Surah At-Tawba (9) — Ayah 28

(Ayah 28) ➊ {يٰۤاَيُّهَا الَّذِيْنَ اٰمَنُوْۤا اِنَّمَا الْمُشْرِكُوْنَ نَجَسٌ … :} Zamakhshari said: {’’ نَجَسٌ ‘‘ } is a verbal noun; it is said {’’ نَجَِسَ نَجَسًا وَ قَذَِرَ قَذَرًا} (ʿ, n) "to be dirty, impure, filthy." Thus, all polytheists are so impure that it is as if they are entirely filth. By impurity is meant that they are filthy in terms of beliefs, actions, and morals; their impurity is spiritual impurity, not that their bodies are impure such that touching them or being touched by them would make something filthy. Therefore, it is permissible to marry women from the People of the Book, to take them as slave women and men for service, and it is also established that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) drank water from the water skins of a polytheist woman. [ بخاری : ۳۵۷۱ ] And he accepted the invitation of the Jews of Khaybar. [ بخاری : ۲۶۱۷ ] This proves that nothing becomes filthy by their touch or body contact. However, if you look at it, polytheists do not even care for physical cleanliness: neither istinja, nor ghusl after sexual impurity, nor cleaning under the navel, nor avoiding any impurity. Then eating pork, smoking, drinking alcohol, and committing adultery are common practices among them. In short, no matter how clean a polytheist appears, no matter how much perfume made in France or elsewhere he applies, the bad odor from his body and clothes will not go away. No matter how dirty a Muslim is, such a bad odor will never come from him, provided that he performs prayer; if he does not pray, then his case is the same as that of a polytheist. This is a matter of common observation, which is why disbelievers are instructed to perform ghusl before becoming Muslim. Allah Almighty has declared polytheists impure and, for the future, has forbidden them from coming near the Sacred Mosque. Thus, as mentioned earlier, in the 9th year (Hijri), the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) announced that after this year, no polytheist will ever perform Hajj. The clear meaning of the prohibition from coming near is that entry of non-Muslims into the entire Haram of Makkah is forbidden. Ibn Kathir has narrated from Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) in Musnad Ahmad that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "After this year of ours, no one should enter our mosque except a dhimmi and his servant." In another narration in Musnad Ahmad: "After this year of ours, no one should enter our mosque except the People of the Book and their servants." But both these narrations are not established. Shuʿayb al-Arnaʾut has declared the chains of both as weak; Hasan al-Basri did not hear from Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him), and two narrators, Ashʿath ibn Sawwar and Sharik, are weak. Therefore, no non-Muslim is allowed to enter the Haram of Makkah. In fact, in his last will, the Prophet (peace be upon him) ordered that the polytheists and Jews and Christians be expelled from the entire Arabian Peninsula. Accordingly, Amir al-Muʾminin ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with him) expelled the Jews and Christians from the Arabian Peninsula as well.

➋ Apart from the Sacred Mosque, a non-Muslim may enter other mosques, as the Prophet (peace be upon him) allowed some polytheists to enter his mosque, and the incident of Thumamah being tied to a pillar in the mosque is well known.

➌ { وَ اِنْ خِفْتُمْ عَيْلَةً … : } With the cessation of trade by non-Muslims throughout the year and the stopping of their coming for Hajj and ʿUmrah, the goods of trade they used to bring and other financial benefits that the people of Makkah used to get from their arrival would necessarily end. So Allah Almighty revealed these words to remove this concern and to reassure the Muslims: do not worry about the closure of trade and business; if Allah wills, He will surely enrich you. He knows everything; it is nothing for Him to make the Muslims rich, but every action and every way of His is based on wisdom. Thus, after this, the series of conquests of the world began, so that the treasures of Caesar and Chosroes came into the hands of the Muslims, and all of them became rich by the grace of Allah. Then the number of Muslims performing Hajj and ʿUmrah became so great that poverty was no longer an issue for the people of Makkah. At present, in 1431 AH, about 3.5 or 4 million pilgrims have performed Hajj, and the Saudi government estimates that in a few years this number will reach ten million, and the government is rapidly implementing plans for the expansion of the Haram and residential buildings accordingly.

➍ { اِنْ شَآءَ:} This is not a condition but rather to emphasize the matter, because every affair depends on Allah's will. For details, see Surah al-Fath (27).