Tafseer of The Cow · Al-Baqara · 2:200
And when you have completed your rites, remember Allah like your [previous] remembrance of your fathers or with [much] greater remembrance. And among the people is he who says, "Our Lord, give us in this world," and he will have in the Hereafter no share.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The discourse on the explanation of the saying of the Exalted: فَإِذَا قَضَيْتُمْ مَنَاسِكَكُمْ فَاذْكُرُوا اللَّهَ كَذِكْرِكُمْ آبَاءَكُمْ أَوْ أَشَدَّ ذِكْرًا
("And when you have completed your rites (manāsik), then remember Allah as you remember your fathers, or with even stronger remembrance.")
Abū Jaʿfar said: By the saying of Him whose praise is exalted — "when you have completed your rites" — what is meant is: when you have finished your pilgrimage (ḥajj) and have slaughtered your sacrificial animals, then remember Allah.
* * *
One says of this: "nasaka al-rajulu yansuku nuskan wa-nusukan wa-nasīkatan wa-mansakan" — when he slaughters his sacrificial animal (nusuk). And "al-mansik" is a noun, equivalent to "al-mashriq" (the east) and "al-maghrib" (the west). As for "al-nusk" in the religious sense, one says of it: "mā kāna al-rajulu nāsikan, wa-laqad nasaka, wa-nasuka nuskan nusukan wa-nasākatan" — and that is when someone devotes himself to piety and religious devotion.
* * *
In agreement with what we have said about the meaning of "al-manāsik" in this place, Mujāhid spoke:
3845 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: "when you have completed your rites" — he said: the shedding of the blood (of the sacrificial animals).
3846 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, the like.
* * *
As for His saying: "then remember Allah as you remember your fathers, or with even stronger remembrance" — the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) differed concerning the nature of "the people's remembrance of their fathers," whom Allah commanded to make their remembrance of Him equal to their remembrance of their fathers, or even stronger in remembrance.
Some of them said: the people, in their time of ignorance (jāhiliyya), used to gather after finishing their pilgrimage and their rites and boast about the glorious deeds of their fathers. Then Allah commanded them in Islam that their remembrance should consist of praise, gratitude, and glorification of their Lord and no one else, and that they should obligate themselves to remember Him abundantly, after the example of that to which they had obligated themselves in their jāhiliyya, namely the remembrance of their fathers.
* Mention of who said that:
3847 — Tamīm ibn al-Muntaṣir related to us, saying: Isḥāq ibn Yūsuf related to us, on the authority of al-Qāsim ibn ʿUthmān, on the authority of Anas, concerning this verse, he said: they used to remember their fathers during the pilgrimage, and one would say: "My father gave food to eat," and another would say: "My father struck with the sword!" And yet another would say: "My father cut off the forelocks of the sons of so-and-so!"
3848 — Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, on the authority of Mujāhid, he said: they used to say: "Our fathers slaughtered camels and did such and such!" Then this verse was sent down: "remember Allah as you remember your fathers, or with even stronger remembrance."
3849 — Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of ʿĀṣim, on the authority of Abū Wāʾil: "then remember Allah as you remember your fathers, or with even stronger remembrance," he said: the people of the jāhiliyya used to remember the deeds of their fathers.
3850 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: I heard Abū Bakr ibn ʿAyyāsh say: the people of the jāhiliyya, when they had finished the pilgrimage, used to stand by the House (the Kaʿba) and remember their fathers and their days of glory: "My father gave food to eat! My father did this and that!" And that is His saying: "then remember Allah as you remember your fathers." Abū Kurayb said: I asked Yaḥyā ibn Ādam: on whose authority is it? He said: Abū Bakr ibn ʿAyyāsh related to us, on the authority of ʿĀṣim, on the authority of Abū Wāʾil.
3851 — Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj informed me, on the authority of someone who related it to him, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His saying: "remember Allah as you remember your fathers," he said: they used to, when they had completed their rites, remain standing by the stone pillar (al-jamra) and remember their fathers, and remember their days in the jāhiliyya and the deeds of their fathers. Then this verse was sent down.
3852 — Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Malik, on the authority of Qays, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His saying: "then remember Allah as you remember your fathers," he said: they used to, when they had completed their rites, remain standing by the stone pillar (al-jamra) and remember their days in the jāhiliyya and the deeds of their fathers. He said: Then this verse was sent down.
3853 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: "and when you have completed your rites, then remember Allah as you remember your fathers," he said: the Arabs used to boast among themselves about the deeds of their fathers on the day of sacrifice (yawm al-naḥr), when they had finished. Then they were commanded to remember Allah instead.
3854 — Al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, the like.
3855 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: "and when you have completed your rites, then remember Allah as you remember your fathers." Qatāda said: the people of the jāhiliyya used to, when they had completed their rites in Minā, sit in circles and remember the deeds of their fathers in the jāhiliyya and their actions; their orator would deliver an oration and their storyteller would tell his tale. Then Allah, mighty and exalted, commanded the Muslims to remember Allah as the people of the jāhiliyya remembered their fathers, or even stronger in remembrance.
3856 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His saying: "then remember Allah as you remember your fathers, or with even stronger remembrance," he said: they used to, when they had completed their rites, gather and boast, and remember their fathers and their days of glory. Then they were commanded to put the remembrance of Allah in place of that; they were to remember Him as they remembered their fathers, or even stronger in remembrance.
3857 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Khaṣīf, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr and ʿIkrima, both of whom said: they used to remember the deeds of their fathers in the jāhiliyya when they stood at ʿArafa. Then this verse was sent down.
3858 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, saying: Ibn Jurayj said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Kathīr informed me that he heard Mujāhid say that on the day of sacrifice, when they slaughtered. He said: He (Mujāhid) said: "then remember Allah as you remember your fathers," he said: the Arabs used to, on the day of sacrifice, when they had finished, boast about the deeds of their fathers. Then they were commanded to remember Allah, mighty and exalted, instead.
* * *
Others said: no, the meaning of that is rather: remember Allah as the sons and the children remember their fathers.
* Mention of who said that:
3859 — Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of ʿUthmān ibn Abī Rawwād, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, that he said concerning this verse: "as you remember your fathers," he said: that is the child's saying: "O my father!"
3860 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Zuhayr related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk: "then remember Allah as you remember your fathers" — he means by the remembrance: the sons' remembrance of the fathers.
3861 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, he said: ʿAṭāʾ said to me: "as you remember your fathers": "Daddy! Mommy!"
3862 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ṣāliḥ ibn ʿUmar related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Malik, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, he said: like the child, who persistently calls upon his father and his mother.
3863 — It was related to me on the authority of ʿAmmār, he said: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, concerning His saying: "and when you have completed your rites, then remember Allah as you remember your fathers, or with even stronger remembrance," he says: as the sons remember the fathers, or even stronger in remembrance.
3864 — Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His saying: "and when you have completed your rites, then remember Allah as you remember your fathers, or with even stronger remembrance," he says: as the sons remember the fathers.
3865 — It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd informed us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say, concerning His saying: "as you remember your fathers" — he means the sons' remembrance of the fathers.
* * *
Others said: no, it was said to them: "remember Allah as you remember your fathers," because they, when they had completed their rites and called upon their Lord, remembered no one but their fathers. Then they were commanded to remember Allah in a manner corresponding to their remembrance of their fathers.
* Mention of who said that:
3866 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn Ḥammād related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "and when you have completed your rites, then remember Allah as you remember your fathers, or with even stronger remembrance," he said: the Arabs used to, when they had completed their rites and were staying in Minā, that a man would stand up and ask Allah, saying: "O Allah, my father had a great bowl (of hospitality), a great tent, much wealth; so give me as You gave my father!" He did not remember Allah, he remembered only his fathers and asked to be given in this world.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: the correct statement in my view concerning the explanation of that is that one says: Allah, whose praise is exalted, commanded His believing servants to remember Him through obedience to Him, in submission to His command and worship of Him, after the completion of their rites. And it is possible that this "remembrance" is the takbīr (the saying of "Allāhu akbar") which He, whose praise is exalted, commanded with His saying: وَاذْكُرُوا اللَّهَ فِي أَيَّامٍ مَعْدُودَاتٍ [Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:203] ("And remember Allah during a numbered number of days") — which He made obligatory for whoever had completed his rites, after their completion. He obligated him at that moment to a remembrance of Him that had not previously been obligatory for him, and urged perseverance in it, just as the sons persevere in remembering the fathers in their transmitted deeds — by submitting to Him and turning humbly to Him in their yearning for Him in their needs, as the child turns humbly to his father, and the child to his mother and his father, or even stronger than that, since every favor that befell them and their fathers comes from Him and He is their patron.
We have only said: the "remembrance" which Allah, whose praise is exalted, commanded the pilgrim after the completion of his rites with His saying: "and when you have completed your rites, then remember Allah as you remember your fathers, or with even stronger remembrance," "is possibly the takbīr which we have described," for the reason that there is no remembrance of Allah that He commanded the servants after the completion of their rites that was not obligatory upon them before the completion of their rites, except the takbīr that Allah specifically assigned to the days of Minā.
Since that is so, and since it is known that He, whose praise is exalted, obligated His creatures after the completion of their rites to a remembrance of Him that had not previously been obligatory for them, and since there is no remembrance of Him at all that He specifically assigned to that time except the takbīr that we have mentioned — therefore the correctness has become clear of what we have said about the explanation of that, as we have described.
* * *
The discourse on the explanation of the saying of the Exalted: فَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يَقُولُ رَبَّنَا آتِنَا فِي الدُّنْيَا وَمَا لَهُ فِي الآخِرَةِ مِنْ خَلاقٍ (200)
("There are among people those who say: Our Lord, give us in this world; and for him there is no share in the Hereafter.")
Abū Jaʿfar said: He, whose praise is exalted, means by it: and when you have completed your rites, O believers, then remember Allah as you remember your fathers, or with even stronger remembrance, and turn yearningly to Him for the good of this world and the Hereafter that is with Him, with supplication and humility; and make your deeds pure for the sake of His face and the seeking of His good pleasure, and say: رَبَّنَا آتِنَا فِي الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً وَفِي الآخِرَةِ حَسَنَةً وَقِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ ("Our Lord, give us in this world good and in the Hereafter good, and protect us from the punishment of the Fire"); and do not be like the one who has bought the worldly life at the expense of the Hereafter, so that their deeds were for this world and its adornment, and they ask their Lord only for its enjoyments, while there is for them no portion in the reward of Allah, nor any share for them in His gardens and in the noble things He has prepared for His protégés — as the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) have said about it.
3867 — Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mahdī related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of ʿĀṣim, on the authority of Abū Wāʾil: "There are among people those who say: Our Lord, give us in this world," — "grant us sheep! Grant us camels!" "and for him there is no share in the Hereafter."
3868 — Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of ʿĀṣim, on the authority of Abū Wāʾil, he said: they used to say in the jāhiliyya: "Grant us camels!" Then he mentioned the like.
3869 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: I heard Abū Bakr ibn ʿAyyāsh concerning His saying: "There are among people those who say: Our Lord, give us in this world; and for him there is no share in the Hereafter," he said: they — that is, the people of the jāhiliyya — used to stand — that is, after the completion of their rites — and say: "O Allah, grant us camels as provision! O Allah, grant us sheep as provision!" Then Allah sent down this verse: "There are among people those who say: Our Lord, give us in this world; and for him there is no share in the Hereafter." Abū Kurayb said: I asked Yaḥyā ibn Ādam: on whose authority is it? He said: Abū Bakr ibn ʿAyyāsh related to us, on the authority of ʿĀṣim, on the authority of Abū Wāʾil.
3870 — Tamīm ibn al-Muntaṣir related to us, saying: Isḥāq informed us, on the authority of al-Qāsim ibn ʿUthmān, on the authority of Anas: "There are among people those who say: Our Lord, give us in this world; and for him there is no share in the Hereafter," he said: they used to walk naked around the House (the Kaʿba) and call out, saying: "O Allah, give us rain to drink, and give us victory over our enemy, and bring us back as righteous ones to righteous ones!"
3871 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the saying of Allah, blessed and exalted: "There are among people those who say: Our Lord, give us in this world," — victory and provision, and they ask nothing for their Hereafter.
3872 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, the like.
3873 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning the saying of Allah: "There are among people those who say: Our Lord, give us in this world; and for him there is no share in the Hereafter," — this is a servant who pursued this world; for it he worked and for it he toiled.
3874 — Mūsā related to us, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, concerning His saying: "There are among people those who say: Our Lord, give us in this world; and for him there is no share in the Hereafter," he said: the Arabs used to, when they had completed their rites and were staying in Minā, that the man among them did not remember Allah, but remembered only his father and asked to be given in this world.
3875 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb related to us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His saying: فَإِذَا قَضَيْتُمْ مَنَاسِكَكُمْ فَاذْكُرُوا اللَّهَ كَذِكْرِكُمْ آبَاءَكُمْ أَوْ أَشَدَّ ذِكْرًا ("and when you have completed your rites, then remember Allah as you remember your fathers, or with even stronger remembrance"), he said: they were in those days at those places of three kinds: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, the people of unbelief (kufr), and the people of hypocrisy (nifāq). Some people say: "Our Lord, give us in this world; and for him there is no share in the Hereafter" — they performed the pilgrimage only for this world and the request; they do not yearn for the Hereafter and do not believe in it. And some of them say: رَبَّنَا آتِنَا فِي الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً ("Our Lord, give us in this world good"), the verse. He said: and the third kind: وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يُعْجِبُكَ قَوْلُهُ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا ("And there are among people those whose speech pleases you in the worldly life"), the verse.
* * *
As for the meaning of "al-khalāq" (share) — we have explained that in a place other than this, and we have mentioned the disagreement of those who differ concerning the explanation of it, as well as what in our view is its correct meaning, with the testimonies from the proofs, namely that it means "the share," in a manner sufficient that there is no need to repeat it in this place.
