Al-Qur'an Surah Al-Baqarah Verse 189

Mufti Taqi Usmani

They ask you about the new moons. Say: They are indicative of time for the people, and of the Hajj. It is not righteousness that you come into your houses from their backs, but righteousness is that one fears Allah. So come into houses through their doors; and fear Allah so that you may be successful.

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

They ask you ˹O Prophet˺ about the phases of the moon. Say, “They are a means for people to determine time and pilgrimage.” Righteousness is not in entering your houses from the back doors.[[ Before Islam, there was a superstitious practice for pilgrims to enter their homes through the back door upon returning from the pilgrimage. The verse suggests that being devoted to Allah wholeheartedly is more important than blindly following old traditions. ]] Rather, righteousness is to be mindful ˹of Allah˺. So enter your homes through their ˹proper˺ doors, and be mindful of Allah so you may be successful.

Ruwwad Translation Center

They ask you about the phases of the moon. Say, “They are a means for people to determine time and pilgrimage.” It is not righteousness to enter the houses from the rear [in pilgrimage], but righteousness is to fear Allah. So enter the houses through their doors, and fear Allah so that you may succeed.

A. J. Arberry

They will question thee concerning the new moons. Say: 'They are appointed times for the people, and the Pilgrimage.' It is not piety to come to the houses from the backs of them; but piety is to be godfearing; so come to the houses by their doors, and fear God; haply so you will prosper.

Abdul Haleem

They ask you [Prophet] about crescent moons. Say, ‘They show the times appointed for people, and for the pilgrimage.’ Goodness does not consist of entering houses by the back [door]; the truly good person is the one who is mindful of God. So enter your houses by their [main] doors and be mindful of God so that you may prosper.

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

They ask thee of new moons. Say thou: they are time-marks to mankind and for pilgrimage. And it is not piety that ye enter your houses by the backs thereof, but Piety is of him who feareth God; so enter the houses by the doors thereof, and fear Allah that haply ye may thrive.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

They ask thee concerning the New Moons. Say; They are but signs to mark fixed periods of time in (the affairs of) men, and for Pilgrimage. It is no virtue if ye enter your houses from the back; It is virtue if ye fear Allah. Enter houses through the proper doors; And fear Allah; That ye may prosper.

Abul Ala Maududi

They ask you about the phases of the moon. Say, "These are signs for the people to reckon dates and fix the periods for hajj." Also tell them, "It is no virtue to enter your houses from their backs during the Hajj days); real virtue is that one should refrain from incurring the displeasure of Allah; so enter your houses by their proper doors. and fear Allah so that you may gain (true) success.

Ahmed Ali

They ask you of the new moons. Say: "These are periods set for men (to reckon) time, and for pilgrimage." Piety does not lie in entering the house through the back door, for the pious man is he who follows the straight path. Enter the house through the main gate, and obey God. You may haply find success.

Ahmed Raza Khan

They ask you, (O dear Prophet Mohammed – peace and blessings be upon him), regarding the crescents; say, “They are indicators of time for mankind and for Hajj (the pilgrimage)”; and it is not a virtue at all that you enter the houses by demolishing their back portions, but in reality virtue is piety; and enter the houses using their gates – and keep fearing Allah, hoping that you achieve success.

Ali Quli Qarai

They question you concerning the new moons. Say, ‘They are timekeeping signs for the people and [for the sake of] hajj.’ It is not piety that you enter houses from their rear; rather, piety is [personified by] one who is Godwary, and enter houses from their doors and be wary of Allah, so that you may be felicitous.

Ali Ünal

They ask you (O Messenger) about the new moons (because of the month of Ramadan). Say: "They are appointed times (markers) for the people (to determine time periods) and for the Pilgrimage." (Do not link them to superstitions and superstitious behavior like entering dwellings by the back rather than the front.) It is not virtue that you enter dwellings from the backs of them, but virtue is (the state of) one who (truly believing in God) strives to attain righteousness and piety (by carrying out His commandments and refraining from His prohibitions). So come to dwellings (in the normal way) by their doors. (Do everything according to the rule and establish relations with your leader and among yourselves in proper terms.) And strive to obey God in due reverence for Him and piety so that you may prosper.

Amatul Rahman Omar

They ask you about the lunar months. Say, `They are appointed periods of time for (general convenience of) people and for determining the time of Pilgrimage. And it is no virtue that you come into the houses from the backs of them but the true virtue is his who guards against evils. So (instead of fostering superstitious habits) you should rather enter the houses from their proper doors and take Allâh as a shield so that you may be successful.

English Literal

They ask/question you about the crescents . Say: "It is appointed times to the people, and the pilgrimage , and the righteousness is not that you come to the houses/homes from its backs, and but the righteousness (is) who feared and obeyed (God), and came (to) the houses/homes from its doors/entrances. And fear and obey God, maybe you succeed/win."

Faridul Haque

They ask you, (O dear Prophet Mohammed - peace and blessings be upon him), regarding the crescents; say, "They are indicators of time for mankind and for Hajj (the pilgrimage)"; and it is not a virtue at all that you enter the houses by demolishing their back portions, but in reality virtue is piety; and enter the houses using their gates - and keep fearing Allah, hoping that you achieve success.

Hamid S. Aziz

They will ask you about the New Moon; say, "They are indications of time for men and for the pilgrimage." And it is not righteousness that you should enter into your houses from behind them (in superstition), but righteous is he who fears (Allah); so enter into your houses by the proper doors and fear Allah that per chance (or possibly) you may prosper.

Hilali & Khan

They ask you (O Muhammad SAW) about the new moons. Say: These are signs to mark fixed periods of time for mankind and for the pilgrimage. It is not Al-Birr (piety, righteousness, etc.) that you enter the houses from the back but Al-Birr (is the quality of the one) who fears Allah. So enter houses through their proper doors, and fear Allah that you may be successful.

Maulana Mohammad Ali

They ask thee of the new moons. Say: They are times appointed for men, and (for) the pilgrimage. And it is not righteousness that you enter the houses by their backs, but he is righteous who keeps his duty. And go into the houses by their doors; and keep your duty to Allah, that you may be successful.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

They ask you concerning the new moon. Say: They are times appointed for (the benefit of) men, and (for) the pilgrimage; and it is not righteousness that you should enter the houses at their backs, but righteousness is this that one should guard (against evil); and go into the houses by their doors and be careful (of your duty) to Allah, that you may be successful.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

They ask thee, (O Muhammad), of new moons, say: They are fixed seasons for mankind and for the pilgrimage. It is not righteousness that ye go to houses by the backs thereof (as do the idolaters at certain seasons), but the righteous man is he who wardeth off (evil). So go to houses by the gates thereof, and observe your duty to Allah, that ye may be successful.

Muhammad Sarwar

(Muhammad), they ask you about the different phases of the moon. Tell them that they are there to indicate to people the phases of time and the pilgrimage season. It is not a righteous act to enter houses from the back. Righteousness is to be pious and enter the houses from the front door. Have fear of God so that perhaps you will have lasting happiness.

Qaribullah & Darwish

They question you about the crescents. Say: 'They are times fixed for people and for the pilgrimage' Righteousness does not consist in entering dwellings from the back. But righteousness is he who wardsoff (sin). Enter dwellings by their doors and fear Allah, so that you will prosper.

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

They ask you (O Muhammad) about the crescents. Say: "These are signs to mark fixed periods of time for mankind and for the pilgrimage." It is not Al-Birr (piety, righteousness, etc.) that you enter the houses from the back, but Al-Birr is from Taqwa. So enter houses through their proper doors, and have Taqwa of Allah that you may be successful.

Wahiduddin Khan

They ask you about the phases of the moon. Say, "They are a means of determining time for the regulation of people's affairs and for the pilgrimage." Piety does not consist in entering your houses from the rear. Indeed, one who guards himself against evil out of fear of God is the truly righteous one. Enter your houses by their doors and be mindful of God, so that you may prosper.

Talal Itani

They ask you about the crescents. Say, “They are timetables for people, and for the Hajj.” It is not virtuous that you approach homes from their backs, but virtue is to be pious. So approach homes from their doors, and observe God, that you may succeed.

Tafsir jalalayn

They will ask you, O Muhammad (s), about the new moons (ahilla, plural of hill); `Why do they seem very thin, and then wax until they are full of light, and then wane again as at the first, and are not always the same, in the way that the sun is?' Say, to them; `They are appointed times (mawqt is the plural of mqt) for the people, for them to know the times for sowing the land, for business, for their women's waiting periods, their fast and their breaking it, and the Pilgrimage' (wa'l-hajji and the Pilgrimage', is a supplement to li'l-nsi, `for the people'), that is to say, [appointed times] by which its season is known, for if they [the new moons] always looked the same, none of these things could be known. It is not piety to come to the houses from their backs, in [your] state of pilgrimage inviolability (ihrm), when you would bore holes in them to enter them and then exit, disregarding their doors; they used to do this and claim that it was out of piety; but piety is to fear, God by not contravening His commands; so come to the houses by their doors, when in a state of pilgrimage inviolability, and fear God, that you may prosper, [that you may] triumph.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

The Crescent Moons

Allah says;

يَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ الاهِلَّةِ قُلْ هِيَ مَوَاقِيتُ لِلنَّاسِ وَالْحَجِّ

They ask you (O Muhammad) about the crescents. Say;"These are signs to mark fixed periods of time for mankind and for the pilgrimage."

Al-Awfi related that Ibn Abbas said,

"The people asked Allah's Messenger about the crescent moons. Thereafter, this Ayah was revealed, so that they mark their acts of worship, the Iddah (the period of time a divorced woman or a widow is required to wait before remarrying) of their women and the time of their Hajj (pilgrimage to Makkah)."

Abdur-Razzaq reported that Ibn Umar narrated that Allah's Messenger said;

جَعَلَ اللهُ الاَْهِلَّةَ مَوَاقِيتَ لِلنَّاسِ فَصُومُوا لِرُوْيَتِهِ وَأَفْطِرُوا لِرُوْيَتِهِ فَإِنْ غُمَّ عَلَيْكُمْ فَعُدُّوا ثَلَثِينَ يَوْمًا

Allah has made the crescents signs to mark fixed periods of time for mankind. Hence, fast on seeing it (the crescent for Ramadan) and break the fast on seeing it (the crescent for Shawwal). If it (the crescent) was obscure to you then count thirty days (mark that month as thirty days).

This Hadith was also collected by Al-Hakim in his Mustadrak, and he said, "The chain is Sahih, and they (Al-Bukhari and Muslim) did not recorded it."
Righteousness comes from Taqwa

Allah said;

وَلَيْسَ الْبِرُّ بِأَنْ تَأْتُوْاْ الْبُيُوتَ مِن ظُهُورِهَا وَلَـكِنَّ الْبِرَّ مَنِ اتَّقَى وَأْتُواْ الْبُيُوتَ مِنْ أَبْوَابِهَا

It is not Al-Birr (piety, righteousness, etc.) that you enter the houses from the back, but Al-Birr is from Taqwa. So enter houses through their proper doors.

Al-Bukhari recorded that Al-Bara said,

"During the time of Jahiliyyah, they used to enter the house from the back upon assuming the Ihram. Thereafter, Allah revealed (the following Ayah;
وَلَيْسَ الْبِرُّ بِأَنْ تَأْتُوْاْ الْبُيُوتَ مِن ظُهُورِهَا وَلَـكِنَّ الْبِرَّ مَنِ اتَّقَى وَأْتُواْ الْبُيُوتَ مِنْ أَبْوَابِهَا
(It is not Al-Birr (piety, righteousness, etc.) that you enter the houses from the back but Al-Birr is from Taqwa. So enter houses through their proper doors)."

Abu Dawud At-Tayalisi recorded the same Hadith from Al-Bara but with the wording;

"The Ansar used to enter their houses from the back when returning from a journey. Thereafter, this Ayah (2;189 above) was revealed..."

Al-Hasan said,

"When some people during the time of Jahiliyyah would leave home to travel, and then decide not to travel, they would not enter the house from its door. Rather, they would climb over the back wall. Allah the Exalted said;
وَلَيْسَ الْبِرُّ بِأَنْ تَأْتُوْاْ الْبُيُوتَ مِن ظُهُورِهَا
(It is not Al-Birr (piety, righteousness) that you enter the houses from the back)."

Allah's statement;

وَاتَّقُواْ اللّهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ


and have Taqwa of Allah that you may be successful.

Have Taqwa of Allah, means to do what He has commanded you and refrain from what He has forbidden for you,
لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ
(that you may be successful), tomorrow when you stand before Him and He thus rewards you perfectly