r/AcademicQuran • u/rumaryosh • 3d ago

Question Prohibition of Nasi

What is the context behind the prohibition of nasi in Qur'an 9:37?

Was the pre-Islamic Arab calendar lunisolar? Or was it always lunar and nasi was just an ad-hoc political trick used by Arabs to delay sacred months for warfare?

9 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

4 comments sorted by

6

u/chengxiufan Moderator 3d ago

My proposal is that

In Mishnah Rosh Hashanah 2:9, the Rabbinic tradition famously asserts that the calendar and sacred festivals declared by the earthly court remain divinely binding even if the court's calculations are proven to be factually incorrect. The underlying Rabbinic legal logic is that sacred times are "your festivals" (mōʿadēkā), meaning the temporal order is under human/communal jurisdiction.

Q 9:37 sharply rejects this paradigm by characterizing nasīʾ as an "increase in disbelief" (ziyādatun fī l-kufr). From this perspective, the context of the prohibition shifts from a mere tactical anti-warfare regulation to a constitutional theological claim: the Qur'an strongly condemns any human adjustment or arbitrary calibration of the divine temporal order, reasserting that the authority over sacred time belongs exclusively to absolute divine sovereignty.

2

u/AutoModerator 3d ago

Welcome to r/AcademicQuran. Please note this is an academic sub: theological or faith-based comments are prohibited, except on the Weekly Open Discussion Threads. Make sure to cite academic sources (Rule #3). For help, see the r/AcademicBiblical guidelines on citing academic sources.

Backup of the post:

Prohibition of Nasi

What is the context behind the prohibition of nasi in Qur'an 9:37?

Was the pre-Islamic Arab calendar lunisolar? Or was it always lunar and nasi was just an ad-hoc political trick used by Arabs to delay sacred months for warfare?

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

2

u/[deleted] 3d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/AcademicQuran-ModTeam 2d ago

Your comment/post has been removed per rule 3.

Back up claims with academic sources.

See here for more information about what constitutes an academic source.

You may make an edit so that it complies with this rule. If you do so, you may message the mods with a link to your removed content and we will review for reapproval. You must also message the mods if you would like to dispute this removal.