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section 24,

fighting in self-defence,
pilgrimage under restrictions

reigious calendar to be according to the lunar year regard for the
sanctity of the sacred month fighting in self-defence regard for the
sanctity of the holy city self-defence during the sacred month pilgrimage
under restrictions combining ` umrah ' with `haj '

189. " they ask you concerning the new moons; say:
` they are times appointed for mankind and (for) the hajj'.
it is not righteousness that you should enter dwellings from their backs but
righteousness is this that one should guard himself (against evil);
and enter the dwellings by their (proper) doors, and fear allah:
that you may be prosperous."

occasion of revelation:
it has been said that ma`az-ibn-jabal came to the prophet
(p.b.u.h.) and said that he was frequently asked about the crescent of
the moon and that why it gradually changes to a full shape and then
alters to its first status.

also, it is narrated that the jews asked the messenger of allah
(p.b.u.h.) what the crescent of the moon was for and what the use of it
was. at that time the above verse was sent down and announced that
the different states of the moon have different material and spiritual
advantages in the system of the human beings' lives.

commentary:
as mentioned in the occasion of revelation of the verse, some
people asked the prophet of islam (p.b.u.h.) a few questions about the
reason of the different peculiar shapes that the moon seemed to have
and the concerning use of them.

in answer to these questions, allah ordered the prophet
(p.b.u.h.) to tell them the effects and the different usages of the crescent
for all people.

they ask you concerning the new moons; say:
` they are times appointed for mankind and (for) the hajj'.
it is not righteousness that you should enter dwellings from their backs but
righteousness is this that one should guard himself (against evil);
and enter the dwellings by their (proper) doors, and fear allah:
that you may be prosperous."

the rising of the moon at the beginning of each lunar month in
the form of crescent, and then its gradual change, can be the source of
many uses in the act of practising worship and the accomplishment of
religious duties by people, and in their material career as well. every
body can easily count days of the month and enumerate the month of
the year by the help of the varying shapes or forms of the moon when
dealing with trading and writing agreements due to appointing the times
of promises and contracts. besides that, fasting , the performance of the
great worship of pilgrimage and festivals, etc., prescribed by islam, are
timed according to the lunar months. the best way for people to
recognize them and decide to arrange the affairs is this very form of the
crescent in various shapes when they see them differently at the
beginning, in the middle, and at the end of the months.

it is obvious that the regularity of the social life of man without a
common and precise means of dating is impossible. so, the moon,
indeed, is a natural calendar for all human beings. it is a natural
phenomenom that the entire people, whether literate or illiterate,
wherever in the world they are, can make use of it.

for this reason, the creator, the great, has made this worldly
calendar available for the use of the human race in their life system.

natural measures
one of the advantages of islamic laws is that their orders have
usually been arranged corresponding with the natural measures, for
these measures are some means that are available to all people and,
besides that, the passing of time does not affect them.

but, on the contrary, unnatural scales are not within reach to all
human beings for every thing. for example, the population of the world
have not been able to use of some international measures for timing the
evening yet.

therefore, we see that islam has sometimes assigned the measure
of a span, or a man's height and the like of it. and, for appointing a
time, phenomena such as sunset, break of dawn, decline of sun from the
meridian and the vision of the moon are usually pointed out.

" it is not righteousness that you should enter dwellings from their backs..."

in this verse the statement is partly about the hajj pilgrimage
which can be performed at its proper time by visual noting the crescent
of the moon. it has also pointed to one of the superstitious customs of
the age of ignorance accomplished in the rites of pilgrimage which
allah prohibited them from.

it was the practice among arabs that after getting into the pilgrim
garment ('ihram) they considered it unlawful to enter their house
through the usual doors. hence they cut a new entrance under the
ground from behind their premises. they did so because they thought it
was a good action since it was a desuetude of habit and, therefore, they
would complete the act of the pilgrim garment which was a desuetude of
habits. 87

but the qur'an explicitly says that righteousness lies in piety, not
in the superstitious customs. so, it immediately tells them seriously to
enter their houses from the very ordinary doors.

but the object and the significance of the revelation of this verse
is reasonably wider, greater, and more common. for the fulfilment of
any action, whether it is a ritual action or a non-religious one, we should
enter it through its proper way, not from a deviated path. here,
entering from behind is a figurative expression for turning aside from
the right course, and entering by the door means sticking to the right
path. this meaning is narrated from imam baqir (a.s.) by jabir, one of
his companions. 88

in the commentaries from ahlul-bayt (a.s.) it is narrated about
this verse that they have said:

" we are the doors and the ways of allah that invite unto (his) heaven...". 89

his tradition means that in your total religious affairs you should arrive
by the main door and take your agenda from them (a.s.) whom are
trained in the school of revelation and the divine messages were
revealed in their house, (ahlul-bayt).

the phrase: " it is not righteousness..." may point to another
narrow meaning saying that your question about the crescent, instead of
inquiring about theology, is like the manner of the one who has put the
main and right path of the house aside and enters it through a burrow
from behind the premise. what a disgraceful manner!

1 tafsir-baydawi, vol. 1, p. 40
2 majma`-ul-bayan, vol. 2, p. 282
3 ibid