Al-Hajj

“O people, fear your Lord.” The quake of the Hour is so great that a nursing mother forgets her child and people seem drunk though they are not. If you doubt the Resurrection, look at how you were created, from dust, through every stage to old age, and at dead earth stirring with rain. Some dispute about Allah with no knowledge, and some worship Him on an edge, content when good comes and turning back at a trial. All in the heavens and on earth prostrate to Allah: sun, moon, stars, mountains, trees, animals and many people. Two groups dispute about their Lord: the Fire for one, and gardens, gold, pearls and silk for the other. Then Ibrahim is shown the site of the House and told to purify it and proclaim the pilgrimage, and people come on foot and on every lean camel, from every distant pass. The rites are for remembering Allah, and for feeding the poor. “Their meat will not reach Allah, nor their blood, but what reaches Him is your piety.” Permission to fight back is given to those wronged and driven from their homes, for otherwise monasteries, churches, synagogues and mosques would have been pulled down. Towns lie in ruin, for it is not the eyes that go blind, but the hearts. The Prophet ﷺ is a clear warner, and Allah makes His verses firm. Those you call on besides Allah could never create even a fly. The surah ends with a call to strive for Allah as He deserves. He placed no hardship on you in religion, and He named you Muslims. What an excellent Protector, what an excellent Helper!