The Hajj of Abu Bakr & the Verse of the Sword
The Hajj of 9 AH; the opening of Surah al-Tawba & the Verse of the Sword (Q 9:5) in context.
Hijri Dhu al-Hijjah 9 AH CE 631 CE
The Hajj of 9 AH, led by Abu Bakr al-Siddiq — the last pilgrimage at which pagans and Muslims performed the rites together, and the occasion of the opening of Surah al-Tawba, including the misread Verse of the Sword (Q 9:5).
One-line: the pilgrimage that ended Arabian paganism — the four-month ultimatum and the true context of Q 9:5.
Date (Hijri / CE)
Dhu al-Hijjah 9 AH (631 CE), one year before the Farewell Hajj.
Background
Although Makkah fell in Ramadan 8 AH, the Prophet ﷺ did not go for Hajj in 8 AH (Ta’if was still hostile) or personally in 9 AH — because “the mushrikun perform tawaf naked around the Ka’bah, and I do not wish to perform Hajj until that is eliminated.” (Naked tawaf was a jahili “piety” of non-Quraysh pilgrims, condemned in Q 7:26–28 — “Allah never commands what is fahsha”.) So he sent Abu Bakr with 300 Muslims to purge the pilgrimage.
What happened
- The opening of Surah al-Tawba. Just after Abu Bakr left, Allah revealed the first ~2½ pages — a declaration of bara’a (dissociation) from the pagans, dissolving existing treaties after a four-month grace period (Q 9:1–2). The Prophet ﷺ sent Ali on his own camel to overtake Abu Bakr and proclaim them — “none conveys these on my behalf but a man of my own household” (the jahili custom that only a kinsman breaks a treaty). Abu Bakr asked, “Are you sent as commander over me?” — “No, you remain the amir; I have come to recite al-Tawba.” (A Sunni–Shia flashpoint, resolved plainly by Ali’s own words.)
- Surah al-Tawba has no Basmala — because it opens with dissociation, not mercy (Ali); and because its status as a separate surah from al-Anfal was uncertain (Uthman, Tirmidhi).
- The Verse of the Sword (Q 9:5) — “kill the polytheists wherever you find them…” — followed at once by Q 9:6: “if any polytheist seeks your protection, grant it, let him hear Allah’s word, then deliver him to safety.”
- Four announcements at Mina (Ali & Abu Hurairah): (1) no kafir enters Jannah; (2) no one performs tawaf naked; (3) no mushrik performs Hajj after this year; (4) existing treaties run four more months.
Outcome & significance
- Paganism was eliminated from Arabia — “not a single person lost his life because of this verse.” It was a threat (convert or leave), never “convert or die”; verse 6 guarantees safe passage.
- Jews, Christians and (per Umar) Zoroastrians remained tolerated under jizya elsewhere; the ultimatum concerned open idolatry in the Arabian Peninsula alone.
- Governors and teachers were dispatched — Mu’adh and Abu Musa to Yemen, Khalid to Najran (which then converted en masse); the Prophet’s ﷺ last dictated letter went to Amr ibn Hazm (the touch-the-Quran-in-purity ruling).
Lessons
- Context is everything: the most-misinterpreted verse of the Quran is a dated, local ultimatum, refuted by its own next verse.
- One must announce before breaking a treaty — you may not attack by surprise.
- Salvific exclusivity — “no kafir enters Jannah” was deliberately the first thing proclaimed to the last pagans; a religion that saves must, logically, be exclusive in the next life.
Cross-references
Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (ra) · Ali ibn Abi Talib (ra) · The Farewell Hajj · Najran · Ridda (Apostasy) & the False Prophets · Mu'adh ibn Jabal (ra) · Khalid ibn al-Walid (ra) · Muhammad ﷺ
Sources
- S012 — Yasir Qadhi Seerah EP 099. Ibn Ishaq/Ibn Hisham, al-Baghawi & tafsir works; Tirmidhi (Uthman on the Basmala). Q 9:1–6; Q 7:26–28.