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but rather, they consist of three consecutive months and one solitary month (1). Since He had already mentioned these months of amnesty, He necessarily had to state the ruling that applies once they expire; thus He said, “When the sacred months have elapsed, then slay the polytheists….”
—until He says:
No faction of those polytheists was left that would fight at all; rather, every polytheist who lacked a treaty—and they were people of combat—had been subdued. For that reason He declared, “When the sacred months have elapsed, then slay the polytheists wherever you find them, capture them, besiege them, and lie in wait for them at every ambush.”
(1) Ibn al-Qayyim states in Zad al-Maad, 3/160–161: “The hurum (sacred months) referred to here are the months during which travel was permitted. They begin on Yawm al-Adhan (the Day of Proclamation), the tenth of Dhu al-Hijja, which is Yawm al-Hajj al-Akbar (the Greater Pilgrimage) when the proclamation was made, and they end on the tenth of Rabi al-Akhir. They are therefore not the four months mentioned in the verse: Inna iddata al-shuhuri ‘inda Allah ithna ‘ashara shahran fi kitabi Allah yawma khalaqa al-samawati wa-l-arda minha arba‘atun hurum (“Indeed, the number of months with Allah is twelve months in the Book of Allah, on the day He created the heavens and the earth; of them, four are sacred”), for those comprise one solitary month and three consecutive ones: Rajab, Dhu al-Qa‘da, Dhu al-Hijja, and Muharram.”
هِيَ ثَلاثَةٌ سَرْدٌ، وَوَاحِدٌ فَرْدٌ (١)، وَهُوَ قَدْ ذَكَرَ فِي هَذِهِ أَشْهُرَ السِّيَاحَةِ فَلَابُدَّ أَنَّ يَذْكُرَ الحُكْمَ إِذَا انْقَضَتْ، فَقَالَ: ﴿فَإِذَا انْسَلَخَ الْأَشْهُرُ الْحُرُمُ فَاقْتُلُوا الْمُشْرِكِينَ﴾.
إِلَى أَنْ قَالَ:
فَلَمْ يَبْقَ مِنْ أُولَئِكَ المُشْرِكَينَ طَائِفَةٌ تُقَاتِلُ البَتَّةَ، بَلْ قَهَرَ جَمِيعَ المُشْرَكَينَ وَ [مَنْ] لَا عَهْدَ لَهَمْ، وَهُمْ مِنْ أَهْلِ القِتَال، فَلِهَذَا قَالَ: ﴿فَإِذَا انْسَلَخَ الْأَشْهُرُ الْحُرُمُ فَاقْتُلُوا الْمُشْرِكِينَ حَيثُ وَجَدْتُمُوهُمْ وَخُذُوهُمْ وَاحْصُرُوهُمْ وَاقْعُدُوا لَهُمْ كُلَّ مَرْصَدٍ﴾.
(١) قال ابن القيم في زاد المعاد (٣/ ١٦٠ - ١٦١): (الحرم ههنا هي أشهر التسيير، أولها يوم الأذان، وهو اليوم العاشر من ذي الحجة، وهو يوم الحج الأكبر الذي وقع فيه التأذين بذلك، وآخرها العاشر من ربيع الآخر، وليست هي الأربعة المذكورة في قوله: ﴿إِنَّ عِدَّةَ الشُّهُورِ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ اثْنَا عَشَرَ شَهْرًا فِي كِتَابِ اللَّهِ يَومَ خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ مِنْهَا أَرْبَعَةٌ حُرُمٌ﴾، فإن تلك واحد فرد، وثلاثة سرد: رجب، وذو القعدة، وذو الحجة، والمحرم).