Tafsir of Al-Hajj 22:39

"Permission has been granted to those who are fought..."

Permission has been granted—meaning, authorization has been given. Ibn Abbas, Ibn Kathir, Ibn Amir, Hamzah, and al-Kisa’i read it as adhina (in the active voice), meaning: Allah the Exalted has granted permission. "To those who are fought" means: those whom the polytheists fight. That which permission is granted for is fighting, and it is implicitly included [in the verse] because the mentioned text indicates it with clear evidence. Abu ‘Amr, Abu Bakr, and Ya‘qub read it as yuqatiluna (in the active voice), meaning: those who desire to fight the polytheists in the future and are eager to do so; its indication of the omitted [object] is even clearer.

"Because they have been wronged"—meaning, because they were oppressed. The "those" (the relative pronoun) refers to the Companions of the Prophet, may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him, who were in Makkah. Al-Wahidi and others have reported that the polytheists used to harm them, and they would come to the Prophet, may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him, beaten and wounded, complaining to him. He, may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him, would say to them: "Be patient, for I have not been commanded to fight." This continued until he migrated, at which point this verse was revealed. It is the first verse revealed concerning fighting after it had been forbidden in over seventy verses, according to what al-Hakim narrated in al-Mustadrak from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both, and which ‘Abd al-Razzaq and Ibn al-Mundhir recorded from al-Zuhri.

Ibn Jarir recorded from Abu al-‘Aliyah that the first verse revealed concerning it was: "And fight in the way of Allah those who fight you." In al-Iklil by al-Hakim, it is mentioned that the first verse revealed regarding that was: "Indeed, Allah has purchased from the believers their lives and their properties." It is also narrated by al-Bayhaqi in al-Dala’il and a group of others that it was revealed concerning believers who departed, migrating from Makkah to Madinah, and were pursued by the disbelievers of Quraysh, so Allah the Exalted granted them permission to fight them. The oppressor is not explicitly mentioned out of extreme indignation and to avoid naming them.