Al-Hajj (The Pilgrimage)

26. “And (remember) when We prepare for Abraham the place of the (holy) House, (saying): ‘Do not associate anything with Me, and sanctify My House for those who make the round (thereof) and stand to pray and bow and prostrate themselves’.”

The event of Ka‘bah and Abraham is something which must not be forgotten.

In relation to the former discussion upon the previous verse concerning the Sacred Mosque and it’s pilgrimage, in this verse, the Qur’an refers to the history of the construction of Ka‘bah by ’Ibrahim (as).

At first, it begins from the reconstruction of Ka‘bah, where it says:

“And (remember) when We prepare for Abraham the place of the (holy) House…”

The Qur’anic word /baww’a/ is originally derived from /bawa’/ which means the act of making level the parts of a place and its being plain, then it has been applied to any kind of preparing a place for building.

According to the Islamic narrations recorded in some commentary books, the purpose of this Qur’anic sentence in the abovementioned holy verse, is that Allah showed Abraham the place of the Sacred Mosque which had been built at the time Adam (as) and had been ruined in the Flood of Noah and its signs had been effaced.

A wind blew and brought away the dust over it so that, the basis of the House were made manifest. Or a piece of cloud came and cast a shadow over there; or by any other means, Allah showed and prepared the main place of the House for Abraham. Then he (as), with the help of his son, Ishmael, rebuilt it.

Then the Qur’an adds implying that when the House was ready, Allah ordered Abraham to make the House a center of Monotheism and:

“…(saying): ‘Do not associate anything with Me, and sanctify My House for those who make the round (thereof) and stand to pray and bow and prostrate themselves’.”

In fact, Abraham (as) was ordered to make clean the House of Ka‘bah and its surroundings from any apparent and spiritual pollutions, in order that the servants of Allah would not think of anything but Allah in that pure place, and they could perform the most important worship of that land, i.e. circumambulation and prayer in a circumstance free from any kind of pollution.

Through the abovementioned verse, the Qur’an points to only three essential elements of a prayer, which, in turn, are: standing, bowing, and prostration, because the rest of them are counted in the shade. Yet, some of the commentators have rendered the Qur’anic word /qa’imin/, here, into ‘the dwellers of Mecca’.

But regarding the rites of circumambulation, bowing, and prostration which have been mentioned before and after it, there is no doubt that the word ‘standing’, here, is in the sense of’ standing in prayer, and many of the Shi‘ah and Sunni commentators, have chosen this meaning, or they have narrated it as an interpretation for it.¹

It should also be noted that the Arabic word /rukka‘a/ is the plural form of /raki‘/ (the one who bows), and the word /sujud/ is the plural form of /sajid/ (the one who prostrates), and that there has not been mentioned any linking letter, like /wa/, between them and it has been stated in the form of explanation, is because of nearness of these two worships to each other.