Surah At-Tawbah (The Repentance): Verse 5

Issues in the Verse:

Al-Layth said: To say salakhta ash-shahr (you shed the month) means you have exited it. Abu Hayyan confirmed this meaning, stating: We say ahlalnā hilāl shahr kadhā (we commenced the crescent of such-and-such a month), meaning we entered it and clothed ourselves with it. We increase each night until the middle of the month, clothing ourselves with it, then we shed it from ourselves part by part after its middle is complete, until we shed it entirely from ourselves.

He cited the verse:

If I shed the month, I commence another like it; Enough for the speaker is my shedding of months and my commencing them!

Further Explanation: Time is enveloping and a container for a thing, just as space is. The location of a thing is the inner surface of the containing body tangent to the outer surface of the contained body. When a thing sheds its skin, it separates from the inner surface of that skin, which is its true location. Similarly, when the month is completed, it separates from the envelopment of that month and enters another month. Salakh (shedding) is the name given to the separation of a thing from its specific location, so it is also applied to its separation from its specific time due to the perfect and intense correspondence between space and time.

As for the Sacred Months (al-Ashhur al-Hurum), we explained them in the verse: {And when the sacred months have passed, then kill the polytheists wherever you find them} (At-Tawbah: 2). They are from the Day of Sacrifice (Eid al-Adha) until the tenth of Jumada al-Akhirah (or Rabi' al-Akhirah, depending on the interpretation mentioned in the source text, referencing the four months mentioned in 2:2). The meaning of them being sacred is that Allah prohibited killing and fighting during them.

Upon the expiration of these Sacred Months, Allah permitted four things:

1. {And kill them wherever you find them}: This is an absolute command to kill them, at any time and in any place.
2. {And take them [captive]}: Meaning to seize them as prisoners (akhidh means captive).
3. {And confine them}: Confinement (hasr) means preventing them from exiting an enclosure. Ibn Abbas said this means if they fortify themselves, then confine them. Al-Farra’ said it means preventing them from the Sacred House (Ka'bah).
4. {And lie in wait for them at every place of ambush}: Marsad is the place where the enemy is watched, derived from the saying rasadtu fulānan arṣiduhu (I watched him, I lay in wait for him). The exegetes said the meaning is: Sit in wait for them on every road they take towards the Sacred House, or towards the desert, or towards trade. Al-Akhfash noted an omission in the speech, the intended meaning being: "Lie in wait for them at every place of ambush."

Al-Shafi'i, may Allah have mercy on him, used this verse as evidence that the one who abandons prayer must be killed. His argument is that Allah permitted the blood of the disbelievers absolutely by all means, then prohibited it upon the fulfillment of these three conditions: repentance from disbelief, establishing the prayer, and paying the Zakah. Therefore, when this totality is not present, the permissibility of killing must remain as the original ruling.

• If they argue: Why can it not mean acknowledging the obligation of prayer and Zakah? The evidence is that the one who withholds Zakah is not killed.
• The response: What you mentioned is deviating from the apparent meaning. As for the one withholding Zakah, specialization (takhṣīṣ) applies.
• If they argue: Why is it better to interpret this as specialization rather than interpreting the text as requiring the belief in the obligation of prayer and Zakah?
• The response: In the principles of jurisprudence (Usul al-Fiqh), when there is a conflict between a figurative interpretation (majāz) and specialization (takhṣīṣ), specialization takes precedence.

It is narrated that Abu Bakr As-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him, used to say regarding those who withheld Zakah: "I will not differentiate between what Allah has gathered." Perhaps his intention related to this verse, as Allah only commanded letting them go if they repent, establish prayer, and pay Zakah. This necessitated fighting the apostates because they refused Zakah. This is clear if they denied its obligation. However, if they acknowledged its obligation but refused to pay it specifically to the Imam, it is possible that Abu Bakr held that fighting them was obligatory because they refused to pay Zakah to the leader. His view was that this obligation was known from the religion of the Prophet (PBUH), just as other apparent religious laws are known.

We have discussed the reality of repentance in Surah Al-Baqarah in the verse: {Then Adam received from his Lord words, and He accepted his repentance} (Al-Baqarah: 37). It is narrated that a captive called out so the Prophet (PBUH) could hear: "I repent to Allah, and I do not repent to Muhammad," three times. The Prophet (PBUH) said: "He has recognized the truth for its people, so let him go."

It is said that {Then let them go} means towards the Sacred House, and it is also said it means allowing them freedom in their necessary affairs. {Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful} to those who repent and believe.

There is a subtle point here: Allah restricted all good things for them and cast them into all afflictions. Then He clarified that if they repent from disbelief, establish prayer, and pay Zakah, they are freed from all those afflictions in this world. We hope that the matter will be the same on the Day of Judgment due to Allah's bounty.

Repentance is the purification of the theoretical faculty from ignorance. Prayer and Zakah are the purification of the practical faculty from what is improper. This indicates that the perfection of happiness is tied to this meaning.

Verse 6