Transliteration:( Fa izansalakhal Ashhurul Hurumu faqtulul mushrikeena haisu wajattumoohum wa khuzoohum wahsuroohum waq'udoo lahum kulla marsad; fa-in taaboo wa aqaamus Salaata wa aatawuz Zakaata fakhalloo sabeelahum; innal laaha Ghafoorur Raheem )
"Then when the sacred [8] months have passed, then slay [9] the infidels wherever [10] you find them and seize them and confine them and lie in wait [11] for them at every place. But if they repent and establish prayer and give Zakat, then open the way [12] for them. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful [13]."
According to Tafseer Roohul Bayaan, the sacred months in this verse refer not to the traditional months (Rajab, Dhul-Qa‘dah, Dhul-Hijjah, Muharram), but to the four-month safety period granted to the treaty-breaking polytheists. These were months of security, not permanent sanctity, and the verse remains unabrogated. After the period ended, normal rules of engagement resumed, including war, even in what were once forbidden months for combat.
When this four-month ultimatum expired, even tribes like Banu Hamzah, who still had up to nine months left in their agreement, were allowed to complete their term—but no new treaties would be recognized. The verse commands the Muslims to be unrelenting toward those who persist in disbelief:
Slay them wherever found,
Seize and confine them,
Lie in ambush if needed,
Even sanctuaries, including the Sacred Mosque, would not shield violators from justice.
The command to lie in wait at every place implies that any tactic not explicitly forbidden in Islam is permissible in wartime. This reflects Islam's complete military preparedness against treachery once all peaceful avenues have been exhausted.
The verse immediately offers a path to mercy:
If the disbelievers:
Repent (accept Islam)
Establish prayer (Salah)
Give Zakat (obligatory charity)
—then their path to freedom and safety is opened.
This teaches that:
Even forced or circumstantial faith declarations are valid if followed by actions of belief.
Salah and Zakat are key signs of sincere conversion.
A captive who professes faith but does not pray may not be granted release, as Salah is essential to verify repentance.
If repentance is genuine and backed by Salah and Zakat, then all past infidelity and sins are forgiven by Allah’s mercy.
As a fiqh ruling from Tafseer Roohul Bayaan:
An apostate under compulsion is not to be executed. Instead, efforts should be made to guide them back to Islam, particularly in the case of a woman apostate, who is not subject to the death penalty but should be urged to re-accept the faith.
5. So when the Sacred Months have passed, then fight the Mushrikin wherever you find them, and capture them and besiege them, and lie in wait for them in each and every ambush. But if they repent and perform the Salah, and give the Zakah, then leave their way free. Verily, Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
Mujahid, `Amr bin Shu`ayb, Muhammad bin Ishaq, Qatadah, As-Suddi and `Abdur-Rahman bin Zayd bin Aslam said that the four months mentioned in this Ayah are the four-month grace period mentioned in the earlier Ayah,
(So travel freely for four months throughout the land.) Allah said next,
(So when the Sacred Months have passed…), meaning, `Upon the end of the four months during which We prohibited you from fighting the idolators, and which is the grace period We gave them, then fight and kill the idolators wherever you may find them.’ Allah’s statement next,
(then fight the Mushrikin wherever you find them), means, on the earth in general, except for the Sacred Area, for Allah said,
(And fight not with them at Al-Masjid Al-Haram, unless they fight you there. But if they attack you, then fight them. )﴿2:191﴾ Allah said here,
(and capture them), executing some and keeping some as prisoners,
(and besiege them, and lie in wait for them in each and every ambush), do not wait until you find them. Rather, seek and besiege them in their areas and forts, gather intelligence about them in the various roads and fairways so that what is made wide looks ever smaller to them. This way, they will have no choice, but to die or embrace Islam,
(But if they repent and perform the Salah, and give the Zakah, then leave their way free. Verily, Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.) Abu Bakr As-Siddiq used this and other honorable Ayat as proof for fighting those who refrained from paying the Zakah. These Ayat allowed fighting people unless, and until, they embrace Islam and implement its rulings and obligations. Allah mentioned the most important aspects of Islam here, including what is less important. Surely, the highest elements of Islam after the Two Testimonials, are the prayer, which is the right of Allah, the Exalted and Ever High, then the Zakah, which benefits the poor and needy. These are the most honorable acts that creatures perform, and this is why Allah often mentions the prayer and Zakah together. In the Two Sahihs, it is recorded that Ibn `Umar said that the Messenger of Allah said,
(I have been commanded to fight the people until they testify that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, establish the prayer and pay the Zakah.) This honorable Ayah (9:5) was called the Ayah of the Sword, about which Ad-Dahhak bin Muzahim said, “It abrogated every agreement of peace between the Prophet and any idolator, every treaty, and every term.” Al-`Awfi said that Ibn `Abbas commented: “No idolator had any more treaty or promise of safety ever since Surah Bara’ah was revealed. The four months, in addition to, all peace treaties conducted before Bara’ah was revealed and announced had ended by the tenth of the month of Rabi` Al-Akhir.”
(9:5) But when the sacred months expire[6] slay those who associate others with Allah in His Divinity wherever you find them; seize them, and besiege them, and lie in wait for them. But if they repent and establish the Prayer and pay Zakah, leave them alone.[7] Surely Allah is All-Forgiving, Ever-Merciful.
6. Here “the sacred months” are not those four months during which war is forbidden for the sake of Hajj and Umrah but the four months that were made unlawful for the Muslims to attack those mushriks who were granted respite by Ayat 2.
7. That is, “Mere repentance from disbelief and shirk will not end the matter. But they shall have to perform the prescribed prayer and pay Zakat dues. Without these it will not be considered that they had given up disbelief and embraced Islam.” Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) based his decision on this verse in the case of the apostates, after the death of the Prophet (peace be upon him), who argued that they were not rejecting Islam, because they offered Salat, even though they had refused to pay the Zakat dues. This argument roused doubts in the minds of the companions in general that they had no right to fight with such people as these. But Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) removed their doubts, saying, “Verse 5 enjoins us to let those people go their way who fulfill all the three conditions, repentance from shirk, the establishment of Salat, and the payment of Zakat. We cannot forbear them, because they do not fulfill one of these three conditions.”
[464]- The four months mentioned in verse 2, in which the disbelievers were allowed free movement within the land. Other scholars have interpreted them as "the sacred months," i.e., Muḥarram, Rajab, Dhul-Qaʿdah and Dhul-Ḥijjah.
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