'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' His saying, exalted and glorified is He: ﴿And when We made the House a place of return for the people and a sanctuary, and take from the standing place of Ibrahim a place of prayer. And We commanded Ibrahim and Ismail to purify My House for those who perform Tawaf and those who are in I'tikaf and those who bow and prostrate.﴾ ﴿And when Ibrahim said, 'My Lord, make this a secure city and provide its people with fruits, whoever of them believes in Allah and the Last Day.' He said, 'And whoever disbelieves, I will grant him enjoyment for a little, then I will force him to the punishment of the Fire, and wretched is the destination.'﴾ 'And when' is a conjunction to the previous 'when.' 'The House' refers to the Kaaba. 'A place of return' may be derived from 'thaba' meaning to return, as the people return to it, or it may be derived from 'thawab' meaning they are rewarded there. Al-Akhfash said: The 'h' was added for emphasis due to the multitude of those who return, as it is rare for anyone to leave the House except that they feel they have not fulfilled their desire from it. So it is like a sign and a marker. Others said, it is the 'h' of feminine for the source, thus it is 'Mathubah' and the vowel of the 'waw' was transferred to the 'ta,' and the 'waw' changed to an 'alif' due to the opening of what precedes it. It is also said to be based on the femininity of the place, as it is said: 'Maqam' and 'Maqamah.' Al-A'mash read 'Mathabatun' in the plural. Warqah ibn Nawfal said about the Kaaba: 'A place of return for all tribes, to which the workers of the clans rush.' 'And a sanctuary' means that people do not fight or kill around Mecca while it is safe from that. A man may encounter the killer of his father there, yet he does not provoke him, for Allah, exalted and glorified is He, has made it sacred in the hearts, and made it a sanctuary for people, birds, and wild animals. The law has specified five harmful creatures to be killed, as stated by the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him. Ibn Kathir, Abu Amr, Asim, Hamzah, and Al-Kisai read 'And take' with a kasrah on the 'kha' as a command. Anas ibn Malik and others said: The meaning of this is what was narrated: 'I agreed with my Lord on three matters: on the veil, on ﴿Perhaps your Lord, if He divorces you﴾ [At-Tahrim: 5], and I said: O Messenger of Allah, if you took from the standing place of Ibrahim a place of prayer, then this verse was revealed: ﴿And take from the standing place of Ibrahim a place of prayer.﴾ This is a command for the Ummah of Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him.' Al-Mahdawi said: It is said that this is a conjunction to His saying: 'Remember.' Thus, this is a command for the Children of Israel. Al-Rabi' ibn Anas said: This is a command for Ibrahim and his followers, as if he said: 'Indeed, I am making you a leader for the people, and take.' Al-Mahdawi, may Allah have mercy on him, mentioned that this is a conjunction to the command contained in His saying: ﴿We made the House a place of return.﴾ For the meaning is that they returned. Nafi' and Ibn 'Amir read 'And take' with a fathah on the 'kha' as a report about those who took it from the followers of Ibrahim, and this is connected to His saying: 'And when We made,' as if he said: 'And when they took.' It is said that it is connected to 'We made' without the estimation of 'when,' so it is one sentence, and with the estimation of 'when,' it is two sentences.

And there was a difference of opinion regarding "the station of Ibrahim." Ibn Abbas, Qatadah, and others said, as reported by al-Bukhari: It is the stone upon which Ibrahim stood when he was unable to lift the stones that Ismail was handing to him in the construction of the House, and his feet sank into it. And al-Rabi' ibn Anas said: It is a stone that his wife handed to him while he was washing upon it and he was riding. She brought it to him from one side, then from another side, and his feet sank into it when he relied upon it.

And a group of scholars said: The station is the Sacred Mosque. And 'Ata ibn Abi Rabah said: The station is Arafat, Muzdalifah, and the pebbles. And Ibn Abbas said: His station is all the standing places of Hajj. And Mujahid said: His station is the entire sanctuary, and "a place of prayer" is a location for prayer. This is according to the view of those who said: The station is the stone, and those who said otherwise said: "a place of prayer" is a claim based on the origin of prayer.

And His saying, the Exalted, "And We made a covenant," the covenant in the language has several categories, one of which is the command in the sense of a directive. And "that" is in the position of accusative based on the estimation of "that" and the preposition has been omitted. Sibawayh said: It means any, explained, so there is no place for it in terms of grammar.

And "purify" it was said: Its meaning is to build it and establish it upon purity and the intention of purity, so it comes like His saying: "built upon piety" [At-Tawbah: 108]. And Mujahid said: It is a command for purification from the worship of idols, and it was said: From filth and blood, and this is weak and not supported by reports. And it was said: From polytheism.

And Allah added the House to Himself as an honor for the House. This is the addition of a created being to the Creator and a possession to its owner. And "for those who perform Tawaf" its apparent meaning is the people of Tawaf, and this was said by 'Ata and others. And Ibn Jubayr said: Its meaning is for the strangers who come to Mecca.

And "the ones who are devoted" Ibn Jubayr said: They are the people of the city who reside, and 'Ata said: They are the ones who are neighbors in Mecca. And Ibn Abbas said: The ones who pray. And others said: The ones who are in seclusion.

And the term 'akuf in the language means to adhere to something and to remain upon it, as the poet said:

...................................... The Nabait adhered while playing the fanza.

So its meaning is for those who are close to the House seeking the face of Allah, the Most Great.

"And those who bow and prostrate" refers to the ones who pray, and bowing and prostration were specified in the mention because they are the closest states of the one praying to Allah, the Exalted. And every resident near the House of Allah seeks the essence of Allah, so he is not free from one of these three ranks: either he is in prayer, or in Tawaf. If he is engaged in his worldly affairs, then the state of devotion to the proximity of the House does not leave him.

And His saying, the Exalted, "And when Ibrahim said," the verse, Ibrahim, peace be upon him, prayed for his offspring and others in Mecca for safety and abundant living. And "make" is a term of command, and in the case of Allah, the Exalted, it is a desire and a prayer. And "safe" means from tyrants and oppressors, and the enemy who seeks to eradicate and the calamities that befall the land. And Mecca and its surroundings at that time were a barren land with no water or vegetation, so Allah blessed what was around it like the surrounding area, and various fruits grew in it.

It is narrated that when Allah, the Exalted, was called upon by Ibrahim, He commanded Jibril - blessings and peace be upon him - to uproot Palestine, and it is said a piece from Jordan. He circumambulated it around the House seven times and placed it in a location, and it was named the circumambulator because of that circumambulation.

There is a difference regarding when Mecca was made sacred. A group said: Allah made it sacred on the day He created the heavens and the earth. Another group said: Ibrahim made it sacred.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: The first was said by the Prophet ﷺ in his sermon on the second day of the Conquest, and the second was also said by the Prophet ﷺ. In the authentic narration from him: "O Allah, indeed Ibrahim made Mecca sacred, and I have made Medina sacred, what is between its two lava flows is sacred."

There is no contradiction between the two narrations because the first is a report of Allah's prior knowledge and decree regarding it, and the sanctity lasted from Adam, and the times of the settlement of the region are with faith. The second is a report of Ibrahim renewing its sanctity and manifesting that after it had faded.

And every statement from these two reports is good in its place. The second day of the Conquest magnified the sanctity for the believers by attributing the prohibition to Allah, the Exalted, and mentioned Ibrahim when he prohibited Medina as an example for himself. There is no doubt that the prohibition of Medina is also from Allah, the Exalted, and from His decree and prior knowledge.

And "who" is a substitute for his saying: "his people," and Ibrahim specifically mentioned the believers in his supplication.

And His saying, the Exalted: "And whoever disbelieves" - Ubayy ibn Ka'b, Ibn Ishaq, and others said: This saying is from Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, to Ibrahim. They read "So I will grant him enjoyment" with the hamzah being pronounced and the mim being opened and the ta being stressed. "Then I will compel him" with the alif being cut off and the ra being pronounced. Likewise, the seven reciters read it except for Ibn Amer, for he read "So I will grant him enjoyment" with the hamzah being pronounced and the mim being silent and the ta being lightened. Yahya ibn Wathab read "So I will grant him enjoyment" as Ibn Amer read it, "Then I will compel him" with the hamzah being broken according to the dialect of Quraysh in their saying: I do not think. Ubayy ibn Ka'b read "So we will grant him enjoyment" and "Then we will compel him" with a condition, and the answer is in "So I will grant him enjoyment."

The position of "who" is nominative as an initiator and a predicate. It is correct that its position could be accusative on the assumption of: And I will provide for whoever disbelieves, so it would not be a condition. Ibn Abbas, Mujahid, and others said: This saying is from Ibrahim ﷺ, and they read: "So I will grant him enjoyment" with the hamzah being opened and the mim being silent, "Then I will compel him" with the alif being connected and the ra being opened. It was also read with the kasrah, and the dammah is permissible in it. Ibn Muhaysin read: "Then I will compel him" with the dhad being merged into the ta.

Yazid ibn Abi Habib read: "Then I will compel him" with the ta being pronounced.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: It is as if Ibrahim, peace be upon him, prayed for the believers and against the disbelievers.

And a little of its meaning is the duration of life, for the enjoyment of this world is little. It is an adjective either for a source as if he said: a little enjoyment, or for a time as if he said: a little time, or a little duration.

'And the 'destination' is a form like 'place' from 'to become.' The root of it is 'evil.' It has been mentioned previously in 'evil is.' And I grant him its meaning: I provide him with the world and keep him in it for a short time, because he is perishing and fleeting. The root of 'provision' is sustenance. Then it was used in what pertains to the end of a person's affairs or gifts or actions. The poet said: 'I stood by a grave, strange, in a desolate place, a little provision from a beloved one who has departed.' And from this is the enjoyment of wives, and Allah compels the disbeliever to the fire as a recompense for his disbelief.