His saying, the Almighty: "...designated."

[5981] I read to Muhammad, Muhammad narrated to us, Muhammad narrated to us, from Bukayr, from Muqatil, regarding His saying: "Designated," he said: This is Iblis "designated" [meaning], he says: From every thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine are for the Fire, and one is for Paradise.

His saying, the Almighty: "And I will surely mislead them, and I will surely give them false hopes, and I will surely command them..."

[5982] My father narrated to us, Ibrahim ibn Musa narrated to us, Hisham—meaning Ibn Yusuf—informed us, from Ibn Jurayj, Qasim ibn Abi Bazzah informed me, from 'Ikrimah, regarding His saying: "And I will surely mislead them, and I will surely give them false hopes, and I will surely command them," he said: [This refers to] a religion that Satan legislated for them, similar to the [customs of the] bahirah and the sayyib [types of livestock dedicated to idols].

His saying, the Almighty: "...so they will surely slit the ears of cattle."

[5983] Ahmad ibn 'Uthman ibn Hakim al-Awdi narrated to us, Ahmad ibn al-Mufaddal narrated to us, Asbat narrated to us, from al-Suddi, regarding His saying: "And I will surely command them, so they will surely slit the ears of cattle," as for slitting the ears of cattle, they split them and designate them as a bahirah. Something similar was narrated from Qatadah.

His saying, the Almighty: "...and I will surely command them, so they will surely change the creation of Allah."

[The First Interpretation]

[5984] Abu Sa'id al-Ashaj narrated to us, Abu Ahmad—meaning al-Zubayr—narrated to us, from Hammad ibn Salamah, from 'Ammar ibn Abi 'Ammar, from Ibn 'Abbas, regarding the saying of Allah the Almighty: "And I will surely command them, so they will surely change the creation of Allah," he said: [It refers to] castration. The same was narrated from Ibn 'Umar, Anas ibn Malik, Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib, 'Ikrimah in one of his two opinions, Abu 'Iyad, Abu Salih in one of the narrations, and al-Thawri.

[The Second Interpretation]

[5985] Abu Sa'id al-Ashaj narrated to us, Ibn Fudayl and Asbat narrated to us, from Mutarrif, from a man, from Ibn 'Abbas: "And I will surely command them, so they will surely change the creation of Allah," he said: [It refers to] the religion of Allah. The same was narrated from Mujahid, 'Ikrimah in one of his two opinions, Ibrahim al-Nakha'i, al-Hakam, al-Hasan, al-Suddi, Qatadah, al-Dahhak in the second narration, and 'Ata' al-Khurasani.