لَيْسَ عَلَيْكُمْ جُنَاحٌ أَن تَبْتَغُوا۟ فَضْلًۭا مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ ۚ فَإِذَآ أَفَضْتُم مِّنْ عَرَفَٰتٍۢ فَٱذْكُرُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ عِندَ ٱلْمَشْعَرِ ٱلْحَرَامِ ۖ وَٱذْكُرُوهُ كَمَا هَدَىٰكُمْ وَإِن كُنتُم مِّن قَبْلِهِۦ لَمِنَ ٱلضَّآلِّينَ
There is no blame upon you for seeking bounty from your Lord [during Hajj]. But when you depart from 'Arafat, remember Allah at al- Mash'ar al-Haram. And remember Him, as He has guided you, for indeed, you were before that among those astray.
Introduction
This is āyah 198 of Sūrat Al-Baqara (The Cow), the 87th sūrah in the traditional order of revelation. It was revealed in the Medinan period and sits within Juzʾ 2. Medinan verses often address community life, law, and the building of society.
This introduction is a starting point — the community and Bilal will enrich it over time.
Revelation & occasion
- Period
- Medinan
- Order revealed
- 87 of 114
- Surah
- Al-Baqara (2)
(It is no sin for you that ye seek the bounty of your Lord (by trading)�) [2:198]. Mansur ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab al-Bazzar informed us> Abu 'Amr Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Hiri> Shu'ayb ibn 'Ali al-Zarra'> 'Isa ibn Musawir> Marwan ibn Mu'awiyah al-Fazari> al-'Ala' ibn al-Musayyab> Abu Umamah al-Taymi who said: �I said to Ibn 'Umar: 'We hire our beasts to the pilgrims and walk with them, and there are some people who claim that our pilgrimage is invalid'. He said: 'Do you not chant: here we are, O Allah, here we are? Do you not go around the Ka'bah? Do you not go in between the Safa and Marwah? Do you not do this? And do you not do that?' I said: 'Indeed, we do!' Ibn 'Umar said: 'A man did ask the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, about the same thing you asked, and he could not answer him until the verse (It is no sin for you that ye seek the bounty of your Lord (by trading)�) was revealed. When this verse was revealed, he called the man and recited it to him. He said: you are the real pilgrims' �. Abu Bakr al-Tamimi informed us> 'Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Khushnam> Abu Yahya al-Razi> Sahl ibn 'Uthman> Yahya ibn Abi Za'idah> Ibn Jurayj> 'Amr ibn Dinar> Ibn 'Abbas who said: �Dhu'l-Majaz and 'Ukaz used to be places of trade in the pre-Islamic era. It is as if people disliked this to be so upon the advent of Islam, that is until the verse (It is no sin for you that ye seek the bounty of your Lord (by trading)�) was revealed regarding the season of Pilgrimage�. Mujahid also related that Ibn 'Abbas said: �People used to avoid trade and buying and selling during the Pilgrimage. They used to say: 'These are days for the remembrance of Allah, glorious and exalted is He'. And so Allah revealed (It is no sin for you that ye seek the bounty of your Lord (by trading)�), meaning: do engage in trade�.
Tafsir
Hafiz Ibn Kathir
Chains of transmission
Oral — isnād
- ~610–632 CERevelation & memorisation
Received by the Prophet ﷺ and preserved by the ḥuffāẓ (memorisers) among the Companions.
- 1st century AHMutawātir transmissionawaiting curation
Carried by mass-transmission through the generations of qurrāʾ.
- TodayLiving chainsawaiting curation
Continuous ijāzah chains link reciters today back to the Prophet ﷺ.
Verified isnād chains for this āyah will be added by curators.
Written — the manuscript record
- ~650 CEʿUthmānic codicesawaiting curation
The standardised muṣḥaf sent to the great cities (e.g. the Topkapı and Samarqand codices).
- 8th–10th c.Early Ḥijāzī & Kūfic foliosawaiting curation
Surviving leaves in Birmingham, Sanaa, Paris (BnF) and beyond.
- Modern printModern printawaiting curation
The 1924 Cairo edition → today: the standard printed muṣḥaf used worldwide.
A curated chain of manuscript images for this exact āyah — roughly one per century — is coming. Help us source and verify them.
And now — what do you think?
The text, its history and the classical commentary are laid out above. Share your own understanding, ask a question, or reason with others.
Community resources
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