to Allah, and it is to Him that we are destined to return.” (157) Upon them will be the blessings and mercy of their Lord, and it is they who are rightly guided.
(158) Surely, al-Safa and al- Marwah are the symbols of Allah. ▶
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Al-Baqarah 2: 159–61
Hence, whoever performs Hajj (Full Pilgrimage) to the House (of Allah) or makes [Umrah (Minor Pilgrimage),50 will find that it is no sin for him to ambulate between the two. And whoever does a good work voluntarily should know that Allah is Appreciative, All- Knowing.
(159) Those who conceal anything of the clear teachings and true guidance which We have sent down even though We have made them clear in Our Book, Allah curses such people and so do all the cursers, (160) except those who repent and make amends and openly declare (what they had concealed). Such shall I pardon for I am Much-Relenting, Most Compassionate.
(161) As for those who disbelieved51 and died dis- believing, ▶
50 The pilgrimage to the Ka[bah along with a set of other rites on certain fixed dates of Dhu al-Hijjah is known as Hajj. Pilgrimage at other times is known as [Umrah.
51 The original meaning of kufr is to conceal. This lent the word a nuance of denial and it began to be used as an antonym of Iman. Iman means to believe, to accept, and to recognize. Kufr, on the contrary, denotes refusal to believe, to deny, to reject. According to the Qur’an, there are several possible forms of disbelief. One is to refuse either to believe in the existence of God, not to acknowledge His
45
Al-Baqarah 2: 162–4
surely the curse of Allah and of the angels and of all men is on them. (162) Thus shall they abide and their chastisement shall not be lightened, nor shall they be given respite.
(163) Your God is One God, there is no god but He; the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate. (164) (To guide) those who use their reason (to this Truth) there are many Signs in the structure of the heavens and the earth, in the constant alternation of night and day, in the vessels which speed across the sea carrying goods that are of profit to people, in the water which Allah sends down from the sky and thereby quickens the earth after it was dead, ▶
sovereignty, not to recognize Him as the only Lord of the Universe and of mankind and the only object of worship and adoration. The second form of disbelief is that a man might recognize the existence of God but still refuse to accept His ordinances and directives as the only source of true guidance, and as the true law for his life. The third form of disbelief is that although a man might recognize, in principle, that he ought to follow God’s guidance, he refuses to believe in the Prophets who were the means of communicating God’s guidance to mankind. The fourth form of disbelief is to differentiate between one Prophet and another, to accept some Prophets and reject others because of parochialism and bigotry. The fifth form of disbelief is the refusal to recognize, either totally or partially, the teachings communicated on God’s behalf by the Prophets concerning beliefs, principles of morality, and laws to fashion human life. The sixth form of disbelief is that a person might theoretically accept all that he should accept but then wilfully disobeys God’s ordinances and persists in this disobedience, and considers disobedience rather than obedience to God to be the true principle of life.
46
Al-Baqarah 2: 165–8
and disperse over it all manner of animals, and in the changing courses of the winds and the clouds pressed into service between heaven and earth. (165) Yet there are some who take others as equals to Allah and love them as Allah alone should be loved; but those who (truly) believe, they love Allah more than all else. If only the wrong-doers were to perceive now – as they will perceive when they will see the chastise- ment – that all power belongs to Allah alone, and that Allah is severe in chastisement! (166) At that moment those who have been followed will disown their followers, and they will see the chastisement, and their resources will be cut asunder. (167) And the followers will then say: “Oh if only we might return again, we would disown them as they have disowned us?” Thus Allah will show them their works in a manner causing them bitter regrets. Never will they come out of the Fire.
(168) O people! Eat of the lawful and pure things in the earth and follow not in the footsteps of Satan. ▶
47
Al-Baqarah 2: 169–73
For surely he is your open enemy; (169) he only com- mands you to do evil and commit acts of indecency and to ascribe to Allah the things concerning which you have no knowledge (that He really is their source).
(170) And when they are told: “Follow what Allah has revealed,” they say: “No, we shall follow what we found our forefathers adhering to.” What! Even if their forefathers were devoid of understanding and right guidance? (171) Those who have refused to follow the Way of Allah resemble cattle; when the shepherd calls them they hear nothing except shouting and crying; they are deaf, dumb and blind, and so they understand nothing.
(172) Believers! Eat of the pure things wherewith We have provided you for sustenance and give thanks to Allah if it is Him that you serve. (173) He has made unlawful to you only carrion and blood and the flesh of swine and that over which there has been pronounced the name of anyone other than Allah’s. ▶
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Al-Baqarah 2: 174–6
But he who is constrained (to eat of them) – and he neither covets them nor exceeds the indispensable limit incurs no sin: Allah is All-Forgiving, All- Compassionate.52
(174) Those who conceal anything of the Book revealed by Allah and sell it away for a trifling gain are merely filling their bellies with Fire. Allah will neither address them on the Day of Resurrection, nor shall He pronounce them “pure”. A painful chastisement lies in store for them. (175) They are the ones who bought error in exchange for true guidance, and chastisement in exchange for forgiveness. How patient they are in enduring the Fire! (176) This is so because Allah revealed the Book with the Truth, but those who disagreed concerning the Book veered far away from the Truth.
52 This verse grants permission to use prohibited things on three conditions. First, that one must be in a state of extreme compulsion, for example, one is gravely ill or so hungry and thirsty that one’s very life is in danger, and a prohibited thing is all that is available to save one’s life. Second, the person who consumes a prohibited thing in such a dire state of compulsion should have no
