Tafseer of The Repentance · At-Tawba · 9:36
Indeed, the number of months with Allah is twelve [lunar] months in the register of Allah [from] the day He created the heavens and the earth; of these, four are sacred. That is the correct religion, so do not wrong yourselves during them. And fight against the disbelievers collectively as they fight against you collectively. And know that Allah is with the righteous [who fear Him].
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 explanation of the saying of Allah: إِنَّ عِدَّةَ الشُّهُورِ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ اثْنَا عَشَرَ شَهْرًا فِي كِتَابِ اللَّهِ يَوْمَ خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضَ مِنْهَا أَرْبَعَةٌ حُرُمٌ ذَلِكَ الدِّينُ الْقَيِّمُ فَلا تَظْلِمُوا فِيهِنَّ أَنْفُسَكُمْ وَقَاتِلُوا الْمُشْرِكِينَ كَافَّةً كَمَا يُقَاتِلُونَكُمْ كَافَّةً وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَ الْمُتَّقِينَ (9:36) (Indeed, the number of months with Allah is twelve months, in the Book of Allah, on the day He created the heavens and the earth; of them four are sacred [months]. That is the right religion. So do not wrong yourselves during them. And fight the polytheists (mushrikīn) all together, just as they fight you all together. And know that Allah is with the God-fearing.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: Indeed, the number of months of the year is twelve months in the Book of Allah, in which He has written everything that will happen by virtue of His decree that He has established — يَوْمَ خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضَ مِنْهَا أَرْبَعَةٌ حُرُمٌ (on the day He created the heavens and the earth; of them four are sacred [months]). He says: Of these twelve months, four are sacred months, which the people of the time of ignorance (Jāhiliyya) held in honor and declared sacred, and during which they forbade fighting, so much so that if one of them encountered the murderer of his father during those months, he would not attack him. They are: Rajab of [the tribe of] Muḍar, and three consecutive months: Dhū al-Qaʿda, Dhū al-Ḥijja, and al-Muḥarram. Concerning this, the reports of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ have been preserved in abundance.
16684 — Mūsā ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Masrūqī related to us, saying: Zayd ibn al-Ḥubāb related to us, saying: Mūsā ibn ʿUbayda al-Rabadhī related to us, saying: Ṣadaqa ibn Yasār related to me, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ delivered a sermon during the Farewell Pilgrimage (Ḥajjat al-Wadāʿ) at Minā, in the middle of the days of tashrīq, and he said: "O people, indeed time has returned to its state as on the day Allah created the heavens and the earth. And indeed, the number of months with Allah is twelve months, of which four are sacred: the first of them is Rajab of Muḍar, [located] between Jumādā and Shaʿbān, and Dhū al-Qaʿda, and Dhū al-Ḥijja, and al-Muḥarram."
16685 — Muḥammad ibn Maʿmar related to us, saying: Rawḥ related to us, saying: Ashʿath related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Sīrīn, on the authority of Abū Hurayra, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Indeed time has returned to its state as on the day Allah created the heavens and the earth. And indeed, the number of months with Allah is twelve months in the Book of Allah, on the day He created the heavens and the earth; of them four are sacred: three consecutive, and Rajab of Muḍar, [located] between Jumādā and Shaʿbān."
16686 — Yaʿqūb related to us, saying: Ismāʿīl ibn Ibrāhīm related to us, saying: Ayyūb related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Sīrīn, on the authority of Abū Bakra: that the Prophet ﷺ delivered a sermon during the Farewell Pilgrimage and said: "Indeed, time has returned to its state as on the day Allah created the heavens and the earth. The year is twelve months, of which four are sacred: three consecutive — Dhū al-Qaʿda, Dhū al-Ḥijja, and al-Muḥarram — and Rajab of Muḍar, which lies between Jumādā and Shaʿbān."
16687 — Mujāhid ibn Mūsā related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Sulaymān al-Taymī related to us, saying: a man at al-Baḥrayn related to me: that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said in his sermon during the Farewell Pilgrimage: "Indeed, time has returned to its state as on the day Allah created the heavens and the earth. And indeed, the number of months with Allah is twelve months: three consecutive — Dhū al-Qaʿda, Dhū al-Ḥijja, and al-Muḥarram — and Rajab, which lies between Jumādā and Shaʿbān."
16688 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, [concerning] His saying: إِنَّ عِدَّةَ الشُّهُورِ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ اثْنَا عَشَرَ شَهْرًا فِي كِتَابِ اللَّهِ يَوْمَ خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضَ مِنْهَا أَرْبَعَةٌ حُرُمٌ (Indeed, the number of months with Allah is twelve months in the Book of Allah, on the day He created the heavens and the earth; of them four are sacred): that the Prophet ﷺ said: "Three consecutive — Dhū al-Qaʿda, Dhū al-Ḥijja, and al-Muḥarram — and Rajab, which lies between Jumādā and Shaʿbān."
16689 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: It was mentioned to us that the Prophet of Allah ﷺ said in his sermon on the day of Minā: "Indeed, time has returned to its state as on the day Allah created the heavens and the earth. And indeed, the number of months with Allah is twelve months, of which four are sacred: three consecutive — Dhū al-Qaʿda, Dhū al-Ḥijja, and al-Muḥarram — and Rajab of Muḍar, which lies between Jumādā and Shaʿbān."
* * *
And this is the saying of the general majority of the people of exegesis.
* Mention of who said that:
16690 — Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: إِنَّ عِدَّةَ الشُّهُورِ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ اثْنَا عَشَرَ شَهْرًا فِي كِتَابِ اللَّهِ يَوْمَ خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضَ مِنْهَا أَرْبَعَةٌ حُرُمٌ (Indeed, the number of months with Allah is twelve months in the Book of Allah, on the day He created the heavens and the earth; of them four are sacred). As for the "four sacred [months]": they are Dhū al-Qaʿda, Dhū al-Ḥijja, al-Muḥarram, and Rajab. And as for "the Book of Allah": it is that which is with Him.
16691 — 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, concerning the saying of Allah: إِنَّ عِدَّةَ الشُّهُورِ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ اثْنَا عَشَرَ شَهْرًا (Indeed, the number of months with Allah is twelve months), he said: By it the matter of the [postponement of the sacred month] (al-nasīʾ) is recognized — that which was taken away from the year.
16692 — 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 the saying of Allah: إِنَّ عِدَّةَ الشُّهُورِ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ اثْنَا عَشَرَ شَهْرًا فِي كِتَابِ اللَّهِ (Indeed, the number of months with Allah is twelve months in the Book of Allah), he said: By it the matter of al-nasīʾ is called to remembrance.
* * *
And as for His saying: ذَلِكَ الدِّينُ الْقَيِّمُ (That is the right religion), its meaning is: This of which I have informed you — that the number of months with Allah is twelve months in the Book of Allah, and that of them four are sacred — that is the upright, straight religion. As [in]:
16693 — 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: ذَلِكَ الدِّينُ الْقَيِّمُ (That is the right religion), he says: the upright, straight [religion].
16694 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning his saying: ذَلِكَ الدِّينُ الْقَيِّمُ (That is the right religion), he said: the right matter. He says: The Exalted said: Know, O people, that the number of months with Allah is twelve months in the Book of Allah, in which He has written everything that will happen, and that of these twelve months four are sacred months. That is the straight religion of Allah, not that which the [perpetrator of] al-nasīʾ does, namely declaring permissible what he declares permissible of the months of the year, and declaring forbidden what he declares forbidden of them.
And as for His saying: فَلا تَظْلِمُوا فِيهِنَّ أَنْفُسَكُمْ (So do not wrong yourselves during them), its meaning is: Do not disobey Allah during them, and do not declare permissible during them what Allah has forbidden you, so that you bring upon yourselves that which you cannot withstand, namely the wrath of Allah and His punishment. As [in]:
16695 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning his saying: فَلا تَظْلِمُوا فِيهِنَّ أَنْفُسَكُمْ (So do not wrong yourselves during them), he said: The wrong is acting in disobedience to Allah and abandoning obedience to Him.
* * *
Then the people of exegesis differed concerning that to which the "hāʾ" and the "nūn" [i.e. the pronoun -hinna] in His saying فِيهِنَّ (during them) refer back.
Some of them said: It refers back to "the twelve months," and they said: its meaning is: Do not wrong yourselves in all the months.
* Mention of who said that:
16696 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, [concerning] his saying: إِنَّ عِدَّةَ الشُّهُورِ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ اثْنَا عَشَرَ شَهْرًا فِي كِتَابِ اللَّهِ يَوْمَ خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضَ مِنْهَا أَرْبَعَةٌ حُرُمٌ ذَلِكَ الدِّينُ الْقَيِّمُ فَلا تَظْلِمُوا فِيهِنَّ أَنْفُسَكُمْ (Indeed, the number of months with Allah is twelve months in the Book of Allah, on the day He created the heavens and the earth; of them four are sacred. That is the right religion. So do not wrong yourselves during them): in all of these [months]. Then He set apart from them four months and made them sacred, and exalted their sanctity, and made the sin in them greater, and the good deed and the reward in them greater.
16697 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Suwayd ibn ʿAmr related to us, on the authority of Ḥammād ibn Salama, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Zayd, on the authority of Yūsuf ibn Mihrān, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: فَلا تَظْلِمُوا فِيهِنَّ أَنْفُسَكُمْ (So do not wrong yourselves during them), he said: in all the months.
* * *
And others said: No, rather its meaning is: Do not wrong yourselves in the four sacred months — and the "hāʾ and the nūn" refer back to "the four months."
* Mention of who said that:
16698 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: as for His saying: فَلا تَظْلِمُوا فِيهِنَّ أَنْفُسَكُمْ (So do not wrong yourselves during them), indeed the wrong in the sacred months is a greater sin and a heavier burden than the wrong in the rest [of the months], even though the wrong in every case is great; but Allah exalts of His affair what He wills. And he said: Indeed, Allah has selected chosen ones among His creation: He chose from among the angels messengers, and from among mankind messengers, and He chose of speech His remembrance (dhikr), and He chose of the earth the mosques (masājid), and He chose of the months Ramaḍān and the sacred months, and He chose of the days Friday, and He chose of the nights the Night of Decree (Laylat al-Qadr). So honor what Allah has exalted, for matters are exalted only by that with which Allah has exalted them, in the view of the people of understanding and the people of intellect.
* * *
And others said: No, rather its meaning is: Do not wrong yourselves by making permissible the forbiddenness of the four months and making their permissibility forbidden.
* Mention of who said that:
16699 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: إِنَّ عِدَّةَ الشُّهُورِ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ اثْنَا عَشَرَ شَهْرًا (Indeed, the number of months with Allah is twelve months), up to His saying: فَلا تَظْلِمُوا فِيهِنَّ أَنْفُسَكُمْ (So do not wrong yourselves during them): that is to say: Do not make permissible the forbidden of them, nor forbidden the permissible of them, as the people of associating partners with Allah (ahl al-shirk) did. For indeed al-nasīʾ, that which they used to do of it, was زِيَادَةٌ فِي الْكُفْرِ يُضَلُّ بِهِ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا (an increase in disbelief (kufr) by which those who disbelieve are led astray), [to the end of] the verse.
16700 — Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Qays ibn Muslim, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: فَلا تَظْلِمُوا فِيهِنَّ أَنْفُسَكُمْ (So do not wrong yourselves during them), he said: the "wrong against yourselves" is that you not declare them sacred in accordance with their sanctity.
16701 — Al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Qays ibn Muslim, on the authority of al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī: فَلا تَظْلِمُوا فِيهِنَّ أَنْفُسَكُمْ (So do not wrong yourselves during them), he said: the "wrong against yourselves" is that you not declare them sacred in accordance with their sanctity.
16702 — Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Qays ibn Muslim, on the authority of al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad, with similar import.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: And the most correct of the sayings concerning it, in my view, is the saying of him who said: Do not wrong yourselves in the four months, by declaring their forbidden permissible, for Allah has exalted these and exalted their sanctity.
And we have said only that this is the most correct in its interpretation because of His saying: فَلا تَظْلِمُوا فِيهِنَّ (So do not wrong yourselves during them), for He expressed the reference to it in the manner of the reference to a collection of between three and ten. That is because the Arabs, regarding what lies between three and ten, when they refer to it, say: "We did that for three nights that have passed, and for four days that remain" [with the feminine plural forms khalawna, baqīna]. And when they report about what lies above ten up to twenty, they say: "We did that for thirteen [nights] that have passed, and for fourteen that have gone by" [with khalat, maḍat]. Thus, in His saying, exalted be His praise — فَلا تَظْلِمُوا فِيهِنَّ أَنْفُسَكُمْ (So do not wrong yourselves during them) — and in the fact that He expressed the reference to the number of months in which He forbade the believers to wrong themselves in the manner of the number of the small collection, from three to ten, there lay the clear proof that the "hāʾ and the nūn" refer to the mention of the four months, not the twelve. For if it were a reference to "the twelve months," then it would be: "Do not wrong yourselves therein (fīhā)" [with the singular feminine pronoun].
* * *
And if a speaker were to say: What prevents you from denying that this is a reference to "the twelve," even though what you have mentioned is what is known in the usage of the Arabs? For you have known that [among] what is known of their usage is the expression of the reference to what lies between three and ten with the "hāʾ" without the "nūn," and the poet has indeed said:
They were found in the morning at Quraḥ and in its surrounding regions, seven nights, without their fodder [with the feminine form muʿlūfātihā],
and he did not say "muʿlūfātihinna," even though that is a reference to "the seven"?
To that it is answered: Indeed, even though that is permissible, it is not the most eloquent and well-known in their usage. And directing the Word of Allah toward the most eloquent and well-known is preferable to directing it toward the more obscure.
* * *
And if a speaker were to say: If the matter is as you have described, then it ought to be permissible for us to wrong ourselves in the rest of the months of the year other than these [four]?
To that it is answered: That is not so; rather, that is forbidden to us at all times and in every age. But Allah has exalted the sanctity of these months and exalted them above the rest of the months of the year, and has therefore distinguished the sin in them with exaltation, just as He has distinguished them with honor. And that is comparable to His saying: حَافِظُوا عَلَى الصَّلَوَاتِ وَالصَّلاةِ الْوُسْطَى [Sūrat al-Baqarah: 238] (Guard over the [ritual] prayers, and the middle prayer). There is no doubt that Allah has commanded us to guard over all the prescribed prayers by His saying حَافِظُوا عَلَى الصَّلَوَاتِ (Guard over the prayers), and He has not permitted the abandonment of guarding over them by His command to guard over the middle prayer; but He — exalted be His mention — gave it [the middle prayer] an additional exaltedness, and emphasized the guarding over it, and made the neglecting of it weightier. So it is likewise in His saying: مِنْهَا أَرْبَعَةٌ حُرُمٌ ذَلِكَ الدِّينُ الْقَيِّمُ فَلا تَظْلِمُوا فِيهِنَّ أَنْفُسَكُمْ (Of them four are sacred. That is the right religion. So do not wrong yourselves during them).
* * *
And as for His saying: وَقَاتِلُوا الْمُشْرِكِينَ كَافَّةً كَمَا يُقَاتِلُونَكُمْ كَافَّةً (And fight the polytheists (mushrikīn) all together, just as they fight you all together), He — exalted be His praise — says: Fight, O believers, the polytheists who associate partners with Allah, all together, without being divided, united and not split among yourselves, just as the polytheists fight you all together, united and not divided. As [in]:
16703 — 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: وَقَاتِلُوا الْمُشْرِكِينَ كَافَّةً كَمَا يُقَاتِلُونَكُمْ كَافَّةً (And fight the polytheists all together, just as they fight you all together). As for "kāffa": it is "all together," and your affair is united.
16704 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, [concerning] his saying: وَقَاتِلُوا الْمُشْرِكِينَ كَافَّةً (And fight the polytheists all together), he says: all together.
* * *
16705 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: وَقَاتِلُوا الْمُشْرِكِينَ كَافَّةً (And fight the polytheists all together): that is to say: all together.
* * *
And "al-kāffa" has one and the same form in every state; it is not made masculine, nor put in the plural, for even though it has the form of "fāʿila," it has the meaning of a verbal noun (maṣdar), like "al-ʿāfiya" and "al-ʿāqiba." And the Arabs do not add to it the "alif and lām" [i.e. the definite article], because it stands at the end of the sentence, together with the meaning of the verbal noun that it possesses, just as they do not do so when they say: "qāmū maʿan" (they stood up together) and "qāmū jamīʿan" (they all stood up).
* * *
And as for His saying: وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَ الْمُتَّقِينَ (And know that Allah is with the God-fearing), its meaning is: Know, O you who believe in Allah, that if you fight the polytheists all together, and fear Allah and obey Him in what He commanded you and forbade you, and do not transgress His command so as to disobey Him, Allah will be with you against your enemy and His enemy among the polytheists. And whoever has Allah with him, nothing will overcome him, for Allah is with whoever fears Him, thus heeds Him and obeys Him in what He has imposed upon him of command and prohibition.