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Al-Hajj Section 4 - Pilgrimage To The Sacred House

  • Pilgrimage to the Sacred House enjoined

  • The blessings pilgrimage has

  • The discipline to be observed during Pilgrimage

Al-Hajj Verses 26 - 33

وَإِذْ بَوَّأْنَا لِإِبْرَٰهِيمَ مَكَانَ ٱلْبَيْتِ أَن لَّا تُشْرِكْ بِى شَيْـًٔا وَطَهِّرْ بَيْتِىَ لِلطَّآئِفِينَ وَٱلْقَآئِمِينَ وَٱلرُّكَّعِ ٱلسُّجُودِ

And (remember O’ Our Apostle Muhammad!) when We fixed for Abraham the place for the House, (saying): “Associate thou not with Me aught, and cleanse My House for those who make the circuits and stand in prayer, and bow and prostrate themselves (unto Me)” (22:26)1

وَأَذِّن فِى ٱلنَّاسِ بِٱلْحَجِّ يَأْتُوكَ رِجَالًا وَعَلَىٰ كُلِّ ضَامِرٍ يَأْتِينَ مِن كُلِّ فَجٍّ عَمِيقٍ

“And proclaim thou unto the people the Pilgrimage (Hajj)! They will come unto thee on foot and on lean camel, coming from every remote (high) way.” (22:27)2

لِّيَشْهَدُوا۟ مَنَـٰفِعَ لَهُمْ وَيَذْكُرُوا۟ ٱسْمَ ٱللَّهِ فِىٓ أَيَّامٍ مَّعْلُومَـٰتٍ عَلَىٰ مَا رَزَقَهُم مِّنۢ بَهِيمَةِ ٱلْأَنْعَـٰمِفَكُلُوا۟ مِنْهَا وَأَطْعِمُوا۟ ٱلْبَآئِسَ ٱلْفَقِيرَ

“That they may witness the advantages unto them, and mention the name of God during the appointed days over what He hath provided them of the cattle quadrupeds (as sustenance) then eat of them and feed the needy the poor.” (22:28)

ثُمَّ لْيَقْضُوا۟ تَفَثَهُمْ وَلْيُوفُوا۟ نُذُورَهُمْ وَلْيَطَّوَّفُوا۟ بِٱلْبَيْتِ ٱلْعَتِيقِ

Then let them get cleansed and smarten themselves and fulfil their vows, and let them circuit the Ancient House (the Ka’ba). (22:29)3

ذَٰلِكَ وَمَن يُعَظِّمْ حُرُمَـٰتِ ٱللَّهِ فَهُوَ خَيْرٌ لَّهُۥ عِندَ رَبِّهِۦوَأُحِلَّتْ لَكُمُ ٱلْأَنْعَـٰمُ إِلَّا مَا يُتْلَىٰ عَلَيْكُمْفَٱجْتَنِبُوا۟ ٱلرِّجْسَ مِنَ ٱلْأَوْثَـٰنِ وَٱجْتَنِبُوا۟ قَوْلَ ٱلزُّورِ

That (shall be so); and whoever respecteth the sacred ordinances of God, it is best for him with his Lord; And the cattle are made lawful unto you, save that which is (already) specified unto you, 4shun ye therefore, the pollution of the idols; and shun 5vain words. (22:30)6

حُنَفَآءَ لِلَّهِ غَيْرَ مُشْرِكِينَ بِهِۦ وَمَن يُشْرِكْ بِٱللَّهِ فَكَأَنَّمَا خَرَّ مِنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ فَتَخْطَفُهُ ٱلطَّيْرُ أَوْ تَهْوِى بِهِ ٱلرِّيحُ فِى مَكَانٍ سَحِيقٍ

Being upright for God, not associating (anything) with Him; whosoever associateth with God, is like that which hath fallen from heaven and (a vulture) bird snatched it away or the wind wafted it to a distant abyss. (22:31)

ذَٰلِكَ وَمَن يُعَظِّمْ شَعَـٰٓئِرَ ٱللَّهِ فَإِنَّهَا مِن تَقْوَى ٱلْقُلُوبِ

That (shall be so); And whoever respecteth the signs of God verily it is (the reflection) of the piety of the hearts. (22:32)

لَكُمْ فِيهَا مَنَـٰفِعُ إِلَىٰٓ أَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّى ثُمَّ مَحِلُّهَآ إِلَى ٱلْبَيْتِ ٱلْعَتِيقِ

For you therein are benefits till a fixed time, and the place of their sacrifice is the Ancient House, (The Ka’ba). (22:33)7

Commentary

Verse 26

A particular site was pointed to Abraham through the revelation from God and he was commanded to raise the edifice of a House of Worship, exclusively to the Only True God. By the address to Abraham not to associate any one with God, is meant the people. The instruction to clean it is the declaration of the place already being the Sanctuary dedicated for the adoration of the All-Pure Lord of the Universe.8

Verse 27

When Abraham and his son Ishmael had completed the erection of the Ka’ba, Abraham was commanded by God to sound a Call to the people to come over to the House of God for Pilgrimage. Abraham submitted that how could his voice from the solitary place in the wilderness in the desert reach the ears of all men of the world? Abraham was informed that the question of his call being heard by the people of the world was God’s concern. It is said that Abraham got over the mountain Abu Qubayis and gave the Call and the sound of it reached all those who were destined to make the pilgrimage, including those who were yet in the seeds of men and who were destined to perform the pilgrimage during their life on earth.

When the Holy Prophet decided to go on his last pilgrimage (Hajj) this verse was revealed and accordingly the Call for Pilgrimage was given and people of Medina as well as those of the distant places all around, responded in huge numbers. That was the ‘Hajjat ul-Wida’, i.e., the Parting or the Last Hajj or Pilgrimage of the Holy Prophet and it was in his return journey from this Hajj - that verse 5:67 was revealed and the Holy Prophet declared the appointment of Ali ibn Abi Talib in his place, not as apostle or prophet, for prophethood or apostleship had concluded, but as the Lord, Commander or the Guide or the Imam of the people at which the verse 5:3 was revealed.

When Abraham submitted to the Lord about his voice of the call for the pilgrimage reaching the ears of all men, the assurance from God was given to him prophesying the response to it from every quarter near and far, people coming to the House, the Ka’ba, undertaking difficult journeys. The continuous conduct of Hajj, every year by people from near and the distant lands, in ever-increasing numbers is in itself an ever-current miracle of Islam and the Holy Prophet. The levelling of all man-made distinctions and the elimination of all the differences of birth, race and colour and even of the choice of dress and the establishment of the most practical and unbreakable brotherhood of all the believers in One God, effected by Islam, is a marvel and a lesson for mankind which is regularly repeated year after year for the last about fourteen hundred years to be continued to the end of the world.

This verse was revealed at Mecca and the command to give the Call to the people for ‘Hajj’ (Pilgrimage) was given at a time when the very life of the Holy Prophet and the survival of Islam was at stake. The Holy Prophet had to send a batch of his helpless converts away to Abyssinia to escape the torturous persecution and the painful death at the hands of the enemies, and he himself was commanded by God to leave Mecca for Medina, avoiding the notice of the enemy. The town of Mecca, with the Ka’ba in it, was totally under sway of the heathens and outwardly there was every sign of the Holy Prophet along with the devotees and the faith, Islam, being totally wiped out of existence.

Under these circumstances no human insight could ever imagine the establishment of the faith, the spreading of it far and wide, and the place in fact becoming a Sanctuary and the universal centre of the faith and the faithful, and people from all climes and countries all over the world coming to it regularly every year, suffering all sorts of the difficulties and the dangers to life and property, and the people who were intoxicated deeply by the complex of the fanciful superiority of their blood and their worldly positions, would ever forget the fanciful and fantastic feeling altogether and get themselves bound in one universal brotherhood. The assurance given to the Holy Prophet about the people responding to the call is a Mighty Prophecy quite obvious to every intelligent mind and could be one of the greatest evidences testifying the bonafide of the apostleship of the Holy Prophet and Islam being the God’s Revealed Religion for mankind, for all times.

Verse 28

Advantages connected with Hajj referred to here are of various kinds - the Secular or the Material as well as the Religious or the Spiritual. By the mutual contact with the other members of the brotherhood in faith, from the different parts of the world, one can improve his trade as well as his knowledge of the men and matters in the other countries and climes, and also improve the strength of his faith in God and imbibe further godliness by his presenting himself at the place and taking part in the acts of special devotion to the Lord and dedicating the human self to closer and stricter observance of the prescribed duties. By all such deeds correctly performed, one gets in communion with the holy spirits of the great godly ones associated with the act of the pilgrimage. The other benefits one gets by his travels and the other experiences in the journey and the place new to the pilgrims, need no detailed narration.

The term ‘Witness’, i.e., to present and to attend meeting in their universal advantages - not only that Hajj is termed as a ‘Mashh’ad’ the place of witness even the ‘Id’ prayers have been termed by the Imams of the House of the holy Prophet as a general witnessing place or a general meeting. The Eighth Holy Imam Ali ibn Musa ar-Ridha has given the reason for the replacement of the ‘Two Rak’ah’ by the Two ‘Sermons’ on Friday - says because Friday is a ‘Mashhad-e-Am’ the General Witnessing Place of the meeting. It means that the congregational devotion has an extra advantage of the believers coming together from all corners and understand each other and pay homage to their Imam, (the Leader), and receiving instructions from him or the person who represents him. (A.P.).

Verse 29

Then clean the body of the superfluous growth of the unnecessary hair and nails (which is not allowed during the state ‘Ihram’ or the dedication to pilgrimage) and clean the body thoroughly of the dirt.

The Ka’ba is called the Oldest or the most Ancient House. It was known as such throughout the land with this name indicating its established antiquity.9

Verse 30

‘Hurmat’ stands for the sacred laws, i.e., the rites prescribed by God - Shunning the abomination or the uncleanliness or the pollution of the idols, i.e., of polytheism. The word ‘Zawr’ has several meanings which include falsehood and false utterances like the musical expression of vain ideas and false emotions. To defend their passion for the entertainment by music, people go into unnecessary debates saying that music has not been forbidden in the Holy Qur’an. Such vain discussion of contest against the prescribed laws, suits only those who have rebelled against the divinely set up Authority, to interpret the Word of God. But the ‘Ithna-Ashari Shiah’ who are attached in faith to the Holy Ahl al-Bayt, the ‘Ahl al-Dhikr’, i.e., the people of the Holy Qur’an, strictly follow whatever is given to them as the correct interpretation of the Word of God. The holy Imams of the Ahl al- Bayt hold music and musical entertainments as forbidden by God and that is sufficient for those who faithfully follow the Islam-Original called ‘Shi’ism’ as given to mankind by the Holy Prophet.

About the general laws about the lawful and the forbidden food - See verses 2:173, 5:4 & 5:5, 6:121, 6:138, 6:146 (Refer to ‘Fiqh’).

Verse 31

The one who falls or deviates from the correct faith in the Only True God, has been aptly compared to the one who falls from heaven and is attracted by the false objects of worship, (i.e., the false deities) such a man is compared to his being picked up in the air by the birds of prey. The belief in false gods has no permanence, hence the faith of the man gets gradually adulterated, i.e., shattered like the victim in the clutches of a bird of prey is torn to pieces and the gush of some violent wind, (i.e., a further temptation of falsehood) throws him off further away at a distance from where he could never have any glimpse of the truth and thus gets lost for ever.

Shows how lofty and sublime is the man who does not submit to any authority but God’s, and how fallen or is he who yields to authorities other than God’s, like a corpse is snatched away by vultures - or the one carried away by winds into a distant place or abyss. (A.P.).

Verse 32

‘Sha’a’ir’, i.e., symbols or signs which indicate a thing to belong to a person or a nation, like the banner of a king or the flag of a nation. Even the mounds of Safa and Marwa have been called as the Signs of God10 and in verse 22:36 even the camels of sacrifice are called ‘Sha’a’ir Allah’, i.e., the Signs of God. It is clearly given that honouring or holding in respect and regard anything which helps the remembrance of God, with the purity of heart and without any idea or intention of worshipping it, is termed as the sincere piety. The particular reference here is to the rites connected with Pilgrimage.

The Shiah, hold the symbol or the ‘Alam’ the Banner of Husayn, as a token of the Banner of Islam, which was used by Husayn at Karbala in great honour and revered it with the sincerity of their faith in God for which Husayn sacrificed his all at Karbala. But people who have been led astray and who have been drifted away from the path of the Holy Ahl al-Bayt and who now ultimately are encamped with those who are antagonistic to the house of the Holy Prophet do not like any remembrance of any kind of the Great Tragedy which was enacted by Yazid at Karbala. There are people who are yet totally ignorant of what tortures and the painful death the Holy Ahl al-Bayt suffered for Islam and do not want the tyrannies inflicted on the holy ones to be in any way remembered and brought to the light of the knowledge of the world at large. To somehow stop the remembering the Great heart-rending event, they term the respect to the ‘Alam’ or the symbol of the Holy Banner of Husayn as idolatry and polytheism but this verse makes it quite clear to every impartial reader who seeks the truth.

After warning idolatrous practices, here is a warning to believers not to confuse the signs approved by God, such as

1. The kissing of the black stone.

2. Circuiting round the Ka’ba.

3. The ‘Sa’i’ the running to and fro between the Safa and Marwa.

4. Pelting stones on the three places in Mina.

As a principle, to worship even God, with no order and sanction from Him is idolatry - and to prostrate before Adam as per His order is devotion and worship to Him. (A.P.).

Verse 33

The Old or the Ancient House refers to the Ka’ba.11

The most appropriate opinion about ‘Fiha’ therein - is that it refers to the Divine Signs and Rites concerning the pilgrimage - which includes sacrifice also. These advantages continue to a limited time and the end of them is the Ancient House and it is wrong to think that the pronoun in ‘Fiha’ and ‘Mahalluha’ refers to sacrifice only. Because the place of sacrifice for Hajj is not the House but Mina. But it is true that all the rites of pilgrimage end with the last circuit round the Ka’ba. (A.P.).

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