Surah At-Tawbah 9:90-99 - Quran Translation Commentary

90. And those among the Bedouins who had (false) excuses came so that permission might be granted them¹⁵⁹. And those who lied to Allah and His messenger sat (at home)¹⁶⁰. Those who disbelieved among them (Bedouins) will soon receive painful punishment¹⁶¹.

91. There is no sin on the weak, the sick and on those who find no money to spend, if they are sincere to Allah and His messenger¹⁶². There is no blame on such righteous people. And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

92. And nor (is there blame) on those who came to you to be provided with mounts, and when , you said: “I can find no mounts for you,” they turned back, their eyes streaming with tears of grief that they could not find the means to spend¹⁶³.

93. In reality the blame is on those who request for your exemption despite being rich. They liked to stay with women who remain behind. Allah has sealed their hearts, so they know nothing.

94. When you return to them they will offer excuses before you¹⁶⁴. Say: “Do not offer excuses, for we will not believe you. Allah has already informed us about your affairs¹⁶⁵. Now Allah and His messenger will see your actions¹⁶⁶, then you will be returned to Him who knows the hidden and the manifest, then He will tell you what you had been doing”

95. When you return to them, they will swear by Allah before you, so that you may leave them alone. So leave them alone¹⁶⁷ They are unclean¹⁶⁸, and their abode is Hell, a recompense for what they had been earning.

96. They will swear before you so that you may be pleased with them; but even if you are pleased with them, Allah surely will not be pleased with the evil-doing people.

97. The Bedouins¹⁶⁹ are very severe in disbelief and hypocrisy¹⁷⁰, and more likely to be ignorant of what commands Allah has sent down to His messenger,¹⁷¹ and Allah is All- Knowing, All-Wise.¹⁷²

98. And among the Bedouins there are some who regard what they give in the cause of Allah as a compulsory fine¹⁷³, and wait for some misfortune to befall you¹⁷⁴. (But the fact is that) misfortune has befallen them. And Allah Hears All and Knows All.

99. And among the Bedouins there are some who believe in Allah and the Last Day¹⁷⁵, and regard their offering in the cause of Allah as a means of bringing them close to Allah and seeking the prayer from the messenger¹⁷⁶. Lo! Indeed, it is a means of bringing them closer to Him¹⁷⁷. Allah will soon admit them to His mercy. Verily Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

Commentary

159. Bedouin means an Arab villager. This refers to those hypocrites from the villages who offered false excuses for not taking part in the Tabuk Expedition.

160. That is: Among these Bedouins there were some hypocrites who did not even take the trouble of coming to the prophet on this important occasion.

161. The promised warning from Allah to these hypocrites did actually materialize, as within two years of the revelation of this verse they openly declared their apostasy, and the first Khalifa, Abu Bakr (R) vanquished these apostates.

162. That is: Those who have a reasonable excuse, there is no sin or blame on them. e.g. old people, sick men, disabled and poor people, provided their relationship with Allah and His messenger was based on sincerity and loyalty, and provided that after remaining behind they do not indulge in any work contrary to this relationship.

163. These were the sincere feelings of the truly righteous people. When they had no means of buying their own mounts they approached the prophet (Peace be upon him) with a request to get them mounts, and when even he could not provide them due to scarcity of resources. tears of grief streamed from their eyes.

This statement of the Prophet: “I can find no mounts for you” expresses” his helplessness, but inspite of these clear proofs the illiterate section of Muslims gives him the position of God, and thinks that he has treasures, and even though he has departed from the world this section calls him for help, believing it to be proper. Such a belief is totally contrary to monotheism. and this statement of the prophet is sufficient to the contradict it.

164. That is; When you would return to Madina from your Tabuk Expedition, these hypocrites will come to you and offer false excuses for their inability to go out with you for jihad.

165. Refers to those verses of the Surah Taubah (Repentance) in which the hypocrites and their black deeds have been unveiled.

166. That is: Now your actions will be watched and it will be seen whether you would accept the reformation in your conduct and prove your loyalty to Allah and His messenger or you would stick to your old attitude.

It should be noted that Allah’s messenger was in their midst, therefore, the meaning of the words that ‘he will see your actions’ is quite clear, in the same way as it was stated in Verse No. 105 that Allah will see your actions, and also His messenger and the believers.

But the excess-loving minds bring out the novel point that even though the prophet has departed from this world, he still watches our overt and covert actions. By imagining such points, they only help in creating new ways of innovation (bidat) and polytheism (shirk). The Jews and Christians had been inventing such fantastic points in interpreting the divine scriptures. May Allah give us refuge from such practices.

167. They want that you should leave them as they are. When they are not prepared to reform themselves, then the best thing is to leave them alone.

168. Here the uncleanness is the uncleanness of disbelief and hypocrisy, which has made their heart and mind totally unclean, therefore, neither their heart nourishes clean feelings nor their mind thinks clean thoughts.

169. Bedouins or the Desert people or the village bumpkins.

170. From the social standpoint the village atmosphere is quite different from that of the city. The village people are very severe in their beliefs and conducts, therefore, this severity of temperament goes into their disbelief and hypocrisy also.

171. They are neither interested in acquiring knowledge nor any kind of training, therefore the possibilities of their being ignorant of the Shariah commands are greater.

172. Refers to the fact that Allah knows the secrets of their hearts, and therefore, He will deal with them according to what His Wisdom would decide.

173. That is: they regard Zakat as a compulsory tax and the co-operation for jihad as a fine, though this expenditure is a form of worship which should be made with pleasure.

174. These Bedouins had embraced Islam for convenience. They saw that Islam was spreading speedily in their land and safety lay in embracing it, otherwise they had no interest in Islam. They were ill-wishers of Muslims and wanted that some misfortune should befall them, so that they may be able to throw away the yoke of Islam from their necks.

175. All the Bedouins were not alike. If there were some hypocrites, then there were some sincere Muslims also. Incidentally, it also refutes the theory that it is the environment that makes a man good or bad. If it were so, then soft-hearted men would not have been born among the hard hearted Bedouins. Man cannot be dealt with like bricks and stones. A man has the capability of rising above his environment and in this matter the decisive force is his own soul or personality. If this were not true then good men would not have been born in bad environment, nor bad men would have been born in good environment.

176. If anybody from amongst the faithful people offered any financial aid in the cause of Allah, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) used to accept it and prayed for Allah’s mercy for that person. The faithful people very well knew the value of the prayer from the prophet, and therefore they always nursed the desire of seeking his prayers for them as many times as possible.

177. It shows the value and importance of spending in the way of Allah: the more a Muslim spends for Allah, the closer he gets to Him.