Al-Baqarah: (125) And when We made the House...

(And when We made the House) is conjoined to (And when He tested). (The House) is among the proper names predominantly used for the Ka‘bah, like "The Star" (al-Najm) for the Pleiades. It is a (mathābat) for the people, meaning a gathering place for them; this was stated by al-Khalil and Qatadah. Or, it is a refuge and sanctuary, as stated by Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both). Or, a return point to which the dignitaries of visitors or their likes resort, as stated by Mujahid and Jubayr. Or, a return point that is worthy of being resorted to and sought as a refuge, as stated by some researchers. Or, a place of reward where they are rewarded for performing Hajj and ‘Umrah therein, as stated by ‘Ata’ and narrated by al-Mawardi from some linguists. The ta’ in it and its omission are two dialects, as in maqām and maqāmah, and it is for the feminization of the plot of land, according to al-Farra’ and al-Zajjaj. Al-Akhfash said: The ta’ in it is for intensification, as in nassābah (genealogist) and ‘allāmah (very learned), and its origin is mathūbah on the scale of maf‘alah, acting as a masdar mimī (noun of action) or a zarf makān (noun of place).

The "al" in (the people) is for the genus, which is the apparent meaning, though it is permissible to construe it as for a specific covenant or for conventional encompassing. Al-A‘mash and Talhah read mathābāt (in the plural) because it is a mathābah for every one of the people; no one among them has exclusive right to it. (Both the resident therein and the outsider). Although it is one in essence, it is multiple when considering the additions. It is said: The plural is used by treating the multiplicity of returns as equivalent to the multiplicity of the location, or considering that every part of it is a mathābah. Some chose this, thinking that the former requires that it be valid to express "the slave of a group" as "the two slaves," which is not recognized. The answer is that this is an analogy with a discrepancy, for the "slavehood" can be attributed to all of them, but not to each one of them individually.

And a sanctuary: This is conjoined to (mathābah) and is a masdar (infinitive) used as an adjective for intensification. The intent is "a place of security," either for its inhabitants from abduction, or for those who perform Hajj therein from punishment, since Hajj removes and wipes away what preceded it—excluding the rights of servants and financial rights, such as kaffārah (expiation), according to the correct view. Or, it refers to a criminal who seeks refuge therein from being killed. This is the school of Imam Abu Hanifah (may Allah be pleased with him), as in his view, the qisas (retaliation) for life is not executed within the Sacred Precinct (Haram); rather, the criminal is pressured, not spoken to, not fed, and not dealt with until he leaves, whereupon he is killed. According to Imam al-Shafi‘i (may Allah be pleased with him), if someone for whom a punishment (hadd) is due seeks refuge there, the Imam orders them to be pressured in a way that leads them to leave; once they leave, the punishment is carried out in the Hill (outside the sanctuary). If they do not leave, it is permissible to kill them therein. According to Imam Ahmad (may Allah be pleased with him), the qisas is not executed against one who has taken refuge there at all, even qisas for limbs, until they leave.

Some have made (sanctuary) a second object for an implied verb in the sense of a command, i.e., "Make it a sanctuary, just as We made it a mathābah." This is far from the apparent structure. "For the people" is not mentioned here as it was before, either out of sufficiency or to indicate generality—meaning it is a sanctuary for everything, whatever it may be, even birds and wild animals, except for the five pests, which were excepted by the tongue of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). The security of people is included in this primarily.

And take from the Station of Abraham a place of prayer: This is conjoined to (We made) or is a hal (state) from its agent, based on an implied verb of saying, i.e., "And We said," or "while saying to them: Take." The one commanded is the people, as is the apparent meaning, or Abraham (peace be upon him) and his offspring, as it is said. Or, it is conjoined to the implied adhkur (remember) which governs the idhn (when), or conjoined to an implied pronoun, the estimation of which is "return to it." (And take) is parenthetical, considering its position between "We made" and "We entrusted." It is not considered parenthetical without being conjoined, although it does not require it, so that the connection with the previous sentence is clearer. The address, on these two interpretations, is to the Ummah of Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), and he (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) is the foremost of those addressed.

From is either for partitivity, or in the sense of "in," or superfluous according to the school of al-Akhfash; the most apparent is the first. Al-Qaffal said: It is like "I took from so-and-so a friend" and "Allah gave me from so-and-so a righteous brother"; it entered to clarify and specify the one taken and gifted. The Station (Maqām) is a noun of place from "standing," meaning his standing place—the stone upon which Abraham (peace be upon him) rose when he became weak from lifting the stones that his son Ishmael was handing to him while building the House. It bears the traces of his feet; this was stated by Ibn ‘Abbas, Jabir, Qatadah, and others, and recorded by al-Bukhari. This is the view of the majority of commentators.

It is narrated from al-Hasan that it is the stone that the wife of Ishmael (peace be upon him) placed under one of his feet while he was riding, so she washed one side of his head, then lifted it from under him—it had sunk into it—and placed it under his other foot, and she washed his other side, and his other foot also sank into it. Or, it is the place where the stone was when he stood upon it to call the people to Hajj and raise the building of the House, which is its place today. Thus, the Station, in one of the two meanings, is a linguistic reality, and in the other, a conventional metaphor. It is permissible to construe the term as either, as they have said, except that the determination of the location as the one existing today is problematic. This is because in Fath al-Bari, it is stated that the Maqam—the stone—was from the era of Abraham (peace be upon him) adjacent to the House until ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) moved it to the place where it is now. This was recorded by ‘Abd al-Razzaq with a strong chain. Ibn Marduyah recorded with a weak chain from Mujahid that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) was the one who moved it. This indicates the difference between the two locations, whether the mover was the Messenger of Allah or ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with them). Furthermore, how could the building be raised while standing upon it if it were in its location today, which is far from the Black Stone by twenty-seven cubits? Also, it is well-known that the call for people to Hajj was from atop Mount Abu Qubays, for he ascended it after finishing the construction of the House and called: "O people, perform Hajj to the House of your Lord." If the stone was not with him then, it is problematic to say he stood upon it and called. If it was with him and the standing was atop the mountain—as is indicated by the words of Rawdat al-Ahbab, through which the reconciliation is achieved—then the determination as it is today becomes problematic. The ultimate resolution is to say: there is no doubt that he (peace be upon him) moved the stone during the construction from one place to another and stood upon it, so it did not have a fixed location. Likewise, during the call, he was not at the House, but atop Abu Qubays. Therefore, one must divert their expressions from their literal meanings by saying: "The location" refers to the place where that stone was during the time of his standing upon it and his preoccupation with calling or raising the building, to justify the standing upon it. It has occurred in some books that this Maqam in which the stone is now was the house of Abraham (peace be upon him), and he used to move this stone after finishing work to it, and that the stone after Abraham was placed inside the Ka‘bah. Perhaps this is the reason for the specific mention of moving it to this place. What occurred in al-Fath—that the Maqam was from the era of Abraham adjacent to the House—means after completing the construction, so it does not contradict that it was during it in the location where it is today. This is what some researchers mentioned, so let it be understood.

The cause of revelation is what Abu Nu‘aym recorded from the hadith of Ibn ‘Umar: The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) took the hand of ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) and said: "O ‘Umar, this is the station of Abraham." ‘Umar said: "Shall we not take it as a place of prayer?" He said: "I have not been ordered to do so." The sun had not yet set when this verse was revealed. The command in it is for recommendation, as the term "place of prayer" commonly suggests a place for prayer in general. It is said: The intent is the command for the two rak‘ahs of Tawaf, based on what Muslim recorded from Jabir that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), when he finished his Tawaf, headed to the Station of Abraham and prayed two rak‘ahs behind it, and recited the verse. Thus, the command is for obligation according to some opinions. Its weakness is not hidden, for it involves restricting it to a specific prayer without evidence, and his recitation of the verse while performing the two rak‘ahs does not necessitate its restriction to them. Al-Nakha‘i and Mujahid held that the intent of "Station of Abraham" is the entire Haram; Ibn ‘Abbas and ‘Ata’ held that it is all the stations of Hajj; and al-Sha‘bi held that it is ‘Arafat, Muzdalifah, and the Jamarat. The meaning of taking them as a place of prayer is that one should supplicate there and draw near to Allah near them. This is what the majority holds, which is what we stated first, and it is in agreement with the apparent meaning of the wording, the custom of the people today, and the apparent meanings of the reports support it.

Nafi‘ and Ibn ‘Amir read (And take) with a fat-hah on the kha’ as a past-tense verb, in which case it is conjoined to (We made), i.e., "The people took from the place of Abraham where he was known, and where he settled his offspring, which is the Ka‘bah, as a qiblah to which they pray." Thus, Maqam is a metaphor for that location. Likewise, Musalla (place of prayer), in the sense of Qiblah, is a metaphor for the location toward which one turns in prayer, by the relation of proximity and adjacency.

And We entrusted to Abraham and Ishmael means: We advised, or We commanded, or We revealed, or We said. What the researchers hold is that when "covenant" (‘ahd) is connected with the particle ila (to), it means "advising," and it is used metaphorically for "commanding." Ishmael is a non-Arabic proper noun. It is said: Its meaning in Arabic is "obedient to Allah." It is narrated that Abraham (peace be upon him) used to pray that Allah would grant him a child and say: Isma‘ Ilā, meaning: "Hear, O Allah, my supplication." When Allah granted him that, he named him with that phrase. It is seen as highly improbable. The Arabs have two dialects regarding it: with the lam and the nun.

That "Purify My House": That is, tahhirā (purify), on the grounds that (that) is a particle for a masdar (infinitive) connected to a command verb as an explanation of what was advised and commanded. Sibawayh and Abu ‘Ali considered it permissible for the connection of masdari particles to be a command or a prohibition. The majority forbade that, arguing that if it were synthesized into a masdar, the meaning of the command would be lost, and that it is necessary in a mawṣūl ismī (nominal relative) that its connection be declarative, and the mawṣūl harfī (particle relative) is the same. They estimated here "We said" so that the content of the particle would be declarative. They are rebutted: First, that it being with the verb in the interpretation of the masdar does not necessitate the unity of their meanings, due to the necessity of the masdar not indicating time while the verb indicates it. Second, that the necessity of the connection being declarative in a mawṣūl ismī is only to facilitate the description of definitive nouns with sentences, and they cannot be described by them unless they are declarative; as for the mawṣūl harfī, it is not like that. Third, that the estimation of "We said" leads to the conclusion that what is commanded is the speech itself, which is not the case. It is permissible that this (that) be explanatory, as what precedes it contains the meaning of speech without its letters, which is "the covenant." In this case, one needs to estimate the object, since it is stipulated, with the precedence of what was mentioned, that its content be an explanation of an implied or expressed object, i.e., "We said to them something which is: Purify."

The intent of purification is cleaning from everything that is not allowed, thus including idols, impurities, all filth, and what is religiously forbidden, such as a menstruating woman. Mujahid, Ibn ‘Atiyyah, Muqatil, and Ibn Jubayr restricted purification to the removal of idols. They mentioned that the House was inhabited during the era of Noah (peace be upon him) and that there were idols therein in the shapes of their righteous ones, and that time passed, so they were worshipped other than Allah, so Allah commanded its purification from them. It is said: The intent of tahhirā is "clean it, make it pure, and remove from it the dung and blood that were cast therein." It is said: "Make it exclusive for those mentioned, such that no one else covers it." Thus, purification is an expression of its necessity. It is narrated from al-Suddi that the intent is building and foundation upon purity and monotheism, but this is far-fetched. Directing the command here to Abraham and Ishmael does not contradict what is in Surah al-Hajj, which restricts it to Abraham (peace be upon him), for that occurred before the building of the House, as indicated by His saying: "And when We prepared for Abraham the place of the House." Ishmael was then separate from the scope of the address, and it is apparent that this is after he had reached the age of command and prohibition and the completion of the building through his agency, as indicated by its introduction following the narrative of making it a "refuge." The attribution of the House to the pronoun of Majesty is for glorification, like "the She-Camel of Allah," not that it is a place for Allah—Exalted is He above that with great exaltation.

For those who perform Tawaf: Meaning, for their sake; the lam is for causality. If purification is interpreted by its necessity, then it is a consequence of it. Ta’if (one who performs Tawaf) is an active participle from "he circled it," if he went around it. It is apparent that the intent is everyone who performs Tawaf, whether resident or outsider; this is the view of ‘Ata’ and others. Ibn Jubayr said: The intent is the strangers who come to Makkah as Hajj pilgrims and visitors. And those who stay: They are the people of the Sacred City who dwell there, according to Ibn Jubayr. ‘Ata’ said: They are those sitting without circling, from the people of the city and outsiders. Mujahid said: Those who reside nearby from among the strangers. It is said: They are those who perform I‘tikaf (seclusion) therein.

And those who bow and prostrate: They are those who pray; it is a plural of "bowing" and "prostrating." Bowing and prostrating were specifically mentioned from all the states of those who pray because they are their states nearest to the Exalted, and they are the two greatest pillars. Often, prayer is metonymically referred to by them. Thus, conjunction was omitted between them, and the term "those who pray" was not used despite its brevity, as a signal that what is considered is a prayer with bowing and prostrating, not the prayer of the Jews. Bowing was mentioned first because it is first in time. It is a broken plural due to the change in the form of the singular, along with their being contrasted with what preceded them from the sound plurals; therein is variety in eloquence. He varied their broken plural scales for variety, along with the difference in their forms, and the last of them was on the scale of fu‘ūl because it is a cadence. Cadences before and after them are letters preceded by a prolongation letter, as it is known.