His saying, exalted and glorified is He: "Indeed, the number of months with Allah is twelve months in the Book of Allah on the day He created the heavens and the earth. Among them are four sacred months. That is the correct religion. So do not wrong yourselves therein. And fight the polytheists all together as they fight you all together. And know that Allah is with the righteous."

This verse - and the one after it - includes what the Arabs had established in their ignorance regarding the prohibition of the months of permissibility and the permissibility of the sacred months. When it is stated what the Arabs used to do, the meaning of the verses becomes clear. What has been reported is that the Arabs had no livelihood for most of them except through raids and the use of their weapons. So, when the months of Dhul-Qi'dah, Dhul-Hijjah, and Muharram came upon them, it became difficult for them and they became impoverished. The Banu Fuqaim from Kinana were people of religion among the Arabs and adhered to the law of Ibrahim, peace be upon him. From them was Al-Qalamus, who was Hudhayfah ibn Abd Fuqaim, who postponed the months for the Arabs. Then his son, Abbad ibn Hudhayfah, succeeded him in that, then his son Qal' ibn Abbad succeeded him, then his son Umayyah ibn Qal' succeeded him, then his son Awf ibn Umayyah succeeded him, then his son Abu Thumamah Junadah ibn Awf succeeded him, and upon him Islam was established. Al-Tabari and others mentioned that the matter was in aggression before Banu Malik ibn Kinana. The manner of their action was that when the Arabs completed their pilgrimage, whoever wished among them would come to him, gathering together, and they would say: 'Postpone for us a month,' meaning: 'Delay the sanctity of Muharram and make it in Safar,' so that Muharram would be permissible for them, and they would raid in it and live. Then they would adhere to the sanctity of Safar to coincide with the count of the four months. Mujahid said: 'And they would call that Safar the prohibited month.' Then they would name Rabi' al-Awwal Safar and Rabi' al-Akhir Rabi' al-Awwal, and so on in all the months, they would begin their year from the Muharram that was designated for them, so the ruling of the prohibited month that was made permissible for them would fall upon this. The year would come from thirteen months, the first of which is the permissible Muharram, then the prohibited Muharram which is in reality Safar, then the beginning of the year as we mentioned. In this, Allah, the Exalted, said: 'Indeed, the count of the months with Allah is twelve months.' That is: it is not thirteen months. Al-Tabari said: Ibn Waki' narrated to me from Imran ibn Uyaynah from Husayn from Abu Malik who said: 'They used to make the year thirteen months.' Mujahid said: 'Then they would perform pilgrimage in every month for two years consecutively, then after that they would change and perform pilgrimage for two years consecutively, and so on until the pilgrimage of Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, in Dhul-Qi'dah, which was truly so, and they called it Dhul-Hijjah. Then the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, performed pilgrimage in the year ten in Dhul-Hijjah, which was truly so. This is His saying: 'Indeed, time has returned to its original state as it was on the day Allah created the heavens and the earth. The year is twelve months of which four are sacred: Dhul-Qi'dah, Dhul-Hijjah, Muharram, and Rajab Mudar which is between Jumada and Sha'ban.' In the hadith of Ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with both of them, 'The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, delivered a sermon during the Farewell Pilgrimage and narrated the hadith, saying in it: 'The first of them is Rajab Mudar which is between Jumada and Sha'ban, and Dhul-Qi'dah, and Dhul-Hijjah, and Muharram.'

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: It comes in most books that they used to consider the sanctity of the Muharram in Safar and remain silent about the completion of the story. What we have mentioned is its clarification. As for the fact that Muharram is the beginning of the Arabic year, it was right - since the calendar is from the Hijrah - that the beginning of the year should be in Rabi' al-Awwal. This is what is narrated, for Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, established the register of the Muslims and set its date as Muharram, since before it was the end of the season and the Hajj. Thus, the Hajj was the conclusion of the year, and he counted by the year of the Hijrah even if something was missing from its beginning. When the year of the Arabs is lunar, the year begins from the first month, and there was nothing in the twelfth of Rabi' that corresponds to the day of the Prophet's ﷺ entry into Medina, nor was it at the completion of the Hajj; because it falls in the middle of the month. As for the four sacred months, they are: Dhul-Qi'dah, Dhul-Hijjah, Muharram, and Rajab. The meaning of the Prophet's ﷺ saying: "And Rajab Mudar, which is between Jumada and Sha'ban" is that he intended to distinguish it from what the tribes of Rabiah used to do entirely, for they would consider their Rajab to be Ramadan and would declare it sacred innovatively. Quraysh and those who followed them from the tribes of Mudar were upon the truth. Thus, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ confirmed that and attributed it to Mudar since its ruling and sanctity were indeed from Quraysh. In the Mufaddaliyat of some poets of the pre-Islamic period:

And the month of Banu Umayyah and the gifts

The house, Al-Asma'i said: He means Rajab. Abu Ja'far ibn al-Qaqa' read: "Twelve months" with the 'ayn being silent, and that is a relief for the continuity of movements. He also read: "Eleven" and "Nineteen" in the same manner.

And His saying, the Most High: ﴿In the Book of Allah﴾ means in what He has written and established in the Preserved Tablet or otherwise. It is a description of an action similar to His creation and provision, and it does not mean His decree and determination; because that is before the creation of the heavens and the earth. The book, which is the source, is the acting one in "the Day," and "in" from His saying: ﴿In the Book of Allah﴾ is related to "settled or established" and similar to it. It is concerning that the book is the Qur'an in this context. And reflect, and "in" does not relate to "the number" to distinguish between the connection and the connected with the news of "Indeed." And His saying: ﴿Among them are four sacred months﴾ is a clear text on the preference and honor of these four. Qatadah said: "Allah selected from the angels and humans messengers, and from the sacred months, Muharram and Ramadan, and from the places, the mosques, and from the days, Friday, and from the nights, the Night of Decree, and from the words, His remembrance. Therefore, it is appropriate to honor what Allah has honored."

And His saying: ﴿That is the straight religion﴾ a group said: Its meaning is the straight reckoning. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them, in what Al-Mahdawi narrated, said: Its meaning is the straight decree.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And the most correct opinion to me is that "the religion" here refers to its most well-known aspects, namely that it is the law and obedience to Allah. "The upright" means: the standing, straight one, and it is from "qama yaqoomu" in the same way as "sayyid" from "sada yasood"; its root is qayyim. And His saying: ﴿So do not wrong yourselves therein﴾, the pronoun refers back to "the twelve months"; that is, do not wrong yourselves with sins during all the time. And Qatadah said: the pronoun refers back to "the four sacred months", and it is prohibited to commit injustice in them as an honor for them by specifying and mentioning them, even though it is prohibited at all times. The grammarians claimed that the Arabs use "fihinna" for months less than ten, and "fiha" for those more than ten. It was narrated from Al-Kisai that he said: I truly marvel at this action of the Arabs. Likewise, they say for nights less than ten: "khalauna", and for those more than ten: "khalat". And Al-Hasan said: The meaning of "fihinna" is due to them and by their cause, that you make lawful what is forbidden in them and replace it with what has no sanctity. Al-Mahdawi narrated that it was said: "Do not wrong yourselves therein by fighting." Then it was abrogated by the obligation of fighting at all times. Sa'id ibn Al-Musayyib said in the book of Al-Tabari: "The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, prohibited fighting in the sacred months by what Allah revealed regarding that until Surah At-Tawbah was revealed."

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And His saying, the Exalted: ﴿And fight the polytheists﴾ means: in them, and it is more applicable outside of them. And His saying: ﴿All together﴾ means: all of them, and it is a source in the position of the state. Al-Tabari said: like "the outcome" and "the health"; so it is - on this - as you say: specifically and generally. It also appears that whoever restrains, he restrains, that is, a group restrains those who oppose them. Likewise, we say: the all-encompassing, that is, it restrains those who oppose it; thus the term - on this - is a name of a doer. Some people said: Its meaning is: some of them restrain each other from being left behind. What we have presented is more general and better. Some people said: The obligation by this verse was directed at individuals, then that was abrogated and made an obligation of sufficiency.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And what they said has never been known from the law of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, that he obligated the entire community to mobilize. Rather, the meaning of the verse is an encouragement to fight them and to unite against them. Then he restricted it by His saying, glorified and exalted is He: ﴿As they fight you﴾; so according to their fighting and their gathering against us, our obligation to gather against them will be. As for the jihad that is recommended, it is only an obligation of sufficiency; if some of the community fulfill it, it is lifted from others.

And His saying: ﴿And know that Allah is with the righteous﴾ is a news that contains a command for piety and a promise of victory and support.