as long as your religion has appeared and these disbelievers have despaired of destroying it, so do not fear them, but fear [Allah]. Fear (khashiyyah) is the fear resulting from knowledge. The evidence for this is His saying, the Exalted: The scholars said that the difference between khashiyyah (fear) and khawf (fear) is: that khashiyyah is from knowledge, and khawf does not necessarily have to be from knowledge. Second: that khashiyyah is from the greatness of the one feared, even if the one fearing is strong, but the one feared is stronger than him. And khawf does not indicate the greatness of the thing feared, but rather indicates the weakness of the one fearing. This is a clear difference. Khawf indicates the weakness of the one fearing in front of the one he fears from, even if the latter is not strong. So the child who is four years old fears the child who is eight years old, even though the second is weak. But the one who has khashiyyah from a king or a powerful ruler, it is said that he is khāshi‘ (fearing). The definite article here is also for the definite, known. meaning I made it complete. And the meaning is not that I completed the legislations, because after this verse, some of the legislations were revealed. And His saying: meaning what you worship Allah with from worship which is the completion of the religion, and it is the greatest of blessings. And the meaning of its completion is that there is no deficiency in it. I have chosen for you Islam, which Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) brought, as a religion with which you worship Allah, so do not take any other religion besides it. Then, after mentioning these great blessings upon us, He said, returning to what He began the verse with: “Idhtarara” means that necessity struck him. The original of “idhtarara” is “idhtarara,” and the taa was changed to a taa for a known morphological reason in the science of morphology. “Mukhmisa” is famine. And listen to the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him): meaning they go out in the morning hungry, i.e., starving , so mukhmisa means famine. meaning not inclined to sin nor intending it, but out of necessity he ate from these forbidden things so He forgives him. And this, which I mean by His saying: explains His saying in the two previous verses: So His saying: meaning not intending these forbidden things, but necessity forced him to them. meaning transgressing, intending sin , and in the verse there are many benefits, which we will mention, if Allah wills, in another lesson.