Tafseer of The Pilgrimage · Al-Hajj · 22:26
And [mention, O Muhammad], when We designated for Abraham the site of the House, [saying], "Do not associate anything with Me and purify My House for those who perform Tawaf and those who stand [in prayer] and those who bow and prostrate.
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.
Allah the Exalted says to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ, instructing him about the monstrous thing that his people of the Quraysh in particular commit, unlike the rest of created beings, through worship in His sacred precinct and in the House which He commanded His friend Ibrāhīm ﷺ to build and to purify from deviations, doubts, and shirk: "Remember, O Muḥammad, how We established this House — in which your people worship others besides Me — in the beginning, when We made ready for Our friend Ibrāhīm the site of the House." By His words "bawwaʾnā" He means: We prepared for him the site of the House.
As Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, he said: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His words وَإِذْ بَوَّأْنَا لإبْرَاهِيمَ مَكَانَ الْبَيْتِ (And when We made ready for Ibrāhīm the site of the House): he said: Allah established the House at the time of Ādam ﷺ, when Allah sent Ādam down to the earth — his descent was upon the land of India. His head was in the heaven and his feet upon the earth; the angels became fearful of that, so he was reduced to sixty cubits. When Ādam missed the voices of the angels and their glorification, he complained of that to Allah, whereupon Allah said: "O Ādam, I have sent down for you a House around which one will walk just as one walks around My Throne, and at which one will pray just as one prays at My Throne — go to it!" Ādam set out toward it, and his steps were lengthened for him, so that between every two steps lay a desert plain; the desert plains remained thus until Ādam reached the House, walked around it, and the prophets after him likewise.
Mūsā related to me, he said: ʿAmr related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, who said: when Allah commanded Ibrāhīm and Ismāʿīl: "Purify both of you My House for those who perform the ṭawāf", Ibrāhīm set out until he reached Mecca; he stood there together with Ismāʿīl and they took up the pickaxes, but they did not know where the House was. Then Allah sent a wind called the wind al-Khajūj, with two wings and a head in the form of a serpent; it swept away for them all that lay around the Kaʿba, down to the foundation of the original House. They followed the wind with the pickaxes, digging, until they laid the foundation. That is where He says: وَإِذْ بَوَّأْنَا لإبْرَاهِيمَ مَكَانَ الْبَيْتِ (And when We made ready for Ibrāhīm the site of the House).
By "the House" He means the Kaʿba. أَنْ لا تُشْرِكْ بِي شَيْئًا (that you associate nothing with Me) — in your worship of Me. وَطَهِّرْ بَيْتِيَ (and purify My House), which I have built, from the worship of idols.
As Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, he said: my father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His words وَطَهِّرْ بَيْتِيَ (and purify My House): he said: from shirk.
Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of ʿUbayd ibn ʿUmayr, who said: from the deviations and the doubts.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, he said: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning طَهِّرَا بَيْتِيَ (purify both of you My House): he said: from shirk and the worship of idols.
And His words لِلطَّائِفِينَ (for those who perform the ṭawāf) mean: for those who circumambulate; and وَالْقَائِمِينَ (and those who stand) in the meaning of those who pray standing in their prayer.
As al-Qāsim related to us, he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Abū Tumayla related to us, on the authority of Abū Ḥamza, on the authority of Jābir, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, concerning His words وَطَهِّرْ بَيْتِيَ لِلطَّائِفِينَ وَالْقَائِمِينَ (and purify My House for those who circumambulate and those who stand): he said: those who stand in prayer.
Al-Ḥasan related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, he said: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning وَالْقَائِمِينَ (and those who stand): he said: those who stand are those who pray.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, he said: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, the same.
Yūnus related to me, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: Ibn Zayd said, concerning His words وَالْقَائِمِينَ وَالرُّكَّعِ السُّجُودِ (and those who stand and those who bow and those who prostrate): he said: the one standing, the one bowing, and the one prostrating is the one praying, and the one circumambulating is the one who performs the ṭawāf around the House. And His words وَالرُّكَّعِ السُّجُودِ (and those who bow and those who prostrate) mean: and those who bow and prostrate in their prayer around the House.
