Tafseer of The Heights · Al-A'raaf · 7:29
Say, [O Muhammad], "My Lord has ordered justice and that you maintain yourselves [in worship of Him] at every place [or time] of prostration, and invoke Him, sincere to Him in religion." Just as He originated you, you will return [to life] -
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.
Explanation of the saying of the Exalted: قُلْ أَمَرَ رَبِّي بِالْقِسْطِ وَأَقِيمُوا وُجُوهَكُمْ عِنْدَ كُلِّ مَسْجِدٍ وَادْعُوهُ مُخْلِصِينَ لَهُ الدِّينَ ("Say: My Lord has commanded justice; and set your faces upright at every place of prayer, and call upon Him, keeping the religion sincerely for Him") (7:29).
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is proclaimed, says to His Prophet ﷺ: "Say (qul)," O Muḥammad, to those who falsely claim about Allah that Allah has commanded them the abomination: My Lord has not commanded what you say, but rather (My Lord has commanded justice (qisṭ)), that is to say: equity (ʿadl), (47) as in:
14469 — 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: (Say: My Lord has commanded the qisṭ), equity.
14470 — Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to me, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: (Say: My Lord has commanded the qisṭ), and the qisṭ is equity.
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As for His saying: (and set your faces upright at every place of prayer), the exegetes have differed concerning its meaning. Some of them said: its meaning is: set your faces upright, wherever you may be in prayer, toward the Kaʿba.
* Mention of those who said that:
14471 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the saying of Allah: (and set your faces upright at every place of prayer), toward the Kaʿba wherever you pray, in the church and elsewhere.
14472 — 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, concerning His saying: (and set your faces upright at every place of prayer), he said: when you pray, turn yourselves toward the Kaʿba, in your churches and elsewhere.
14473 — Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to me, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: (and set your faces upright at every place of prayer), that is "the place of prayer," the Kaʿba.
14474 — Al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Khālid ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, on the authority of ʿUmar ibn Dharr, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His saying: (and set your faces upright at every place of prayer), he said: the Kaʿba, wherever you are.
14475 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His saying: (and set your faces upright at every place of prayer), he said: direct them toward the qibla, this qibla which Allah has charged you with.
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And others said: no, by it was meant: make your prostration (sujūd) pure for Allah alone, without anything else alongside Him of gods and associates.
* Mention of those who said that:
14476 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, concerning His saying: (and set your faces upright at every place of prayer), he said: in sincerity (ikhlāṣ), that you call upon none other than Him, and that you keep the religion sincerely for Him.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: The more correct of these two interpretations for the explanation of the verse is what al-Rabīʿ has said: namely that the people were charged with turning toward their Lord in their prayer, not toward anything other than Him of idols and images, and that they make their supplication pure for Allah, not as whistling and clapping. (48)
We have said that this is the more correct of the two interpretations for the verse, because with this verse Allah was addressing only a people of the polytheists (mushrikīn) of the Arabs, who were not people of churches and synagogues; for the churches and synagogues belonged only to the People of the two Books. It is therefore not intelligible that one would say to someone who does not pray in a church or synagogue: "Set your face toward the Kaʿba in a church or synagogue."
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As for His saying: (and call upon Him, keeping the religion sincerely for Him), He says: work for your Lord, keeping the religion and the obedience sincerely for Him, and do not mix that with shirk, and do not set up any associate in anything of what you do for Him, (49) as in:
14477 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ: (and call upon Him, keeping the religion sincerely for Him), he said: that you keep the religion, the supplication, and the work sincerely for Him, and that you then turn toward the Sacred House.
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The footnotes:
(47) See the explanation of "al-qisṭ" in what preceded, p. 224, note 4, and the references therein.
(48) "Al-mukāʾ": the whistling, and "al-taṣdiya": the clapping. They used to walk around the House naked and whistle with their mouths and clap with their hands.
(49) See the explanation of "al-duʿāʾ" and "al-ikhlāṣ" in what preceded of the linguistic indexes (daʿā) and (khalaṣa).
