Tafsir of Al-Hajj 22:30-31

{ذالك} (That is so): This is the predicate of an omitted subject, meaning: "The matter and the affair is that." It is similar to how a writer presents a series of points regarding certain meanings, and when he wishes to transition to another, he says: "This is so, and such-and-such has occurred."

{والحرمات} (And the sacred things): These are things that are forbidden to violate. This encompasses all that God has commanded regarding the rites of Hajj and other matters. It may be general, applying to all religious obligations, or specific to those related to Hajj. Zayd ibn Aslam stated: "The sacred things are five: the Sacred Kaaba, the Sacred Mosque, the Sacred Territory, the Sacred Month, and the state of Ihram until one exits it."

{فهو خير له} (Then it is better for him): Meaning, the act of veneration is better for him. The meaning of "veneration" is the knowledge that these things must be observed, preserved, and upheld.

{إلا ما يتلى عليكم} (Except what is recited to you): This does not exclude the cattle (al-an‘am), but rather refers to the verses of prohibition, such as His saying in Surah al-Ma’idah: "Forbidden to you are carrion and blood" (5:3). The meaning is: God has made all cattle lawful for you except what He has excluded in His Book. Therefore, observe His limits. Beware of declaring things forbidden that God has made lawful—as the idolaters did with the bahira and sa’iba—and beware of declaring things lawful that God has forbidden—as they did with the consumption of the strangled animal, carrion, and the like.

{فاجتنبوا الرجس من الأوثان} (So avoid the impurity of idols): Having urged the veneration of His sacred things and praised those who do so, He follows this with the command to avoid idols and false speech. This is because the Oneness of God, the negation of partners, and truthfulness in speech are the greatest of sacred things and the most primary of steps.

He combined idolatry and false speech in one pairing because idolatry is a form of falsehood (zur); the idolater claims that the idol deserves worship. It is as if He said: "Avoid the worship of idols, which is the pinnacle of falsehood, and avoid all false speech; do not approach any part of it due to its extreme ugliness and repulsiveness." What, then, do you think of something that belongs to the same category as the worship of idols?

He called idols "impurity" (rijs), just as He did with wine, gambling, and divining arrows, by way of analogy. This means: just as you naturally recoil from impurity and avoid it, you must recoil from these things with the same aversion. He drew attention to this meaning by saying: "Impurity from the work of Satan, so avoid it" (5:90), making the reason for avoiding it the fact that it is impurity.

{من الأوثان} (Of idols): This is an explanation of the "impurity" and a specification for it, similar to saying, "I have twenty of dirhams." Since "impurity" is vague and could apply to anything, it is as if He said: "Avoid the impurity which is the idols."

{الزور} (Falsehood): This is azwirar, meaning deviation, just as ifk (slander) comes from afakahu (to turn something away). It is said that "false speech" refers to their saying, "This is lawful and this is forbidden," and similar fabrications. It is also said to mean "false testimony."

The Prophet (ﷺ) performed the morning prayer, and upon finishing, he stood up, faced the people, and said: "False testimony has been equated with associating partners with God"—repeating it three times—and then he recited this verse. Others say it means lying and slander, or the speech of the people of the Pre-Islamic era in their talbiyah: "Here I am, You have no partner, except a partner who is Yours; You own him and all that he owns."

{ومن يشرك بالله فكأنما خر من السماء فتخطفه الطير أو تهوي به الريح في مكان سحيق} (And he who associates others with God—it is as if he had fallen from the sky and the birds snatched him, or the wind carried him down into a far-off place):

This analogy can be interpreted as a composite or a separated one.

• If it is a composite analogy: It is as if He said: "Whoever associates partners with God has destroyed himself utterly, with no end to his ruin." He depicts his state as that of one who falls from the sky, only to be snatched by birds—tearing him into pieces in their crops—or to be swept away by a violent wind that casts him into some distant, desolate abyss.
• If it is a separated analogy: He likens faith to the sky in its loftiness. The one who abandons faith and associates partners with God is likened to one falling from the sky. The desires that scatter his thoughts are likened to the birds that snatch him, and the Satan who tosses him into the valley of misguidance is likened to the wind that casts him into destructive depths.

Note: There are variant readings for "fatakhtatufuhu" (snatch him) and "al-riyah" (the winds).