Surah Baqarah ayat 217 Tafsir Quran 2:217

﴿يَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ الشَّهْرِ الْحَرَامِ قِتَالٍ فِيهِ ۖ قُلْ قِتَالٌ فِيهِ كَبِيرٌ ۖ وَصَدٌّ عَن سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَكُفْرٌ بِهِ وَالْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ وَإِخْرَاجُ أَهْلِهِ مِنْهُ أَكْبَرُ عِندَ اللَّهِ ۚ وَالْفِتْنَةُ أَكْبَرُ مِنَ الْقَتْلِ ۗ وَلَا يَزَالُونَ يُقَاتِلُونَكُمْ حَتَّىٰ يَرُدُّوكُمْ عَن دِينِكُمْ إِنِ اسْتَطَاعُوا ۚ وَمَن يَرْتَدِدْ مِنكُمْ عَن دِينِهِ فَيَمُتْ وَهُوَ كَافِرٌ فَأُولَٰئِكَ حَبِطَتْ أَعْمَالُهُمْ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ ۖ وَأُولَٰئِكَ أَصْحَابُ النَّارِ ۖ هُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ﴾
[ البقرة: 217]

2:217 They ask you about the sacred month - about fighting therein. Say, "Fighting therein is great [sin], but averting [people] from the way of Allah and disbelief in Him and [preventing access to] al-Masjid al-Haram and the expulsion of its people therefrom are greater [evil] in the sight of Allah. And fitnah is greater than killing." And they will continue to fight you until they turn you back from your religion if they are able. And whoever of you reverts from his religion [to disbelief] and dies while he is a disbeliever - for those, their deeds have become worthless in this world and the Hereafter, and those are the companions of the Fire, they will abide therein eternally.

Thus the Prophet s sent forth the first of his raiding parties under the command of ‘Abd Allāh b. Jahsh. They fought against the idolaters and killed ‘Amr b. ‘Abd Allāh Ibn al-Hadramī in the sacred month of Rajab thinking that it was the last day of Jumādā II. The disbelievers reviled them for making fighting lawful in a sacred month and so God revealed the following They ask you about the sacred the forbidden month and fighting in it qitālin fīhi ‘fighting in it’ is an inclusive substitution for al-shahri l-harāmi ‘the sacred month’. Say to them ‘Fighting qitālun is the subject in it is a grave thing kabīr ‘grave’ is the predicate that is heinous in terms of sin; but to bar saddun is the subject people from God’s way His religion and disbelief in Him in God and to bar from the Sacred Mosque that is Mecca and to expel its people the Prophet s and the believers from it — that is graver the predicate of the last subject that is more heinous in terms of sin than fighting in it in God’s sight; and sedition your idolatry is graver than your slaying’ in it. They the disbelievers will not cease to fight against you O believers until so that they turn you from your religion to unbelief if they are able; and whoever of you turns from his religion and dies disbelieving — their good works have failed that is they are invalid in this world and the Hereafter. Thus they will not count for anything and will not result in any reward. The specification of death as a condition is because if that person were to return to Islam again his original deeds would not be invalidated and he will be rewarded for them and he would not have to repeat them deeds such as performing the Pilgrimage al-Shāfi‘ī is of this opinion. Those are the inhabitants of the Fire abiding therein.

They call upon you, O Muhammad, for information and a reply relative to the question of fighting during the Sacred Month. Say to them: Fighting during the Sacred Month is a grave offence and obstruction to Allah’s spirit of truth guiding people into all truth and an emphatic denial of the Sacred Mosque and the months sanctity. And expulsion of Allah’s devotees from whence is a major offence to Allah and persecution for creed or opinion is worse than murder. The idolaters will continue to fight you until they succeed in forcing you to renounce your religion if they can. And he who turns renegade among you and dies captivated in disbelief and such persons shall be inherent losers; their hope shall be disappointed and their deeds shall be worthless here and Hereafter; it is these who shall be claimed by Hell and therein shall they remain forever

(2:217) They ask you (O Muhammad) concerning warfare in the prohibited month. Say, "Fighting is a heinous offence in this month, but in the sight of Allah it is far worse to hinder people from the Way of Allah and to deny Him and to prevent His worshippers from visiting the Masjidal-Haram, and to expel the dwellers of the sacred place from it; and persecution is far worse than bloodshed. *232 As for them, they will go on fighting with you till they succeed in turning you away from your Faith, if they can. But (note it well that) whosoever renounces his Faith and dies a renegade, all his works shall be fruitless both in this world and in the Hereafter. All such people deserve the Fire and shall abide in Hell for ever. *233

They ask you about the sacred month meaning

*232).
This relates to a certain incident.
In Rajab 2 A.
H.
the Prophet sent an expedition of eight persons to Nakhlah ( which lies between Makka and Ta'if ).
He directed them to follow the movements of the Quraysh and gather information about their plans, but not to engage in fighting.
On their way they came across a trade caravan belonging to the Quraysh and ambushed it.
They killed one person and captured the rest along with their belongings and took them to Madina.
They did this at a time when the month of Rajah was approaching its end and Sha'ban was about to begin.
It was, therefore, doubtful whether the attack was actually carried out in one of the sacred months, that is, Rajab, or not.
But the Quraysh, and the Jews who were secretly in league with them, as well as the hypocrites made great play of this and used it as a weapon in their propaganda campaign against the Muslims.
( For this expedition see Ibn Hisham, Sirah.
vol.
1, pp.
601 ff; Ibn Ishaq, Life of Muhammad, tr.
A.
Guillaume.
pp.
286 ff. ) They pointed out the contradiction between the claims of the Muslims to true religion on the one hand, and their not hesitating to shed blood in a sacred month on the other.

This verse aims to answer these objections.
The essence of what is said here is that fighting during the sacred months is without doubt an evil act.
It points out that those people who had continually subjected their kith and kin to untold wrong for thirteen years merely because they believed in the One God were not competent to make such an objection.
Not only had the Muslims been driven from their homes, they had had the way to the Holy Mosque closed to them, a bar which had not been imposed by anyone during the course of some two thousand years.
With this record of mischief and misconduct it was not for them to raise such an outcry at a minor ambush, and especially so when the incident had taken place without the approval of the Prophet.
The whole incident was in fact no more than an irresponsible act on the part of some members of the Islamic community.

It should be remembered that when on their return those people went, with captives and booty, to visit the Prophet, he expressly pointed out to them that he had not permitted them to fight.
Not only that, he declined to receive the public exchequer's share of their booty, which indicated that their booty was considered unlawful.
The Muslims, in general, also severely reproached the people responsible for the incident, and in fact nobody in Madina applauded what they had done.

*233).
A few simple-hearted Muslims, whose minds were seized by a mistaken concept of righteousness and pacifism, were influenced by the above objections which had been raised by the polytheists of Makka and the Jews.
In this verse the believers are being asked not to entertain the hope that they might clear the air and promote understanding and goodwill by adopting an over-lenient stance towards their opponents.
The objections of the latter were not motivated by the desire to find out the Truth; their true purpose was nothing but vilification.
What particularly irked the adversaries of the Muslims was that they believed in a religion of their own and were inviting the whole world to accept it.
Hence, as long as the Muslims continued to believe in Islam and as long as their opponents remained stubborn in their disbelief, the existing chasm between the two groups was bound to remain.

Moreover, the enemies whom they confronted were not to be considered ordinary enemies.
Those who wanted to deprive a person of his belongings or land were in fact enemies of a relatively much less dangerous kind than those who sought to turn him away from his faith; while the former sought to harm his worldly interests, the latter were bent upon hurling him into the eternal torment in the Hereafter.

 

And so Allah said: ( They question thee (O Muhammad ) with regard to warfare in the sacred month) about waging war in the month of Rajab. ( Say: Warfare therein ) in the month of Rajab ( is a great (transgression )) deserving a great punishment, ( but to turn (men ) from the way of Allah) but preventing people from the Religion of Allah and His obedience, ( and to disbelieve in Him and in the Inviolable Place of Worship ) and turning people away from the Inviolable Place of Worship, ( and to expel its people from it, is a greater sin ) deserving a greater punishment ( with Allah ) than the killing of ’Amr Ibn al-Hadrami; ( for persecution ) associating partners with Allah ( is worse than slaughter ) the slaughter of ’Amr Ibn al-Hadrami. ( And they ), the people of Mecca, ( will not cease from fighting against you till they have made you renegades from your religion ) the religion of Islam, ( if they can ) if they are able to do so. ( And whoso becometh a renegade ) whoever renounces Islam ( and dieth in his disbelief: such are they whose works have fallen ) their works are thwarted and their good deeds rejected ( both in the world and the Hereafter ) and they will not be rewarded in the Hereafter. ( And such are rightful owners of the Fire ) the people of hell: ( they will abide therein forever ) they will neither die nor leave it.

They ask you concerning fighting in the Sacred Months (i.e. 1st, 7th, 11th and 12th months of the Islamic calendar). Say, "Fighting therein is a great (transgression) but a greater (transgression) with Allah is to prevent mankind from following the Way of Allah, to disbelieve in Him, to prevent access to Al-Masjid-al-Haram (at Makkah), and to drive out its inhabitants, and Al-Fitnah is worse than killing. And they will never cease fighting you until they turn you back from your religion (Islamic Monotheism) if they can. And whosoever of you turns back from his religion and dies as a disbeliever, then his deeds will be lost in this life and in the Hereafter, and they will be the dwellers of the Fire. They will abide therein forever.

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