Surah Al-Balad: Verse 2 - وأنت حل بهذا البلد... - English

Tafsir of Verse 2, Surah Al-Balad

وَأَنتَ حِلٌّۢ بِهَٰذَا ٱلْبَلَدِ

English Translation

And you, [O Muhammad], are free of restriction in this city -

English Transliteration

Waanta hillun bihatha albaladi

Tafsir of Verse 2

and thou art a lodger in this land;

And thou art a freeman of this City;-

وَأَنتَ حِلٌّ بِهَـٰذَا الْبَلَدِ (and [ 0 Holy Prophet,] you are going to be allowed to fight in this city....90:2). The word hillun bears two possibilities: [ 1] It could be derived from hulul which signifies to reside in or to descend on some place. In this sense, hillun signifies 'a dweller or resident' and the verse purports to say that the city of Makkah itself is sacred, and since Holy Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is the inhabitant of this city, it adds to the sanctity, honour and glory of the place. Thus, on account of the Holy Prophet's ﷺ residing in that city its honour and sanctity has been enhanced and augmented. The second possibility is that it is derived from hillatun which means 'the thing the doing of which is lawful'. From this point of view, hillun could signify one of two things: One that the pagans of Makkah consider it lawful to do the Holy Prophet ﷺ any harm, even to kill him, in this City of Makkah which is so sacred that the doing of harm to a living creature in its precincts, not to say of killing it or hunting it, is strictly forbidden even according to their own belief system. Secondly, this may be a prophecy that the city of Makkah is going to be made lawful for the Holy Prophet in the sense that fighting in it will be allowed for him for a specified time, and He will alight in this City of Makkah, as it happened on the occasion of the Conquest of Makkah. On this occasion, all the injunctions and ordinances of the حرم Haram were suspended for one day, and it was made lawful to kill the disbelievers. Mazhari cites three possible meanings, and says that all three of them are equally possible.

Verse 2 - Surah Al-Balad: (وأنت حل بهذا البلد...) - English