Surah Hajj >> Currently viewing Surah Hajj Ayat 37 (22:37)

Surah Hajj Ayat 37 in Arabic Text

لَن يَنَالَ ٱللَّهَ لُحُومُهَا وَلَا دِمَآؤُهَا وَلَٰكِن يَنَالُهُ ٱلتَّقۡوَىٰ مِنكُمۡۚ كَذَٰلِكَ سَخَّرَهَا لَكُمۡ لِتُكَبِّرُواْ ٱللَّهَ عَلَىٰ مَا هَدَىٰكُمۡۗ وَبَشِّرِ ٱلۡمُحۡسِنِينَ
Lany yanaalal laaha luhoo muhaa wa laa dimaaa’uhaa wa laakiny yanaaluhut taqwaa minkum; kazaalika sakhkharhaa lakum litukabbirul laaha ‘alaa ma hadaakum; wa bashshirul muhsineen

English Translation

Here you can read various translations of verse 37

Sahih International
Their meat will not reach Allah, nor will their blood, but what reaches Him is piety from you. Thus have We subjected them to you that you may glorify Allah for that [to] which He has guided you; and give good tidings to the doers of good.

Yusuf Ali
It is not their meat nor their blood, that reaches Allah: it is your piety that reaches Him: He has thus made them subject to you, that ye may glorify Allah for His Guidance to you and proclaim the good news to all who do right.

Abul Ala Maududi
Neither their flesh reaches Allah nor their blood; it is your piety that reaches Him. He has subjected these animals (to you) that you may magnify Allah for the guidance He has bestowed upon you. Give glad tidings, (O Prophet), to those who do good.

Muhsin Khan
It is neither their meat nor their blood that reaches Allah, but it is piety from you that reaches Him. Thus have We made them subject to you that you may magnify Allah for His Guidance to you. And give glad tidings (O Muhammad SAW) to the Muhsinun (doers of good).

Pickthall
Their flesh and their food reach not Allah, but the devotion from you reacheth Him. Thus have We made them subject unto you that ye may magnify Allah that He hath guided you. And give good tidings (O Muhammad) to the good.

Dr. Ghali
Their meats will never attain pertain to Allah, nor their blood; (Literally: bloods) but piety from you will reach Him. Thus He has subjected them to you, that you may magnify Allah for that He has guided you. And give good tidings to the fair-doers.

Abdel Haleem
It is neither their meat nor their blood that reaches God but your piety. He has subjected them to you in this way so that you may glorify God for having guided you. Give good news to those who do good:

Muhammad Junagarhi
اللہ تعالیٰ کو قربانیوں کے گوشت نہیں پہنچتے نہ اس کے خون بلکہ اسے تو تمہارے دل کی پرہیزگاری پہنچتی ہے۔ اسی طرح اللہ نے ان جانوروں کو تمہارے مطیع کر دیا ہے کہ تم اس کی رہنمائی کے شکریئے میں اس کی بڑائیاں بیان کرو، اور نیک لوگوں کو خوشخبری سنا دیجئے!

Quran 22 Verse 37 Explanation

For those looking for commentary to help with the understanding of Surah Hajj ayat 37, we’ve provided two Tafseer works below. The first is the tafseer of Abul Ala Maududi, the second is of Ibn Kathir.

Ala-Maududi

(22:37) Neither their flesh reaches Allah nor their blood; it is your piety that reaches Him.[73] He has subjected these animals (to you) that you may magnify Allah for the guidance He has bestowed upon you. Give glad tidings,[74] (O Prophet), to those who do good.


73. This prescribes a very important condition for the sacrifice made in the worship of Allah. A sacrifice is acceptable to Allah only if it is accompanied by piety and sincerity. Though sacrifice is a symbol of Allah, yet it has been made plain that it is accepted only if it is accompanied by piety, saying: “Neither their meat that reaches Allah nor their blood, but what reaches Him is the piety from you”. This was also meant to condemn the ritual of the days of ignorance, when the Arabs took the flesh to the Kabah and smeared its walls with the blood of the sacrificed animal.

74. “That you may glorify Allah” at the time of sacrifice verbally also in order to acknowledge that the animals really belong to Allah and to no one else. One of the sentences uttered at the time of sacrifice is Allahumma minka wa laka (O Allah, this animal is Thine and is presented to Thee).

It should be noted that the command of sacrifice as contained in (Surah Al-Hajj, ayat 36-37) is not for the pilgrims alone and that the performance of sacrifice is not confined to Makkah on the occasion of Hajj. It is a general command for all those Muslims who are well off. They have been enjoined to be grateful to Allah because He has subjected these animals for the good of all human beings. Therefore they are required to sacrifice the animals during these days so that they may spiritually join those who go to Makkah to perform Hajj.

There are many authentic traditions to the effect that the Prophet (peace be upon him) made sacrifice on this occasion, while he was personally at Al-Madinah.

(1) The one who does not perform sacrifice even though he can, should not join us in the Eid Prayer. (Musnad Ahmad, Ibn Majah).

(2) According to a tradition reported by Ibn Umar, the Prophet (peace be upon him) dwelt at Al-Madinah for ten years and performed sacrifice every year. (Tirmizi).

(3) According to Anas, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said:

The one who sacrificed an animal before the Eid Prayer, should offer another sacrifice; but the one who sacrificed his animal after the Eid Prayer, did the right thing and followed the way of the Muslims. (Bukhari).

It this connection, it is note-worthy that no Eid Prayer is held on the tenth of Zil-Hajj in Makkah: therefore the injunction was meant for all Muslims and not only for those performing Hajj at Makkah.

Thus, it is clear that the sacrifice on the occasion of Eid which is observed in the entire Muslim world is a Sunnah of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and has been enjoined by him. The only dispute is whether it is obligatory in nature or only a Sunnah. Ibrahim Nakhai, Imams Abu Hanifah, Malik, Muhammad and, according to a tradition, Imam Abu Yusuf too, are of the opinion that it is obligatory in nature. On the other hand, Imams Shafai and Ahmad bin Hanbal regard it only as a Sunnah of the Muslims, and Sufyan Thauri has also agreed with them, saying that there will be no harm if a person does not offer a sacrifice. It is, however, an irony that some of the learned Muslims of our time, who follow neither the Quran nor the Sunnah, and are only guided by personal whims, have declared that if there is a consensus of opinion of the Muslims, they can give up the practice of sacrifice on the occasion of Eid.

Ibn-Kathir

37. It is neither their meat nor their blood that reaches Allah, but it is Taqwa from you that reaches Him. Thus have We made them subject to you that you may proclaim Allah’s greatness for His guidance to you. And give glad tidings to the doers of good.


The Goal of the Udhiyyah (Sacrifice) according to Allah is the Sincerity and Taqwa of His Servant

Allah says: this sacrifice is prescribed for you so that you will remember Him at the time of slaughter, for He is the Creator and Provider. Nothing of its flesh or blood reaches Him, for He has no need of anything other than Himself. During the time of Jahiliyyah, when they offered sacrifices to their gods, they would put some of the meat of their sacrifices on their idols, and sprinkle the blood over them. But Allah says:

﴿لَن يَنَالَ اللَّهَ لُحُومُهَا وَلاَ دِمَآؤُهَا﴾

(It is neither their meat nor their blood that reaches Allah,) Ibn Abi Hatim recorded that Ibn Jurayj said, “The people of the Jahiliyyah used to put the meat of their sacrifices and sprinkle the blood on the House, and the Companions of the Messenger of Allah said, “We have more right to do that.” Then Allah revealed the words:

﴿لَن يَنَالَ اللَّهَ لُحُومُهَا وَلاَ دِمَآؤُهَا وَلَـكِن يَنَالُهُ التَّقْوَى مِنكُمْ﴾

(It is neither their meat nor their blood that reaches Allah, but it is Taqwa from you that reaches Him.) That is what He will accept and reward for, as mentioned in the Sahih,

«إِنَّ اللهَ لَا يَنْظُرُ إِلَى صُوَرِكُمْ وَلَا إِلَى أَلْوَانِكُمْ، وَلَكِنْ يَنْظُرُ إِلَى قُلُوبِكُمْ وَأَعْمَالِكُم»

(Allah does not look to your appearance or your colors, but He looks to your hearts and deeds.) And in the Hadith; (Indeed charity falls in the Hand of Ar-Rahman before it falls in the hand of the one asking.)

﴿كَذَلِكَ سَخَّرَهَا لَكُمْ﴾

(Thus have We made them subject to you) meaning, `for this purpose We have subjugated the Budn for you,’

﴿لِتُكَبِّرُواْ اللَّهَ عَلَى مَا هَدَاكُمْ﴾

(that you may proclaim Allah’s greatness for His guidance to you.) means, that you may glorify Him for guiding you to His religion and His way which He loves and is pleased with, and has forbidden you to do all that He hates and rejects.

﴿وَبَشِّرِ الْمُحْسِنِينَ﴾

(And give glad tidings to the doers of good.) means, `give good news, O Muhammad, to those who do good,’ i.e., whose deeds are good and who remain within the limits prescribed by Allah, who follow that which has been prescribed for them, who believe in the Messenger and follow that which he has conveyed from his Lord.

(Note) The Udhiyyah is Sunnah Mustahabbah One animal is sufficient on behalf of all the members of one household. Ibn `Umar said, “The Messenger of Allah continued to offer sacrifice for ten years.” This was recorded by At-Tirmidhi. Abu Ayyub said: “At the time of the Messenger of Allah , a man would sacrifice a sheep on behalf of himself and all the members of his household, and they would eat from it and feed others, until the people started boasting ﴿by sacrificing more than one﴾ and things reached the stage that you see now.” This was recorded by At-Tirmidhi, who graded it Sahih, and by Ibn Majah. `Abdullah bin Hisham used to sacrifice one sheep on behalf of his entire family; this was recorded by Al-Bukhari. Concerning how old the sacrificial animal should be, Muslim recorded from Jabir that the Messenger of Allah said:

«لَا تَذْبَحُوا إِلَّا مُسِنَّةً، إِلَّا أَنْ تَعْسُرَ عَلَيْكُمْ فَتَذْبَحُوا جَذَعَةً مِنَ الضَّأْن»

(Do not sacrifice any but mature animals, and if that is not possible, then sacrifice a young sheep.)

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surah Al-Hajj ayat 37
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