Sūrah Al-Ḥajj The Pilgrimage: Tafsīr al-Ṭabarī The Source Commentary

Surah Overview

DetailInformationClassificationSignificance

SurahالحجMixed Makkī/Madanī 78 versesContains the first Quranic permission to engage in armed defense

Key DisagreementWhat is the "first house" of worship (22:26)?Historical / theologicalAl-Ṭabarī: the Kaʿbah established by Ibrāhīm as the first place of worship on earth

Competing OpinionsWhat is the meaning of "the animals" (al-budun) in 22:36?Ḥajj terminologyAl-Ṭabarī: specifically camels (from Companion narrations on Ḥajj practice)

MethodologyTracing the first fighting permission through chainsHistorical-legalAl-Ṭabarī verifies the narration that 22:39 was the first permission for armed defense through multiple routes

Key Themes from Al-Ṭabarī

The first fighting permission (22:39–40) is treated by al-Ṭabarī as a pivotal legal revelation. He presents the chains from Ibn ʿAbbās, Mujāhid, ʿUrwah ibn al-Zubayr, and others all identifying this as the first verse permitting the Muslims to fight back against their oppressors. Al-Ṭabarī notes that the permission came with conditions and reasons: "because they have been wronged" and "because Allah is capable of giving them victory." This grounds the permission in defensive justice rather than aggressive expansion.

The Ḥajj rites section (22:26–33) Ibrāhīm's call to pilgrimage, the prohibition of approaching the Kaʿbah in a state of shirk, the permissibility of trade during Ḥajj is traced through Companion narrations on the actual practice. Al-Ṭabarī uses the chains from Ibn ʿAbbās and Ibn ʿUmar (who had the most direct knowledge of Ḥajj rites from the Prophet) to establish what each ritual means in practice.

أُذِنَ لِلَّذِينَ يُقَاتَلُونَ بِأَنَّهُمْ ظُلِمُوا وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلَىٰ نَصْرِهِمْ لَقَدِيرٌ Udhina lil-ladhīna yuqātalūna bi-annahum ẓulimū wa-inna Allāha ʿalā naṣrihim la-qadīr "Permission has been given to those who are being fought because they have been wronged and Allah is capable of giving them victory" (22:39) Al-Ṭabarī: verified through multiple chains as the first Quranic permission for armed defense; the cause is ẓulm (oppression) suffered.

وَأَذِّن فِي النَّاسِ بِالْحَجِّ يَأْتُوكَ رِجَالًا وَعَلَىٰ كُلِّ ضَامِرٍ Wa-adhdhin fī n-nāsi bil-ḥajji yaʾtūka rijālan wa-ʿalā kulli ḍāmir "And proclaim to the people the Ḥajj they will come to you on foot and on every lean camel" (22:27) Al-Ṭabarī: Ibrāhīm's call to Ḥajj was heard by all future souls narrations from Companion scholars on how this primordial call established the Ḥajj obligation for all of humanity.

First fighting permission: Al-Ṭabarī establishes 22:39 as the first permission through convergent chains the defensive basis (wronged) is built into the permission itself.
Ibrāhīm's call: The Ḥajj call echoed to all future souls al-Ṭabarī presents this as a real primordial event, not just a metaphor, based on Companion narrations.
Al-budun as camels: Ḥajj sacrifice animals specifically as camels established through Companion ḥadīths on what was practiced during the Prophet's Farewell Ḥajj.
Mixed revelation: Al-Ṭabarī traces which parts of the sūrah were Makkan and which Madīnan through the historical context of Companion narrations.
Prostration verse: 22:18 (the Quran's prostration verse on cosmic sujūd) is treated through chains from Ibn ʿAbbās on what the trees, animals, and stars's sujūd means.

Surah Overview

Key Themes from Al-Ṭabarī

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