(3) “And this is a proclamation from Allah and His Messenger to all people on the Day of the Greater Pilgrimage: Allah and His Messenger are disassociated from the polytheists. If you repent, it will be better for you; but if you turn away, then know that you cannot thwart Allah. And give the disbelievers tidings of a painful punishment.”

This is what Allah had promised the believers: that He would grant victory to His religion, exalt His word, and bring defeat upon their polytheist enemies, who had expelled the Messenger and those with him from Mecca—from the Sacred House of Allah—and driven them from the parts of the Hijāz over which they held sway.

Allah granted victory to His Messenger and the believers until His Messenger conquered Mecca, humbled the polytheists, and gave the believers authority and ascendancy over those lands.

The Prophet (1) therefore instructed his herald to proclaim on the Day of the Greater Pilgrimage—which is the Day of Sacrifice, when the people, Muslims and disbelievers alike, assembled from across the Arabian Peninsula—that Allah and His Messenger were disassociated from the polytheists. No treaty or covenant therefore remained in force for them: wherever they were found, they were to be killed. They were also told, “Do not approach the Sacred Mosque after this year of yours.” This occurred in the ninth year after the Hijrah.

Abū Bakr al-Siddīq (may Allah be pleased with him) led the people in Hajj, while the cousin of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), Alī ibn Abī Tālib (may Allah be pleased with him), proclaimed the declaration of disassociation on the Day of Sacrifice.

Allah, Exalted is He, then encouraged the polytheists to repent and warned them against persisting in polytheism, saying: “If you repent, it will be better for you; but if you turn away, then know that you cannot thwart Allah.”