22. Sura al-Hajj

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا وَيَصُدُّونَ عَن سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَالْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ...

22: 25. As to those who have rejected (Allah), and would keep back (men) from the Way of Allah, and from the Sacred Mosque,

...الَّذِي جَعَلْنَاهُ لِلنَّاسِ سَوَاء الْعَاكِفُ فِيهِ وَالْبَادِ ...

which We have made (open) to (all) men -- equal is the dweller there and the visitor from the country --

...وَمَن يُرِدْ فِيهِ بِإِلْحَادٍ بِظُلْمٍ نُذِقْهُ مِنْ عَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍ ﴿٢٥﴾

and any whose purpose therein is profanity or wrongdoing -- them will We cause to taste of a most grievous Penalty.

C2796. All these were enormities of which the Pagan clique in power in Makkah before and during the Hijrah

وَإِذْ بَوَّأْنَا لِإِبْرَاهِيمَ مَكَانَ الْبَيْتِ...

22: 26. Behold! We gave the site, to Abraham, of the (Sacred) House, (saying):

C2797. The site of Makkah was granted to Abraham (and his son Ismail) for a place of worship that was to be pure (without idols, the worship being paid to Allah, the One True God) and universal, without being reserved (like Solomon's Temple of later times) to any one People or Race. (R).

...أَن لَّا تُشْرِكْ بِي شَيْئًا وَطَهِّرْ بَيْتِيَ لِلطَّائِفِينَ وَالْقَائِمِينَ وَالرُّكَّعِ السُّجُودِ ﴿٢٦﴾

"Associate not any thing (in worship) with Me;

and sanctify My House for

- those who compass it round,

- or stand up,

- or bow,

- or prostrate themselves (therein in prayer).

C2798. Cf. 2:125.

Note that here the word qaimin ('who stand up for prayer') occurs in place of 'akifin (who use it as a retreat).

In practice the meaning is the same. Those who go for a retreat to the Ka'bah stay there for the time being.

وَأَذِّن فِي النَّاسِ بِالْحَجِّ يَأْتُوكَ رِجَالًا ...

22: 27. "And proclaim the Pilgrimage among men:

they will come to thee on foot

... وَعَلَى كُلِّ ضَامِرٍ يَأْتِينَ مِن كُلِّ فَجٍّ عَمِيقٍ ﴿٢٧﴾

and (mounted) on every kind of camel, lean on account of journeys through deep and distant mountain highways;

C2799. When the Pilgrimage was proclaimed, people came to it for every quarter, near and far, on foot and mounted.

The "lean camel" coming after a fatiguing journey through distant mountain roads typifies the difficulties of travel, which Pilgrims disregard on account of the temporal and spiritual benefits referred to in the next verse.

لِيَشْهَدُوا مَنَافِعَ لَهُمْ...

22: 28. "That they may witness the benefits (provided) for them,

C2800. There are benefits both for this our material life and for our spiritual life.

- Of the former kind are those associated with social intercourse which furthers trade and increases knowledge.

- Of the latter kind are the opportunities of realising some of our spiritual yearnings in sacred associations that go back to the most ancient times.

Of both kinds may be considered the opportunities which the Pilgrimage provides for strengthening our international Brotherhood.

...وَيَذْكُرُوا اسْمَ اللَّهِ فِي أَيَّامٍ مَّعْلُومَاتٍ ...

and celebrate the name of Allah, through the Days appointed,

C2801. The three special days of Hajj are the 8th, 9th, and 10th of the month of Dhu al Hijjah, and the two or three subsequent days of Tashriq:

see the rites explained in n. 217 to 2:197.

But we may ordinarily include the first ten days of Dhu al Hijjah in the term.

... عَلَى مَا رَزَقَهُم مِّن بَهِيمَةِ الْأَنْعَامِ...

over the cattle which He has provided for them (for sacrifice):

C2802. The great day of commemorative Sacrifice ('Id al Adha) is the 10th of Dhu al Hijjah: the meat then killed is meant to be eaten for food and distributed to the poor and needy. (R).

...فَكُلُوا مِنْهَا وَأَطْعِمُوا الْبَائِسَ الْفَقِيرَ ﴿٢٨﴾

then eat ye thereof and feed the distressed ones in want.

Asad’s Version:

22:26

For, when we assigned unto Abraham the site of this Temple, 34 [We said unto him:] "Do not ascribe divinity to aught beside Me!" 35 - and: "Purify My Temple for those who will walk around it, 36 and those who will stand before it [in meditation], and those who will bow down and prostrate themselves [in prayer]."

22:27

Hence, [O Muhammad], I proclaim thou unto all people the [duty of] pilgrimage: 37 they will come unto thee on foot and on every [kind of] fast mount, 38 coming from every far-away point [on earth],

(22:28) 50 that they might experience much that shall be of benefit to them, 3 ' and

that they might extol the name of God on the days appointed (for sacrifice], over whatever heads of cattle He may have provided for them 40 [to this end]: eat, then, thereof, and feed the unfortunate poor."

34 I.e., the Ka'bah: see note 102 on 2:125.

35 In view of the oft-repeated Qur'anic statement that Abraham was beyond all temptation to ascribe divinity to anything but God, it seems to me that the above injunction has a specific import, namely, "Do not allow this Temple to become an object of worship, but make it clear that it is holy only by virtue of its being the first temple ever dedicated to the worship of the One God" (cf 3:96). Apart from that, it refers to "those who are bent on denying the truth" spoken of at the beginning

of the preceding verse.

36 See surah 2, note 104.

37 Lit., "proclaim thou the pilgrimage among the people", i.e., the believers (Tabari). Most of the commentators assume that this passage is a continuation of God's command to Abraham; but some of them - in particular, Al-Hasan al-Basri - consider it to have been

Other versions:

22:25

[[Asad’s notes -- 3 1 This connects with the allusion, in the preceding verse, to "the way that leads to the One unto whom all praise is due" .

32 Lit., "who aim therein at a deviation from the right course (ilhad)" - a term which circumscribes every perversion of religious tenets.

33 According to Ibn 'Abbas, as quoted by Ibn Hisham, this verse was revealed towards the end of the year 6 H., when the pagan Quraysh refused the Prophet and his followers, who had come on pilgrimage from Medina, the right of entry into Mecca, and thus into the sanctuary of the Ka'bah (the "Inviolable House of Worship"). But whether or not this claim is correct - and we have no definite historical evidence in either sense - the purport of the above verse is not restricted to any historical situation but relates to every attempt at preventing believers, be it physically or through intellectual seduction, from going on pilgrimage to this symbolic centre of their faith, or at destroying its sanctity in their eyes. ]]

[[Ali’s notes –

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا وَيَصُدُّونَ عَن سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَالْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ..

25. As to those who have rejected (Allah), and would keep back (men) from the Way of Allah, and from the Sacred Mosque,

...الَّذِي جَعَلْنَاهُ لِلنَّاسِ سَوَاء الْعَاكِفُ فِيهِ وَالْبَادِ ...

which We have made (open) to (all) men -- equal is the dweller there and the visitor from the country --

...وَمَن يُرِدْ فِيهِ بِإِلْحَادٍ بِظُلْمٍ نُذِقْهُ مِنْ عَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍ ﴿٢٥﴾

and any whose purpose therein is profanity or wrongdoing -- them will We cause to taste of a most grievous Penalty.

C2796. All these were enormities of which the Pagan clique in power in Makkah before and during the Hijrah ]]