They ask thee concerning fighting in the Prohibited Month. Say: "Fighting therein is a grave (offence); but graver is it in the sight of Allah to prevent access to the path of Allah, to deny Him, to prevent access to the Sacred Mosque, and drive out its members." Tumult and oppression are worse than slaughter. Nor will they cease fighting you until they turn you back from your faith if they can. And if any of you Turn back from their faith and die in unbelief, their works will bear no fruit in this life and in the Hereafter; they will be companions of the Fire and will abide therein. Al-Baqarah 2:217 ⧉
Tafsir:
In Rajab, 2 A.H., a group of the Prophet’s companions clashed with a group of the Quraysh (the pagan Makkans), at Nakhlah, which lies between Makkah and Taif. One of the Quraysh was slain. The believers had been under the impression that it was the thirtieth of Jumada al-Thani, the month before Rajab, but Jumada al-Thani had only twenty-nine days that year. The new moon had risen the evening before; it was the first day of Rajab. Now, Rajab is counted among the sacred months, and Arab feeling ran high with regard to the age-old tradition of respect for these months. With this unintentional violation, opponents were able to hurl accusations at the Prophet and his followers. ‘Look, they don’t even respect the sacred months, so far gone are they in their contumacy.’ True, the Quran says in reply, fighting in the sacred months is a sin. But this was just by chance and by mistake. The faithful were not aware that Rajab had begun. Besides, the people who were making this accusation were the very ones who deliberately and persistently engaged in far more criminal activities than fighting in the sacred month. There is nothing more abhorrent in the sight of God than one who is involved in far greater crimes attempting to discredit another by exaggerating the latter’s minor mistakes. When the call to truth was raised among the Quraysh, not only did they deny it themselves, but they sought to prevent others from following it. Their prejudice and antipathy knew no bounds: they even closed the doors of God’s House to the servants of the Lord. In their efforts to force the Prophet’s followers to forsake their faith, the Quraysh also turned them out of their houses, and tormented them with extreme forms of cruelty. And remember, persecution of a person on account of his faith is a crime worse than any other crime in the eyes of God.