What is the interpretation of this verse (They ask you about the new moons. Say, they are signs for the people and for the pilgrimage)?
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The questioner : I am asking about the noble verse in the saying of Allah the Exalted: [Al-Baqarah 2:189] What is the interpretation of this noble verse? May Allah reward you.
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and his Companions, and those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment. This noble verse is an address from Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) to His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) to answer the Companions who asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) about the wisdom behind these new moons. So Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) clarified that they are signs for the people and signs for the pilgrimage. They are signs for the people in their transactions, their acts of worship, and other matters in which they need timing. The word "people" is general and includes all of Adam's descendants. The determination of the months that Allah the Exalted established for His servants is by the new moons, because Allah said: [Al-Baqarah 2:189] and He generalized, saying (Glorified and Exalted is He): [At-Tawbah 9:36].
The scholars agreed that the months intended here are the lunar months, relying on what came in the purified Sunnah from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). They are signs for the people in acts of worship and in transactions. In acts of worship: Ramadan is fasted when its new moon is seen, and the fast is broken when the new moon of Shawwal is seen. A woman in the waiting period whose husband has died waits four months and ten days by the new moons. Divorced women who do not menstruate due to youth or menopause wait three months by the new moons. People defer their debts and other obligations by months according to the new moons. Thus, all matters that require deferral by the month rely on the new moons.
And His saying (the Exalted): means that the pilgrimage is also tied to the new moon.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Because the pilgrimage begins on the eighth day of Dhu al-Hijjah and ends on the thirteenth day of it. The months of the pilgrimage are Shawwal, Dhu al-Qi'dah, and Dhu al-Hijjah, as Allah the Exalted said:[Al-Baqarah 2:197] These lunar months include four sacred months: Rajab, Dhu al-Qi'dah, Dhu al-Hijjah, and Muharram. Dhu al-Qi'dah, Dhu al-Hijjah, and Muharram are three consecutive months, and Rajab is isolated between Jumada and Sha'ban. The new moons are connected to the moon.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : It appears small in the west, then it continues to grow slowly until its growth is complete in the middle of the month, then it returns to waning until it disappears, then it returns a second time and emerges from the west. Its emergence from the west is the beginning of the new moon. This is the meaning of the noble verse.
The questioner : Very well.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : May Allah reward you. This questioner is from Libya, named Abd al-Basit.
They ask you, [O Muhammad], about the new moons. Say, "They are measurements of time for the people
يَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ الأَهِلَّةِ قُلْ هِيَ مَوَاقِيتُ لِلنَّاسِThe Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and his Companions, and those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment. This noble verse
They ask you about the new moons
يَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ الأَهِلَّةِThey are measurements of time for the people
هِيَ مَوَاقِيتُ لِلنَّاسِIndeed, the number of months with Allah is twelve [lunar] months in the register of Allah [from] the day He created the heavens and the earth; of these, four are sacred.
إِنَّ عِدَّةَ الشُّهُورِ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ اثْنَا عَشَرَ شَهْرًا فِي كِتَابِ اللَّهِ يَوْمَ خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضَ مِنْهَا أَرْبَعَةٌ حُرُمٌThe scholars agreed that the months intended here are the lunar months, relying on what came in the purified Sunnah from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). They are signs for the people in acts of worship and in transactions. In acts of worship: Ramadan is fasted when its new moon is seen, and the fast is broken when the new moon of Shawwal is seen. A woman in the waiting period whose husband has died waits four months and ten days by the new moons. Divorced women who do not menstruate due to youth or menopause wait three months by the new moons. People defer their debts and other obligations by months according to the new moons. Thus, all matters that require deferral by the month rely on the new moons.
And His saying (the Exalted):
and for the pilgrimage
والحجThe questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Because the pilgrimage begins on the eighth day of Dhu al-Hijjah and ends on the thirteenth day of it. The months of the pilgrimage are Shawwal, Dhu al-Qi'dah, and Dhu al-Hijjah, as Allah the Exalted said:
Hajj is [during] well-known months
الْحَجُّ أَشْهُرٌ مَعْلُومَاتٌThe questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : It appears small in the west, then it continues to grow slowly until its growth is complete in the middle of the month, then it returns to waning until it disappears, then it returns a second time and emerges from the west. Its emergence from the west is the beginning of the new moon. This is the meaning of the noble verse.
The questioner : Very well.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : May Allah reward you. This questioner is from Libya, named Abd al-Basit.