Transliteration:( Yas'aloonaka 'anish Shahril Haraami qitaalin feehi qul qitaalun feehi kabeerunw wa saddun 'an sabeelil laahi wa kufrum bihee wal Masjidil Haraami wa ikhraaju ahlihee minhu akbaru 'indal laah; walfitnatu akbaru minal qatl; wa laa yazaaloona yuqaatiloonakum hatta yaruddookum 'an deenikum inis tataa'oo; wa mai yartadid minkum 'an deenihee fayamut wahuwa kaafirun fa ulaaa'ika habitat a'maaluhum fid dunyaa wal aakhirati wa ulaaa'ika ashaabun Naari hum feehaa khaalidoon )
217. They ask you (O Muhammad) about fighting in the sacred month. Say: "Fighting therein is a great sin [507], but to prevent someone from the Way of Allah and disbelief in Him, and preventing access to Masjid-al-Haraam, and driving out its residents are greater sins [508] in the sight of Allah. Mischief is more grievous than killing [509]. And they will continue to fight you until they force you to renounce your faith [510] if they can. And whoever of you turns back from his faith [511] and dies as a disbeliever, for them, their deeds have become worthless in this world [512] and in the Hereafter, and they are the inmates of the Fire, and they will abide therein forever.
In the early days of Islam, fighting was forbidden during the four sacred months: Rajab, Zil-Qaidah, Zil-Hajj, and Muharram.
🔹 Even before Islam, the idol worshippers of Makkah observed this rule.
🔹 During the Battle of the Trench, Hazrat Abdullah bin Jahash mistakenly declared war on the polytheists during Rajab, thinking it was 30th Jamadil Akhir.
🔹 Allah did not deem this act a grave sin since it was unintentional. The term "great sin" refers to the general rule of the sacred months, not to the specific incident.
This verse points out two serious issues:
Preventing Muslims from worshiping or expelling them from their land is a great sin in Allah's eyes.
The disbelievers taunted the Muslims for a minor error, while they themselves were committing graver sins.
🔹 Allah replies to their taunts, defending His believers and condemning the disbelievers’ hypocrisy.
The verse highlights that mischief, which is caused by oppression, injustice, and preventing worship, is more grievous than killing.
🔹 The idolatry and oppression inflicted by disbelievers on Muslims is a greater crime than mere physical harm or killing.
🔹 Allah disapproves of the disbelievers' actions and their taunting of Muslims who are sincerely following Allah’s commands.
Two key points are made in this section:
A disbeliever can never truly be a friend of a believer.
Despite the disbelievers’ efforts to defeat the believers, they can never overcome them as long as the believers remain steadfast in faith.
🔹 This is why Muslims should never fear oppression or challenges, as faith in Allah makes them invincible.
Apostasy (turning away from Islam) causes all good deeds to become null and void.
🔹 If an apostate returns to Islam, they must reperform Hajj, as their previous Hajj is invalid.
🔹 All their deeds during apostasy will be erased, and they will lose all rewards.
🔹 However, if a non-believer accepts Islam, their previous good deeds are accepted and rewarded.
The consequences for an apostate are severe:
Marital relationships are severed, and the apostate's wife is no longer his wife.
The apostate loses the right to inherit from relatives.
His wealth can become booty.
He may face punishment, including the possibility of death under Islamic law.
All Muslim relations are forbidden.
🔹 In the Hereafter, the apostate is beyond redemption, and they will have no reward, being condemned to eternal punishment in Hell.
216. Fighting is ordained for you (Muslims) though you dislike it, and it may be that you dislike a thing which is good for you and that you like a thing which is bad for you. Allah knows but you do not know.
In this Ayah, Allah made it obligatory for the Muslims to fight in Jihad against the evil of the enemy who transgress against Islam. Az-Zuhri said, “Jihad is required from every person, whether he actually joins the fighting or remains behind. Whoever remains behind is required to give support, if support is warranted; to provide aid, if aid is needed; and to march forth, if he is commanded to do so. If he is not needed, then he remains behind.” It is reported in the Sahih:
(Whoever dies but neither fought (i.e., in Allah’s cause), nor sincerely considered fighting, will die a death of Jahiliyyah (pre-Islamic era of ignorance).)
On the day of Al-Fath (when he conquered Makkah), the Prophet said:
(There is no Hijrah (migration from Makkah to Al-Madinah) after the victory, but only Jihad and good intention. If you were required to march forth, then march forth.)
Allah’s statement:
(…though you dislike it) means, `Fighting is difficult and heavy on your hearts.’ Indeed, fighting is as the Ayah describes it, as it includes being killed, wounded, striving against the enemies and enduring the hardship of travel. Allah then said:
(. ..and it may be that you dislike a thing which is good for you) meaning, fighting is followed by victory, dominance over the enemy, taking over their lands, money and offspring. Allah continues:
(…and that you like a thing which is bad for you.)
This Ayah is general in meaning. Hence, one might covet something, yet in reality it is not good or beneficial for him, such as refraining from joining the Jihad, for it might lead to the enemy taking over the land and the government. Then, Allah said:
(Allah knows, but you do not know.) meaning, He has better knowledge than you of how things will turn out to be in the end, and of what benefits you in this earthly life and the Hereafter. Hence, obey Him and adhere to His commands, so that you may acquire the true guidance.
(2:217) People ask you about fighting in the holy month. Say: “Fighting in it is an awesome sin, but barring people from the Way of Allah, disbelieving in Him, and denying entry into the Holy Mosque and expelling its inmates from it[232] are more awesome acts in the sight of Allah; and persecution is even more heinous than killing.” They will not cease fighting against you till they turn you from your religion if they can.[233] (So remember well) that whoever from amongst you turns away from his religion and dies in the state of unbelief their work will go to waste in this world and in the Next. They are destined for the Fire and it is there that they will abide.
232. This relates to a certain incident. In Rajab 2 A. H. the Prophet sent an expedition of eight persons to Nakhlah (which lies between Makka and Ta’if). He directed them to follow the movements of the Quraysh and gather information about their plans, but not to engage in fighting. On their way they came across a trade caravan belonging to the Quraysh and ambushed it. They killed one person and captured the rest along with their belongings and took them to Madina. They did this at a time when the month of Rajah was approaching its end and Sha’ban was about to begin. It was, therefore, doubtful whether the attack was actually carried out in one of the sacred months, that is, Rajab, or not. But the Quraysh, and the Jews who were secretly in league with them, as well as the hypocrites made great play of this and used it as a weapon in their propaganda campaign against the Muslims. (For this expedition see Ibn Hisham, Sirah. vol. 1, pp. 601 ff; Ibn Ishaq, Life of Muhammad, tr. A. Guillaume. pp. 286 ff.) They pointed out the contradiction between the claims of the Muslims to true religion on the one hand, and their not hesitating to shed blood in a sacred month on the other.
This verse aims to answer these objections. The essence of what is said here is that fighting during the sacred months is without doubt an evil act. It points out that those people who had continually subjected their kith and kin to untold wrong for thirteen years merely because they believed in the One God were not competent to make such an objection. Not only had the Muslims been driven from their homes, they had had the way to the Holy Mosque closed to them, a bar which had not been imposed by anyone during the course of some two thousand years. With this record of mischief and misconduct it was not for them to raise such an outcry at a minor ambush, and especially so when the incident had taken place without the approval of the Prophet. The whole incident was in fact no more than an irresponsible act on the part of some members of the Islamic community.
It should be remembered that when on their return those people went, with captives and booty, to visit the Prophet, he expressly pointed out to them that he had not permitted them to fight. Not only that, he declined to receive the public exchequer’s share of their booty, which indicated that their booty was considered unlawful. The Muslims, in general, also severely reproached the people responsible for the incident, and in fact nobody in Madina applauded what they had done.
233. A few simple-hearted Muslims, whose minds were seized by a mistaken concept of righteousness and pacifism, were influenced by the above objections which had been raised by the polytheists of Makka and the Jews. In this verse the believers are being asked not to entertain the hope that they might clear the air and promote understanding and goodwill by adopting an over-lenient stance towards their opponents. The objections of the latter were not motivated by the desire to find out the Truth; their true purpose was nothing but vilification. What particularly irked the adversaries of the Muslims was that they believed in a religion of their own and were inviting the whole world to accept it. Hence, as long as the Muslims continued to believe in Islam and as long as their opponents remained stubborn in their disbelief, the existing chasm between the two groups was bound to remain.
Moreover, the enemies whom they confronted were not to be considered ordinary enemies. Those who wanted to deprive a person of his belongings or land were in fact enemies of a relatively much less dangerous kind than those who sought to turn him away from his faith; while the former sought to harm his worldly interests, the latter were bent upon hurling him into the eternal torment in the Hereafter.
[78]- See footnote to 2:194. [79]- See footnote to 2:191.
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