Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs
(Postponement (of a sacred month) is only an excess of disbelief) He says: postponement of the month of Muharram to the month of Safar is an excess of disbelief (whereby those who disbelieve are misled) they are wrong to postpone Muharram to Safar, (they allow it) i.e. Muharram (one year) and thus fight in it (and forbid it) i.e. Muharram ((another) year) and thus abstain from fighting during it. And so when they used to do this, Muharram would not be considered sacred while Safar became sacred instead, (that they may make up) that they may match (the number of the months which Allah hath hallowed) four in number, (so that they allow that which Allah hath forbidden) i.e. Muharram. (The evil of their deeds is made fair-seeming unto them. Allah guideth not) leads not to His religion (the disbelieving folk) those who do not deserve it. The one who used to postpone the sacred months was a man called Nu'aym Ibn Tha'labah.
Tafsir Ibn 'Abbas, trans. Mokrane Guezzou
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