Lit., "with their mouths" -an allusion to the "sayings" (i.e., beliefs) mentioned in verse 30.

Lit., "except (illa) that He bring His light to completion", or "to perfection". The expression "for He has willed" (i.e., contrary to what the erring ones want), is here elliptically implied by means of the particle illa.

Cf. 3:19-"the only [true] religion in the sight of God is [man's] self-surrender unto Him". See also 61 : 8-9.

Most probably this is, in the first instance, an allusion to the wealth of the Jewish and Christian communities, and their misuse of this wealth. Some of the commentators, however, are of the opinion that the reference is wider, comprising all people, including Muslims, who hoard their wealth without spending anything thereof on righteous causes.

Cf. the parallel allegory, in 3:180, of the suffering which will befall the avaricious and the niggardly in the life to come. Regarding the eschatological implications of this and similar allegories, see Appendix I.

This connects with the subsequent reference to fighting against "those who ascribe divinity to aught beside God" (see next note). The months spoken of here are lunar months, progressively rotating through the seasons of the solar year (see surah 2, note 165). Since reckoning by the easily observable lunar months is more natural than by the arbitrarily fixed months of the solar year, it is described in this passage as "the ever-true law (din) [of God]". The four "sacred months" during which warfare was considered blasphemous in pre-Islamic Arabia-a view which has been confirmed by Islam (see note 6 above) -are Muharram, Rajab, Dhu 'l-Qa`dah and Dhu 'l-Hijjah.

In their endeavour to obviate certain disadvantages for their trade caused by the seasonal rotation of the lunar months, the pagan Arabs used to intercalate a thirteenth month in the third, sixth and eighth year of every eight-year period, with a view to making the lunar calendar more or less stationary, and thus roughly corresponding to the solar year. An acceptance of this unwarranted intercalation by the Muslims would have tied the-Mecca pilgrimage as *ell as the fast of Ramadan to fixed seasons, and would thus have made, permanently, the performance of these religious duties either too exacting or too easy; and in either case the believers would have been offending against the spiritual purpose underlying these duties -which is the meaning of the words "do not sin against yourselves with regard to these [months]": i.e., by following, without any warrant from God, a custom devised by "those who ascribe divinity to aught beside Him", to whom the sequence refers.

I.e., "just as all of them are, as it were, united against you in their rejection of the truth, be united against them in your readiness for self-sacrifice". As regards the circumstances in which the Muslims are authorized to make war against unbelievers, see the earlier parts of this surah, and especially verses 12-13, as well as 2:190-194, where the general principles relating to war are laid down.

Lit., "is but an increase in denying the truth (kufr)". The term nasi', rendered by me as "intercalation", may also be translated as "postponement" -i.e., the postponement of lunar months by means of the periodical intercalation of a thirteenth month, as practiced by the pre-Islamic Arabs with a view to bringing the traditional lunar calendar, for purely worldly reasons, into accord with the solar year (see note 54 above). The Qur'an describes this practice as an additional instance of kufr because it contravenes God's declared will as regards the observance of the lunar calendar in respect of various religious duties (cf. the preceding verse, as well as 2:189 and the corresponding note 165).

An allusion to the arbitrary manner in which the pre-Islamic Arabs intercalated a thirteenth month in the third, sixth and eighth year of every eight-year period.

By means of the intercalation spoken of above, the pagan Arabs did in most years keep the number of months to twelve; but by divorcing the four "sacred months" (Muharram, Rajab, Dhu 'l-Qa'dah and Dhu 'l-Hijjah), from their proper lunar context they obviously profaned and perverted the natural law.

I.e., "you are sluggish in your response, clinging to the life of this world". This verse - as well as most of this surah from here onward - alludes to the campaign of Tabuk, in the year 9 H. The immediate reason for this expedition was the information which the Prophet received to the effect that the Byzantines, made apprehensive by the rapid growth of Islam in Arabia and incited by the Prophet's enemy Abu `Amir (see note 142 on verse 107 of this surah), were assembling large forces on the confines of the Peninsula with a view to marching against Medina and overthrowing the Muslims. To guard against such an assault, the Prophet assembled the strongest force the Muslims were capable of, and set out in the month of Rajab, 9 H., towards the frontier. On reaching Tabuk, about half-way between Medina and Damascus, the Prophet ascertained that the Byzantines were either not yet ready to invade Arabia or had entirely given up the idea for the time being; and so - in accordance with the Islamic principle that war may be waged only in self-defence - he returned with his followers to Medina without engaging in hostilities. At the time of the preparation for this expedition, the hypocrites and a minority among the believers displayed an extreme reluctance (referred to in this and the following verses) to embark on a war with Byzantium: and it is this minority that the above verse reproaches for "clinging heavily to the earth" (Manar X, 493).

Lit., "him", i.e., Muhammad.

Lit., "the second of two": an allusion to the Prophet's flight, in the company of Abu Bakr, from Mecca to Medina in the year 622 of the Christian era. The expression "the second of two" does not imply any order of precedence but is synonymous with "one of two": cf. the Prophet's saying to Abu Bakr, on that very occasion, "What [could], in thy opinion, [happen] to two [men] who have God as the third with them?" (Bukhari, in the chapter Fada'il Ashab an-Nabi)

When the Prophet and Abu Bakr left on their hijrah to Medina, they first hid for three nights in a cave on Mount Thawr, in the vicinity of Mecca, where they were almost discovered and apprehended by the pagan Quraysh who were pursuing them (Bukhari, loc. cit.).

Cf. verse 26 above.

Lit., "is the highest". The expression rendered by me as "cause", which occurs twice in this sentence, reads, literally, "word" (kalimah).

Lit., "lightly or heavily". The rendering adopted by me corresponds to the interpretation given to this expression by most of the classical commentators (e.g., Zamakhshari and Razi).

Islam, which has been subjected to a terrible deformation and transformation process for centuries, has long ceased being islam (peacefully surrendering in and with peace), but rather became a man-made doctrine attributed to scholars, such as Shafii, Hanbali, Maliki, Hanafi, Jafari, Vahhabi, Naqshi, Qadiri, Alawi, Muhammadi, etc. By God's will, the fulfillment of the great prophecy (74:1-6) and the global events unfolding are signs that God has started a new era in which Islam will again provide humanity with a chance to reform their minds, their actions, and their world. See Chapter 110.

Verse 9:36 relates the number of months to the day of the creation of the earth. Perhaps in early days of the creation, the rotation of the Moon and Earth were synchronized and there were exactly 12 lunar months in a solar year. The increase in the length of the year or the decelerating earth is causing problems for modern technology which is very sensitive to small changes in the measurement of time, such as computers, electric grids, GPS systems, and missiles. In mid 20th century, scientists learned that the rotation of Earth was not sufficiently uniform as a standard of time. Besides solar gravity, there are many factors influencing the rotation of the earth. For instance, though in minor way, the Moon's gravity through tides causes deceleration, and melting of ice in the North Pole causes little acceleration. To compensate this net deceleration, almost every year we are adding one second to our atomic clocks, which defines and measures a second as 9,192,631,770 electromagnetic radiation or oscillation of Cesium 133. Since 1972 we added 23 leap seconds until 2006. However, the rate of the deceleration does not show a pattern. In recent years, the earth's rotation has been on schedule. See. 9:122

Today's Sunni and Shiite mushriks consider Rajab, Zul-Qada, Zul-Hijja, and Muharram to be the Restricted Months (the 7th, 11th, 12th, and 1st months of lunar calendar). However, when we study 2:197,217; 9:2,5,36 and the names of known months, we will discover that real Restricted Months must be four consecutive months and they are Zul-Hijja, Muharram, Safar, Rabi ul-Awal (12th, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd months). The very name of the 12th month, Zul- Hijja (Contains Haj), gives us a clue that it is the first month of haj pilgrimage. When we start from the 12th month, the last of the Restricted Months becomes the 3rd month, Rabi ul-Awal (First Fourth), and the very name of this month also is revealing; it suggests that it is the fourth month of the Restricted Months. Then, why the qualification "First"? Well, the name of the following month provides an explanation: Rabi ul-Akhir (Second Fourth), which is the fourth month from the beginning of the year. In other words we have two months called "Fourth," the first one referring to the fourth restricted moth, with the second fourth referring to the fourth month of the lunar year. The word rabi (fourth) is used for seasons because each season is one fourth of a year. It is interesting that many of the crimes and distortions mentioned in the Quran have been committed by those who have abandoned the Quran for the sake of hadith and sunna; they repeated the same blunder of their polytheist ancestors.

This statement, letter for letter, occurs here and in 61:9. If we write down the gematrical value of "Rashad " (505), followed by the value of "Khalifa" (725), followed by the sura and verse numbers where this statement occurs(9:33 & 61:9), we get 505 725 9 33 61 9, a multiple of 19. This confirms that the messengerhere is Rashad Khalifa. Additionally, the number of versesfrom 9:33 to 61:9 (3902)+9+33+61+9+the value of "Rashad Khalifa" (1230)gives 5244, also a multiple of 19. The gematrical value of 9:33 & 61:9,calculated by adding the values of everyletter, is 7858. By adding this number, plus the number of letters in thetwo verses (120), plus the number of verses from9:33 to 61:9 (3902), plus the value of "Rashad Khalifa" (1230), we get 858+120+3902+1230=13110=19x690.See Appendices 1, 2, and 26.

The word "month" is mentioned in the Quran 12 times, and "day" 365 times.

The Sacred Months according to the corrupted Muslim World are Rajab, Zul-Qe`dah, Zul-Hijjah, and Muharram (7th, 11th, 12th and 1st months of theIslamic Calendar). A careful study of the Quran, however, reveals that theyshould be Zul-Hijjah, Muharram, Safar, and Rabi I (12th, 1st, 2nd, and 3rdmonths). See Appendix 15.

The Qura'nic Deen will prevail over all other systems of life. This refers to religions such as Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism and all other forms of religion, including the sects that are now present in Islam. But next to religions, the Qur'anic Deen will also prevail over all political systems of the world such as Communism, Secular Democracy, Theocracy, Monarchy and it will rule over all ways of life as Humanism, Socialism and so on. This will happen as humanity willingly realizes the supremacy of the Qur'an

Ahbaar = Clergy of any religion. Ruhbaan = Monks and Sufis

Mankind, through international treaties, must agree to shun all kind of warfare during these four months. This will give them a cooling off period that sense may prevail over emotions. Four Sacred Months: 2:194, 9:15. 100 Solar years = 103 Lunar years. The earth completes its orbit around the sun in one Solar year

Only the competent nations live honorably on earth. 21:105, 24:55