Studying the Referent of the Phrase āmmīn al-Bayt al-Ḥarām (the people resorting to the Sacred House) in Sūrat al-Mā’ida

The second verse of Sūrat al-Mā’ida, which has been revealed in relation to Ḥajj rulings, has ordered the Muslims to respect the pilgrims of the Sacred House of Allah and not only to avoid any aggression toward them but also to ally with one another for doing benevolence to them. However, the interpreters are divided over determining the evidence of the phrase āmmīn al-Bayt al-Ḥarām. Some have believed that these “pilgrims” are intended to be the Muslims, some have believed them to be Muslims and polytheists, and some have taken them as polytheists, who travel to Makka with the aim of pilgrimage or trade. Meanwhile, the latter group who have taken the above verse to be intended for the polytheists, have come up with internal and external evidences for proving their viewpoint after deliberation on other phrases of the noble verse and the occasions of Revelation; but they have disagreed concerning the abrogation or specification of this ruling with some verses of Sūrat al-Tawba or the retaining of the ruling for the permission of the polytheists’ entering the Sacred House. Similarly, after critically reviewing both viewpoints, this writing has first chosen the polytheists as the evidence of āmmīn al-Bayt al-Ḥarām and then, by criticizing the reasons for the abrogation or designation of this verse, has proceeded to emphasize the retaining of the permission of the non-belligerent polytheists’ entering the Sacred House.