Repentance (At-Tawba)
۞ An acquittal from Allah and His Messenger to the idolaters with whom you have made agreements; 1 Travel freely in the land for four months, and bear in mind that you cannot escape from Allah, and that Allah will humiliate the disbelievers. 2 This is a proclamation from God and His Messenger to the people on the day of the Pilgrimage, that God is free of all obligation to the polytheists, and so is His Messenger. If you repent, it will be better for you, but if you turn away, then know that you cannot frustrate the plan of God. Proclaim a grievous punishment to those who are bent on denying the truth. 3 Except those of the idolaters with whom you made an agreement, then they have not failed you in anything and have not backed up any one against you, so fulfill their agreement to the end of their term; surely Allah loves those who are careful (of their duty). 4 But when these months, prohibited (for fighting), are over, slay the idolaters wheresoever you find them, and take them captive or besiege them, and lie in wait for them at every likely place. But if they repent and fulfil their devotional obligations and pay the zakat, then let them go their way, for God is forgiving and kind. 5 And O dear Prophet (Mohammed – peace and blessings be upon him), if a polytheist seeks your protection, give him protection so that he may hear the Word of Allah, and then transport him to his place of safety; this is because they are an unwise people. 6