Tafseer of The Spoils of War · Al-Anfaal · 8:35
And their prayer at the House was not except whistling and handclapping. So taste the punishment for what you disbelieved.
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 word concerning the explanation of His statement: وَمَا كَانَ صَلاتُهُمْ عِنْدَ الْبَيْتِ إِلا مُكَاءً وَتَصْدِيَةً فَذُوقُوا الْعَذَابَ بِمَا كُنْتُمْ تَكْفُرُونَ (35) (And their prayer at the House was nothing but whistling and clapping of hands. So taste the punishment for what you used to disbelieve (8:35)).
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is proclaimed, says: And what is the matter with these polytheists (mushrikīn), that Allah would not punish them, while they bar the people from the Sacred Mosque (al-Masjid al-Ḥarām), in which they pray to Allah and worship Him? They were not protectors (awliyāʾ) of Allah; rather, His protectors are precisely those whom they bar from the Sacred Mosque, while they — the polytheists — do not pray in the Sacred Mosque = "And their prayer at the House was not", that is to say: the ancient House of Allah = "anything other than mukāʾ", and that is whistling.
One says of this: "makā, yamkū, makwan wa-mukāʾan" (he whistled, he whistles, the whistling). It has also been said that "al-makw" means: that a man joins his two hands together, then puts them in his mouth, and then shouts. And one also says: "makat istu al-dābba mukāʾan", when the rear of a mount blows out air. And one says: "indeed, nothing whistles except a bared rear", and that is why the rear is called "al-makwa"; it is so named [because of its whistling]. To this belongs the statement of ʿAntara:
And many a husband of a fair woman have I felled, left upon the ground, while his fricassee-muscle whistled like the cleft lip of the hare-lipped camel.
And the statement of al-Ṭirimmāḥ:
He turned upon their vanguard with a thrust full of fury, from which the sides whistled from the wide wounds.
In the meaning of: they gave forth sound.
As for "al-taṣdiya", that is the clapping of hands. One says of this: "ṣaddā, yuṣaddī, taṣdiyatan", and "ṣaffaqa" and "ṣaffaḥa" all have one meaning.
* * *
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the exegetes have expressed themselves.
* Mention of who said that:
16022 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: My father related to us, on the authority of Mūsā ibn Qays, on the authority of Ḥujr ibn ʿAnbas: "anything other than mukāʾ and taṣdiya", he said: "al-mukāʾ" is whistling = and "al-taṣdiya" is the clapping of hands.
16023 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His statement: "And their prayer at the House was nothing but mukāʾ and taṣdiya", "al-mukāʾ" is whistling = and "al-taṣdiya" is the clapping of hands.
16024 - 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 statement: "And their prayer at the House was nothing but mukāʾ and taṣdiya", he says: The prayer of the polytheists at the House was "mukāʾ" = that is to say whistling = and "taṣdiya", he says: the clapping of hands.
16025 - Muḥammad ibn ʿUmāra al-Asadī related to me, saying: ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Mūsā related to us, saying: Fuḍayl informed us, on the authority of ʿAṭiyya: "And their prayer at the House was nothing but mukāʾ and taṣdiya", he said: The clapping of hands and the whistling.
16026 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: My father related to us, on the authority of Qurra ibn Khālid, on the authority of ʿAṭiyya, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, he said: "al-mukāʾ" is the clapping of hands, and "al-taṣdiya" is whistling. He said: And Ibn ʿUmar held his cheek tilted to one side.
16027 - Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Qurra ibn Khālid, on the authority of ʿAṭiyya, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar: "And their prayer at the House was nothing but mukāʾ and taṣdiya", he said: "al-mukāʾ" and "al-taṣdiya" are the whistling and the clapping of hands.
16028 - Al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: I heard Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn relate, on the authority of Qurra ibn Khālid, on the authority of ʿAṭiyya al-ʿAwfī, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, he said: "al-mukāʾ" is whistling, and "al-taṣdiya" is the clapping of hands.
16029 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀmir related to us, saying: Qurra related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭiyya, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar concerning His statement: "And their prayer at the House was nothing but mukāʾ and taṣdiya", he said: "al-mukāʾ" is whistling, and "al-taṣdiya" is the clapping of hands. And Qurra said: ʿAṭiyya enacted for us the action of Ibn ʿUmar: he whistled, tilted his cheek, and clapped with both his hands.
16030 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Bakr ibn Muḍar informed me, on the authority of Jaʿfar ibn Rabīʿa, saying: I heard Abū Salama ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf say concerning the statement of Allah: "And their prayer at the House was nothing but mukāʾ and taṣdiya" — Bakr said: Then Jaʿfar joined his two palms together for me, and then blew into them whistling, as Abū Salama had told him.
16031 - Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Isrāʾīl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: "al-mukāʾ" is whistling, and "al-taṣdiya" is the clapping of hands.
16032 - ... he said: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Salama ibn Sābūr related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭiyya, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar: "And their prayer at the House was nothing but mukāʾ and taṣdiya", he said: whistling and clapping.
16033 - ... he said: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Fuḍayl ibn Marzūq related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭiyya, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, something similar.
16034 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Ḥabwiyya Abū Yazīd related to us, on the authority of Yaʿqūb, on the authority of Jaʿfar, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: Quraysh used to walk naked around the House, whistling and clapping, whereupon Allah revealed: قُلْ مَنْ حَرَّمَ زِينَةَ اللَّهِ الَّتِي أَخْرَجَ لِعِبَادِهِ (Say: Who has forbidden the adornment of Allah which He has brought forth for His servants (7:32))? Then they were commanded to wear clothing.
16035 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Al-Ḥimmānī related to us, saying: Sharīk related to us, on the authority of Sālim, on the authority of Saʿīd, he said: Quraysh used to obstruct the Prophet ﷺ during the circumambulation (ṭawāf) and mock him; they whistled and clapped at him, whereupon was revealed: "And their prayer at the House was nothing but mukāʾ and taṣdiya".
16036 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: My father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid: "anything other than mukāʾ", he said: they blew into their hands, and "al-taṣdiya" is the clapping of hands.
16037 - 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: "anything other than mukāʾ and taṣdiya", he said: "al-mukāʾ" is the putting of their fingers into the mouth, and "al-taṣdiya" is the clapping of hands; with it they brought confusion into the prayer of Muḥammad ﷺ.
16038 - Al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh related to us, on the authority of Warqāʾ, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, something similar = except that he did not say: "his prayer".
16039 - Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid, he said: "al-mukāʾ" is the putting of their fingers into the mouth, and "al-taṣdiya" is the clapping of hands. A group of the Banū ʿAbd al-Dār used to bring confusion thereby together into the prayer of Muḥammad ﷺ.
16040 - Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Ṭalḥa ibn ʿAmr related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr: "And their prayer at the House was nothing but mukāʾ and taṣdiya", he said: from between the fingers = Aḥmad said: A word has escaped me, and I think it is nothing other than al-khadhf (the throwing of pebbles) = and the blowing and the whistling from there; and Saʿīd ibn Jubayr showed me the place where they used to whistle, on the side of Abū Qubays.
16041 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq ibn Sulaymān related to us, saying: Ṭalḥa ibn ʿAmr informed us, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr concerning His statement: "And their prayer at the House was nothing but mukāʾ and taṣdiya", he said: "al-mukāʾ" — they used to interlace their fingers and whistle with them, and that is "al-mukāʾ". He said: And Saʿīd ibn Jubayr showed me the place where they used to whistle, in the direction of Abū Qubays.
16042 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Ḥarb related to us, saying: Ibn Lahīʿa related to us, on the authority of Jaʿfar ibn Rabīʿa, on the authority of Abū Salama ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān concerning His statement: "mukāʾ and taṣdiya", he said: "al-mukāʾ" is the blowing = and he pointed with his palm in the direction of his mouth = and "al-taṣdiya" is the clapping of hands.
16043 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Al-Muḥāribī related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, he said: "al-mukāʾ" is whistling, and "al-taṣdiya" is the clapping of hands.
16044 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn ʿAwn related to us, saying: Hushaym informed us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, something similar.
16045 - Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda concerning His statement: "And their prayer at the House was nothing but mukāʾ and taṣdiya", he said: We were told that "al-mukāʾ" is the clapping with the hands, and "al-taṣdiya" is a shouting with which they used to obstruct the Qurʾān.
16046 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: "mukāʾ and taṣdiya", he said: "al-mukāʾ" is whistling, and "al-taṣdiya" is the clapping of hands.
16047 - 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 their prayer at the House was nothing but mukāʾ and taṣdiya", and "al-mukāʾ" is whistling, in the manner of a white bird that is called "al-makkāʾ" and which is found in the land of the Ḥijāz, and "al-taṣdiya" is the clapping of hands.
16048 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His statement: "And their prayer at the House was nothing but mukāʾ and taṣdiya", he said: "al-mukāʾ" is a whistling that the people of the Jāhiliyya used to make sound loudly. He said: And he also said concerning "al-mukāʾ": a whistling in their hands and play.
* * *
It has also been said concerning "al-taṣdiya": that it means "the barring from the Sacred House of Allah (al-ṣadd)". But that is an opinion that has no foundation, for "al-taṣdiya" is a verbal noun from the statement of one who says: "ṣaddaytu taṣdiyatan". As for "al-ṣadd" (the barring), one does not say of it "ṣaddaytu", but one only says "ṣadadtu"; and when one doubles the dāl of it in the meaning of repetition of the action, one says: "ṣaddadta taṣdīdan". Unless the proponent of this opinion explains "al-taṣdiya" as derived from "ṣaddadtu", after which one of the two dāls has been converted into a yāʾ, as one says "taẓannaytu" from "ẓanantu", and as the rajaz-poet said:
The swooping of the falcon, when the falcon plunges down —
that is to say: "taqaḍḍuḍ" (the plunging down) of the falcon, in which one of the two ḍāds has been converted into a yāʾ. In that case, that is a turn [of phrase] that can be granted [to this opinion].
* Mention of who said what we mentioned concerning the explanation of "al-taṣdiya":
16049 - Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to me, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Ṭalḥa ibn ʿAmr related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr: "And their prayer at the House was nothing but mukāʾ and taṣdiya", their barring [of the people] from the Sacred House of Allah.
16050 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq ibn Sulaymān related to us, saying: Ṭalḥa ibn ʿAmr informed us, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr: "and taṣdiya", he said: "al-taṣdiya" is their barring of the people from the Sacred House.
16051 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His statement: "and taṣdiya", he said: it is al-taṣdīd, the barring from the way of Allah, and their barring from the prayer and from the religion of Allah.
16052 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: "And their prayer at the House was nothing but mukāʾ and taṣdiya", he said: Their prayer, of which they claimed that it averted [the punishment] from them = was "nothing but mukāʾ and taṣdiya", and that is something with which Allah is not pleased and which He does not love, nor something that He has imposed upon them, nor something that He has commanded them.
* * *
As for His statement: "So taste the punishment for what you used to disbelieve", by it He means the punishment that He had promised them with the sword on the day of Badr. He says to the polytheists who said: اللَّهُمَّ إِنْ كَانَ هَذَا هُوَ الْحَقَّ مِنْ عِنْدِكَ فَأَمْطِرْ عَلَيْنَا حِجَارَةً مِنَ السَّمَاءِ (O Allah, if this is indeed the truth from You, then rain down upon us stones from the sky — the āyah (8:32)), when He brought them what they had hastened of punishment = "taste", that is to say: undergo; and it is not a tasting with the mouth, but a tasting by means of perception and experiencing the taste of its pain with the hearts. He says to them: So taste the punishment for your denial that Allah would punish you with it, on account of your repudiation of the oneness of your Lord and of the message of your Prophet ﷺ.
* * *
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the exegetes have expressed themselves.
* Mention of who said that:
16053 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: "So taste the punishment for what you used to disbelieve", that is to say: that which Allah did to them on the day of Badr in the way of death.
16054 - Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj: "So taste the punishment for what you used to disbelieve", he said: These are the people of Badr, on the day when Allah punished them.
16055 - It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faraj, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān related to us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His statement: "So taste the punishment for what you used to disbelieve", by it He means the people of Badr; Allah punished them on the day of Badr with death and captivity.
