The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 1) — Page 313
PT. 2 AL-BAQARAH CH. 2 الْحَرَامُ بِالشَّهْرِ الْحَرَامِ The violation of a Sacred. 195 الشَّهْرُ وَالْحُرُمُتُ قِصَاصُ فَمَنِ اعْتَدَى the Sacred Month; and for all Month should be retaliated in sacred things there is the law of عَلَيْكُمْ فَاعْتَدُوا عَلَيْهِ بِمِثْلِ مَا اعْتَدَى whoso So, retaliation. عَلَيْكُمْ وَاتَّقُوا اللهَ وَاعْلَمُوا ان الله transgresses against you, punish him for his transgression to the extent to which he has transgressed against you. And fear Allah and know that Allah is with those who fear Him. 201 "See 2:179. religion is professed for Allah, would, therefore, mean that Muslims should fight till profession of a faith is not influenced by the fear of men, but that whatever religion a man follows, he should follow it only for the sake of God, and not out of the fear of men. The above interpretation is also borne out by the fact that the Holy Prophet entered into a number of treaties of peace with disbelievers, which could have no justification if the divine commandment had been to continue fighting until all embraced Islam. The object of the jihad or holy war which the Holy Prophet was bidden to undertake is clearly stated in 22:40-42, which were the first verses that gave Muslims the permission to take up arms against disbelievers and the idea has been further clarified in 2:191, 193 above. Among the numerous other verses which throw light on this subject the reader is referred to 2:195, 218, 257; 3:135; 4:91, 92; 5:3, 9, 33; 8:39, 62, 63; 9:6, 8, 10, 13; 22:39,41; 41:35; 313 42:49; 50:46; 60:9, 10. مَعَ الْمُتَّقِينَ The concluding clause i. e. but if they desist, then remember that no hostility is allowed except against the aggressors, further confirms the interpretation of the verse as given above. If the Quran enjoined the waging of war till Islam obtained universal acceptance, then there would be no sense whatever in the injunction that if disbelievers desisted from fighting and no longer remained aggressors, Muslims should also stop hostilities; for, as the verse puts it, fighting is not permissible "except against the aggressors". 201. Important Words: Sacred Month). From the) الشهر الحرام earliest pre-Islamic times, four out of the twelve lunar months have been regarded as sacred (9:36) in which fighting, etc. , was held to be unlawful and people travelled in perfect peace and security. They were (1) Dhul- Qa'dah, (2) Dhul-Hijjah, (3) Al- Muharram, and (4) Rajab, the first named three months occurring