Tafseer of The Pilgrimage · Al-Hajj · 22:39
Permission [to fight] has been given to those who are being fought, because they were wronged. And indeed, Allah is competent to give them victory.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: Allah has given the believers who fight the polytheists (mushrikīn) in His way permission [to fight], because the polytheists have wronged them by fighting them.
The Qurʾān reciters differed over the reading of this. Most of the reciters of Medina read it as (أُذِنَ) with a ḍamma on the alif, and (يُقاتَلُونَ) with a fatḥa on the tāʾ, leaving the agent unnamed (passive form) in both أُذِنَ and يُقاتَلُون. Some Kufan reciters and most of the reciters of Basra read it as (أُذِنَ) in the passive form, with the agent unnamed, and "يُقاتِلُونَ" with a kasra on the tāʾ, with the meaning that those to whom fighting has been permitted fight the polytheists. Most of the Kufan reciters and some of the Meccan reciters read it as "أَذِنَ" with a fatḥa on the alif, with the meaning: Allah has given permission, and "يُقاتِلُونَ" with a kasra on the tāʾ, with the meaning: indeed, those to whom Allah has given permission to fight, fight the polytheists. These three readings are close to one another in meaning; for with those who read أُذِنَ in the manner where the agent remains unnamed, the meaning, upon explanation, returns to the meaning of the reading of the one who read it in the manner where the agent is named. And as for the one who read يُقاتِلونَ or يُقاتَلُون, with kasra or fatḥa, the meaning of the one is close to the meaning of the other. That is because whoever fights a person is himself a fighter against the one who fights him, and each of the two is a fighter. Since that is so, the reciter who recites with whichever of these readings hits upon the correct one.
Nevertheless, the most beloved to me is to read it as: أَذِنَ with a fatḥa on the alif, with the meaning: Allah has given permission, because of its closeness to His statement: إِنَّ اللَّهَ لا يُحِبُّ كُلَّ خَوَّانٍ كَفُورٍ (Indeed, Allah loves not any treacherous one, any ungrateful one). Allah has, concerning those whom He does not love, given permission to those who fight them to fight them, so that أذنَ refers back to His statement: إِنَّ اللَّهَ لا يُحِبُّ (Indeed, Allah loves not). Likewise, of the readings of يُقاتِلُون, the most beloved to me is the kasra on the tāʾ, with the meaning: those who fight them, about whom Allah has informed that He does not love them, so that the words are connected in meaning, one part with the other.
People differed concerning who is intended by this verse, to whom permission to fight was given. Some said: by this are intended the Prophet of Allah ﷺ and his companions.
*Mention of who said that:- Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His statement: أُذِنَ لِلَّذِينَ يُقَاتَلُونَ بِأَنَّهُمْ ظُلِمُوا وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلَى نَصْرِهِمْ لَقَدِيرٌ (Permission is given to those who are fought, because they have been wronged; and indeed, Allah has the power to help them) — he means Muḥammad ﷺ and his companions when they were driven out from Mecca to Medina. Allah says: وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلَى نَصْرِهِمْ لَقَدِيرٌ (And indeed, Allah has the power to help them), and He did so.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Muslim al-Baṭīn, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, saying: when the Prophet ﷺ departed from Mecca, a man said: they have driven out their prophet! Then it was revealed: أُذِنَ لِلَّذِينَ يُقَاتَلُونَ بِأَنَّهُمْ ظُلِمُوا (Permission is given to those who are fought, because they have been wronged), the verse; الَّذِينَ أُخْرِجُوا مِنْ دِيَارِهِمْ بِغَيْرِ حَقٍّ (Those who were driven from their homes without right) — [these are] the Prophet ﷺ and his companions.
Yaḥyā ibn Dāwūd al-Wāsiṭī related to us, saying: Isḥāq ibn Yūsuf related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Muslim, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, saying: when the Prophet ﷺ departed from Mecca, Abū Bakr said: they have driven out their prophet! Indeed, to Allah we belong and indeed, to Him we return; they will surely perish! Ibn ʿAbbās said: then Allah revealed: أُذِنَ لِلَّذِينَ يُقَاتَلُونَ بِأَنَّهُمْ ظُلِمُوا وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلَى نَصْرِهِمْ لَقَدِيرٌ (Permission is given to those who are fought, because they have been wronged; and indeed, Allah has the power to help them). Abū Bakr said: then I knew that there would be fighting. And this is the first verse that was revealed. Ibn Dāwūd said: Ibn Isḥāq said: they read it as (أُذِنَ), and we read it as "أَذِنَ".
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Isḥāq related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Muslim, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, saying: when the Prophet ﷺ departed, and he then mentioned something similar, except that he said: Abū Bakr said: I already knew that there would be fighting. And at this point his narration ended, and he added nothing to it.
Muḥammad ibn Khalaf al-ʿAsqalānī related to me, saying: Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf related to us, saying: Qays ibn al-Rabīʿ related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Muslim, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, saying: when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ departed from Mecca, Abū Bakr said: indeed, to Allah we belong and indeed, to Him we return; the Messenger of Allah ﷺ has been driven out, and by Allah, they will all surely perish! When it was revealed: أُذِنَ لِلَّذِينَ يُقَاتَلُونَ بِأَنَّهُمْ ظُلِمُوا (Permission is given to those who are fought, because they have been wronged) up to His statement: الَّذِينَ أُخْرِجُوا مِنْ دِيَارِهِمْ بِغَيْرِ حَقٍّ (Those who were driven from their homes without right), Abū Bakr knew that there would be fighting.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning His statement: أُذِنَ لِلَّذِينَ يُقَاتَلُونَ بِأَنَّهُمْ ظُلِمُوا (Permission is given to those who are fought, because they have been wronged): he said: permission to fight was given to them after He had granted them pardon for ten years. And he recited: الَّذِينَ أُخْرِجُوا مِنْ دِيَارِهِمْ بِغَيْرِ حَقٍّ (Those who were driven from their homes without right), and he said: these are the believers.
It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, saying: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd informed us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say, concerning His statement: الَّذِينَ أُخْرِجُوا مِنْ دِيَارِهِمْ بِغَيْرِ حَقٍّ (Those who were driven from their homes without right). (1)
Others said: no, by this verse a specific group is intended, who had departed from the land of war (dār al-ḥarb) with the intention of emigrating (hijra), but were prevented from it.
*Mention of who said that:- Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us — and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the statement of Allah: أُذِنَ لِلَّذِينَ يُقَاتَلُونَ بِأَنَّهُمْ ظُلِمُوا (Permission is given to those who are fought, because they have been wronged): he said: they were believing people who set out as emigrants from Mecca to Medina, and they were held back, whereupon Allah gave the believers permission to fight the disbelievers (kuffār), and they fought them.
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His statement: أُذِنَ لِلَّذِينَ يُقَاتَلُونَ بِأَنَّهُمْ ظُلِمُوا (Permission is given to those who are fought, because they have been wronged): he said: they were people among the believers who set out as emigrants from Mecca to Medina, and they were held back, whereupon the disbelievers overtook them, and the believers were given permission to fight the disbelievers, and they fought them. Ibn Jurayj said: he means: it was the first [time that] Allah gave the believers permission to fight.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: in the reading (ḥarf) of Ibn Masʿūd: "أُذِنَ للَّذِينَ يُقاتَلُونَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللهِ" (Permission is given to those who are fought in the way of Allah). Qatāda said: and this is the first verse that was revealed concerning fighting, by which they were given permission to fight.
Al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement: أُذِنَ لِلَّذِينَ يُقَاتَلُونَ بِأَنَّهُمْ ظُلِمُوا (Permission is given to those who are fought, because they have been wronged): he said: it is the first verse that was revealed concerning fighting, by which they were given permission to fight. And some of them claimed that Allah said only "permission is given to those who are fought to fight" because the companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ for permission to kill the disbelievers when these tormented them and treated them harshly in Mecca before the hijra, [namely] by killing [them] secretly and covertly by surprise; whereupon Allah revealed concerning that: إِنَّ اللَّهَ لا يُحِبُّ كُلَّ خَوَّانٍ كَفُورٍ (Indeed, Allah loves not any treacherous one, any ungrateful one). Then, when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his companions emigrated to Medina, He permitted them the killing and fighting of them, and He said: أُذِنَ لِلَّذِينَ يُقَاتَلُونَ بِأَنَّهُمْ ظُلِمُوا (Permission is given to those who are fought, because they have been wronged). And this is a statement that is reported about al-Ḍaḥḥāk ibn Muzāḥim through an unreliable chain.
And His statement: وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلَى نَصْرِهِمْ لَقَدِيرٌ (And indeed, Allah has the power to help them) — the Exalted, whose praise is great, says: and indeed, Allah has the power to help the believers who fight in the way of Allah, and He has already helped them: He has honored and exalted them, and destroyed their enemy and humbled it by their hands.
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Footnotes:
(1) It is possible that he abridged [the narration], if nothing has been dropped by the copyist; the original read: "they and the Prophet and his companions", or something similar.
