Tafsir al-Baghawi - Al-Baghawi - (8/426)

Tafsir al-BaghawiAl-Baghawi

Surah al-Balad: Meccan (1)

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy.

“I swear by this city, while you are permitted in this city.”

“I swear” means: I do swear “by this city,” meaning Makkah. “While you are permitted in this city,” that is, you are allowed to do in it whatever you wish in the way of killing and taking captive; you do not bear the sin that others would bear for doing so there. Allah Most High made Makkah lawful for His Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, on the day of the Conquest, such that he fought and killed, and commanded that Ibn Khatal be killed while he was clinging to the curtains of the Ka‘bah (2), as well as Miqyas ibn Subabah and others besides them (3). Thus, he made the blood of some people lawful and prohibited the blood of others. He said: “Whoever enters the house of Abu Sufyan is safe.” (4) Then he said: “Allah made Makkah sacred on the day He created the heavens and the earth. It was not made lawful for anyone before me, nor will it be made lawful for anyone after me. It was made lawful for me only for an hour of a day; thereafter, it remains sacred by Allah’s sanctity until the Day of Resurrection.” (5)

The meaning is that when Allah Most High swore by Makkah, this indicated its immense rank despite its sacred inviolability. He promised His Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, that He would make it lawful for him, so that he might fight therein, and that He would grant him its conquest. This was a promise from Allah, Exalted is He, that He would make it lawful for him.

Shurahbil ibn Sa‘d said regarding the meaning of His words, “while you are permitted in this city”: “They deem it forbidden to kill game there, yet they deem lawful your expulsion and your killing?”

(1) Ibn al-Durays, al-Nahhas, Ibn Mardawayh, and al-Bayhaqi reported from Ibn Abbas that he said: Surat La Uqsimu bi-Hadha al-Balad ("I swear by this city") was revealed in Mecca. See al-Durr al-Manthur, 8:516. (2) Reported by al-Bukhari, Kitab al-Hajj, chapter: Entering the Sacred Precinct and Mecca without ihram, 4:58; and Kitab al-Jihad, chapter: Killing captives and execution killings; and by Muslim, Kitab al-Hajj, chapter: The permissibility of entering Mecca without ihram, no. 1357, 2:989-90. (3) Ibn Hajar attributed it in al-Kafi al-Shaf, p. 184, to Abu Dawud and al-Nasai. See also Sirat Ibn Hisham, 4:52. (4) See Sirat Ibn Hisham, 4:46. (5) Part of a hadith reported by al-Bukhari, Kitab al-Hajj, chapter: The virtue of the Sacred Precinct, 3:449; and Muslim, Kitab al-Hajj, chapter: The inviolability of Mecca, its game, vegetation, and trees, no. 1353, 2:986.

سُورَةُ الْبَلَدِ مَكِّيَّةٌ (١) بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ ﴿لَا أُقْسِمُ بِهَذَا الْبَلَدِ (١) وَأَنْتَ حِلٌّ بِهَذَا الْبَلَدِ (٢) ﴾ ﴿لَا أُقْسِمُ﴾ يَعْنِي، أُقْسِمُ ﴿بِهَذَا الْبَلَدِ﴾ يَعْنِي مَكَّةَ ﴿وَأَنْتَ حِلٌّ﴾ أَيْ حَلَالٌ، ﴿بِهَذَا الْبَلَدِ﴾ تَصْنَعُ فِيهِ مَا تُرِيدُ مِنَ الْقَتْلِ وَالْأَسْرِ لَيْسَ عَلَيْكَ مَا عَلَى النَّاسِ فِيهِ مِنَ الْإِثْمِ. أَحَلَّ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى لِنَبِيِّهِ ﷺ مَكَّةَ يَوْمَ الْفَتْحِ، حَتَّى قَاتَلَ وَقَتَلَ وَأَمَرَ بِقَتْلِ ابْنِ خَطَلٍ، وَهُوَ مُتَعَلِّقٌ بِأَسْتَارِ الْكَعْبَةِ (٢) ، ومِقْيَسِ بْنِ صُبَابَةَ وَغَيْرِهِمَا (٣) ، فَأَحَلَّ دِمَاءَ قَوْمٍ وَحَرَّمَ دِمَاءَ قَوْمٍ فَقَالَ: مَنْ دَخَلَ دَارَ أَبِي سُفْيَانَ فَهُوَ آمِنٌ (٤) ، ثُمَّ قَالَ: إِنَّ اللَّهَ حَرَّمَ مَكَّةَ يَوْمَ خَلَقَ السَّمَوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ، وَلَمْ تَحِلَّ لِأَحَدٍ قَبَلِي وَلَا تَحِلُّ لِأَحَدٍ بَعْدِي، وَإِنَّمَا أُحِلَّتْ لِي سَاعَةً مِنْ نَهَارٍ، فَهِيَ حَرَامٌ بِحُرْمَةِ اللَّهِ إِلَى يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ (٥) . وَالْمَعْنَى: أَنَّ اللَّهَ تَعَالَى لَمَّا أَقْسَمَ بِمَكَّةَ دَلَّ ذَلِكَ عَلَى عَظِيمِ قَدْرِهَا مَعَ حُرْمَتِهَا، فَوَعَدَ نَبِيَّهُ ﷺ أَنَّهُ يَحِلُّهَا لَهُ حَتَّى يُقَاتِلَ فِيهَا، وَأَنْ يَفْتَحَهَا عَلَى يَدِهِ، فَهَذَا وَعْدٌ مِنَ اللَّهِ ﷿ بِأَنْ يُحِلَّهَا لَهُ. قَالَ شُرَحْبِيلُ بْنُ سَعْدٍ: وَمَعْنَى قَوْلِهِ: "وَأَنْتَ حَلُّ بِهَذَا الْبَلَدِ" قَالَ: يُحَرِّمُونَ أَنْ يَقْتُلُوا بِهَا صَيْدًا وَيَسْتَحِلُّونَ إِخْرَاجَكَ وَقَتْلَكَ؟

(١) أخرج ابن الضريس والنحاس وابن مردويه والبيهقي عن ابن عباس ﵄ قال: نزلت سورة (لا أقسم بهذا البلد) بمكة. انظر: الدر المنثور: ٨ / ٥١٦. (٢) أخرجه البخاري في الحج، باب دخول الحرم ومكة بغير إحرام: ٤ / ٥٨ وفي الجهاد، باب قتل الأسير وقتل الصبر، ومسلم في الحج: باب جواز دخول مكة بغير إحرام برقم (١٣٥٧) : ٢ / ٩٨٩ - ٩٩٠. (٣) عزاه ابن حجر في الكافي الشاف ص ١٨٤ لأبي داود والنسائي. وانظر سيرة ابن هشام: ٤ / ٥٢. (٤) انظر: سيرة ابن هشام: ٤ / ٤٦. (٥) قطعة من حديث أخرجه البخاري في الحج، باب فضل الحرم: ٣ / ٤٤٩، ومسلم في الحج، باب تحريم مكة وصيدها وخلاها وشجرها. . برقم (١٣٥٣) : ٢ / ٩٨٦.