(O Children of Adam! Look to your adornment at every place of worship…) [7:31].
Sa‘id ibn Muhammad al-‘Adl informed us> Abu ‘Amr ibn Hamdan> al-Hasan ibn Sufyan> al-Hasan ibn Hammad al-Warraq> Abu Yahya al-Himmani> Nasr ibn al-Hasan al-Haddad> ‘Ikrimah> Ibn ‘Abbas who said: “Some of the Bedouins used to circumambulate the Sacred House completely naked to the extent that their women circumambulated the House completely naked except for straps — like the straps placed on the faces of donkeys to protect them from flies — placed around their lower parts, reciting: ‘Today some or all of it will show/And whatever appears of it, I do not make it lawful’. Allah, exalted is He, therefore, revealed to His Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace: (O Children of Adam! Look to your adornment at every place of worship…) and so, they were commanded to wear clothes”.
‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Ahmad al-‘Attar informed us> Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Hafiz> Muhammad ibn Ya‘qub al-Ma‘qili> Ibrahim ibn Marzuq> Abu Dawud al-Tayalisi> Shu‘bah> Salamah ibn Kuhayl> Muslim al-Batin> Sa‘id ibn Jubayr> Ibn ‘Abbas who said: “In the pre-Islamic period, women used to go round the Sacred House completely naked, except for a rag around their private parts, reciting:
Today some or all of it will show
And whatever appears of it, I do not make it lawful.
And so this verse (Look to your adornment at every place of worship…) was revealed; as was revealed (Say: Who hath forbidden the adornment of Allah which He hath brought forth for His bondmen…) [7:32-33]”. Narrated by Muslim from Bundar from Ghundar from Shu‘bah.
Al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Farisi informed us> Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn Hamdun> Ahmad ibn al-Hasan al-Hafiz> Muhammad ibn Yahya> Isma‘il ibn Uways> his brother> Sulayman ibn Bilal> Muhammad ibn Abi ‘Atiq> Ibn Shihab> Abu Salamah ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman who said: “It was the norm according to the religion which they followed that, when they went to pilgrimage and returned from Mina, none of them was allowed to go round the House with the clothes which they wore. And so, whoever wanted to go round the House had to undress and put his clothes aside until after circumambulation. This act was supposed to display more piety from the person who did it. Allah, exalted is He, then revealed about them (O Children of Adam! Look to your adornment at every place of worship…) up to His words (for people who have knowledge) [7:32]. This was revealed about those who go round the Sacred House naked”.
Said al-Kalbi: “During the days of pilgrimage, people of the pre-Islamic period ate very little and refrained from fats as a sign of their glorification of pilgrimage. The Muslims said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, we have a better right to do that’, and as a result, Allah, exalted is He, revealed (and eat) meat and fats (and drink)”.
Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi , trans. Mokrane Guezzou