Tafseer of The City · Al-Balad · 90:2
And you, [O Muhammad], are free of restriction in this city -
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.
His statement: وَأَنْتَ حِلٌّ بِهَذَا الْبَلَدِ ("and you are unbound in this city"), by which Mecca is meant. The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: and you, O Muḥammad, are unbound (ḥill) in this city, that is to say in Mecca. He says: you are unhindered therein; you do therein what you wish, killing whom you wish to kill and taking captive whom you wish to take captive; that is permitted to you. Of this one says: he is unbound (ḥill), he is unbound (ḥalāl), he is in a consecrated state (ḥirm), he is in a consecrated state (ḥarām), he is unbound (muḥill), he is in a consecrated state (muḥrim), we have become unbound (aḥlalnā), and we have entered the consecrated state (aḥramnā).
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the exegetes have spoken.
* 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: وَأَنْتَ حِلٌّ بِهَذَا الْبَلَدِ ("and you are unbound in this city"), by which is meant: the Prophet of Allah ﷺ. Allah permitted him, on the day he entered Mecca, to kill whom he wished and to spare whom he wished. Thus on that day he killed Ibn Khaṭal defenseless while the latter was clinging to the cloths of the Kaʿba. But to no one of the people after the Messenger of Allah ﷺ is it permitted to kill therein what Allah has made sacredly forbidden. So Allah permitted him what he did with the inhabitants of Mecca. Have you not heard that Allah said concerning the consecrated status of the sanctuary: وَلِلَّهِ عَلَى النَّاسِ حِجُّ الْبَيْتِ مَنِ اسْتَطَاعَ إِلَيْهِ سَبِيلا ("And it is a duty owed to Allah by the people to perform the pilgrimage to the House, for whoever is able to find a way to it"), whereby by "the people" are meant the people of the prayer-direction (ahl al-qibla).
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid: وَأَنْتَ حِلٌّ بِهَذَا الْبَلَدِ ("and you are unbound in this city"), he said: whatever you do, you are exempted regarding the fighting (qitāl).
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid: وَأَنْتَ حِلٌّ بِهَذَا الْبَلَدِ ("and you are unbound in this city"), he said: to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was permitted what he did therein for an hour.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid: وَأَنْتَ حِلٌّ بِهَذَا الْبَلَدِ ("and you are unbound in this city"), he said: he was permitted to do therein what he wished.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Manṣūr: وَأَنْتَ حِلٌّ بِهَذَا الْبَلَدِ ("and you are unbound in this city"), he said: it was made unbound for the Prophet ﷺ; he said: do therein what you wish.
Mūsā ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to me, saying: Ḥusayn al-Juʿfī related to us, on the authority of Zāʾida, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the statement of Allah: وَأَنْتَ حِلٌّ بِهَذَا الْبَلَدِ ("and you are unbound in this city"), he said: you are unbound regarding what you have done therein.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid: وَأَنْتَ حِلٌّ بِهَذَا الْبَلَدِ ("and you are unbound in this city"), he said: Allah permitted you, O Muḥammad, what you have done in this city, that is to say Mecca.
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: وَأَنْتَ حِلٌّ بِهَذَا الْبَلَدِ ("and you are unbound in this city"), he said: you are not called to account for what you have done therein, and there does not rest upon you therein what rests upon the rest of the people.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: وَأَنْتَ حِلٌّ بِهَذَا الْبَلَدِ ("and you are unbound in this city"), he says: you are free of blame and sin.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: وَأَنْتَ حِلٌّ بِهَذَا الْبَلَدِ ("and you are unbound in this city"), he says: you are unbound therein, you are not sinful.
Yūnus related to us, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His statement: وَأَنْتَ حِلٌّ بِهَذَا الْبَلَدِ ("and you are unbound in this city"), he said: no one therein was unbound except the Prophet ﷺ; everyone who was therein was in a consecrated state (ḥarām); it was not permitted to them to fight therein, nor to violate its sanctity. So Allah made it unbound for His Messenger, and thus he fought therein the polytheists (mushrikīn).
Sawwār ibn ʿAbd Allah related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Malik, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ: وَأَنْتَ حِلٌّ بِهَذَا الْبَلَدِ ("and you are unbound in this city"), he said: indeed, Allah has declared Mecca a consecrated territory; it has never been unbound for any prophet except for your prophet, for an hour of the day.
It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd related to us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His statement: وَأَنْتَ حِلٌّ بِهَذَا الْبَلَدِ ("and you are unbound in this city"), by which Muḥammad is meant; he says: you are unbound in the consecrated territory, so kill if you wish, or refrain.
