سورة التوبة

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Amir al-Mu'minin Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him) stood at the Jamrah and called the people towards Allah with a loud voice ... Allah does not admit anyone to Paradise unless he has become a Muslim. You have four months to reach your homelands, for Allah has said: فَسِیحُوا فِی الْأَرْضِ أَرْبَعَةَ أَشْهُرٍ [So go about in the land for four months]. And he promised the people war if they did not believe, as Allah has said: فَسِیحُوا فِی الْأَرْضِ أَرْبَعَةَ أَشْهُرٍ [So go about in the land for four months]. [The polytheists] said: "Why have you given us four months' respite? We disavow you and your cousin! If you wish, let us begin the fight with sword and spear right now." Then Allah excepted a group of them in the verses of Bara'ah: إِلَّا الَّذِینَ عاهَدْتُمْ مِنَ الْمُشْرِکِینَ [Except those of the polytheists with whom you have made a treaty] (Tawba/4); meaning, with the exception of those who had a pact of non-aggression with the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), such as the tribe of Khuza'ah and others. As for the meaning of His words: فَسِیحُوا فِی الْأَرْضِ أَرْبَعَةَ أَشْهُرٍ [So go about in the land for four months], it is that they should disperse as soon as possible and give up Mecca and trade in it and return to their own lands, because after this respite, wherever they are seen they will be killed. And the four months during which Allah forbade the shedding of their blood began on the twentieth of Dhu al-Hijjah and included Muharram, Safar and Rabi' al-Awwal, and ended on the tenth of Rabi' al-Thani. This was the four-month period of freedom that Allah and the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) granted to the polytheists from the day of the recitation of the verses of Bara'ah of Allah and His Messenger (peace be upon him and his family). Then he said: the meaning of وَ اعْلَمُوا أَنَّکُمْ غَیْرُ مُعْجِزِی اللهِ وَ أَنَّ اللهَ مُخْزِی الْکافِرِینَ [And know that you cannot weaken Allah and that Allah will bring disgrace to the unbelievers] is that Allah will grant His Prophet victory over the polytheists.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): One day Ali (peace be upon him) was addressing the people. Then he drew his sword and said: "From now on no one has the right to circumambulate naked, and no polytheist man or polytheist woman has the right to perform the Hajj, and whoever has a term should wait until the end of his term. Whoever has no term, his term is four months." He had delivered the sermon on the Day of Nahr. That term was twenty days of Dhu al-Hijjah, Muharram, Safar, the month of Rabi' al-Awwal, and ten days of the month of Rabi' al-Thani.

Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): Husayn ibn Khalid said: I said to Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): "Why is no sin recorded against the pilgrim for a period of four months?" He said: "Indeed Allah the Mighty and Majestic permitted the Haram to the polytheists for four months, for He says: فَسِیحُوا فِی الْأَرْضِ أَرْبَعَةَ أَشْهُرٍ [So go about in the land for four months]. Then He also forgave the sins of the believing pilgrims of the House for a period of four months."

Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): Husayn ibn Khalid said: I wrote to Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): "How is it that for the pilgrim, from the time he shaves his head, no sin is recorded against him for four months?" The Imam said: "Allah the Exalted permitted the polytheists [access to] His Sanctuary for a period of four months. This is why He says: فَسِیحُوا فِی الْأَرْضِ أَرْبَعَةَ أَشْهُرٍ [So go about in the land for four months]. Therefore, for the believers, when they come to visit it, He forgives their sins for four months. And of course the believers are more deserving of Allah's forgiveness."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Sa'd al-Iskaf said, I heard Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) saying: "When the pilgrim begins preparing the equipment for his journey ... Dhul-Hijjah, Muharram, Safar and the month of Rabi al-Awwal are the four months during which good deeds are recorded for him (the pilgrim) and bad deeds are not recorded against him, unless he commits a major sin. When these four months come to an end, he is mixed in with the [other] people [meaning that, like the rest of the people, his sins too are recorded]."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Shuja said: Our companions have narrated that it was said to Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): "Why are the sins of the pilgrim forgiven for a period of four months?" He said: "Indeed Allah the Mighty and Majestic gave this command to the polytheists: فَسِیحُوا فِی الْأَرْضِ أَرْبَعَةَ أَشْهُرٍ [So go about in the land for four months]. So for the believers too He set the same period [He was not pleased to set less than that for the believers]."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Fudayl ibn Iyad said: I asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) about al-Hajj al-Akbar (the Greater Hajj), for Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him) held the view that it was the Day of Arafah. Imam Sadiq said: Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) said: "Al-Hajj al-Akbar is the Day of Sacrifice (Yawm al-Nahr), and he argued this by the statement of Allah the Exalted: فَسِیحُوا فِی الْأَرْضِ أَرْبَعَةَ أَشْهُرٍ [So go about in the land for four months]. And these four months comprise twenty days of Dhul-Hijjah, the months of Muharram, Safar and Rabi al-Awwal, and the first ten days of Rabi al-Akhir. Therefore, if al-Hajj al-Akbar were the Day of Arafah, [this period] would have had to be four months and one day."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): فَسِیحُوا فِی الْأَرْضِ أَرْبَعَةَ أَشْهُرٍ [So go about in the land for four months]; that is twenty days of Dhul-Hijjah, Muharram, Safar, the month of Rabi al-Awwal, and ten days of the month of Rabi al-Thani.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Allah has said: لا تُحِلُّوا شَعائِرَ اللهِ وَ لَا الشَّهْرَ الحَرامَ [Do not violate the sanctity of the symbols of Allah, nor the sacred month] (al-Ma'idah/2). He appointed the months as a determined number and made four of them sacred months, and said: فَسِیحُوا فِی الْأَرْضِ أَرْبَعَةَ أَشْهُرٍ وَ اعْلَمُوا أَنَّکُمْ غَیْرُ مُعْجِزِی اللهِ [So go about in the land for four months and know that you cannot weaken Allah].

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): The sacred months are: Rajab [which stands alone], Dhu al-Qa'dah, Dhu al-Hijjah and Muharram, which are consecutive. Allah has forbidden fighting and combat in these four months; likewise the punishment of sins and the reward of good deeds are multiplied in them. As for the months of free movement, they are well known: twenty days of Dhu al-Hijjah, Muharram, Safar, Rabi al-Awwal and ten days of Rabi al-Thani. Allah the Exalted, on the basis of the verse فَسِیحُوا فِی الْأَرْضِ أَرْبَعَةَ أَشْهُرٍ [So go about in the land for four months], granted the idolaters a favour during these four months. The months of Hajj are also well known: Shawwal, Dhu al-Qa'dah and Dhu al-Hijjah.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Khidash and Sa'id, the brothers of Amr ibn Wudd al-Amiri, said: "Why do you give us four months' respite? It is we who declare ourselves free of you and your cousin, and between us and your cousin nothing shall judge except the sword and the spear, and if you wish, we will begin with you." So Ali (peace be upon him) said: "Come on!" Then he said: "وَ اعْلَمُوا أَنَّکُمْ غَیْرُ مُعْجِزِی اللهِ ... إِلی مُدَّتِهِمْ [And know that you cannot weaken Allah... until their term]; (al-Tawbah/4)."