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189
۞ يَسأَلونَكَ عَنِ الأَهِلَّةِ ۖ قُل هِيَ مَواقيتُ لِلنّاسِ وَالحَجِّ ۗ وَلَيسَ البِرُّ بِأَن تَأتُوا البُيوتَ مِن ظُهورِها وَلٰكِنَّ البِرَّ مَنِ اتَّقىٰ ۗ وَأتُوا البُيوتَ مِن أَبوابِها ۚ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ لَعَلَّكُم تُفلِحونَ

Ahmed Ali

They ask you of the new moons. Say: “These are periods set for men (to reckon) time, and for pilgrimage.” Piety does not lie in entering the house through the back door,1 for the pious man is he who follows the straight path. Enter the house through the main gate,2 and obey God. You may haply find success.
  • It means the same thing as is meant by the English expression ‘though the back door,’, i.e. clandestinely. Here it has more than one implication, as the verse deals with the new moon and reckoning “periods,” e.g. the period of fasting, a woman’s monthly courses, etc.
  • That is, seek attainment through the right way. See Razi and Lane.