(37) “The postponement of a sacred month is only an increase in disbelief, by which those who disbelieve are led astray. They permit it one year and prohibit it another so as to match the number of months Allah has made sacred, thereby making lawful what Allah has forbidden. The evil of their deeds has been made appealing to them. And Allah does not guide the disbelieving people.”
The postponement refers to a practice followed by the people of the Age of Ignorance regarding the sacred months. Among their false innovations was that, when they found themselves needing to fight at certain times during the sacred months, they decided—on the basis of their corrupt opinions—to preserve the number of sacred months in which Allah had forbidden fighting while postponing or advancing one of them and substituting for it whichever non-sacred month they wished. Having made this substitution, they permitted ⦗337⦘ fighting during the displaced sacred month and treated the ordinarily non-sacred month as sacred. This, as Allah tells us, only increased them in disbelief and misguidance because of the many evils it entailed.
Among them was that they invented this practice of their own accord and treated it as though it were part of Allah’s law and religion, whereas Allah and His Messenger have nothing to do with it.
Another was that they inverted the religion, making lawful what was forbidden and forbidden what was lawful.
Another was that they imagined they could deceive Allah and did deceive His servants, confusing their religion for them and resorting to deceit and subterfuge in Allah’s religion.
Another was that customs contrary to the revealed law, when persistently practiced, lose their ugliness in people’s minds and may even come to be regarded as good customs. This resulted in grave error and misguidance. Thus He said: “By which those who disbelieve are led astray. They permit it one year and prohibit it another so as to match the number of months Allah has made sacred”—that is, to match them in number—“thereby making lawful what Allah has forbidden.”
“The evil of their deeds has been made appealing to them.” That is, the devils made their evil deeds appear attractive to them, so they regarded them as good because of the belief that had been made appealing in their hearts.
“And Allah does not guide the disbelieving people.” That is, those whose hearts have become deeply imbued with disbelief and denial; even if every sign came to them, they would not believe.