Surah Al-Baqara (2) — Ayah 217

(Ayah 217) ➊ { ”قِتَالٍ فِيْهِ“ } is a بدل اشتمال (substitutive clause) from { ”الشَّهْرِ الْحَرَامِ“ }. {”قِتَالٌ“} is the subject and {”كَبِيْرٌ“} is the predicate. {”صَدٌّ عَنْ سَبِيْلِ اللّٰهِ“} is the subject, {” كُفْرٌۢ بِهٖ “} and {”اِخْرَاجُ اَهْلِهٖ “} are conjoined to it, and the predicate for all of them is {”اَكْبَرُ عِنْدَ اللّٰهِ“}, and {”الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ“} is conjoined to {”سَبِيْلِ اللّٰهِ“}, and in {”كُفْرٌۢ بِهٖ“} the pronoun in {”بِهٖ“} refers back to the word {”اللّٰهِ“} mentioned in {”سَبِيْلِ اللّٰهِ“}. And the wisdom in mentioning {”كُفْرٌۢ بِهٖ“} before {”الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ “} is that after mentioning the prevention from the way of Allah (Islam), disbelief in Allah is a greater crime than preventing from Masjid al-Haram, so it was mentioned first.

➋ Dhu al-Qa'dah, Dhu al-Hijjah, Muharram, and Rajab—these four months are sacred months. Even in the era of ignorance, looting and bloodshed were considered forbidden in them. The incident is that in 2 AH, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sent a detachment of the army under the leadership of Abdullah bin Jahsh (may Allah be pleased with him) for jihad. They attacked a caravan of the disbelievers, in which one of them was killed and some were captured along with their goods and brought to Madinah. This incident occurred in Rajab, 2 AH. The disbelievers taunted the Muslims that you have broken the sanctity by fighting in Rajab, so this verse was revealed that fighting in the sacred month is indeed a great sin, but you are committing even greater sins (which are: preventing from the way of Allah, i.e., Islam, disbelief in Allah, preventing from Masjid al-Haram, expelling the Companions and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) from Masjid al-Haram, i.e., the Haram of Makkah, and besides this, fitnah, i.e., subjecting Muslims to torture to force them into disbelief and polytheism, is an even greater crime than killing). Therefore, if the Muslims have drawn the sword, they are not blameworthy. (Ibn Kathir, Shawkani)

➌ The prohibition of fighting in the sacred months, according to most jurists, has been abrogated by the verse of Surah Tawbah: «فَاقْتُلُوا الْمُشْرِكِيْنَ حَيْثُ وَجَدْتُّمُوْهُمْ » [التوبۃ : ۵] (al-Jassas), but in the same Surah Tawbah, the verse: «اِنَّ عِدَّةَ الشُّهُوْرِ عِنْدَ اللّٰهِ اثْنَا عَشَرَ شَهْرًا » [ التوبۃ : ۳۶] is present: «مِنْهَاۤ اَرْبَعَةٌ حُرُمٌ» "Of these, four months are sacred." Then it is said: «فَلَا تَظْلِمُوْا فِيْهِنَّ اَنْفُسَكُمْ وَ قَاتِلُوا الْمُشْرِكِيْنَ كَآفَّةً كَمَا يُقَاتِلُوْنَكُمْ كَآفَّةً» [ التوبۃ : ۳۶] "So do not wrong yourselves in them, and fight the disbelievers in all situations, just as they fight you in all situations." And «اَلشَّهْرُ الْحَرَامُ بِالشَّهْرِ الْحَرَامِ» [ البقرۃ : ۱۹۴] "The sacred month is for the sacred month," from this it is understood that the reason for the permission to fight in the sacred months is that the disbelievers are always ready to fight the Muslims even in these months, so there is no restriction on Muslims not to fight in these months. If, in reality, the disbelievers observe the sanctity of these months, then the Muslims should also observe it. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) also mentioned the sanctity of these months in the sermon of the last Hajj. This is the saying of Ata and many scholars, and this appears to be correct.

➍ { وَ الْفِتْنَةُ اَكْبَرُ مِنَ الْقَتْلِ :} For its explanation, see verse: «وَ الْفِتْنَةُ اَشَدُّ مِنَ الْقَتْلِ» [ البقرۃ : ۱۹۱]

➎ {” اِنِ اسْتَطَاعُوْا:“} This is the glad tidings that the disbelievers, despite numerous battles, will never succeed in their objective of turning all Muslims away from the religion. There will always be some people upholding Islam who will continue to confront them. See the last verses of Surah al-Fath and Surah al-Saff, verses (8, 9).

➏ { حَبِطَتْ اَعْمَالُهُمْ :} From this verse, it is understood that if a person (Allah forbid) becomes an apostate and dies in that state, all his deeds are nullified, but if he sincerely repents and accepts Islam again, then his deeds before apostasy are not lost, rather he will be rewarded for them as well. (Fath al-Bayan)

If a person becomes an apostate and does not repent, his punishment is death, which is the result of their deeds being nullified in this world according to «حَبِطَتْ اَعْمَالُهُمْ فِي الدُّنْيَا». The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: [ مَنْ بَدَّلَ دِیْنَہُ فَاقْتُلُوْہُ] [ بخاری، الجہاد، والسیر، باب لا یعذب بعذاب اللہ : ۳۰۱۷] "Whoever changes his religion (Islam), kill him." The sanctity of life, wealth, and honor gained in this world due to Islam, funeral rites after death, burial in the Muslim graveyard, the marriage bond with a Muslim wife, inheritance—in short, all the rights of Muslims are terminated due to apostasy.

217. 1 Rajab, Dhu al-Qa'dah, Dhu al-Hijjah, and Muharram. These four months were also considered sacred in the time of ignorance, during which fighting and conflict were disliked. Islam also maintained their sanctity. In the time of the Prophet ﷺ, a disbeliever was killed by a Muslim military detachment in the month of Rajab, and some disbelievers were taken captive. The Muslims were not aware that Rajab had begun. The disbelievers taunted the Muslims, saying, "Look, they do not even respect the sanctity of the sacred month." Upon this, this verse was revealed, and it was said that indeed, fighting in the sacred month is a great sin, but those who cry out for sanctity do not see their own actions. They themselves are guilty of even greater crimes; they prevent people from the path of Allah and from al-Masjid al-Haram, and they force Muslims to leave from there. Moreover, disbelief and polytheism themselves are greater sins than killing. Therefore, if a Muslim happened to kill someone in the sacred month, so what? Instead of making a hue and cry over this, they should also look at their own black record.

217. 2 When these people are not going to desist from their mischief, conspiracies, and attempts to make you apostatize, then why do you refrain from fighting them because of the sacred month?

217. 3 Whoever turns away from the religion of Islam, that is, becomes an apostate (if he does not repent), his worldly punishment is death, as is mentioned in the hadith, and in this verse his punishment in the Hereafter is being stated. From this, it is understood that righteous deeds performed in the state of faith will also be nullified due to disbelief, and just as accepting faith causes a person's previous sins to be forgiven, in the same way, disbelief destroys all good deeds. However, from the words of the Quran, it is clear that the nullification of deeds will only occur if death comes upon disbelief; if he repents before death, then this will not happen, meaning the repentance of the apostate is accepted.

217. They ask you about fighting in the sacred month. Say, "Fighting in it is a grave sin." But to prevent others from the way of Allah [286], to disbelieve in Him, to prevent access to Al-Masjid Al-Haram, and to expel its people from it are even greater sins in the sight of Allah. And persecution is worse than killing (and you do all these things). And they will not cease fighting you until they turn you away from your religion [287], if they can. And whoever among you turns away from his religion and dies as a disbeliever, their deeds will become worthless in this world and the Hereafter [288], and they will be the companions of the Fire, abiding therein forever.

[286]
Fighting in the Sacred Months:

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent a group of eight men towards Nakhlah (a place between Makkah and Ta’if) at the end of Jumada al-Thani, 2 AH, in order to gather information about the movements of the disbelievers of Makkah, as there was always a threat of an attack on Madinah from their side. This group encountered a trade caravan of the disbelievers, upon which they attacked, killed one man, and captured the rest along with the goods, bringing them to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in Madinah. The Prophet ﷺ was grieved by this, as he had sent them only to gather information, not to fight. According to the Muslims, the day this incident occurred was the 30th of Jumada al-Thani, but in reality, it was the 1st of Rajab, 2 AH. Now, the disbelievers of Makkah, the Jews, and other enemies of Islam raised a storm of protest, saying, “Look at these people who claim to be so pious—they do not even refrain from bloodshed in the sacred month!” In response to this propaganda, Allah the Exalted said that indeed, fighting in the sacred month is a grave sin, but the actions you are committing and have committed are even more severe crimes than this sin. You obstruct the path of Islam and inflict harm upon the Muslims. You deny the signs of Allah. You have imposed restrictions on the Muslims’ entry into the mosque, and you have made life so difficult for the Muslims that they were forced to leave their homes and migrate. All these crimes are greater than fighting in the sacred month. Moreover, the campaign of sedition you have launched is a crime many times greater than killing (note that here, “fitnah” refers to every kind of resistance these people adopted to block the path of Islam). You do not see the beam in your own eye, but if, due to a misunderstanding, the Muslims engaged in this fight, you have raised a great outcry.

[287] That is, in the eyes of these enemies of Islam, your real crime is not that you fought in the sacred month, but that you became Muslims and have remained so until now, and you will continue to be considered criminals until you abandon this religion—and in reality, this is exactly what they want. These are your worst enemies, so beware of them.

[288] That is, just as previous sins are forgiven upon embracing Islam, in the same way, if one turns away from Islam, all the good deeds done previously are also nullified—unless one repents and becomes Muslim again. And when the good deeds are nullified, only sins remain, the consequence of which they will have to bear in the form of the eternal punishment of Hell.