22. Al-Hajj (The Pilgrimage) |
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Maududi's Introduction |
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This Surah takes its name from v. 27.
As this Surah contains the characteristics of both the Makki and the
Madani Surahs, the commentators have differed as to its period of
revelation, but in the light of its style and themes we are of the
opinion that a part of it (vv. 1-24) was sent down in the last stage
of the Makki life of the Prophet (Allah's peace be upon him) a little before migration and
the rest (vv. 25-78) during the first stage of his Madani life. That
is why this Surah combines the characteristics of both the Makki and
the Madani Surahs.
The sudden change of the style from v. 25 shows that
probably vv. 25-78 were sent down in the month of Zul-Hijjah in the
very first year after Hijrah. This is indicated by vv. 25-41 and
confirmed by the occasion of the revelation of vv. 39-40. It appears
that the month of Zul-Hijjah must have brought to the immigrants
nostalgic memories of their homes in Makkah and naturally they must
have thought of their Sacred City and of their Hajj congregation there,
and grieved to think that the mushrik Quraish had debarred them from
visiting the Sacred Mosque. Therefore, they might even have been
praying for and expecting Divine permission to wage war against those
tyrants who had expelled them from their homes and deprived them of
visiting the House of Allah and made it difficult for them to follow
the way of Islam. It was at this psychological occasion that these
verses were sent down. That is why the purpose for which Masjid-al-
Haram was built has been specifically mentioned. It has been made plain
that Hajj(pilgrimage) had been enjoined for the worship of One Allah.
But it is an irony that afterwards it had been dedicated to the
rituals of shirk and the worshipers of One Allah had been debarred
from visiting it. Therefore, permission for waging war against those
tyrants has been given to oust them from there and to establish the
righteous way of life for establishing virtue and eradicating evil.
According to Ibn Abbas, Mujahid, Urwah bin Zubair, Zaid bin Aslam,
Muqatil bin Hayyan, Qatadah and other great commentators, v. 39 is the
first verse that grants the Muslims permission to wage war.
Collections of Hadith and books on the life of the Prophet (Allah's peace be
upon him)
confirm that after this permission actual preparations for war were
started and the first expedition was sent to the coast of the Red Sea
in Safar A.H. 2, which is known as the Expedition of Waddan or Al-
Abwa.
This Surah is addressed to: (1) The
mushriks of Makkah, (2) the wavering Muslims, and (3) the True
Believers. The mushriks have been warned in a forceful manner to this
effect: "You have obdurately and impudently persisted in your ideas of
ignorance and trusted in your deities instead of Allah, though they
possess no power at all and you have repudiated the Divine Messenger.
Now you will meet the same end as has been the doom of those like you
before. You have only harmed yourselves by rejecting Our Prophet and
by persecuting the best element of your own community; now your false
deities shall not be able to save you from the wrath of God". At the
same time, they have been admonished time and again for their creed of
shirkand sound arguments have been given in favour of Tauhid and the
Hereafter.
The wavering Muslims, who had embraced Islam but were not
prepared to endure any hardship in its way, have been admonished to
this effect: "What is this faith of yours? On the one hand, you are
ready to believe in Allah and become His servants provided you are
given peace and prosperity but, on the other, if you meet with
afflictions and hardships in His Way, you discard your Allah and cease
to remain His servant. You should bear in mind that this wavering
attitude of yours cannot avert those misfortunes and losses which
Allah has ordained for you."
As regards the true Believers, they have
been addressed in two ways: (1) in a general way so as to include the
common people of Arabia also, and (2) in an exclusive way:
It will be worth while to keep in view the introductions to Chapters II (Al-Baqarah) and VIII (AlAnfal). |
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