Tafsir

Existing Peace Treaties remained valid until the End of Their Term

This is an exception regulating the longest extent of time for those who have a general treaty - with out time mentioned - to four months. They would have four months to travel the lands in search of sanctuary for themselves wherever they wish. Those whose treaty mentioned a specifec limited term, then the longest it would extend was to the point of its agreed upon termination date. Hadiths in this regard preceeded. So anyone who had a treaty with Allah's Messenger ﷺ, it lasted until its specific termination date. However, those in this category were required to refrain from breaking the terms of the agreement with Muslims and from helping non-Muslims against Muslims. This is the type whose peace agreement with Muslims was carried out to its end. Allah encouraged honoring such peace treaties, saying,إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ الْمُتَّقِينَ(Surely, Allah loves those who have Taqwa) 9:4, who keep their promises.

6. The sixth ruling comes out from the fourth verse where Muslims have been prompted to fulfill their pledge right through the end until the term of the peace treaty expired. Immediately thereafter, the verse has been concluded with the sentence: إِنَّ اللَّـهَ يُحِبُّ الْمُتَّقِينَ (Surely, Allah loves the God-fearing). This gives a clear hint to the advice that Muslims should observe utmost precaution in fulfilling the pledge they have given. They should never look for lame excuses and far-fetched interpretations only to find a way to contravene treaty obligations, as done by nations at large.

ويُستثنى من الحكم السابق المشركون الذين دخلوا معكم في عهد محدد بمدة، ولم يخونوا العهد، ولم يعاونوا عليكم أحدا من الأعداء، فأكملوا لهم عهدهم إلى نهايته المحدودة. إن الله يحب المتقين الذين أدَّوا ما أمروا به، واتقوا الشرك والخيانة، وغير ذلك من المعاصي.

هذا استثناء من ضرب مدة التأجيل بأربعة أشهر ، لمن له عهد مطلق ليس بمؤقت ، فأجله ، أربعة أشهر يسيح في الأرض ، يذهب فيها لينجو بنفسه حيث شاء ، إلا من له عهد مؤقت ، فأجله إلى مدته المضروبة التي عوهد عليها ، وقد تقدمت الأحاديث : ومن كان له عهد مع رسول الله - صلى الله عليه وسلم - فعهده إلى مدته وذلك بشرط ألا ينقض المعاهد عهده ، ولم يظاهر على المسلمين أحدا ، أي : يمالئ عليهم من سواهم ، فهذا الذي يوفى له بذمته وعهده إلى مدته ؛ ولهذا حرض الله تعالى على الوفاء بذلك فقال : ( إن الله يحب المتقين ) أي : الموفين بعهدهم .