Concerning the words of the Almighty, “and that which has been slaughtered upon the altars” (al-Māʾidah 3), scholars have expressed two opinions:
-
The first holds that the actual slaughter took place on top of those altars, as we have already mentioned. By slaughtering there, they intended to draw nearer to the idols. According to those who regard the altars as distinct from the idols themselves, the animal is slaughtered on the altar because it is, in reality, being offered to the idols or on their behalf. This entails the prohibition of everything sacrificed to anyone other than Allah, for the location itself carries no intrinsic effect except insofar as the sacrifice is directed to other than Allah. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, disliked slaughtering in places where the idolaters kept their idols and held their festivals; the aversion concerns what is slaughtered in that particular spot because it is a locus of polytheism. Thus, whenever the act of slaughter is truly performed for other than Allah, the very cause of prohibition is present.
-
The second opinion is that “slaughtered on the altars” means “for the sake of the altars,” just as one might say, “So-and-so held a wedding feast for Zaynab with bread and meat,” or, “So-and-so provided food on account of his child,” or, “So-and-so sacrificed for his child,” and the like. A parallel usage appears in the verse, “that you may magnify Allah for having guided you” (al-Baqarah 185). This reading is clear for those who identify the altars with the idols themselves; there is no contradiction between slaughtering for them and the altars’ becoming stained with blood. On this view, the textual proof of prohibition is manifest.
The divergence between these two interpretations of the phrase “upon the altars” (al-Māʾidah 3) is analogous to