Al-Hajj (The Pilgrimage)

37. “There never reaches Allah their flesh nor their blood, but it is your piety (that) reaches Him. Thus has He made them subservient to you, that you might pronounce the greatness of Allah for what He has guided you aright, and give good tidings to the good doers.”

The flesh of animals which is given as almsgiving, and the blood which is shed on the ground as the result of slaughtering camels are not things that can attract the pleasure of Allah, but the thing that attracts the content of Allah, the Almighty, is your piety, sincerity, and pure intention.

The verse says:

“There never reaches Allah their flesh nor their blood, but it is your piety (that) reaches Him.…”

It has been narrated that when the people of the Age of Ignorance wanted to slaughter their sacrificial animals, they polluted the Sacred House with blood. So, at the first time when the Muslims did pilgrimage, they wanted to do the same thing, and then Allah sent down this verse.

In this holy verse, after repeating the remembrance of the blessings as /tasxir/, Allah implies the purpose of making these blessings subservient to you is that since Allah has guided you, you should glorify Him and with the phrase:

“…that you might pronounce the greatness of Allah for what He has guided you aright.…”

you may proclaim His greatness.

The holy verse continues saying:

“…Thus has He made them subservient to you, that you might pronounce the greatness of Allah for what He has guided you aright…”

Some other commentators have said that the concept of ‘thanksgiving’ is inside the holy phrase of Takbir (magnifying) which means: ‘making these blessings subservient’ is for the sake that by magnifying and ejaculation ‘lailaha illalah’, you thank the Lord Who has guided you to the religious treatments and the rites of His Hajj.

In other words, the ultimate goal is that you might be acquainted with the greatness of Allah, He Who has guided you in the way of legislation and creation.

On one side, He has taught you the rites of Hajj and the style of obedience and servitude; and on the other side, He has made these big and powerful animals subservient to you to obey you so that you can use them in the way of obedience of Allah, sacrificing, doing good to the needy people and providing your own life.

Therefore, at the end of the verse, the Qur’an says:

“…and give good tidings to the good doers.”

This good news is for those who utilize these divine blessings in the path of obeying Him and they fulfil their duties in the best form, and specially do not show any shortcoming in spending out in the cause of Allah.