(It is no sin for you that ye seek the bounty of your Lord (by trading)…) [2:198]. Mansur ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab al-Bazzar informed us> Abu 'Amr Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Hiri> Shu'ayb ibn 'Ali al-Zarra'> 'Isa ibn Musawir> Marwan ibn Mu'awiyah al-Fazari> al-'Ala' ibn al-Musayyab> Abu Umamah al-Taymi who said: “I said to Ibn 'Umar: 'We hire our beasts to the pilgrims and walk with them, and there are some people who claim that our pilgrimage is invalid'. He said: 'Do you not chant: here we are, O Allah, here we are? Do you not go around the Ka'bah? Do you not go in between the Safa and Marwah? Do you not do this? And do you not do that?' I said: 'Indeed, we do!' Ibn 'Umar said: 'A man did ask the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, about the same thing you asked, and he could not answer him until the verse (It is no sin for you that ye seek the bounty of your Lord (by trading)…) was revealed. When this verse was revealed, he called the man and recited it to him. He said: you are the real pilgrims' ”. Abu Bakr al-Tamimi informed us> 'Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Khushnam> Abu Yahya al-Razi> Sahl ibn 'Uthman> Yahya ibn Abi Za'idah> Ibn Jurayj> 'Amr ibn Dinar> Ibn 'Abbas who said: “Dhu'l-Majaz and 'Ukaz used to be places of trade in the pre-Islamic era. It is as if people disliked this to be so upon the advent of Islam, that is until the verse (It is no sin for you that ye seek the bounty of your Lord (by trading)…) was revealed regarding the season of Pilgrimage”. Mujahid also related that Ibn 'Abbas said: “People used to avoid trade and buying and selling during the Pilgrimage. They used to say: 'These are days for the remembrance of Allah, glorious and exalted is He'. And so Allah revealed (It is no sin for you that ye seek the bounty of your Lord (by trading)…), meaning: do engage in trade”.
Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi , trans. Mokrane Guezzou
