Tafseer of The Repentance · At-Tawba · 9:1
[This is a declaration of] disassociation, from Allah and His Messenger, to those with whom you had made a treaty among the polytheists.
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 discourse on the explanation of His saying: بَرَاءَةٌ مِنَ اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ إِلَى الَّذِينَ عَاهَدْتُمْ مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ (1) ("A repudiation [of obligation] from Allah and His Messenger toward those of the polytheists with whom you have made a covenant." [9:1])
Abū Jaʿfar said: By His saying, exalted be His praise, "a repudiation from Allah and His Messenger" is meant: this is a repudiation from Allah and His Messenger.
The word "barāʾa" (repudiation) stands in the nominative because of an elided word, namely "this." Likewise His saying: سُورَةٌ أَنْـزَلْنَاهَا ("A sūra which We have sent down" [24:1]), which stands in the nominative because of an elided "this." If someone were to say: "barāʾa" stands in the nominative because of the referring element in His saying "toward those with whom you have made a covenant," and he were to take it as a definite word that places what follows it in the nominative, because through its complement — namely His saying "from Allah and His Messenger" — it had as it were become definite, so that the meaning of the statement became: "The repudiation of Allah and His Messenger toward those of the polytheists with whom you have made a covenant" (1) — then that would be a position whose validity cannot be refuted, even though the first position pleases me more. For it is the custom of the Arabs, with regard to every perceived matter — whether indefinite or definite — to [tacitly] presuppose for that which they perceive, namely "this." Thus they say, when they perceive something beautiful: "Beautiful, by Allah!", and at something ugly: "Ugly, by Allah!", by which they mean: this is beautiful, by Allah, and this is ugly, by Allah. For that reason I have preferred the first position.
He said: "a repudiation from Allah and His Messenger toward those with whom you have made a covenant," and the meaning is: toward those of the polytheists with whom the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had made a covenant. For the covenants between the Muslims and the polytheists were the covenant of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ; no one other than the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, or someone who concluded them on his command, undertook to conclude them. But He addressed the believers with that, because they knew its meaning, and because the covenants of the Prophet ﷺ on behalf of his community were their covenants, since they were content with all his deeds among them and submitted to his covenants over them. Thus his covenant over them became like their own covenants over themselves. Therefore He said: "toward those of the polytheists with whom you have made a covenant," since it concerned the covenant and the obligation of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
* * *
The exegetes have differed over who it is toward whom Allah and His Messenger repudiated the covenant that existed between him and the Messenger of Allah — those polytheists who were permitted to travel freely about the earth for four months.
Some of them said: They are two categories of polytheists. The one category: the duration of their covenant with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was less than four months, and they were granted four months of free passage. The other category: the duration of their covenant was without a fixed term, and this was shortened for them to four months, so that they might look out for [a safe place] for themselves. After that they were in a state of war with Allah, His Messenger, and the believers: they are killed wherever they are found and taken captive, unless they repent.
* Mention of who said that:
16356 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq, may Allah be pleased with him, as leader over the pilgrims in the year nine, to lead the pilgrimage for the people, while the people of polytheism [still] followed their [own] customs in their pilgrimage. Abū Bakr set out, together with the Muslims who were with him, and the sūra Barāʾa was sent down repudiating what existed between the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and the polytheists in the way of a covenant by which they were mutually bound: that no one who came to [the Sacred House] would be kept away from it, and that no one need have fear in the sacred month. That was a general covenant between him and the people of polytheism. In addition there existed special covenants between the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and particular Arab tribes for a fixed term (2). The sūra was sent down concerning [all this], and concerning the hypocrites who stayed behind from him at Tabūk, and concerning the saying of some of them. Allah disclosed in it the secrets of people who concealed something other than what they openly displayed — some of them were named to us, and some not. Thus He said: "a repudiation from Allah and His Messenger toward those of the polytheists with whom you have made a covenant" — that is to say: for the people of the general covenant among the Arab polytheists = "then travel freely about the earth for four months," up to His saying: أَنَّ اللَّهَ بَرِيءٌ مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ وَرَسُولُهُ ("that Allah has repudiated the polytheists, and His Messenger [also]"), that is to say: after this pilgrimage. (3)
* * *
Others said: The four months of free passage that Allah, mighty and exalted, granted applied to whoever of the polytheists had a covenant with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. As for whoever had no covenant with the Messenger of Allah, his term was only fifty nights, namely twenty days of Dhū l-Ḥijja and all of Muḥarram. They said: That was so because the term of those who had no covenant ran until the expiry of the sacred months, as Allah said: فَإِذَا انْسَلَخَ الأَشْهُرُ الْحُرُمُ فَاقْتُلُوا الْمُشْرِكِينَ حَيْثُ وَجَدْتُمُوهُمْ ("When then the sacred months have passed, kill the polytheists wherever you find them," the verse [9:5]). They said: And the proclamation of the repudiation took place on the day of the great pilgrimage, and that is the day of the sacrifice according to some, and according to others the day of ʿArafa — and that is fifty days. They said: As for the term of the four months, that applied to the people of the covenant between them and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ from the day that Barāʾa was sent down. They said: The sūra was sent down at the beginning of Shawwāl, so that the end of their term coincided with the expiry of the sacred months. Some who held this position said: The beginning of the setting of the term was one and the same for both groups — I mean: for whoever had a covenant and for whoever had no covenant — only that the term of whoever had a covenant was four months, and that of whoever had no covenant was the expiry of the sacred months, that is to say the end of Muḥarram.
* Mention of who said that:
16357 — Al-Muthannā related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His saying: "a repudiation from Allah and His Messenger toward those of the polytheists with whom you have made a covenant * then travel freely about the earth for four months." He said: Allah set for those who had a covenant with His Messenger a term of four months, during which they could travel freely wherever they wished. And the term of whoever had no covenant He set at the expiry of the sacred months, from the day of the sacrifice to the end of Muḥarram, and that is fifty nights. When then the sacred months had passed, He commanded him to put the sword to whoever had concluded [the covenant].
16358 — 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, who said: When "a repudiation from Allah" up to "and that Allah humiliates the unbelievers" was sent down, this meant: a repudiation toward the polytheists who had a covenant on the day that Barāʾa was sent down. For whoever had a covenant before the sending down of Barāʾa, He set a term of four months, and He commanded them to travel freely about the earth for four months. And for the polytheists who had no covenant before the sending down of Barāʾa, He set the term at the expiry of the sacred months. The expiry of the sacred months ran from the day on which the repudiation was proclaimed to the end of Muḥarram, and that is fifty nights: twenty of Dhū l-Ḥijja and thirty of Muḥarram. فَإِذَا انْسَلَخَ الأَشْهُرُ الْحُرُمُ up to His saying وَاقْعُدُوا لَهُمْ كُلَّ مَرْصَدٍ ("and lie in wait for them at every place of ambush"). He says: For none of the polytheists did there remain any covenant or treaty of protection since the sending down of Barāʾa and the expiry of the sacred months. And the term of whoever of the polytheists had a covenant before the sending down of Barāʾa was four months from the day the repudiation was proclaimed, to the tenth of the beginning of Rabīʿ al-Ākhir — that is four months.
16359 — It was related to me, on the authority of al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faraj, who said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān related to us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His saying: "a repudiation from Allah and His Messenger toward those of the polytheists with whom you have made a covenant." Before the sending down of Barāʾa, he [the Prophet] had concluded a covenant with people of the polytheists from Mecca and elsewhere. Then it was sent down: a repudiation from Allah toward every one of the polytheists who had concluded a covenant with you — I break the covenant that exists between you and them, and I give them a term of four months during which they may travel about safely wherever they wish on the earth. And for whoever had no covenant with the Prophet ﷺ, He set the term at the expiry of the sacred months, from the day the repudiation was proclaimed — and it was proclaimed on the day of the sacrifice, that is twenty of Dhū l-Ḥijja and thirty of Muḥarram, that is fifty nights. Allah commanded His Prophet that, when Muḥarram had passed, he should put the sword to whoever had no covenant with the Prophet of Allah ﷺ, killing them until they would enter Islam. And concerning whoever had a covenant, He commanded that, when four [months] from the day of the sacrifice had passed, he should also put the sword to them, killing them until they would enter Islam. Thus the term of whoever had no covenant with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was fifty nights from the day of the sacrifice, and the term of whoever had a covenant with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was four months: from the day of the sacrifice to the tenth elapsed day of the month Rabīʿ al-Ākhir.
16360 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His saying: "a repudiation from Allah and His Messenger" up to His saying وَبَشِّرِ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا بِعَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍ ("and give tidings to those who disbelieve of a painful punishment"). He said: It has been related to us that ʿAlī made the proclamation, and that Abū Bakr, may Allah's mercy be upon them both, had been appointed leader over the pilgrims. It was the year in which the Muslims and the polytheists performed the pilgrimage [together], and the polytheists did not perform the pilgrimage anymore after that year = His saying: "those of the polytheists with whom you have made a covenant" up to His saying إِلَى مُدَّتِهِمْ ("until their term"). He said: They are the polytheists of Quraysh with whom the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had concluded a covenant at the time of al-Ḥudaybiya, and of their term there still remained four months after the day of the sacrifice. Allah commanded His Prophet to fulfill their covenant until their term, and [set the term of] whoever had no covenant at the expiry of Muḥarram. And He cast back to every one who had a covenant his covenant, and commanded them to fight them until they would testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muḥammad is the Messenger of Allah — and nothing other than that would be accepted from them.
* * *
Others said: The beginning of the respite of the polytheists by four months and its end for all of them fell at one time. They said: Its beginning was the day of the great pilgrimage, and its end the expiry of the tenth of Rabīʿ al-Ākhir.
* Mention of who said that:
16361 — Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to me, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "a repudiation from Allah and His Messenger toward those of the polytheists with whom you have made a covenant." He said: When this verse was sent down, [the Prophet] was free of the covenant of every polytheist, and after that he concluded a covenant with no one except with whoever he [already] had a covenant, and he let the term run for each = "then travel freely about the earth for four months," for whoever's covenant fell within that, from the tenth of Dhū l-Ḥijja, and Muḥarram, and Ṣafar, and the month Rabīʿ al-Awwal, and ten of Rabīʿ al-Ākhir.
16362 — Al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz related to us, saying: Abū Maʿshar related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb al-Quraẓī and others related to us, they said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent Abū Bakr as leader over the pilgrimage in the year nine, and he sent ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, may Allah be pleased with them both, with thirty or forty verses from Barāʾa, and he read them to the people, granting the polytheists a term of four months to travel freely about the earth. He read Barāʾa to them on the day of ʿArafa, and granted the polytheists a term of twenty of Dhū l-Ḥijja, and Muḥarram, and Ṣafar, and the month Rabīʿ al-Awwal, and ten of Rabīʿ al-Ākhir. He read it to them at their dwellings and said: No polytheist will perform the pilgrimage with us after this year, and no naked person will walk around the House.
16363 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: "then travel freely about the earth for four months," [namely] twenty of Dhū l-Ḥijja, and Muḥarram, and Ṣafar, and Rabīʿ al-Awwal, and ten of Rabīʿ al-Ākhir. That was the covenant that existed between them.
16364 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: "a repudiation from Allah and His Messenger," toward the people of the covenant: Khuzāʿa, and Mudlij, and whoever of them or of others had a covenant (4). The Messenger of Allah ﷺ returned from Tabūk when he had finished [with it], and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ wished to perform the pilgrimage. Then he said: The polytheists will be present and walk around naked, and I do not wish to perform the pilgrimage as long as that still occurs. So he sent Abū Bakr and ʿAlī, may Allah's mercy be upon them both, and they traveled around among the people at Dhū l-Majāz and in their places where they used to trade, and at all the markets, and announced to the people of the covenant that they would be safe for four months — those are the consecutive months: twenty from the end of Dhū l-Ḥijja to ten elapsed days of the month Rabīʿ al-Ākhir; after that they had no covenant anymore. And they announced war to all the people, unless they should attain security [through Islam].
16365 — 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 saying: "a repudiation from Allah and His Messenger toward those of the polytheists with whom you have made a covenant." He said: The people of the covenant: Mudlij, and the Arabs with whom he had concluded a covenant, and whoever [else] had a covenant. He said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ returned from Tabūk when he had finished with it and wished to perform the pilgrimage. Then he said: At the House polytheists will be present who walk around naked, and I do not wish to perform the pilgrimage as long as that still occurs. So he sent Abū Bakr and ʿAlī, may Allah's mercy be upon them both, and they traveled around among the people at Dhū l-Majāz and in their places where they used to trade, and at the entire market, and announced to the people of the covenant that they would be safe for four months — those are the passing, consecutive sacred months: twenty from the end of Dhū l-Ḥijja to ten elapsed days of the month Rabīʿ al-Ākhir; after that they had no covenant anymore. And they announced war to all the people, unless they should attain security [through Islam]. Then all the people at that moment attained security, and no one traveled around [anymore]. He said: When he returned from al-Ṭāʾif, he departed at once from there and fought at Tabūk, after he had arrived in Medina.
* * *
Others, belonging to those who said: "The beginning of the term for all the polytheists and its end were one," said: Its beginning was the day that Barāʾa was sent down, and its end the expiry of the sacred months, that is to say the end of Muḥarram.
* Mention of who said that:
16366 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of al-Zuhrī: "then travel freely about the earth for four months." He said: The sūra was sent down in Shawwāl, so these four months are: Shawwāl, Dhū l-Qaʿda, Dhū l-Ḥijja, and Muḥarram.
* * *
Others said: Allah set for the polytheists the term of four months of free passage only for whoever had a covenant with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ whose duration was less than four months. As for whoever had a covenant whose duration was more than four months, he [the Prophet] ﷺ was commanded to fulfill his covenant until its [full] term.
* Mention of who said that:
16367 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, who said: Al-Kalbī said: The four months applied only to whoever had a covenant with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ of less than four months, and he completed it for him to four. And whoever had a covenant of more than four months, that is the one whom he commanded to fulfill his covenant, and He said: فَأَتِمُّوا إِلَيْهِمْ عَهْدَهُمْ إِلَى مُدَّتِهِمْ ("then fulfill toward them their covenant until their term" [9:4]).
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar, may Allah's mercy be upon him, said: The correct of the positions on that is the position of whoever said: The term that Allah set for the people of the covenant among the polytheists, and within which He permitted them free passage with His saying "then travel freely about the earth for four months," applied only to the people of the covenant who had aided the enemy of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and had broken their covenant before the expiry of its term. As for those who had not broken their covenant and had not aided him [the enemy], them Allah, exalted be His praise, commanded His Prophet ﷺ to fulfill the covenant between him and them until its term, with His saying: إِلا الَّذِينَ عَاهَدْتُمْ مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ ثُمَّ لَمْ يَنْقُصُوكُمْ شَيْئًا وَلَمْ يُظَاهِرُوا عَلَيْكُمْ أَحَدًا فَأَتِمُّوا إِلَيْهِمْ عَهْدَهُمْ إِلَى مُدَّتِهِمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ الْمُتَّقِينَ ("except those of the polytheists with whom you have made a covenant and who thereafter did not diminish you in anything and did not aid anyone against you — then fulfill toward them their covenant until their term; verily, Allah loves the God-fearing." [9:4])
If someone supposes that Allah's saying, exalted be His mention: فَإِذَا انْسَلَخَ الأَشْهُرُ الْحُرُمُ فَاقْتُلُوا الْمُشْرِكِينَ حَيْثُ وَجَدْتُمُوهُمْ ("When then the sacred months have passed, kill the polytheists wherever you find them" [9:5]) points to something other than what we have said about it — since this would indicate that after the expiry of the sacred months it was obligatory for the believers (5) to kill every polytheist — then the matter herein is other than he supposes. For the verse that follows it clarifies the correctness of what we have said (6), and the untenability of what was supposed by the one who supposed that the expiry of the sacred months permitted the killing of every polytheist, whether he had a covenant of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ or not. That is His saying: كَيْفَ يَكُونُ لِلْمُشْرِكِينَ عَهْدٌ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ وَعِنْدَ رَسُولِهِ إِلا الَّذِينَ عَاهَدْتُمْ عِنْدَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ فَمَا اسْتَقَامُوا لَكُمْ فَاسْتَقِيمُوا لَهُمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ الْمُتَّقِينَ ("How can the polytheists have a covenant with Allah and with His Messenger, except those with whom you have made a covenant at the Sacred Mosque? As long as they conduct themselves correctly toward you, conduct yourselves correctly toward them; verily, Allah loves the God-fearing." [9:7]). These are polytheists, and yet Allah commanded His Prophet ﷺ and the believers to keep to their covenant toward them, as long as they conducted themselves correctly toward them by not breaking their peace agreement and not aiding their enemy against them.
Moreover, in the mutually reinforcing reports about the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: that he, when he sent ʿAlī, may Allah's mercy be upon him, with Barāʾa to the people of the covenants between him and them, commanded him among other things to proclaim among them: "And whoever has a covenant with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, his covenant [runs] until its term" — that is the clearest proof of the correctness of what we have said. For Allah did not command His Prophet ﷺ to break the covenant of a people with whom he had concluded a covenant for a term and who kept to their covenant by not breaking it; and He set a term of only four months for whoever had broken his covenant before the setting of the term, or whoever had a covenant for an unspecified term. As for whoever had a covenant with a specified term and gave himself no occasion to break it, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was commanded to fulfill his covenant until the end of its term. And with that he sent his herald to proclaim it among the Arab people of the pilgrimage.
16368 — Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Qays related to us, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, who said: Muḥarrir ibn Abī Hurayra related to me, on the authority of Abū Hurayra, who said: I was with ʿAlī, may Allah's mercy be upon him, when the Prophet ﷺ sent him to make the proclamation. When his voice grew hoarse, I made the proclamation. I said [to ʿAlī]: What did you proclaim? He said: Four matters: that no naked person will walk around the Kaʿba, and whoever has a covenant with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, his covenant [runs] until its term, and no one will enter Paradise except a believing soul, and no polytheist will perform the pilgrimage after this year. (8)
16369 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: ʿAffān related to us, saying: Qays ibn al-Rabīʿ related to us, saying: Al-Shaybānī related to us, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, who said: Al-Muḥarrir ibn Abī Hurayra informed us, on the authority of his father, who said: I was with ʿAlī, may Allah be pleased with him — and he mentioned something similar = except that he said: and whoever has a covenant with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, his covenant [runs] until its term. (9)
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: Shuʿba [likewise] related this report, but he differed from Qays as to the term.
16370 — Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm and Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to me, they said: ʿUthmān ibn ʿUmar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of al-Mughīra, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, on the authority of al-Muḥarrir ibn Abī Hurayra, on the authority of his father, who said: I was with ʿAlī when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent him with Barāʾa to the people of Mecca. I kept making the proclamation until my voice grew hoarse. I said: What did you proclaim? He said: We were commanded to proclaim: that no one enters Paradise except a believer, and whoever has a covenant with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, his term [runs] until four months; when then the term passes, verily, Allah has repudiated the polytheists, and His Messenger [also]; and no naked person will walk around the House, and no polytheist will perform the pilgrimage after this year. (10)
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: I fear that this report contains an error of its transmitter as to the term, because the reports mutually reinforce one another with a differing [rendering of the] term, in addition to the divergence of Shuʿba from Qays in precisely this report, as I have explained.
16371 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of al-Ḥārith al-Aʿwar, on the authority of ʿAlī, may Allah's mercy be upon him, who said: I was commanded [to proclaim] four matters: I was commanded that no polytheist will approach the Sacred Mosque after this year, and that no man will walk around the House naked, and that no one enters Paradise except every Muslim soul, and that for every one who has a covenant his covenant is completed. (11)
16372 — Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Isrāʾīl related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Zayd ibn Yuthayʿ, who said: Barāʾa was sent down, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent Abū Bakr with it, then he sent ʿAlī who took it from him. When Abū Bakr returned, he said: Has anything been sent down about me? He [the Prophet] said: No, but I have been commanded that I myself convey it, or a man from my household. So he [ʿAlī] departed for Mecca (12), and stood among them with four [proclamations]: that no polytheist will enter Mecca after this year, and that no naked person will walk around the Kaʿba, and that no one enters Paradise except a Muslim soul, and whoever has a covenant with the Messenger of Allah, his covenant [runs] until its term. (13)
16373 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Abū Usāma related to us, on the authority of Zakariyyā, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Zayd ibn Yuthayʿ, on the authority of ʿAlī, who said: The Prophet ﷺ sent me, when Barāʾa was sent down, with four [proclamations]: that no naked person will walk around the House, and that no polytheist of them will approach the Sacred Mosque after this year, and whoever has a covenant with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, that [runs] until its term, and that no one enters Paradise except a Muslim soul. (14)
16374 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of al-Ḥārith, on the authority of ʿAlī, may Allah's mercy be upon him, who said: I was sent to the people of Mecca with four [proclamations], and then he mentioned the report. (15)
16375 — Ibrāhīm ibn Saʿīd al-Jawharī related to us, saying: Ḥusayn ibn Muḥammad related to us, saying: Sulaymān ibn Qarm related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of al-Ḥakam, on the authority of Miqsam, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent Abū Bakr with Barāʾa, then sent ʿAlī after him who took it from him. Then Abū Bakr said: O Messenger of Allah, has anything occurred about me? He said: "No, you are my companion in the cave and at the Basin, but no one conveys on my behalf except myself or ʿAlī!" And that with which he sent ʿAlī were four [proclamations]: no one enters Paradise except a Muslim soul, and no polytheist will perform the pilgrimage after this year, and no naked person will walk around the House, and whoever has a covenant with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, that [runs] until its term. (16)
16376 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: My father related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Khālid, on the authority of ʿĀmir, who said: The Prophet ﷺ sent ʿAlī, may Allah's mercy be upon him, and he proclaimed: Verily, no polytheist will perform the pilgrimage after this year, and no naked person will walk around the House, and no one enters Paradise except a Muslim soul, and whoever has a covenant with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, his term [runs] until its term, and Allah has repudiated the polytheists, and His Messenger [also].
16377 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq related to us, on the authority of Ḥakīm ibn Ḥakīm ibn ʿAbbād ibn Ḥunayf, on the authority of Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī, who said: When Barāʾa was sent down upon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ — and he had already sent Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq, may Allah's mercy be upon him, to lead the pilgrimage for the people — it was said to him: O Messenger of Allah, if only you would send [something] to Abū Bakr! Then he said: No one conveys on my behalf except a man from my household! Thereupon he called ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, may Allah's mercy be upon him, and said: Depart with this passage from the beginning of Barāʾa, and proclaim among the people on the day of the sacrifice when they are gathered at Minā: that no unbeliever enters Paradise, and that no polytheist performs the pilgrimage after this year, and that no naked person walks around the House, and that whoever has a covenant with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, that [runs] until its term. So ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, may Allah's mercy be upon him, departed on al-ʿAḍbāʾ, the camel of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, until he caught up with Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq on the way. When Abū Bakr saw him, he said: A leader, or a subordinate? He said: A subordinate. Then they both went on, may Allah's mercy be upon them, and Abū Bakr led the pilgrimage for the people, while the Arabs in that year still followed [their] pilgrimage customs that they had had in the time of ignorance. When it was the day of the sacrifice, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, may Allah's mercy be upon him, stood up and proclaimed among the people what the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had commanded him. He said: O people, no one enters Paradise except a Muslim soul, and no polytheist will perform the pilgrimage after this year, and no naked person will walk around the House, and whoever has a covenant with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, that is for him until its term. So after that year no polytheist performed the pilgrimage anymore, and no naked person walked around the House anymore. Then they both came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. This belonged to Barāʾa, concerning who of the people of polytheism belonged to the people of the general covenant, and the people of the term until the fixed time. (17)
16378 — Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to me, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, who said: When these verses up to the end of forty verses were sent down, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent them with Abū Bakr and appointed him over the pilgrimage. When he was on the way and reached the tree of Dhū l-Ḥulayfa, he sent ʿAlī after him, who took it from him. Abū Bakr returned to the Prophet ﷺ and said: O Messenger of Allah, by my father and mother, has anything been sent down about me? He said: No, but no one conveys on my behalf except myself, or a man of mine. Are you not content, O Abū Bakr, that you were with me in the cave, and that you are my companion at the Basin? He said: Yes indeed, O Messenger of Allah! So Abū Bakr traveled with the pilgrims, and ʿAlī proclaimed Barāʾa. He stood up on the day of the sacrifice and said: No polytheist will approach the Sacred Mosque after this year, and no naked person will walk around the House, and whoever has a covenant with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, for him his covenant is until its term, and these are days of eating and drinking, and verily, Allah lets no one enter Paradise except whoever is a Muslim. Then they said: We repudiate your covenant and the covenant of the son of your uncle, except [a repudiation] from stabbing and striking! Thereupon the polytheists turned back, and they reproached one another and said: What are you doing, while Quraysh has [already] accepted Islam? So they accepted Islam.
16379 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Zayd ibn Yuthayʿ, on the authority of ʿAlī, who said: I was commanded [to proclaim] four matters: that no polytheist will approach the House after this year, and that no naked person will walk around the House, and that no one enters Paradise except a Muslim soul, and that for every one who has a covenant his covenant is completed = Maʿmar said: And Qatāda said it [likewise]. (18)
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: These reports and the like of them have thus reported the correctness of what we have said, namely that the term of the four months applied only to whoever we have described. As for whoever had a covenant until a known term and gave the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and the believers no occasion to break it or to aid their enemies against them — the Messenger of Allah ﷺ fulfilled his covenant with him until its term, on the basis of Allah's command to him to that effect. To this points the apparent meaning of the revelation, and with it the reports about the Messenger ﷺ mutually reinforce one another.
As for the four months, those were the term of whoever we have mentioned. Its beginning was the day of the great pilgrimage, and its end the expiry of the tenth of Rabīʿ al-Ākhir — those are four consecutive months, fixed for the people of the covenant whose affair we have described, during which they were permitted to travel freely about the earth, going wherever they wished, while none of the Muslims troubled them therein with war, killing, or plunder.
* * *
If someone says: If the matter is therewith as you have described, then what is the import of His saying: فَإِذَا انْسَلَخَ الأَشْهُرُ الْحُرُمُ فَاقْتُلُوا الْمُشْرِكِينَ حَيْثُ وَجَدْتُمُوهُمْ ("When then the sacred months have passed, kill the polytheists wherever you find them" [9:5])? For you know that its expiry is the end of Muḥarram, and you claim that the setting of the term for the people by Allah and His Messenger was four months, while between the day of the great pilgrimage and the expiry of the sacred months there lie at most fifty days — where then are the fifty days [to be placed relative] to the four months?
To that it is answered: The expiry of the sacred months was only the term of whoever of the polytheists had no covenant of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and the four months applied to whoever had a covenant, whether until an unspecified term or until a specified term that he had broken — so that by his breaking it he came to stand on a par with the one whose treachery was feared, and it [the covenant] might be cast back to him on equal footing, except that he was permitted to prepare himself and to seek [a safe refuge] for himself during the term of four months. Do you not see that Allah says to the people of the four months, and describes them as people of a covenant: "a repudiation from Allah and His Messenger toward those of the polytheists with whom you have made a covenant; then travel freely about the earth for four months, and know that you cannot escape Allah"? And those for whom the expiry of the sacred months was set as a term, He described as people of polytheism, not as people of a covenant, and said: وَأَذَانٌ مِنَ اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ إِلَى النَّاسِ يَوْمَ الْحَجِّ الأَكْبَرِ أَنَّ اللَّهَ بَرِيءٌ مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ وَرَسُولُهُ ("And an announcement from Allah and His Messenger to the people on the day of the great pilgrimage, that Allah has repudiated the polytheists, and His Messenger [also]"), the verse = إِلا الَّذِينَ عَاهَدْتُمْ مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ ("except those of the polytheists with whom you have made a covenant"), the verse? Then He said: فَإِذَا انْسَلَخَ الأَشْهُرُ الْحُرُمُ فَاقْتُلُوا الْمُشْرِكِينَ حَيْثُ وَجَدْتُمُوهُمْ ("When then the sacred months have passed, kill the polytheists wherever you find them"). Thus He commanded the killing of the polytheists who had no covenant after the expiry of the sacred months, and the fulfillment of the covenant of whoever did have a covenant — provided they had not broken their covenant by harming the believers [through aid to their enemies] and falling short toward them.
If someone says: And what is the proof that the beginning of the setting of the term was the day of the great pilgrimage, and not from Shawwāl as those who said that have claimed?
He is answered: Those who say that claim that the setting of the term was from the time of the sending down of Barāʾa, and that cannot possibly be correct, because the one for whom the term of free passage to a specified time was fixed — when he does not know what has been fixed for him, and especially when he has alongside it a previously concluded covenant with differing [conditions] — is equal to the one for whom no such thing has been fixed. For when he does not know what is in his favor in the term that has been fixed for him, and what is to his detriment after its expiry, then he is in the same state as before the term that was fixed for him. And it is known that the people did not know what of that had been fixed for them, except when it was proclaimed among them during the pilgrimage. And if that is so, then it is correct that its beginning was what we have said, and its end was what we have described.
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Footnotes:
(1) In the printed and the handwritten version it reads "barāʾa" instead of "al-barāʾa," and the context requires what has been established, if Allah wills.
(2) "khaṣāʾiṣ" (special [covenants]) means: because they belonged specifically to them and to no one else.
(3) The report 16356 — Sīrat Ibn Hishām 4:188.
(4) In the manuscript: "and whoever had it, or others"; in the printed version: "and whoever had a covenant of others"; and I have corrected it as you see.
(5) In the printed version: "indicates that..."; and it has already occurred repeatedly that Abū Jaʿfar uses "ʿalā" with "yunbiʾ," so I have established it as in the manuscript, and that is permissible because it carries the meaning of "yadull" (to point to).
(6) In the printed version: "points to the correctness"; and I have established what is in the manuscript.
(7) "ṣaḥila ṣawtuhu" (his voice grew hoarse) is hoarseness. It has another, related meaning in the report of Umm Maʿbad, in the description of the Messenger of Allah — by my father and mother, ﷺ — when she said: "and in his voice was ṣaḥal" (with two fatḥas), and that is like the hoarseness in the voice, so that it is not sharp and high.
(8) The report 16368 — Abū Jaʿfar transmitted it with three chains, and its source citation follows hereafter. "Qays" is Qays ibn al-Rabīʿ al-Asadī, [as weak] designated by Aḥmad and others, occurring repeatedly before, most recently under no. 12802. And "Mughīra" is Mughīra ibn Miqsam al-Ḍabbī, trustworthy, [from whom] the Group [transmitted]; occurring repeatedly before, most recently under no. 11340. And "Muḥarrir ibn Abī Hurayra," a trustworthy tābiʿī with few transmissions, occurring before under no. 2863. This is a report with a weak chain, because of the weakness of "Qays ibn al-Rabīʿ."
(9) The report 16369 — This is the second chain of the report of al-Muḥarrir ibn Abī Hurayra. "ʿAffān" is ʿAffān ibn Muslim ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Ṣaffār, [from whom] the Group [transmitted]; he transmitted from Qays ibn al-Rabīʿ and fell therein [into errors]. His biography has passed under no. 5392. And "al-Shaybānī" is Abū Isḥāq al-Shaybānī, Sulaymān ibn Abī Sulaymān, the imam, passed repeatedly, most recently under no. 12489. And the defect of its chain is the weakness of "Qays ibn al-Rabīʿ." But al-Ḥākim transmitted it in al-Mustadrak 2:331 by way of Shuʿba, on the authority of Sulaymān al-Shaybānī, and said: "This is a report with a correct chain that the two of them [al-Bukhārī and Muslim] did not include," and al-Dhahabī agreed with him. See the following note.
(10) The report 16370 — This is the third chain: "ʿUthmān ibn ʿUmar ibn Fāris al-ʿAbdī," trustworthy, [from whom] the Group [transmitted], passed repeatedly, including no. 5458, and others. This report, by way of Shuʿba on the authority of al-Mughīra, was transmitted by Aḥmad in his Musnad under no. 7964, and al-Nasāʾī transmitted it in his Sunan 5:234. And al-Ḥākim transmitted it in al-Mustadrak 2:331 by another way, on the authority of al-Naḍr ibn Shumayl, on the authority of Shuʿba, on the authority of Sulaymān al-Shaybānī, and said: "This is a report with a correct chain that the two of them did not include," and al-Dhahabī agreed with him. See the preceding note. Ibn Kathīr treated the discussion of it at length in his Tafsīr 4:111, and in al-Tārīkh 5:38, and he said in al-Tārīkh: "This is a good chain, but in it there is an unacceptability with regard to the transmitter's saying: that whoever had a covenant, his term [ran] until four months. Some have adopted this [opinion], but the correct [view] is: that whoever had a covenant, his term [ran] until his [full] time, however far that reached, even if it exceeded the four months. And whoever had no [fixed] time at all, for him there is a setting of a term of four months. There remains a third category, namely: whoever had a time that ended at less than four months from the day of the setting of the term. This may possibly be joined to the first [category], so that his term runs until his [own] time, however short. And it is also possible to say that he is granted respite up to four months, because he has more right to that than whoever had no covenant at all." See the comment on the report in the Musnad of Aḥmad.
(11) The report 16371 — "Al-Ḥārith al-Aʿwar" is al-Ḥārith ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Hamdānī, very weak, passed repeatedly; see no. 174. His chain is thus weak. And it comes with another chain under no. 16374.
(12) His saying "departed" concerns ʿAlī, may Allah have mercy on him.
(13) The reports 16372 and 16373 — The report of Zayd ibn Yuthayʿ, he transmits it by three ways: this one, the one following, and then no. 16379. And "Zayd ibn Yuthayʿ," or "Athyaʿ" (both in diminutive form), is a trustworthy tābiʿī with few transmissions, passed under no. 15737. This report was transmitted by Aḥmad in his Musnad under no. 594, by way of Sufyān, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq al-Subayʿī, and its chain is correct. And al-Tirmidhī transmitted it in the Book of the Pilgrimage, chapter on what is related concerning the dislike of walking around naked [during the circumambulation], and said: "And in this chapter [there is also something] on the authority of Abū Hurayra; Abū ʿĪsā said: the report of ʿAlī is good." By the report of Abū Hurayra he means what has passed under nos. 16368–16370. Then he also transmitted it in the Book of the Tafsīr and said: "This is a good, correct report." And Aḥmad transmitted in the Musnad of Abū Bakr under no. 4 something similar to this report, more fully, from the report of Zayd ibn Yuthayʿ on the authority of Abū Bakr.
(14) The reports 16372 and 16373 — [See the preceding note; identical.]
(15) The report 16374 — See the note on the report no. 16371.
(16) The report 16375 — "Ḥusayn ibn Muḥammad al-Marwazī," [from whom] the Group [transmitted], passed repeatedly, most recently under no. 15338. And "Sulaymān ibn Qarm ibn Muʿādh al-Taymī," trustworthy, [yet] they faulted him for excess in [his] Shīʿite leaning. Passed under no. 9163. And "al-Ḥakam" is al-Ḥakam ibn ʿUtayba, passed repeatedly. This report was transmitted by al-Tirmidhī in the Book of the Tafsīr by another way, by way of ʿAbbād ibn al-ʿAwwām, on the authority of Sufyān ibn al-Ḥusayn, on the authority of al-Ḥakam ibn ʿUtayba, something similar, and said: "This is a good, strange report along this way, from the report of Ibn ʿAbbās."
(17) The report 16377 — Sīrat Ibn Hishām 4:190, 191. "Ḥakīm ibn Ḥakīm ibn ʿAbbād ibn Ḥunayf al-Anṣārī," trustworthy, [although] they spoke about him, to the point that Ibn Saʿd even said: "He had few transmissions, and they do not use his transmission as proof," passed under no. 11741.
(18) The report 16379 — See the note on the reports no. 16372 and 16373.
