Surah At-Tawbah 9:17-24 - Quran Translation Commentary

17. It is not for the idolaters to maintain Allah’s mosques, while they are selfconfessed unbelievers³⁵ giving evidence of infidelity against themselves. Their acts will be in vain,³⁶ and in the fire of Hell will they abide forever.

18. He shall only tend Allah’s mosques who believes in Allah, and the last day, and establishes salat and pays zakat, and fears none save Allah.³⁷ Such people are expected to be rightly guided.

19. Do you consider the provision of a drinking water to the Hajis (pilgrims) and the maintenance of the Sacred Mosque equally worthy of (the services of one) who believe in Allah and the last day, and strove (in jihad) in the cause ofAllah? They are not equal in the sight of Allah,³⁸and Allah does not guide the wrong doing people.³⁹

20. Those who believed, and emigrated, and strove with their wealth and their lives in the way of Allah are of much greater worth in Allah’s sight.⁴⁰ And these are the people who will triumph.

21. Their Lord gives them glad tidings of mercy from Him, and His pleasure, and of gardens having everlasting delights;⁴¹

22. There they shall dwell forever.⁴² Verily, with Allah there is immense reward.⁴³

23. O you who believe! Do not befriend your fathers or your brothers if they like unbelief in preference to faith.⁴⁴ And whoever of you do so, they are the wrong-doers.

24. Say: If your fathers, and your sons, and your brethren, and your wives, and your kindred, the property you have acquired, and the merchandise for which you fear a decline, and the homes you love - are dearer to you than Allah and His messenger and striving in His cause, then wait until Allah delivers His decision.⁴⁵ And Allah does not guide the evildoers.⁴⁶

Commentary

35. That is: Mosques are reserved for worshipping Allah, therefore, those who indulge in polytheism and idolatry and who refuse to worship the one and only God have absolutely no right to either serve or become the trustees of the mosques. Do they want to please both the God as well as the idols? What a combination of paradoxes!

Although it is a general statement, which enunciates a principle about the maintenance of mosques, here it was a specific reference to the Quraish who were in control of the Masjid-e- Haram, (the Sacred Mosque).

The Quraish were polytheists and yet prided in serving the Sacred Mosque. For further explanation, please see Note No.47 Surah Al-Anfal.

36. That is: Merely serving a mosque does not have any importance in sight of Allah, if the mentality of the person is not free from polytheism. The virtues gathered by such persons will go waste,and they will not get any recompense for their services.

37. That is : The right people who deserve to visit and tend and maintain Allah’s worshipping places cannot be polytheists or idolaters, but believers in Allah.

It lays bare certain principles:

One is that the control over the mosques should be of Muslims and not of disbelievers. Secondly, for the construction of the mosques, their tending and maintenance and for their trusteeship disbelievers are not at all suitable.

Thirdly, for such work suitable persons are only those who believe in tawheed and who fulfil the basic demands of the faith.

And fourthly, that no Muslim who has befriended a polytheist or who is negligent about his salat and zakat or who is an open sinner and wrong-doer should be made a trustee.

38. The Quraish were vain about their being servants and trustees of Ka’ba. They prided in their holding the permanent position of providing security to the Sacred Mosque, making arrangements for the Hajj pilgrimage and supplying drinking water to the pilgrims,and they were unable to understand how could they, despite these services of theirs, be disliked by Allah. Removing this illusion of theirs they are being informed that these services would carry any weight with Allah only when their performers have established a relationship of loyalty with Allah. Polytheism is disloyalty to God and a rebellion against Him. Therefore, the person who commits the sin of associating anybody with God is a sinner, a criminal and he will be prosecuted in the Court of Allah on the Day of Judgment. Where does then the question of awarding such a person for his ‘religious services ‘arise?

39. Here wrong-doers means polytheists. It means that whatever religious services may be performed by the polytheists, the road to success (guidance) will not be opened for them. They are destined to be unsuccessful.

40. That is: In the sight of Allah the idolaters and the polytheists have no rank or honour at all and are considered unworthy. As against these the rank and worthiness of those who believed in Him and who strove in His cause by sacrificing their wealth and lives are very high. They have a very high place in His estimation.

41. The gardens of the Paradise will have everlasting freshness, and the delights therein will be enduring and unending.

42. That is: The people of faith will have everlasting life in the Paradise. There the dwelling place and the dwellers, both, will be eternal.

43. That is: When Allah is inclined to reward His sincere slaves, what would be lacking in His limitless stores of blessings that He should be restraining His hands. He is the Master of the treasures of the earth and the heavens. There cannot be any limit to His favours and mercy.

44. “Do not befriend them” means that if your father and your brother are rebels against Allah and they are not prepared to give up this unbelieving attitude of theirs, then they are the enemies of God. And how can a Momin, a faithful servant of God, befriend an enemy of God? Particularly on the occasion of jihad, how can he care for these relationships? On such occasions every person who joins the ranks of the enemies will have to be dealt with as an enemy. At that time a large number of Muslims had their relatives in Darul Kufr, in the land of disbelievers, and they had not embraced Islam. In the war between Islam and kufr, their sympathies would not only have been with the disbelievers, but they also joined the battle against Muslims, among whom were their sons and brothers. These were the conditions in which the Muslims have been very clearly directed that in the war between Truth and falsehood they should not care either for their fathers or brothers.

45. A Muslim does say that he considers Allah and His messenger and His religion dearer than all things, but when he is put to test, the truth or the falsehood of his claim comes out in the open. In the conflict of Islam and kufr, faith and disbelief, man has been put to test in relation to all the things which are dear to him. On one side the love of these dear things attracts him towards them, and on the other his religion demands that he should unreservedly proclaim what is truth, even if it may affect his businesses, or for example he may be required to stake his life to utter the words of truth. In the same way, in the battle of kufr and Islam, Islam demands of him that he should step forward to fulfil his responsibilities and should not allow the love of his wife and children, and of his home and family to become an obstruction in the performance of his duty. On such occasions whoever comes out successful in his acts proves that nothing is dearer to him than Allah, His messenger and His religion. But those who imprison themselves in the love of their families, children, homes and busineses to such an extent that even on the extremely emergent occasions also they put aside the demands of the religion, so that their ‘world’ may flourish, then such people have been warned severely that they should wait for the decision of God, that is, they should be ready to face dire consequences.

46. For those who disobey the commands of Allah, the path of guidance is not opened for them. Their fate is deprivation only.