Chapter 2: Surat Al-Baqarah (The Cow), verses 217-218
Translation:
“They ask you about the sacred month. Say: ‘To fight in this month is a grave offence; but to debar others from the path of God, to deny Him, and to expel His worshippers from the Holy Mosque, is far more grievous in His sight. Idolatry is worse than carnage.’ They will not cease to fight against you until they force you to renounce your faith — if they are able. But whoever of you recants and dies an unbeliever, his works shall come to nothing in this world and in the world to come. Such men shall be the people of Hell, and there they shall abide forever. Those that embraced the faith and those that have fled their land and struggled for the cause of God may hope for God’s mercy. God is Forgiving and Merciful.” (2:217-218)
Commentary:
In Rajab, 2
A.H., a group of Muslims clashed with a group of Quraysh (non-Muslims), at
Nakhlah, which lies between Mecca and Taif. One of the Quraysh was slain. The
Muslims had been under the impression that it was the thirtieth of Jamad
uth-Thani, the month before Rajab, but Jamadi uth-Thani had only twenty-nine
days that year. The new moon had risen the evening before; it was the first day
of Rajab. Now, Rajab is counted among the sacred months, and Arab feeling ran
high with regard to the age-old tradition of respect for these months. With this
violation, opponents were able to hurl accusations at the Prophet and his
followers. “Look, they don’t even respect the sacred months, so far gone are
they in their contumacy.” True, the Qur’an says in reply, fighting in the
sacred months is a sin. But this was just a stray incident, and in any case, the
Muslims were not aware that Rajab had begun. Besides, the people who were making
this accusation were the very ones who persistently engaged in far more illicit
activities than fighting in the sacred month.
There
is nothing more abhorrent in the sight of God than one man—a wrongdoer
himself—discrediting another drawing attention to the latter’s mistakes. The
call to truth was raised among the Quraysh. Not only did they deny it
themselves, but they sought to prevent others from following it. Their prejudice
and antipathy knew no bounds: they even closed, the doors of God’s House to
the servants of the Lord. In their efforts to force Muslims to forsake their
faith, the Quraysh also turned them out of their houses, and tormented them with
extreme forms of cruelty. And remember, persecution of a person on account of
his faith is even worse than killing him.