The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 1) — Page 328
CH. 2 AL-BAQARAH PT. 2 behind, it shall be no sin for him. This is for him who fears God. And fear Allah and know that you shall all be brought together before Him. 210 210. Commentary: The glorification of God, or the celebration of His praises enjoined in the preceding verses is to be particularly observed in the appointed number of days to be spent in Minā after the Hajj is over. These are the 11th, the 12th and the 13th day of Dhul-Hijjah during which the pilgrims are required, so far as possible, to stay at Minā and pass their time in God's glorification. In these days they are also required, as a symbol of the driving out of Satan, to cast pebbles daily at the three pillars so long as they stay there. These are calledi. e. the days of beauty and brightness. The clause, whoso hastens to leave in two days, refers to the stay in Minā. If a pilgrim leaves Minā two days earlier or stays behind for two days more, no sin shall attach to him, provided everything he does is done with good intention, acting righteously and God-fearingly. The verse ends with the clause, and fear Allah and know that you shall be brought together before Him, to bring home to the reader or the pilgrim that the underlying object of the Pilgrimage is, the very word with which the Quran began its commandments about Hajj in 2:197, 328 الله وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّكُمْ إِلَيْهِ تُحْشَرُونَ thus emphasizing that mere outward observance of certain rites is nothing unless they are accompanied by or the spirit of righteousness which must underlie all actions of man. واعلموا انكم اليه تحشرون ,The clause translated above as, know that you shall all be brought together before Him, is also intended to hint that the gathering in Hajj is not meant for the performance of certain rites and ceremonies but, as it were, for meeting God. In this case, the clause would be rendered as, "know that (in Hajj) you are brought together (i. e. the purpose of your gathering is) to meet God" and you must, therefore, behave accordingly. The gathering in Hajj is truly like the (gathering) on the great Day of Judgement. Now that the description of Hajj as given in these verses has come to an end, it would be appropriate to give here a brief but collective note on the wisdom and the significance of this act of worship and devotion. The Pilgrimage is indeed a great spiritual ordinance. According to the Quran, the Ka'bah is the first house of worship that was built for mankind (3:97). It dates not from Abraham, who simply rebuilt it, but from Adam. The Quran speaks of it as "the Ancient House" (22:30, 34). A Jewish tradition also says that Abraham built