The Muslims conquered Mecca in 8 A.H.\n(after the migration of Prophet Mohammad PBUH&HP from Medina to Mecca) and\nmade the city a major part of the Islamic rule. The non-believers, however,\ncontinued to live in the city and practice their own rituals. They were even allowed to carry out their\nidol worshipping practices during the Hajj period. In 9 A.H., things changed after the\nrevelation of a verse from the Holy Quran chapter, Al-Tawbah. This verse was an ultimatum for non-believers\nin that they had 4 months to decide whether to stay in Mecca and convert to\nIslam or leave Mecca for good. Thus, the messenger of Allah (PBUH&HP) had\nthe mission to convey this message to everyone on the Eid al-Adhha, which\nmarked the centerpiece of the whole ceremony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Amir al Mumenin Ali (PBUH) was sent to\nconvey this message; he situated himself amongst the people practicing the\nrituals and said: \u201cOh people I am sent here by the messenger of Allah to read\nyou the following revealed verses: \u201c\u2026.so\nthe non-believers have the opportunity to be in this city for another four\nmonths \u2026 and no non-Muslim will be allowed to visit the house of Allah after\nthis year; any deal with the Prophet will also end at the end of the four\nmonths as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since then Muslims have been the only\nones to perform the pilgrimage of the\nHouse of Allah. Every Muslim entering this journey will most certainly face\nsome hardship along the way, which is why Allah has considered special rewards\nfor the pilgrims. One of such rewards is the mercy Allah has placed for the\npilgrims; for example, \u201cupon performing the shaving of the head ritual (in\nHajj) on the day of Eid al-Adha, a pilgrim will written up for his sins in the\nnext forty days.\u201d When people asked the Imams about the reasoning behind this\nissue, the Imams referred to the non-believer example expressing, \u201cAllah (SWT)\ngave four months to the non-believers to freely come and go (during this\nperiod). He gave the people who did not\naccept Allah as the creator of the universe full immunity and safety. How could\nhe not give immunity to the people who worship Him on a daily basis (Muslims)\nand who are in fact His guests at this house? Therefore, Allah forgives those\nsins not performed on purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Selection taken from the\nInterpretation of Surah al-Tawbah by Ayatullah Ziabadi (with minor changes)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Congratulations to all Muslims and\nespecially you dear friend<\/p>\n\n\n\n
on the auspicious occasion of the Eid\nal-Adha<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A time of freeing oneself from all\nchains, and attaching oneself to the Giver of Life<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Muslims conquered Mecca in 8 A.H. (after the migration of Prophet Mohammad PBUH&HP from Medina to Mecca) and made the city a major part of the Islamic rule. The non-believers, however, continued to live in the city and practice their own rituals. They were even allowed to carry out their idol worshipping practices during […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28431,28248],"tags":[25123,17778,18856,24920,25122,25121,18070,17988,20345,18855,22,18418,18536,18793],"class_list":["post-4910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-eid-al-adha","category-occasional-letters","tag-2018-08-22","tag-allah","tag-city","tag-eid-qurban","tag-four-month-of-blessing","tag-four-month-of-exemption","tag-islamic","tag-live","tag-mecca","tag-medina","tag-muslims","tag-occasion-letters","tag-prophet","tag-rule"],"yoast_head":"\n