And when the revelation of these previous verses occurred during the greatest victory, when the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, intended in the year eight to march with the armies of Allah to the honored Mecca - may Allah, the Exalted, honor it - to enter it upon them with the sword, when they violated by fighting against the Khuzā'ah, who had allied themselves with the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and they were under his covenant and treaty in the truce of Hudaybiyyah, which took place in the year six, regarding the cessation of hostilities between them and the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and those who entered into his covenant. And from that treaty was that whoever came to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, from Quraysh and those who entered into their treaty, he would return them to them even if he was a Muslim. And whoever came to them from those who were with the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, they would not return him to him. Thus, many of the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, remained steadfast, among them the greatest of them, Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, until the truthful one, Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, settled him with what was established in his heart of judgment. And he returned to them, blessings and peace be upon him, Abu Basir, may Allah be pleased with him. And his returning him to them was for the fulfillment of the covenant due to the confirmation of his saying, blessings and peace be upon him, 'As for whoever comes to us from them, we will return him to them, and Allah will make for him a way out and an escape.' And his story in all of this is well-known. And 'whoever' is from the forms of generality, and the indication of the general is definitive in the ruling on individuals, while the indication on the specific is conjectural - as Al-Shafi'i, may Allah be pleased with him, said - in the indication on the particular of those individuals specifically, where there is no evidence. For those forms may sometimes come in their generality and sometimes be intended for some individuals, thus being from the general that is intended for the specific. And sometimes there occurs specification, thus being from the general that is intended for the specific, and the possibility has approached it, so what it indicates from the apparent needs evidence. And the inclusion of women under the term 'whoever' in the truce of Hudaybiyyah is either devoid of evidence or that the evidence of the fighting which the truce was based upon diverts from it. Likewise, the evidence of expressing them with 'what' instead of 'whoever' in many parts of the Noble Book.

﴿So marry those that please you of women﴾ [An-Nisa: 3] ﴿or those your right hands possess﴾ [An-Nisa: 3] ﴿And do not marry those whom your fathers married of women﴾ [An-Nisa: 22] ﴿And the chaste women from among those whom you possess, except what your right hands possess﴾ [An-Nisa: 24] ﴿And lawful for you is what is beyond that﴾ [An-Nisa: 24] ﴿So whatever you enjoy of them﴾ [An-Nisa: 24] ﴿Then from what your right hands possess of your believing maidens﴾ [An-Nisa: 25] ﴿Except for their spouses or what their right hands possess﴾ [Al-Mu'minun: 6] And He, glorified is He, concluded these verses with which He guided in the Battle of Al-Fath by clarifying what does not fall outside of the peace in the Umrah of Al-Hudaybiyyah, which is closer to goodness than righteousness and justice. And He prohibited allying with the disbelievers. Thus, marriage and kinship were among the greatest forms of allegiance. And He connected with that what does not fall outside of it and is not permissible by the covenant, that whoever comes from the disbelievers to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, he would be returned to them even if he was a Muslim. He said, addressing the least of the ranks of the people of faith who need understanding. As for those who are above them, they are knowledgeable of that and are committed to it by what Allah has given them of understanding and illuminated their noble hearts with the arts of knowledge, so that they may present to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, the preliminaries of the pledge from them: ﴿O you who have believed﴾ meaning affirm your faith - which is the establishment of safety from denial - for those who inform them of what should be believed in due to their belief in Allah, glorified and exalted is He.

And when it was in His knowledge, glorified and exalted is He, that women would come to them fleeing with their religion to Allah, He gave them glad tidings of that by the expression of the tool of confirmation, saying: ﴿If﴾ meaning if they believe what you claim of faith that it is at any time ﴿that comes to you﴾. And when He does not abandon his home and his tribe, especially if they are relatives due to their disbelief, except for one who is firmly rooted in faith, whether male or female, He said: ﴿The believing women﴾ meaning the women whose description of faith has become a firmly established attribute for them by the indication of migration towards Him: ﴿Migrating﴾ from the disbelievers and to their land. ﴿So test them﴾ meaning test them to confirm what migration indicates of faith by swearing that they did not leave for an event that they caused, nor out of hatred for a husband, nor out of desire for a tribe, but they left only out of love for Allah and His Messenger and a desire for the religion of Islam. Imam Shihab al-Din ibn al-Naqib said in the guidance from his summary for the sufficiency for the jurist of the school, Najm al-Din Ahmad ibn al-Rifa'a in the explanation of the alert: (p-513) The saying of al-Shafi'i, may Allah have mercy on him, differed: Did the Prophet ﷺ stipulate for Quraysh in the peace the return of the women? In one saying: He did not stipulate it, but he released the return of whoever came to him, and they imagined the inclusion of the women. And the Prophet ﷺ was knowledgeable of their not entering, so this was released by Hudhayfah, meaning, and from his law that war is deception. In another saying: The condition included them, but was it explicitly stipulated or did they enter into the release? There are two opinions, the more apparent of them is the second. And was their condition permissible? There are two opinions: one of them is yes, then it was abrogated. And is the abrogation of it the mentioned verse or was the Prophet ﷺ prevented from the return? There are two opinions based on whether it is permissible to abrogate the Sunnah by the Qur'an, and there are two sayings for al-Shafi'i, may Allah have mercy on him, and his preferred one of them is the prohibition, which is the new one. Likewise, it is not permissible for him and his companions to abrogate the Book by the Sunnah, even if it is mutawatir - this has ended.

And its meaning is that it did not occur. If the abrogation of it by the Qur'an occurred, there would be a Sunnah with it. And if its abrogation by the Sunnah occurred, there would be a Qur'an with it. This is the meaning of the saying of Ibn al-Sabki in the collection of the comprehensive: Al-Shafi'i, may Allah be pleased with him, said: And wherever it occurs by the Sunnah, there is a Qur'an with it, or by the Qur'an, there is a supporting Sunnah that clarifies the agreement of the Book and the Sunnah.

And when the test may indicate their faith, which is known only by it, He negated that by His saying, starting in response to the one who says: Is not Allah All-Knowing of that? And indicating that your knowledge, which you reach through examination, is not knowledge. Rather, He called it so to indicate that the prevailing assumption regarding you, through effort and analogy, stands in place of knowledge, which comes from Him. 'And do not follow that of which you have no knowledge' [Al-Isra: 36]. Allah, who encompasses everything in power and knowledge, knows better than you and them about themselves, whether their faith exists or not, in terms of certainty or not. For He encompasses what is hidden as He encompasses what is witnessed. He has entrusted the matter to you in that as a concealment for the people, so that His testimony for anyone regarding faith and disbelief does not lead to the certainty of sight, thus exiting from the confines of this abode. Al-Qushayri said: In general, the test is a path to knowledge, and the jewels of the soul become clear through experience. Whoever embarks on something without experience reaps the cup of regret. He said: 'So if you know them' means the established knowledge for you, which is the confirmed assumption based on evident signs, by swearing and otherwise. 'Believing women' means sincere in migration for the sake of faith, and the expression of that indicates more caution.

And when He mentioned this test, He clarified that it is a reason for their protection and defense from them. So He followed it with its cause and said: 'So do not return them' means in any way to the disbelievers, even if they are husbands. The evidence for this is that this is apparent in the intended meaning and that the indications clarify it. When he, blessings and peace be upon him, refused to return to them anyone who came to him from the women, none of the disbelievers criticized that, nor did anyone attribute a flaw to his time, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. If that were not the case, they would have filled the earth with disturbance as they did in the expedition of Abdullah ibn Jahsh, may Allah be pleased with him, to the palm tree for which it was revealed.

﴿They ask you about the sacred month﴾ [Al-Baqarah: 217] The verses indicate that the authentic reports and others state that this verse was revealed in Al-Hudaybiyah before the matter was completely resolved and settled. Al-Bukhari narrated in his book of battles from his authentic collection, and Al-Baghawi from his source, and this is the wording from Al-Marwan and Al-Miswar ibn Makhramah from the companions of the Prophet ﷺ who said: "Suhail ibn Amr wrote a treaty with the Prophet ﷺ, and what he stipulated upon the Prophet ﷺ was that no one from us would come to you, even if he were upon your religion, except that you would return him to us. So the Prophet ﷺ wrote the treaty on that basis. On that day, Suhail returned Abu Jandal to his father, Suhail ibn Amr, and no man came to him except that he returned him during that period, even if he was a Muslim. And the believing women who emigrated came, and Umm Kulthum bint Uqbah ibn Abi Mu'ait was among those who went to the Prophet ﷺ while she was a young woman. Her family came to Medina asking the Prophet ﷺ to return her to them, but he did not return her to them as Allah had revealed concerning them: ﴿When believing women come to you as emigrants, test them﴾. Al-Baghawi said: Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both, said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ came as a pilgrim until when he was at Al-Hudaybiyah, the polytheists of Mecca made a treaty with him that whoever came to him from the people of Mecca, he would return him to them. Then Subai'ah bint Al-Harith, a Muslim, came after the writing of the treaty. Her husband, who was a disbeliever, came and said: O Muhammad! Return my wife to me, for you have stipulated that you would return to us whoever comes to you from us, and this is the ink of the treaty that has not dried. So Allah, the Exalted, revealed: ﴿O you who have believed, when believing women come to you as emigrants, test them. Allah knows best their faith﴾. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both, said: The test for her is that she should be sworn that she did not emigrate out of hatred for her husband, nor out of love for a man among the Muslims, nor out of desire for land, nor for any incident she caused, nor seeking the world, but she only emigrated out of a desire for Islam and love for Allah and His Messenger ﷺ. So the Messenger of Allah ﷺ swore her to that, and she swore, and he did not return her, and he gave her husband what he had spent on her. Then he married her to Umar, may Allah be pleased with him. The Prophet ﷺ would return whoever came to him from the men and would detain whoever came to him from the women after testing them, and he would give their husbands their dowries. And the claim of abrogation is nothing but to be interpreted as when it was from the general that was intended for specification, that some of what the apparent wording addressed of the ruling is abrogated. This is because Allah does not command breaking a promise; how then would He command breaking a covenant? And when He prohibited returning the emigrating women to the polytheists and expressed it with the disbelievers in general, He justified that by saying, presenting their ruling as an honor for them for their emigration: ﴿They are not lawful﴾ meaning the husbands ﴿for them﴾ meaning for the disbelievers for enjoyment or otherwise. And when the negation of the established law does not prevent the renewal of the law for the men for them, even if it is under a certain condition or requirement, He said, reiterating that and affirming the severance of the relationship from every side: ﴿And nor are they﴾ meaning the men of the disbelievers ﴿lawful﴾ meaning it is renewed at a time from the times that they become lawful ﴿for them﴾ meaning for the believing women, even if it were imagined that their men were women and they were men, they would not be lawful for them unlike the people of the Scripture. Thus, the connection in the matter of [muhadharah] and [ila'] is severed, and it is lawful for the woman to enjoy him if he is asleep, for example, but it is forbidden for him to do so before expiation. Al-Baydawi said: the first is for the occurrence of separation, and the second is to prevent resumption - this has ended. So this verbal sentence negated the renewal of the law for the women, and the two sentences understood the absence of hardship in what was before that, soothing the hearts of the believing women.

And when he prohibited the return and explained it, he commanded what he had previously mentioned of fairness to them. He said: ﴿And give them﴾ meaning the wives ﴿what you have spent﴾ meaning on them from the dowries. For the dowry is in accordance with the essence of the marriage and its continuity. The emigrant has forfeited it, so there should not be a combination of the loss of marriage and financial loss. As for clothing and maintenance, they are for what is renewed over time.

And when he firmly established the prohibition of their (wives) from the disbelievers, he permitted them for the Muslims. He said in a manner of gentleness and kindness: ﴿And there is no blame﴾ meaning no inclination or hardship ﴿upon you﴾ O you who are honored with the address ﴿to marry them﴾ meaning to renew your marriage with them after the waiting period, even if their husbands are disbelievers who have not divorced them, due to the severance of the bond from them, and because Islam has separated between them. For Allah will not make a way for the disbelievers over the believers. And when he commanded the return of the dowries of the disbelievers, it might have been thought that this suffices instead of renewing a dowry for them if a Muslim marries them. He negated that by saying: ﴿If you give them﴾ meaning for the marriage ﴿their wages﴾. And when he severed what is between the disbelievers and the Muslim women, along with the avoidance of the disbelievers due to their disobedience, he severed what is between the believers and the disbelieving women, along with the inclination towards them for their obedience, raising their status. He said: ﴿And do not﴾. And when holding onto a woman while she opposes him in religion is a sign of utmost desire for her, this indicated a reprimand by the weakening in the reading of the Basri scholars. He said: ﴿You hold﴾ meaning by not explicitly stating divorce ﴿to the bonds of the disbelievers﴾ the plural of bond, which is what maintains the marital connection. ﴿And ask﴾ meaning O you believers whose wives have gone to the disbelievers ﴿what you have spent﴾ meaning from the dowries of your women who have held themselves away from you with them or have fled to them. And when he commanded the return of the dowries of the believers to the disbelievers and permitted the believers to demand the dowries of their wives, he permitted the disbelievers in like manner, establishing fairness between His servants, both Muslim and disbeliever, expressing the command while avoiding them, indicating the severity of His dislike for injustice, and that the disbeliever is equal in this to his enmity with the believer along with his loyalty. He said: ﴿And let them ask﴾ meaning the disbelievers ﴿what they have spent﴾ meaning from the dowries of their wives who have embraced Islam and have held themselves away from them. And is this ruling still valid? A group said: Yes. And Al-‘Ata and Mujahid and Qatadah said: It has been abrogated, so nothing should be given to the disbelievers, even if we stipulated giving.

And when this is a just ruling that only a wise one would enact with both his enemy and his ally, he said, indicating his praise of it to encourage them with the collective pronoun: ﴿That is﴾ meaning the ruling mentioned in these verses, which is far removed in rank from any foolishness, ﴿the ruling of Allah﴾ meaning the King who possesses attributes of perfection, so no trace of deficiency should be associated with Him. And when this is something to be rejoiced over and one would be saddened by the thought of its loss, he said, beginning anew, bringing good tidings of the continuity of renewing such matters for them: ﴿He judges﴾ meaning Allah or His judgment in a manner of emphasis, and it indicates the comprehensiveness of the judgment for all that occurs among the servants, and that He, glorified and exalted is He, has not neglected anything of it by the removal of the neighbor from His saying: ﴿between you﴾ meaning at this time and at other times on this remarkable path, and that is due to the truce that occurred between the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and them. As for before Hudaybiyyah, the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, would retain the women and not return the dowry.

And when the estimation is: then Allah is a just judge, he said: ﴿And Allah﴾ meaning the One who has complete encompassing knowledge ﴿is Knowing﴾ meaning possessing profound knowledge, nothing is hidden from Him ﴿and Wise﴾ meaning He, due to the completeness of His knowledge, governs all His affairs with utmost precision, so no one can annul anything of it.