The Quran

125

Preface

وَإِذ جَعَلنَا البَيتَ مَثابَةً لِلنّاسِ وَأَمنًا وَاتَّخِذوا مِن مَقامِ إِبراهيمَ مُصَلًّى ۖ وَعَهِدنا إِلىٰ إِبراهيمَ وَإِسماعيلَ أَن طَهِّرا بَيتِيَ لِلطّائِفينَ وَالعاكِفينَ وَالرُّكَّعِ السُّجودِ

Yusuf Ali

Remember We made the House¹ a place of assembly for men and a place of safety; and take ye the station of Abraham as a place of prayer; and We covenanted with Abraham and Isma?il, that they should sanctify My House for those who compass it round, or use it as a retreat, or bow, or prostrate themselves (therein² in prayer).

The Ka‘ba, the House of God. Its foundation goes back by Arab tradition to Abraham. Its fourfold character is here referred to (1) It was the centre to which all the Arab tribes resorted for trade, for poetic contests, and for worship. (2) It was sacred territory, and was respected by friend and foe alike. At certain seasons, all fighting was and is forbidden within its limits, and even arms are not allowed to be carried, and no game or other thing is allowed to be killed. Like the Cities of Refuge under the Mosaic Dispensation, to which manslayers could flee (Num. 35:6), or the Sanctuaries in Mediaeval Europe, to which criminals could not be pursued. Mecca was recognised by Arab custom as inviolable for the pursuit of revenge or violence. (3) It was a place of prayer: even to-day there is a Station of Abraham. (4) It must be held pure and sacred for all purposes. Though the verse as a whole is expressed in the First Person Plural, the House is called “My House,” to emphasise the personal relation of God, the One True God, to it, and repudiate the Polytheism which defiled it before it was purified again by Muḥammad. (R). (Cf. nn. 2797-2798).
Four rites are here enumerated, which have now acquired a technical meaning. (1) Compassing the sacred territory, or going round the Ka‘ba: Taw a f. (2) Retiring to the place as a spiritual retreat, for contemplation and prayer: I’tikaf. (3) The posture of bending the back in prayer: Ruku' (4) The posture of prostrating oneself on the ground in prayer: Sujud. The protection of the holy territory is for all, but special cleanliness and purity is required for the sake of the devotees who undertake these rites. (R).