Sura al-Hajj: Difference between revisions

Sura al-Hajj is the 22nd of the Qur’an. It is a Madani sura located in juz’ 17. This sura is named due to mentioning some rulings and issues about hajj in verses 25 to 37 and also the announcement of the public order for hajj. This sura includes some rules of fiqh about hajj such as its obligation, rules of sacrifice, permissibility of eating animals’ meat, obligation of circumambulation of the Kaaba in hajj, etc. It is transmitted that for recitation of this sura, rewards are given the same as the rewards of a person who performs hajj and ‘Umra.

=== Naming ===

The name “al-Hajj” is adopted from verse 27 of the sura. Moreover, this naming is made due to the importance of hajj and the existence of some rules of hajj in verses 25 to 37 and also the announcement of the public order for hajj.

=== Order and Place of Revelation ===

Sura al-Hajj is a Madani sura and it was the 103rd sura revealed to the Prophet (a). This sura is now 22nd sura of the Qur’an located in juz’ 17.

Authors of the history of the Qur’an disagree on whether this sura is Makki or Madani. Some consider it Makki except some of its verses and some others believe that except some verses, the rest of the sura was revealed in Medina due to the relation of its verses with the situation of Muslims in Medina, the emphasis of some verses on the issue of jihad, giving the order about hajj as an obligation and explaining its details. ‘Allama Tabataba’i too believed that the context of the sura suggests that it was revealed in Medina in the beginning of the immigration of the Prophet (a), before the battle of Badr.

=== Number of Verses and Other Features ===

Sura al-Hajj has 78 verses, 1282 words and 5315 letters. Regarding volume, it is among Mathani suras and is average in size and takes exactly half of one juz’.

Verses 18 and 77 of sura al-Hajj have recommended prostration and it is the sixth sura of 14 suras having prostration.

They say that sura al-Hajj explains the principles of religion in details in a way that both monotheists and polytheists benefit from them and also explains some secondary principles of religion in brief so that only believers benefit from them.

In this sura, Unity of God, necessity of worshipping One God, warning about polytheism and its negative consequences, definiteness of happening the Day of Judgment and its overwhelming earthquake are emphasized and some secondary religious principles such as spiritual and jurisprudential dimensions of hajj, jihad with despots, prayer and its connection with God, zakat and other financial rights and enjoining the good and forbidding the evil are discussed. Other topics discussed in this sura are some moral values such as trust in God, warning about sinning and disobedience of God and the connection between God-wariness, righteous deed and divine assistance.

In sura al-Hajj, disputing about God without knowledge and following any disobedient devil are prohibited and by illustrating the true faces of the two groups one of which is in the way of God and the other is in the way of taghut and fight each other, it demonstrates inability and incompetence of tyrant disbelievers in the form of a proverb.  

 

* Content: inviting to performing the order of God and fighting opposers of religion

 

- Introduction: the importance of observing God-wariness

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Custodianship of the Kaaba by Abraham (a) (verse 26)

 

Fight of two armies about God in the battle of Badr (verses 19 to 24)

 

Rejection of previous prophets and the punishment of ungrateful nations (verses 42 – 48)

=== Seasonal Faith ===

About verse 11 of sura al-Hajj, two occasions revelation are mentioned:

Some exegetes say that this verse was revealed about Bedouins who went to Medina from desert and accepted Islam and were confident upon their faith until they had an easy life, but when they received a harm or received their share from zakat late, Satan tempted them that this religion brought them nothing but harm and they returned to their past beliefs and this verse was revealed about them.

‘Atiyya b. Abi Sa’id Khidri says that this verse was revealed about a Jew who newly became Muslim and became blind when he accepted Islam, lost his wealth and his son died; so, he considered Islam ill-omened. Therefore, he went to the Prophet (a) and asked to break his allegiance. The Prophet (a) told him, “Islam purges the rust from iron, silver and gold like fire and puts humans to test.” It was after this conversation that verse 11 of sura al-Hajj was revealed.

=== Fighting about God ===

About the occasion of revelation of verse 19 of sura al-Hajj, it is mentioned that two groups were fighting about God and on one side there were Hamza, Abu ‘Ubayda b. al-Harth and Ali b. Abi Talib (a) and on the other side, there were ‘Ataba, Shayba and Walid b. ‘Aqaba. Also, some people transmitted from Imam Ali (a) that verses 12 to 19 of sura al-Hajj were revealed about the battle of Badr. It is transmitted from Ibn ‘Abbas that this verse was revealed about the fight between Jews, Christians and Muslims about the closeness of themselves, their books and their prophets to God.

Some of the verses of sura al-Hajj are famous.

=== Verse of the Public Announcement for Hajj (27) ===

The word “hajj” is defined as “intention” and the special rituals performed in Masjid al-Haram which were first ordered as religious rules by Prophet Abraham (a) and were followed in the religion of Muhammad (a) were called “hajj” because anyone who want to perform these rituals, should intend to visit the Kaaba. Most exegetes considered this verse addressing Abraham (a) to call people with loud voice to perform hajj rituals and inform them about the obligation of hajj. Some others considered this verse about the Prophet of Islam (a); but, ‘Allama Tabataba’i did not consider this view to be in agreement with the context of verses, because in his view, the phrase “And proclaim the Hajj to all the people…” is conjoined to the phrase “Do not ascribe any partners to Me” in the previous verse which is an address to Abraham (a).

=== Verse of Venerating the Sacraments (32) ===

Divine sacraments are considered to be symbols God has appointed for His obedience. Exegetes consider sacraments including all divine rituals and general plans of religion which make human remember God and rituals of hajj and sacrificing in hajj is just one part of these rituals. Therefore, there is no reason for specially venerating the sacrifice, and rather it includes other divine sacraments as well. The relation between venerating the sacraments with God-wariness of the heart is considered because the truth of God-wariness and avoiding sins is a spiritual issue originated from the heart; as it is mentioned in a report from the Prophet (a) that he (a) pointed to his chest and said, “the truth of God-wariness is here.”

=== Verse of Defending Believers by God (38) ===

This verse points to the support of God for believers who were suppressed by polytheists; because, resisting against superstitions of polytheists could provoke their anger; therefore, God introduces Himself as their support in order to bring confidence to their heart. Exegetes did not consider this divine promise specific to the time of the Prophet (a) and rather consider it a promise which is irrefutable in all times.

Verses which either contain religious rulings or used in the process of deduction of rulings are called “verses of ruling”. Fiqh scholars have benefited from some of the verses of sura al-Hajj including verses 36 and 27 – 29 in deduction of rulings in fiqh which are mostly related with hajj rituals and its obligation for all people.

For recitation of sura al-Hajj, different merits and benefits are transmitted; including that, whoever recites sura al-Hajj is as if he has performed hajj and ‘Umra and will be rewarded to the number of those who perform hajj and ‘Umra in the past and in the future. Also, it is transmitted from Imam al-Sadiq (a), “whoever recites sura al-Hajj once every three days, will find the opportunity to visit the House of God in that year and if he dies in the journey of hajj, he will enter the paradise.”