wrongdoing is grave in every circumstance. Ibn Abbas said: “So do not wrong yourselves during them” means: do not deem the sacred months lawful and raid during them. Muhammad ibn Ishaq ibn Yasar said: Do not make what is lawful in them unlawful, nor what is unlawful lawful, as the idolaters did through the postponement of the sacred months.
“And fight the polytheists all together, as they fight you all together; and know that Allah is with those who are mindful of Him.” The scholars differed over whether fighting during the sacred months is prohibited. Some held that it had been a grave matter, but was then abrogated by His saying, “And fight the polytheists all together,” as though it meant: during these months and at other times as well. This was the view of Qatadah, Ata al-Khurasani, al-Zuhri, and Sufyan al-Thawri. They said: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, fought Hawazin at Hunayn and Thaqif at Taif, and besieged them during Shawwal and part of Dhu al-Qadah.
Others held that it was not abrogated. Ibn Jurayj said: Ata ibn Abi Rabah swore by Allah that it is not lawful for people to wage war in the Sacred Precinct or during the sacred months, unless they are attacked therein; and this ruling has not been abrogated.
His saying, Most High: “Indeed, the postponement of the sacred months is an increase in disbelief.” It was said that this is a verbal noun, like “blazing” and “burning.” It was also said that it is a passive participle, like “the wounded” and “the slain”; it is derived from postponement. From the same root comes deferred payment in a sale. One says: “May Allah delay his appointed term,” meaning, may He defer it. Most Quran reciters read it with an elongated vowel and a hamzah, while Warsh, narrating from Nafi by way of al-Bukhari, read it with a doubled ya and without a hamzah. It has also been said that its original form contained a hamzah, which was then softened.
It was also said that it derives from forgetfulness, in the sense of “that which is forgotten,” meaning: that which is abandoned. The meaning of postponement is to defer the inviolability of one month until another month. The Arabs believed in venerating the sacred months, and this was among the traditions of Abraham, peace be upon him, to which they held fast. Since most of their livelihood came from hunting and raiding, they found it burdensome to refrain from these activities for three consecutive months. At times, war would break out for them in one of the sacred months, and they disliked delaying their warfare. Thus, they postponed—that is, they deferred the inviolability of that month until another month. They would defer the inviolability of Muharram until Safar, declaring Safar sacred and treating Muharram as lawful. Then, if they needed to defer the inviolability of Safar, they would defer it until Rabi, and so on, month after month, until the prohibition had rotated throughout the entire year. Islam arose when Muharram had returned to the position in which Allah, exalted is He, had placed it; this was after a long period of time. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, then delivered a sermon during his pilgrimage.