Surely the Safa and the Marwa are among the signs appointed by
Allah; so whoever makes a pilgrimage to the House or pays a visit (to it),
there is no blame on him if he goes round them both; and whoever does good
spontaneously, then surely Allah is Grateful, Knowing.
(158)
GENERAL
COMMENT
The Safa and Marwah are two places in Mecca between
which a pilgrim has to perform as-sa'y (the ceremony of walking
quickly seven times between Safa and Marwah, during the hajj and
'umrah; literally to move quickly, to run). These are two hills,
the distance between them reportedly being 760 1/2 arm. as-Safa (=
hard smooth rock); al-Marwah (= hard stone). ash-Sha'a'ir is
the plural of ash-sha'irah (sign); from it is derived the word
al‑mash'ar (the hajj station, east of Mecca); also they say,
ash'ara 'Ihady (he marked or branded the sacrificial animal).
al‑Hajj literally means repeated intention; in Islamic terminology
it refers to the special rites collectively known as Pilgrimage of Mecca.
al‑I'timar means to visit; it is derived from
al‑'imarah (building) because buildings thrive by visits; in
Islamic language it refers to the so‑called "lesser pilgrimage" to the
Ka'bah, which unlike the hajj need not be performed at a particular
time and whose performance involves fewer ceremonies. al‑Junah is
deviation from truth and justice; it is used for sin and misdemeanor;
thus, negation of sin or blame implies permission. at‑Tatawwuf is
derived from at‑tawf that is, to make the rounds; it denotes a
round trip, that is, a journey or walk that ends at its starting point; it
need not necessarily be a circumambulation around something (although
circumambulation is more obvious application of the word); it is the
former meaning in which it has been used in this verse ‑ it refers to
as‑sa'y, that is, walking between the Safa and the Marwah seven
times consecutively. at‑Tatawwu' is derived from at‑taw'
(= to do a walk willingly and gladly). Some people, differentiate
between at‑tatawwu' and al‑ita'ah and say that the former,
unlike the latter, is exclusively used for voluntarily done good deeds. If
correct, this assertion might be based on the view that the obligatory
deeds ‑ because of their obligatoriness ‑ are probably not done willingly,
unlike the voluntary and recommended actions which are done willingly by
one's own accord. But it is a far‑fetched interpretation. In fact,
at‑taw' is opposite of al‑kurh (dislike), and is not
irreconcilable with obligatory deeds. Allah says: so He said to it
(i.e., the heaven) and to the earth: "Come both, willingly or
unwillingly" (41:11) The characteristic meaning of the paradigm
at-tafa' 'ul is to take to oneself, for example, tamayyaza
(he took on distinguishing), ta'allama (= he took on
learning); in the same way tatawwa'a means, he took on doing good
willingly. In short, at‑tatawwu' is not reserved, from the
linguistic point of view, for voluntary, non‑obligatory good deed ‑ unless
credit is given to the usage of the common people.
QUR'AN: Surely the
Safa and the Marwah are among the signs of Allah... to go round them both:
The two
hills are marked by the signs of Allah; they lead accordingly to Him and
remind one of Him. They have been especially counted "among the signs of
Allah'' to the exclusion of other things; it shows that the word, "the
signs" has not been used here in the sense in which every created thing is
a sign of the Creator. They are the Divine Signs because Allah'' has made
them so, by appointing them as the places of His worship; thus they remind
one of Allah'' the Creator. They are the signs for which Allah'' has
prescribed especial rites of worship.
Then comes
the next sentence: "so whoever makes a pilgrimage to the House or performs
'umrah thereof, there is no blame on him to go round them both. The
word "so" in the beginning shows that it is an offshoot of the preceding
sentence. Its import is to show that walking quickly between these two
hills is a part of the Islamic shari'ah ‑ it does not imply that
the said walking is voluntary or non‑obligatory. If Allah'' had wanted to
declare its voluntariness, it would have been more appropriate to praise
and extol as‑sa'y, rather than saying that there was no blame in
it. The gist of the meaning is that ‑ because the Safa and the Marwah were
among the places of the worship of Allah'' ‑ it would do you no harm to
worship Him therein. And it is the language of legislation. If Allah'' had
wanted to show only its desirability, He would have said that, because the
two hills were among the signs of Allah'' He likes you to go round
them.
Frequently,
when the Qur'an wants to ordain an obligatory law, it uses such
expressions which by themselves do not show obligatoriness. For example,
Allah'' says regarding jihad; that is better for you (61:11);
regarding fast: and that you fast is better for you (2:184),
and regarding shortening of prayer: And when you journey in the earth,
there is no blame on you if you shorten the prayer (4:101).
QUR'AN: and whoever
on his own accord does good, then surely Allah is Grateful, All‑knowing:
The
conjunctive "and" may be joining this sentence to any of the three phrases
in the preceding one:
1. It may
connect it with "so whoever makes a pilgrimage In that case it would show
a more general reason for the legislation of the walking between the two
hills, after giving the particular reason, that is, "Surely the Safa and
the Marwah are among the signs of Allah." According to this
interpretation, "doing good on one's own accord" would mean "obedience" in
general term, and not a voluntary deed.
2. It may
be starting a new sentence, joining it to the words in the beginning of
the verse. In that case, "doing good on one's own accord" would refer to
the "going round the two hills ". Thus it would show only the desirability
of as‑sa'y (walking quickly seven times between Safa and the
Marwah).
3.
Alternatively, the phrase "doing good on one's own according" may be
referring to the hajj and the 'umrah, and the phrase would
show the desirability of these two rites of worship.
ash‑Shakir (= Grateful)
and al‑ A lim (All‑knowing) are two of the beautiful names of
Allah. ash‑Shukr (gratefulness, thankfulness). When a beneficiary
returns the benevolence of the benefactor by announcing it in words and/or
deeds, it is called gratefulness.
Someone
gives you a property, and in return you praise him mentioning his
benevolence, or use that property in a way he likes ‑ and thus you show
your gratefulness to him.
Now, Allah
is the Beneficent; His beneficence is eternal and all beneficence begins
from Him; none can oblige Him in any way so that He would be grateful to
that person. Yet, He, in His benevolence, looks at His creatures' good
deeds as though the creatures have been beneficent to Him by doing those
deeds (although, in reality the case is diametrically different; the
creatures' good deeds are actually His benefaction to them). And thus he
repays those good deeds with gratefulness and benevolence, which in fact
is a double benevolence. Allah says: Is the reward of goodness aught
but goodness? (55:60); Surely this is a reward for you, and your
striving shall be recompensed (76:22). Thus, the name
"Grateful" is used for Allah in its real, not allegorical sense.
TRADITIONS
One of our
companions has narrated this tradition from as‑Sadiq (a.s.). He says: "I
asked him about walking between the Safa and the Marwah whether it was
obligatory or voluntary. He said: 'Obligatory, ' I said: 'Does not Allah
say: so whoever makes a pilgrimage to the House or performs 'umrah
thereof, there is no blame on him to go round them both?' He said:
'It was in the 'umrah of Qada* that is, the Messenger of
Allah (s.a.w.a.) had stipulated with them (i.e., the pagans of Mecca) that
they would remove the idols (for the period of 'umrah); and one of
his companions was engaged otherwise until the idols were returned (to
their places).' (The Imam) said: 'Then Allah revealed: Surely the Safa
and the Marwah are among the signs of Allah so whoever makes a pilgrimage
to the House or performs 'umrah thereof, there is no blame on him
to go round them both, i.e., even when there were idols on them.' "
(al‑Ayyashi)
The
author says: A nearly similar tradition is found in
al-Kafi.
as‑Sadiq
(a.s.) says describing the hajj of the Prophet: "After
circumambulating around the House and praying its two rak'ahs, (the
Prophet) recited: Surely the Safa and the Marwah are among the signs of
Allah (Then he said:) 'So I shall begin with that which Allah the
Mighty, the Great, has begun with (i.e., from the Safa).' And verily the
Muslims used to think that walking between the Safa and the Marwah was
something invented by the polytheists; so Allah revealed: Surely the
Safa and the Marwah are among the signs of Allah so whoever makes a
pilgrimage or performs 'umrah thereof, there is no blame on him to
go round them both." (al‑Kafi)
The
author says: Obviously, there is no contradiction between the two
traditions regarding the reason of the revelation of the verse. The words
of the Prophet, "I shall begin with that which Allah, the Mighty, the
Great, has begun with", show the basis of legislation. We have narrated,
in the story of Hajar and her running seven times between the Safa and the
Marwah, that the ritual of as‑sa'y started from that.
'Amir
ash‑Sha'bi said: "There was an idol, called Asaf, on the Safa, and
another, called Na'ilah on the Marwah. The people of (the days of)
ignorance, after circumambulating the House, used to walk between the two
(hills) and touch and wipe the two idols. When the Messenger of Allah,
(peace be on him) arrived at Mecca, they (i.e., the Muslims) said: '0
Messenger of Allah, (As for) the Safa and the Marwah, surely the walking
around them was done because of the two idols, and walking around them is
not among the signs (of Allah, Then Allah, revealed: Surely the Safa
and the Marwah... Thus, He (especially) mentioned the Safa because of
the idol that was on it, and affirmed the Marwah because of the idol that
rose from it. " (ad‑Durru 'l‑manthur)
The
author says: Both sects have narrated numerous traditions having the
above‑mentioned themes. Their implication is that the verse was revealed
in the year when the Muslims performed the hajj, while the Chapter
of the Cow is the first one revealed at Medina. It may therefore be
inferred that the verses are unconnected with the preceding verses (of the
qiblah) which were revealed, as described earlier, in the second
year of hijrah; nor are they related to the verses in the beginning
of the chapter which were revealed in the first year of hijrah. It
shows that the verses were revealed in various contexts, not in one.
* In the
7th year of hijrah. (tr.)