Al Ḥajj

ذَلِكَ وَمَن يُعَظّـِمْ شَعَآئِرَ اللَّهِ فَإِنَّهَا مِن تَقْوَي الْقُلُوبِ

32. “That (is the command); and whoever holds in honour the rites of Allah, verily it is (the reflection) of the piety of the hearts.”

In other verses the Qur’an has explicitly considered two rites of the rites of Hajj among the symbols of Allah. One is Safa and Marwah, and the other is the camel of sacrifice, but the symbols of Allah are not confined to these two, because all the processional worships, such as Friday prayer, congregation prayer, and the whole rites of Hajj are symbols of Allah. Virtue is of the spiritual states, the existence of which can be recognized by some effects and signs, since there is not so much difference between sin and reward in the apparent affairs.

For instance, often apparently the sincere prayer and hypocritical prayer seem the same; and the thing which causes one person to be valuable and the other worthless, is that spirit and the innate of the matter which relate to the hearts. Thus, the interior piety must have some exterior effects, too. Whoever is heedless to slogans, in fact, his heartily piety is little, and whoever magnifies the slogans of Allah and respects the signs of Divine religion and the flags of His obedience, this matter in him originates from ‘the piety of the hearts’.

The verse says:

The Qur’anic word /ša‘a’ir/ is the plural form of /ša‘irah/ which means (symbol). Thus, the phrase /ša‘a’ir allah/ means the symbols of Allah which consist of the tittles of the Divine religion, general programs, and whatever is outstanding at the first facing with this religion, among which are the rites of Hajj which cause man to remember Allah (s.w.t.). No doubt, the rites of Hajj are among the slogans that had been meant in this holy verse, specially the act of offering sacrifice which has explicitly been counted as a part of slogans in verse 36 of the current Surah.

But it is clear that the generality of the concept of the verse due to all Islamic symbols are still valid, and there is no evidence for the specialization of it to only sacrifice or the whole rites of Hajj, in particular that the Qur’an, concerning the sacrifice of Hajj with the help of /min/, which is used for distinction, reiterates that the sacrifice is one of those symbols, as Surah Al-Baqarah, No. 2, verse 158, indicates that Safa and Marwah are from symbols of Allah (s.w.t.), where it says:

Shortly speaking, all of what have been recorded in the religious programs and cause man to remember Allah and His religion are symbols of Allah and dignifying them is the sign of piety of the hearts. This matter is also notable that the purpose of ‘to dignify’, according to what some of the commentators have said, is not the physical bigness of the sacrifice and the like, but the reality of its veneration is meant which can promote the rank and situation of these divine symbols in the thoughts and minds, outwardly and inwardly, and fulfil what is fit for their respect and glorification.

The relation of this deed with the piety of the hearts is also clear, because, besides that glorification is a part of what we intend, it happens frequently that ‘the pretending persons’ or hypocrites pretend to the glorification of the symbols, but since it does not originate from the piety of their hearts, it is worthless. The true glorification belongs to those who possess the piety of the hearts, and we know that piety and the soul of virtuousness and responsibility in the face of the Divine commandments is something that the center of which is heart, and from it is that the body is affected.

Therefore, it can be said that the reverence and glorification of the Divine symbols are from the signs of the piety of the hearts. A tradition from the Prophet of Islam (S) denotes that once he pointed to his chest and said:

“The reality of piety is here.”