Surah At-Tawbah (9): Verse 37

Translation and Exegesis

In this verse, there are several issues to discuss:

There are two main opinions regarding the meaning of An-Nasī’:

Opinion 1: It means Postponement (التأخير).

• Linguistic Basis: Abu Zayd stated that nasā’tu al-ibil means "I delayed the camels from the watering trough." The root verb nasā’a means to postpone. The noun forms are an-nasī’ah and an-nas’. It is also used for extending a lifespan (ansā’a Allāh fūlānan ajalahu).
• Grammatical Consideration (Abu Ali al-Fārisī): An-Nasī’ can be a verbal noun (masdar) like an-nadhīr (warning) or an-nakīr (reproach). It could also mean the passive participle (mansū’), like qateel meaning maqtool (killed). However, interpreting it as the passive participle here is problematic, as it would mean "The postponed [month] is an increase in disbelief," implying the postponed month itself is disbelief, which is false. Therefore, the intended meaning is the verbal noun signifying the act of postponing (al-insā’).
• The Practice: An-Nasī’ in the context of the months referred to postponing the sanctity of a sacred month to another month that did not possess that sanctity.
• Recitations: Ibn Kathīr has narrations where an-nas’ is pronounced like an-naf’ (the true verbal noun, meaning "I postponed"). Another narration has an-nasī’ with a lightened yā’ (without the hamza), possibly a dialectal variation. Another reading has an-nasīy (with a doubled, un-hamzated yā’), which is considered a standard softening.

Opinion 2: It means Increase (الزيادة).

• Linguistic Basis (Qutrub): An-Nasī’ originates from increase. It is said nasā’tu fī al-ajal (I increased the term) or ansā’tu (I added to it). Milk is called an-nasī’ because of the increase of water in it. A woman nasā’at when she becomes pregnant (the increase of the child is likened to the increase of water in milk). A she-camel is nasā’tuhā when driven hard to increase her pace. Any addition occurring to something is called nasī’.
• Al-Wāḥidī’s View: The correct view is the first one (postponement). He explains that a woman nasā’at when her menstruation is delayed, a she-camel is nasā’at when delayed from others to prevent mixing, and milk is nasā’tu when delayed until the water content increases.

Reconciliation and Application: The people knew that if they based their calculations on the lunar year, their Hajj would sometimes fall in summer and sometimes in winter, making travel difficult and hindering trade, as people from other regions only attended during favorable times. They realized that basing matters on the lunar year harmed worldly interests.

Therefore, they abandoned the lunar calendar and adopted the solar year. Since the solar year exceeds the lunar year by a specific amount, they needed intercalation (al-kabisah). This intercalation resulted in two things:

1. Making some years thirteen months long due to accumulating these excesses.
2. Shifting the Hajj from one lunar month to another (e.g., from Dhū al-Hijjah to Muharram, then to Ṣafar, and so on, until it eventually returned to Dhū al-Hijjah after a specific cycle).

Thus, intercalation caused both an increase in the number of months and the postponement of the sanctity of a month to another. Since the word an-nasī’ signifies postponement for the majority and increase for others, it applies perfectly to both these actions.

Conclusion on the Practice: The foundation of worship based on the lunar calendar conflicts with worldly interests, while basing it on the solar calendar serves those interests. God commanded them, since the time of Abraham and Ishmael (peace be upon them), to adhere to the lunar calendar. They abandoned God's command for the sake of worldly interests, performing Hajj in months other than the sacred ones. This is why God criticized them and made this act an increase in their disbelief.

This act increased their disbelief because God commanded them to perform Hajj during the sacred months. By adopting the solar calendar, they performed it in other months and taught their followers that this new practice was obligatory, thus denying the necessity of performing it in the lunar sacred months. This denial of God's ruling, despite knowing it, constitutes rebellion, which, by consensus, leads to disbelief. Thus, their act of an-nasī’ resulted in an increase in disbelief.

The specific calculation for these intercalations is found in astronomical tables (az-Zījāt).

Alternative Explanation by Commentators: Some commentators offered another reason: The Arabs observed the sanctity of the four months (sacred months). This was an established law since Abraham and Ishmael. As they were people of war and raiding, it was difficult for them to refrain from fighting for three consecutive months. They argued that if three sacred months occurred consecutively, they would gain nothing and perish. Thus, they would postpone the sanctity of Muharram to Ṣafar, making Muharram permissible for fighting while sanctifying Ṣafar instead. Al-Wāḥidī noted that most scholars agree this postponement was not limited to one month but occurred across all months. This latter view is considered correct here.

It is agreed that when the Prophet (PBUH) performed the Farewell Pilgrimage, Hajj returned to its proper time in Dhū al-Hijjah. He then declared: "Time has completed its cycle, just as it was the day God created the heavens and the earth. The year is twelve months," meaning the sacred months had returned to their original positions.

This means that God had already recounted many types of disbelief from them. When they added this act (an-nasī’), which we established is disbelief, adding this new act to their previous sins constituted an increase in disbelief.

Al-Jubbā’ī’s Argument: Al-Jubbā’ī used this verse to refute those who claim faith is merely belief and verbal affirmation. He argued that since this act is an increase in disbelief, the opposite action (abandoning the postponement) must be faith. Clearly, abandoning the postponement is neither mere knowledge nor mere affirmation. Therefore, something other than knowledge and affirmation can constitute faith.

The Author's Refutation (Al-Rāzī): This inference is weak. We established that God obligated them to perform Hajj in a specific lunar month (e.g., Dhū al-Hijjah). When they adopted the solar calendar, Hajj might fall in Muharram one year and Ṣafar the next. Their assertion that this misplaced Hajj is valid and that performing it in Dhū al-Hijjah is not obligatory—if this assertion stems from their knowledge (inherited from Abraham/Ishmael) that it is obligatory—then their denial constitutes disbelief due to lack of knowledge and lack of affirmation of the truth.

1. Public Recitation (Yudillu - with ḍamma on yā’ and fatḥa on ḍād): This is excellent because it attributes the misguidance to the disbelievers themselves. If they are inherently misguided, attributing misguidance to them is appropriate. If they are misleading others, they are inherently misguided anyway.

2. Kufan Recitation (Yuḍallu - with ḍamma on yā’ and ḍamma on ḍād): This means their leaders mislead them by compelling them toward this postponement of months. The verb is attributed to the object (the leaders), similar to the structure in the verse: Zuyyina lahum sū’u a‘mālihim (Their evil deeds were made attractive to them), meaning their leaders made it attractive to them.

3. Abū ‘Amr’s Recitation (in one narration): Yuḍallu (with ḍamma on yā’ and kasra on ḍād): This has three possible interpretations: a. God misleads the disbelievers because of it. b. Satan misleads the disbelievers because of it. c. (The strongest interpretation): The Nasī’ misleads their followers and those who adhere to their sayings. This is strongest because neither God nor Satan was mentioned previously.

The pronoun in bihi (by it) refers back to an-nasī’.

The pronoun refers to an-nasī’. The meaning is: they permit that postponement one year and forbid the postponement another year.

Al-Wāḥidī interpreted this as: They permit the postponement one year (the year they wish to fight in Muharram) and forbid the postponement another year (the year they leave Muharram in its sanctity).

Al-Rāzī comments: This interpretation is only valid if we define an-nasī’ as postponing Muharram in some years, causing the month to shift to a permissible time and vice versa. This only works if we take an-nasī’ as the passive object (al-mansū’—the postponed thing). We noted earlier that this reading is problematic because it implies the postponed month itself is disbelief, unless we interpret the phrase "The Nasī’ is an increase in disbelief" to mean the action that causes the postponement results in an increase in disbelief, which strengthens this interpretation through implied meaning.

Linguistic Meaning: Wāṭa’tu fulānan ‘alā kadhā means "I agreed with him upon that." Tawāṭa’a al-qawm means they gathered upon something, each stepping where the other steps. Iṭā’ in poetry refers to using two rhymes with the same sound and meaning.

Ibn ‘Abbās’s Interpretation: They would not permit one sacred month unless they sanctified a permissible month in its place, and they would not sanctify a permissible month unless they permitted a sacred month in its place, all to maintain the total count of four sacred months, matching what God mentioned. This is the meaning of al-muwāṭa’ah (coincidence/agreement).

When God clarified that this act was disbelief and reprehensible, He said: "God has made their evil deeds attractive to them, and God does not guide the disbelieving people." Ibn ‘Abbās and Al-Ḥasan interpreted this as: Satan made this deed attractive to them, and God does not guide every sinful disbeliever.

Verse 38