وَمَا كَانَ صَلَاتُهُمْ عِندَ ٱلْبَيْتِ إِلَّا مُكَآءً وَتَصْدِيَةً ۚ فَذُوقُوا۟ ٱلْعَذَابَ بِمَا كُنتُمْ تَكْفُرُونَ 35
Translations
And their prayer at the House [i.e., the Kaʿbah] was not except whistling and handclapping. So taste the punishment for what you disbelieved [i.e., practiced of deviations].
Transliteration
Wa mā kāna salātuhum ʿinda al-bayt illā mukāʾan wa tasdiyah. Fadhūqū al-ʿadhāb bimā kuntum takfurūn.
Tafsir (Explanation)
This ayah refers to the pre-Islamic polytheists of Makkah who performed rituals at the Kaʿbah that were mere mockery—whistling, clapping, and false gestures—rather than sincere worship of Allah. Ibn Kathir and Al-Tabari explain that their actions at the Sacred House were devoid of true devotion and Islamic submission, and they are warned to taste the punishment of the Hereafter due to their disbelief and rejection of Allah's signs.
Revelation Context
Revealed in the Medinan period during Surah Al-Anfal, which addresses the early Muslim community after the Battle of Badr. This ayah describes the spiritual state of the Makkan polytheists who outwardly performed rituals but lacked sincere faith, contrasting their empty practices with true Islamic worship.
Related Hadiths
The hadith reported by Imam Ahmad and others describes how the polytheists would circumambulate the Kaʿbah while clapping and whistling, mocking the believers' proper worship. Additionally, Surah Al-Hajj (22:27) is thematically related, describing their rejection of proper pilgrimage and worship at the Sacred House.
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah teaches that ritualistic actions performed without sincere belief and submission to Allah are merely empty gestures that incur divine displeasure; true worship requires both outward practice and inward sincerity, and those who deliberately mock or distort faith face severe consequences.
Related Ayahs
إِنَّ شَرَّ ٱلدَّوَآبِّ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ فَهُمْ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ
Indeed, the worst of living creatures in the sight of Allāh are those who have disbelieved, and they will not [ever] believe-
۞ وَإِن جَنَحُوا۟ لِلسَّلْمِ فَٱجْنَحْ لَهَا وَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلسَّمِيعُ ٱلْعَلِيمُ
And if they incline to peace, then incline to it [also] and rely upon Allāh. Indeed, it is He who is the Hearing, the Knowing.
وَأَعِدُّوا۟ لَهُم مَّا ٱسْتَطَعْتُم مِّن قُوَّةٍ وَمِن رِّبَاطِ ٱلْخَيْلِ تُرْهِبُونَ بِهِۦ عَدُوَّ ٱللَّهِ وَعَدُوَّكُمْ وَءَاخَرِينَ مِن دُونِهِمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَهُمُ ٱللَّهُ يَعْلَمُهُمْ ۚ وَمَا تُنفِقُوا۟ مِن شَىْءٍ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ يُوَفَّ إِلَيْكُمْ وَأَنتُمْ لَا تُظْلَمُونَ
And prepare against them whatever you are able of power and of steeds of war by which you may terrify the enemy of Allāh and your enemy and others besides them whom you do not know [but] whom Allāh knows. And whatever you spend in the cause of Allāh will be fully repaid to you, and you will not be wronged.
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّبِىُّ قُل لِّمَن فِىٓ أَيْدِيكُم مِّنَ ٱلْأَسْرَىٰٓ إِن يَعْلَمِ ٱللَّهُ فِى قُلُوبِكُمْ خَيْرًا يُؤْتِكُمْ خَيْرًا مِّمَّآ أُخِذَ مِنكُمْ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
O Prophet, say to whoever is in your hands of the captives, "If Allāh knows [any] good in your hearts, He will give you [something] better than what was taken from you, and He will forgive you; and Allāh is Forgiving and Merciful."