Tafseer of The Pilgrimage · Al-Hajj · 22:37
Their meat will not reach Allah, nor will their blood, but what reaches Him is piety from you. Thus have We subjected them to you that you may glorify Allah for that [to] which He has guided you; and give good tidings to the doers of good.
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: the flesh of your sacrificial animals and their blood do not reach Allah; but what reaches Him is your piety toward Him — when you fear Him therein, seek His good pleasure thereby, act therein in accordance with what He has urged and commanded you in their matter, and thereby honor His sacred bounds.
In the direction of what we have said about this, the exegetes spoke.
Mention of who said that: Ibn Bashār related to us, saying: Yaḥyā related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, concerning Allah's words لَنْ يَنَالَ اللَّهَ لُحُومُهَا وَلاَ دِمَاؤُهَا وَلَكِنْ يَنَالُهُ التَّقْوَى مِنْكُمْ — he said: that whereby Allah's good pleasure is sought.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning the words لَنْ يَنَالَ اللَّهَ لُحُومُهَا وَلاَ دِمَاؤُهَا وَلَكِنْ يَنَالُهُ التَّقْوَى مِنْكُمْ : he said: if you fear Allah in these sacrificial animals and for that work for Allah and seek what Allah has said by honoring the signs of Allah and His sacred bounds — for He said وَمَنْ يُعَظِّمْ شَعَائِرَ اللَّهِ فَإِنَّهَا مِنْ تَقْوَى الْقُلُوبِ and وَمَنْ يُعَظِّمْ حُرُمَاتِ اللَّهِ فَهُوَ خَيْرٌ لَهُ عِنْدَ رَبِّهِ — and you have made it something good: then that is what Allah accepts. As for the flesh and the blood: how would these ever reach Allah? As for His words كَذَلِكَ سَخَّرَهَا لَكُمْ — He says: thus has He made the sacrificial animals subservient to you. He says: لِتُكَبِّرُوا اللَّهَ عَلَى مَا هَدَاكُمْ — that you may magnify Allah for what He has guided you to — that is to say: for His bringing about that you follow His religion and the rituals in your pilgrimage.
As Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said: لِتُكَبِّرُوا اللَّهَ عَلَى مَا هَدَاكُمْ — he said: for the slaughtering of them in those days. وَبَشِّرِ الْمُحْسِنِينَ — He says: give good tidings, O Muḥammad ﷺ, to those who have obeyed Allah and done well therein in their obedience to Him in the worldly life, with the Garden in the Hereafter.
