The Distinction of the Sacred Months and the Permissibility and Prohibition Within Them

Question:
What is the distinction that the sacred months possess? And what are the things that are permissible, or forbidden, to do in them?

Answer:
The sacred months, as you have heard, are: Dhu al-Qa'dah, Dhu al-Hijjah, and Muharram, which includes Ashura. These three are consecutive, and the fourth is Rajab of the Muzri' tribe, which lies between Jumada and Sha'ban; it is called Rajab. These are four sacred months. Allah has explicitly stated in His great Book the prohibition of wronging oneself in them: [Surah al-Tawbah: 36]. This is what a group of scholars said.
Others among the exegetes said that this refers to all twelve months, and that Allah warns His servants against wronging themselves in all months, not just the sacred months, but in all months. It is obligatory for the believer to guard against wronging himself through sins, evil deeds, and disbelief in Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) , and to protect himself from that in these months. He should do good and perform righteous deeds in them, the greatest and most important of which is the oneness of Allah (tawhid) and sincerity to Him. There is no doubt that the meaning is intended for all months, but in the sacred months there is a distinction, an addition, and an emphasis in this regard.
The scholars differed on whether the prohibition of fighting in these months remains or not.
The majority of scholars hold that it was abrogated, while others among the scholars of knowledge held that it was not abrogated, and that the prohibition of fighting remains in them. The scholar Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) and a group of others lean toward this view. In any case, this indicates that they retain a distinction that has not been abrogated, and that their great status lies in the presence of sins in them, and that sins in them are more sinful than in other months.