2. Al-Baqara

(The forbidden month for the forbidden month�) [2:194]. Said Qatadah: �The Prophet of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, proceeded along with his Companions in the month of Dhu�l-Qa�dah [intending to perform the pilgrimage] when they were stopped by the idolaters at Hudaybiyyah. The following year, they entered Mecca in the month of Dhu�l-Qa�dah, performed the lesser pilgrimage (�umrah) and remained there for three nights. The idolaters were proud that they turned them back on the day of Hudaybiyyah, and so Allah avenged them. He revealed (The forbidden month for the forbidden month�)�.

Expend in the path of God.... And do what is beautiful. Surely God loves the beautiful-doers. The rich remove money from their wallets, the poor remove the rich from their hearts, and the tawḤīd-voicers remove all creatures from their secret cores-to this He alludes with His words, “Say 'God,' then leave them” [6:91]. The rich let wealth go from their wallets for the sake of the reward of that world, the poor let the rich go from their hearts for the sake of the Lord's religion, and the recognizers let the creatures go for the sake of seeing the Glorified. The rich spend their possessions in alms tax and charity in order to escape from hell, the worshipers spend their souls in the duties of worship to reach paradise, and the recognizers spend their spirits and hearts in the realities of witnessing to reach union with the Real. And do what is beautiful. Surely God loves the beautiful-doers. MuṣṬafā said, “Beautiful doing is that you worship God as if you see Him, for if you do not see Him, surely He sees you.” Doing the beautiful is that you worship God in wakefulness and awareness as if you are gazing upon Him, and you serve Him as if you are seeing Him. This hadith alludes to the heart's encounter with the Real, the secret core's convergence with the Unseen, and the spirit's contemplation of the Patron. It is an incitement to self-purification in deeds, curtailment of wishes, and loyalty to what was accepted on the First Day. What was accepted on the First Day? Hearing Am I not your Lord and saying Yes indeed [7:172]. What is loyalty to what was accepted? Serving the Protector. How does one curtail wishes? In “As if you see Him.” Where is self-purification in deeds? In “He sees you.” When an eye has seen Him, how can it busy itself with glancing at others? When a spirit has found companionship with Him, how will it make do with water and dust? The word “Return!” [89:28] is addressed to the pure spirit. How will it make its home in the frame of water and dust? When someone has become accustomed to that Presence, how long will he put up with the abase- ment of the veil? How will the ruler of his own city spend his life in exile? The attribute of the spirit is subsistence. Water and dust undergo annihilation. He who lives in the Real is not like him who lives in this world. The realizer is aware of the secret of the Real: the Real is seeable. “As if you see Him” in the report bears witness to this.

And complete the hajj and the umrah for God. It is narrated from Wahab ibn Munabbih that God sent a revelation to Adam: “O Adam, I am the Lord of the world and the world's folk, the creator of all, the king doing what I desire. I am the Lord of Bakka, and those who dwell there are My neighbors. Those who visit are My delegates, My guests, and under My protection. I will populate this spot with the folk of heaven and earth. They will come in droves from every direction and every region, their hair disheveled and their faces covered with dust from the suffering of the road, saying 'God is greater' and reciting 'Here I am,' their faces turned toward the blessed desert, the earth colored with the blood of sacrifice. “O Adam! When someone visits this house and is self-purifying in that, he is My guest and one of Mine, one of those near to Me. It is worthy of My majesty to honor him and to bring him to forgiveness through the gift of mercy and bestowal. O Adam! Among your children is a prophet by the name of Abraham, My bosom friend, chosen by Me. With his hand I will establish it, and I will command him to build it. I will make its eminence appear, bring to light its watering place, mark its sanctuary, and teach him how to worship Me there. After him I will have the world's folk keep it inhabited and place respect and reverence for it in their hearts. Then will come the turn of MuḤammad the Arab, the Seal of the Prophets, the lamp of heaven and earth. I will make it his birth place and origin, the place where revelation falls upon him, and the domicile of his honor. I will put its watering place, deputyship, and rulership in his hand. Then I will put love for it in the hearts of the faithful from the corners of the earth. They will come, bareheaded and barefoot, their goods and means put aside, their lives placed in their hands, their hair disheveled, their faces covered with dust. They will all go and circumambulate that house, asking Me for forgiveness. O Adam! If someone asks you what I will do with them, say that I am with them in knowledge, I am found by their souls and present in their hearts, and I am the cure of their pain. I am concealed from their eyes, but I am face-to-face with their spirits.” So apparent are You to my heart, so hidden are You from my eyes! And complete the hajj and the umrah for God. The hajj of the common people is one thing, the hajj of the elect something else. The hajj of the common people sets out for the street of the Friend, the hajj of the elect sets out for the face of the Friend. That is going to the Friend's house, this is going to the Friend. I was in pain-not for the Kaabah but for Your face. I was drunk-not from wine but from Your fragrance. The common people went with their souls and saw doors and walls. The elect went with their spir- its and found conversation and vision. The elect travel this path just as that chevalier said: “The blood of the sincerely truthful was purified and made into a road- unless the spirit takes a step in this road, you will have no access.” He who goes with the soul finds suffering and carries burdens in order to circle the Kaabah. He who goes with the spirit finds rest …

(�So make provision for yourselves; for the best provision is to ward off evil�) [2:197]. �Amr ibn Abu �Amr al-Muzakki informed us> Muhammad ibn al-Makki> Muhammad ibn Yusuf> Muhammad ibn Isma�il> Yahya ibn Bashir> Shababah> Warqa�> �Amr ibn Dinar> �Ikrima> Ibn �Abbas who said: �The People of Yemen were in the habit of going to the pilgrimage without taking any provision with them. They used to say: �We are the ones who trust in Allah�. But once in Mecca, they used to beg from people. And so Allah, glorious and majestic is He, revealed this verse (So make provision for yourselves; for the best provision is to ward off evil)�. �Ata� ibn Rabah said: �People used to travel and carry their own burden on others. And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed (So make provision for yourselves; for the best provision is to ward off evil)�.

(It is no sin for you that ye seek the bounty of your Lord (by trading)�) [2:198]. Mansur ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab al-Bazzar informed us> Abu 'Amr Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Hiri> Shu'ayb ibn 'Ali al-Zarra'> 'Isa ibn Musawir> Marwan ibn Mu'awiyah al-Fazari> al-'Ala' ibn al-Musayyab> Abu Umamah al-Taymi who said: �I said to Ibn 'Umar: 'We hire our beasts to the pilgrims and walk with them, and there are some people who claim that our pilgrimage is invalid'. He said: 'Do you not chant: here we are, O Allah, here we are? Do you not go around the Ka'bah? Do you not go in between the Safa and Marwah? Do you not do this? And do you not do that?' I said: 'Indeed, we do!' Ibn 'Umar said: 'A man did ask the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, about the same thing you asked, and he could not answer him until the verse (It is no sin for you that ye seek the bounty of your Lord (by trading)�) was revealed. When this verse was revealed, he called the man and recited it to him. He said: you are the real pilgrims' �. Abu Bakr al-Tamimi informed us> 'Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Khushnam> Abu Yahya al-Razi> Sahl ibn 'Uthman> Yahya ibn Abi Za'idah> Ibn Jurayj> 'Amr ibn Dinar> Ibn 'Abbas who said: �Dhu'l-Majaz and 'Ukaz used to be places of trade in the pre-Islamic era. It is as if people disliked this to be so upon the advent of Islam, that is until the verse (It is no sin for you that ye seek the bounty of your Lord (by trading)�) was revealed regarding the season of Pilgrimage�. Mujahid also related that Ibn 'Abbas said: �People used to avoid trade and buying and selling during the Pilgrimage. They used to say: 'These are days for the remembrance of Allah, glorious and exalted is He'. And so Allah revealed (It is no sin for you that ye seek the bounty of your Lord (by trading)�), meaning: do engage in trade�.

(Then hasten onward from the place whence the multitude hasteneth onward) [2:199]. Al-Tamimi informed through the chain of transmission mentioned above from Yahya ibn Hisham ibn �Urwa> his father> �A�ishah that she said: �The Arabs used to hasten onward from �Arafat while the Quraysh and those who followed their religion used to hasten onward from Jam� in the Sacred Precinct. Allah, exalted is He, then revealed (Then hasten onward from the place whence the multitude hasteneth onward)�. Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Ja�far al-Muzakki informed us> Muhammad ibn �Abd Allah ibn Zakariyya> Muhammad ibn �Abd al-Rahman al-Sarkhasi> Abu Bakr ibn Khaythamah> Hamid ibn Yahya> Sufyan ibn �Uyaynah> �Amr ibn Dinar> Muhammad ibn Jubayr ibn Mut�im> his father that he said: �I lost one of my camels on the day of �Arafah and I went to look for it when I saw the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, standing with people at �Arafah. I said: �He is from the Hums, what is he doing here?� Abu Sufyan said: �the Ahmas [sing of Hums] is someone who is very strict about and observant of his religion�. This is because the Quraysh used to be called the Hums but the devil led them astray by whispering to them: �If you exalt other than your Sacred Precinct, other people will belittle your Sacred Precinct�. And so they did not hasten onward from the Sacred Precinct but rather stand at al-Muzdalifah. Upon the advent of Islam, Allah, glorious and majestic is He, revealed: (Then hasten onward from the place whence the multitude hasteneth onward), i.e. from �Arafah. This was narrated by Muslim> �Amr al-Naqid> Ibn �Uyaynah.

(And when ye have completed your devotions, then remember Allah as ye remember your fathers�) [2:200]. Said Mujahid: �During the season of pilgrimage, in the pre-Islamic era, people remembered their fathers, events and lineages and, then, boasted about them to each other. Allah, exalted is He, then revealed (And when ye have completed your devotions, then remember Allah as ye remember your fathers�)�. Al-Hasan said: �Upon relating something or speaking, the Bedouins used to say: �By your father, they verily did this and that�, and so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse�.