a wrongdoer because he places worship where it does not belong.

“The sacred month is for the sacred month, and the sacred inviolabilities are subject to retaliation. So whoever assaults you, retaliate against him in the same manner as he assaulted you. And fear Allah, and know that Allah is with those who are mindful of Him.” (194)

His words, exalted is He, “The sacred month is for the sacred month,” were revealed concerning the Compensatory ‘Umrah. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, set out to perform ‘umrah in Dhu al-Qi‘dah, but the associationists prevented him from reaching the House at al-Hudaybiyyah. He therefore concluded a treaty with the people of Mecca that he would leave that year and return the following year to make up his ‘umrah. Thus, the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, departed that year and returned the next year, in Dhu al-Qi‘dah, and completed his ‘umrah in the seventh year after the Hijrah.

This is the meaning of His words, exalted is He, “The sacred month”: namely, Dhu al-Qi‘dah, during which you entered Mecca and completed your ‘umrah in the seventh year; “is for the sacred month”: namely, Dhu al-Qi‘dah, during which you had been prevented from reaching the House in the sixth year. “And the sacred inviolabilities are subject to retaliation”: sacred inviolabilities is the plural of inviolability. It is pluralized because it refers to the inviolability of the sacred month, the sacred city, and the state of ihram. Retaliation is equality and equivalence: that the perpetrator be treated in the same way that he acted.

It was also said that this concerns fighting: its meaning is that if they initiate fighting against you during the sacred month, then fight them in it, for this is retaliation for what they did therein. “So whoever assaults you, retaliate against him,” that is, fight them, “in the same manner as you were assaulted.” The recompense is given the same name as the initiating act, for rhetorical symmetry, as in His words, exalted is He: “The recompense of an evil deed is an evil deed like it” (al-Shura 42:40). “And fear Allah, and know that Allah is with those who are mindful of Him.”

28/b

“And spend in the way of Allah, and do not cast yourselves with your own hands into destruction; and do good. Indeed, Allah loves those who do good.” (195)

His words, exalted is He, “And spend in the way of Allah”: by this He means jihad, as well as every good work undertaken in Allah’s cause, though its unqualified usage refers to jihad. “And do not cast yourselves with your own hands into destruction”: it was said that the preposition bi- in His words, “with your own hands,” is superfluous; that is, do not cast your hands—meaning, yourselves—into destruction. He refers to the self by the hands, as in His words, exalted is He: “because of what your hands have earned” (al-Shura 42:30), meaning, what you yourselves have earned.

It was also said that the preposition retains its usual sense, with an ellipsis in the expression: do not cast yourselves, by your own hands, into destruction—that is, ruin. It was said that destruction is everything whose outcome leads to ruin; that is, do not embark upon it. And it was said that destruction is what can be guarded against, whereas ruin is what cannot be guarded against. The Arabs use the expression “he cast by his hand” only in reference to associationism.

They differed over the interpretation of this verse. Some said that it concerns miserliness and refraining from spending. Thus, “And do not cast yourselves with your own hands into destruction” means: by abandoning spending in the way of Allah. This was the view of Hudhayfah, al-Hasan, Qatadah, ‘Ikrimah, and ‘Ata’.

Ibn ‘Abbas said concerning this verse: “Spend in the way of Allah, even if you possess only an arrow or an arrowhead; let none of you say, ‘I cannot find anything.’” Al-Suddi said concerning it: “Spend in the way of Allah, even if only a camel’s hobble rope, and do not cast yourselves with your own hands into destruction. Do not say, ‘I have nothing.’” Sa‘id ibn al-Musayyab and Muqatil ibn Hayyan said: When Allah, exalted is He, commanded spending, a man said, “We have been commanded to spend in the way of Allah; if we spend our wealth, we shall be left poor.” So Allah revealed this verse. Mujahid said concerning it: “Do not let fear of impoverishment prevent you from spending on a rightful cause.”

Ahmad ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Salihi informed us; Ahmad ibn al-Hasan al-Hiri informed us; Abu Ja‘far Muhammad ibn ‘Ali