Tafsir of Al-Kawthar 108:2

The fa (so) in His saying, the Almighty, "So pray to your Lord and sacrifice," is for ordering what follows it upon what precedes it. For His granting him—upon him be peace and prayer—what has been mentioned of the bounty that He has not granted to anyone in the worlds, necessitates what he has been commanded to do. That is, perform the prayer for your Lord, who has poured upon you the overflowing good, purely for His sake, the Exalted and Majestic, contrary to those who are heedless of it or show off in it, in order to fulfill the right of thanking Him, the Almighty, for that. Indeed, prayer is inclusive of all categories of gratitude; and for this reason, it was said: "Pray," rather than "Give thanks."

And "sacrifice"—sacrifice the camels, which are the finest of the Arabs' wealth, in His name, the Almighty, and give charity to the needy, contrary to those who drive them away and withhold the ma‘un (assistance).

This is what has been said, and the surah is thus made a counterpoint to the one preceding it, as the Imam has done. They did not mention a counterpoint to the "denial of the religion" (mentioned in the preceding surah). Al-Shihab al-Khafaji said that al-Kawthar means the "abundant good" which includes the Afterlife, and this stands in contrast to the denial of the Afterlife implicitly contained therein; likewise, if it means the River or the Basin. When interpreted as Islam, and with the "religion" also being interpreted as such, the order is extremely evident.

The intent of "prayer" according to Abu Muslim is the obligatory prayer. This was extracted by Ibn Jarir and Ibn Abi Hatim from al-Dahhak, and by the former and Ibn al-Mundhir from Ibn ‘Abbas. A group held that it refers to prayer in a general sense. It is also said that it means the ‘Eid prayer, and by "sacrifice," the Udhiyah (sacrificial offering). Ibn Jarir and Ibn Marduwayh extracted from Sa‘id ibn Jubayr that he said: "This verse was revealed on the day of al-Hudaybiyyah. Gabriel—upon him be peace and prayer—came to him and said: 'Sacrifice and return.' So the Messenger of Allah—may Allah’s peace and prayer be upon him—stood and delivered the sermon of the Adha, then performed two rak‘ahs, then turned to the camels and sacrificed them. This is the meaning of His saying: 'So pray to your Lord and sacrifice.'" From this, the obligation of performing the prayer before the sacrifice has been inferred, though this is weak.

‘Abd al-Razzaq and others extracted from Mujahid, ‘Ata, and ‘Ikrimah that they said: "It means the morning prayer at Muzdalifah and the sacrifice at Mina." Most scholars hold that "sacrifice" means the sacrifice of the Udhiyah. Some inferred from it the obligation of the Udhiyah due to the command, along with His saying: "So follow him." It was answered by asserting specialization through his saying—may Allah’s peace and prayer be upon him—: "Three things were written upon me but not upon you: the Duha prayer, the Udhiyah, and the Witr."

Ibn Abi Hatim extracted from al-Ahwas that he said regarding "and sacrifice": "Face the Qiblah with your chest (nahr)." Al-Farra’ went to this view, saying it is said: "Their houses are tata-nahar," meaning they face each other.

Ibn Abi Hatim, Ibn Marduwayh, al-Hakim, and al-Bayhaqi in his Sunan extracted from ‘Ali—may Allah ennoble his face—that when this surah was revealed to the Prophet—may Allah’s peace and prayer be upon him—, "Indeed, We have granted you al-Kawthar," the Messenger—upon him be peace and prayer—said to Gabriel: "What is this nahirah (sacrifice) that my Lord has commanded me?" He replied: "It is not a sacrifice; rather, He commands you that when you enter into prayer, you raise your hands when you say Allahu Akbar, when you bow, and when you raise your head from bowing. For this is our prayer and the prayer of the angels who are in the seven heavens. Everything has an ornament, and the ornament of prayer is raising the hands at every takbir."

Ibn Jarir extracted from Abu Ja‘far—may Allah be pleased with him—that he said regarding this: "You raise your hands first when you say the takbir at the opening." Al-Bukhari in his History, al-Daraqutni in al-Afrad, and others extracted from the Commander of the Faithful—may Allah ennoble his face—that he said: "Place your right hand upon your left forearm, then place it upon your chest in prayer." Abu al-Shaykh and al-Bayhaqi in his Sunan extracted something similar from Anas in a marfu‘ (elevated) fashion, and a group narrated it from Ibn ‘Abbas.

It is narrated from ‘Ata that its meaning is: "Sit between the two prostrations so that your chest appears." From al-Dahhak and Sulayman al-Taymi, they said it means: "Raise your hands after the prayer at the time of supplication to your chest."

Perhaps there is room for debate regarding the authenticity of these narrations according to the majority. Jalal al-Suyuti said regarding the first narration of ‘Ali—may Allah ennoble his face—that Ibn Abi Hatim and al-Hakim in al-Mustadrak extracted it with a weak chain, and Ibn Kathir said it is a very rejected (munkar) narration; rather, Ibn al-Jawzi extracted it in his Mawdu‘at (Fabricated Traditions). As for the other narration from the Commander of the Faithful, the Jalal said it was extracted by Ibn Abi Hatim and al-Hakim with a chain that has no harm in it.

The view of the majority—if nothing to the contrary has been authentically reported from the Prophet—is strengthened by the fact that the most common usage of nahr is the slaughtering of camels rather than those other meanings, and that the custom of the Quran is to mention zakah after prayer, and what was mentioned with that meaning is close to it, unlike the other meanings. Furthermore, what they mentioned of those meanings refers to the etiquettes or parts of the prayer, so they fall under "pray to your Lord," and it is unlikely to be conjoined to it, unlike the meaning held by the majority. Given that the people used to pray and sacrifice to idols, it is most appropriate that he—may Allah’s peace and prayer be upon him—be commanded, in opposition to them, to pray and sacrifice to Him, the Exalted and Majestic.

Note: The consideration of sincerity in "pray to your Lord" (as we have indicated) is due to the context indicating it, and it is said, due to the lam of specialization. The shift from the pronoun of Majesty to the specific pronoun of Lordship, appended to his pronoun—upon him be peace and prayer—is an emphasis on encouraging him—may Allah’s peace and prayer be upon him—to perform what he was commanded to do in the most perfect manner.