Surah At-Tawbah 9:81-89 - Quran Translation Commentary

81. Those who were stayed behind¹⁴⁹ rejoiced in sitting inactive behind the messenger of Allah, and were averse to striving with their wealth and lives in the way of Allah. And they said: “Do not go forth in the heat”. Say: “The fire of Hell is more intense in heat,”¹⁵⁰ if they but understood!

82. Then let them laugh a little and weep more¹⁵¹, in return for what (evil) they have been earning.

83. If Allah bring you back to a group of them¹⁵² and they request for your permission to march (with you), say: “Never shall you march with me, nor fight an enemy with me¹⁵³, you liked to sit inactive on the first occasion, then sit you now inactive with those who stayed behind”.

84. And never offer (funeral) prayer for any of them that dies, nor stand at his grave, for surely they had rejected Allah and His messenger, and they died while they were evildoers¹⁵⁴.

85. And let not their riches and their children bewilder you. Allah only wants to punish them through them in the world, and that their souls will pass away while they are disbelievers. ¹⁵⁵

86. And when a Surah is revealed (with the command): Believe in Allah and strive along with His messenger, the men of capability among them request you (for exemption) and say: “Leave us, we would be with those who sit. (inactive)”¹⁵⁶.

87. They liked to be with (the women) who remain behind¹⁵⁷, and their hearts are sealed so they understand not.¹⁵⁸

88. But the messenger and those who believe with him strove with their wealth and their lives. And these are the persons for whom are the good things, and these are the persons who will prosper.

89. Allah has prepared for them garden beneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide forever. That is the supreme achievement.

Commentary

149. Means those hypocrites who were deprived of taking part in the Tabuk Expedition.

150. Pleasure –-loving people are not prepared to undergo hardships in the path of truth, and they think that even in the Hereafter they would be blessed with peaceful life. This is a self-deception in which many people indulge. But when they would see the Hell before them in the next world, they would realise that by avoiding to undergo hardship in the world for the sake of Allah they have invited for harsher hardships for themselves in the Hereafter. The heat in the world which prompted them to avoid performing their duties is nothing compared to the heat of the Hell-fire.

151. That is: Their days for laughing are now numbered, they will now have to weep more and more and no chance of laughing.

152. These verses were revealed at the time of the Muslim army’s return from the Tabuk Expedition.

153. It is a pointer of the fact that now the hypocrites will not be guided (by Allah) to march out for participating in any jihad.

154. This command is a sequel of the earlier command to deal strictly with the hypocrites, given in Verse No.73. and it is in regard to those hypocrites, whose hypocrisy had been exposed. and who had been guilty of open rejection of faith. Muslims have been forbidden to offer salatul janazah (funeral prayer) for such people and to stand near their graves. To stand near or at the grave means to pray for forgiveness of their sins, and for expressing feelings of mercy for them. This prohibitory command applies in the same way to disbelievers, polytheists and atheists as it applies to the hypocrites, because those who remain disbelievers till their last breath are the enemies of Allah, and for the enemies of Allah there cannot be a soft corner in the heart of a Momin.

When Allama Taimiyah was asked whether a Muslim could walk behind the dead body of a Christian. he replied no, a Muslim should not go behind the funeral of a Christian because he died while he was a disbeliever. and therefore fit to be thrown into Hell, and therefore, prayer should not be ‘offered for him.

But in the present day opportunist Muslims do not feel it undesirable to walk with the funeral processions of polytheists. to carry the vessels of their ashes, to offer flowers and garlands at their samadhis and to pay them tributes Those opportunists who are politically inclined or those who are expert in selling the revelations of Allah do not hesitate to recite the verses of the holy Quran near the dead bodies of the polytheist leaders despite the fact that these leaders. had been denying the truth of Quran being the Book of Allah. Generally, this narrative is quoted in the explanation of this verse that the Prophet had offered the funeral prayer of the chief of the hypocrites, Abdullah bin Ubai, thereupon this verse was revealed. Accordingly, it is mentioned in Bukhari:

“It is narrated by Abdullah bin Umar that when Abdullah bin Ubai died” his son went to the Prophet (Peace be upon him). The Prophet gave him his kurta (shirt) and asked him to shroud his dead body in that shirt, then he stood up so that he may offer his funeral prayer. But Umar Ibn Khattab held him by his clothes and inquired whether he would offer his funeral prayer when he was a hypocrite, and Allah had forbidden him to pray for their forgiveness. The Prophet replied that Allah had given him authority for both the things, accordingly He has stated: ‘Pray for forgiveness for them or do not pray for forgiveness for them; even if you pray for forgiveness for them seventy times, Allah will not forgive them’ (After reading this verse) he said: I will pray for forgiveness for them more than seventy times.’ Umar (R) then states: “The Prophet then offered his funeral prayer and we also offered the funeral prayers with him. Thereafter Allah revealed this verse to him: Never offer funeral prayer for any of them that dies, nor stand at his grave, for surely they had rejected Allah and His messenger, and they died while they were evil-doers.”

(Bukhari, Kitabut Tafseer)

Although this tradition is from Bukhari and its narrators are reliable, yet some scholars have refused to accept its veracity and to admit it among the authentic traditions.

“Qazi Abu Bakr states it is not proper to accept this hadith, nor is it correct to say that it is the saying of Allah’s messenger. And Qazi Abu Bakr Baqalani writes in’ At- Taqrib’ that this hadith has a single narrator, whose authenticity is not certain. Imamul Haramain states in his ‘Mukhtasar’ that this tradition is not counted among the authentic ahadith and he states in’Burhan’that Ahle Hadith do not consider it authentic, and Imam Ghazali writes in ‘Al-Mustasfa’ a clearer point is that this tradition is not authentic. and the commentator of this hadith Dawoodi says that it is unprotected (unauthentic),” –(Fathul Bari, Vol. VIII. P. 272).

The difficulties that are felt in accepting this tradition as authentic are briefly as follows:

( 1) As Bukhari has quoted this hadith, he has also quoted another hadith. narrated by Jabir (R). which is quite different from it:

“Jabir (R) says that the prophet (Peace be upon him) went to Abdullah bin Ubai after his burial Then he ordered him to be exhumed and put his saliva in his mouth and covered him with his own kurta (shirt).”

-(Bukhari Kitabul Janaiz)

Both the ahadith are from Bukhari. In one it is stated that when his son went to the prophet, he gave his shirt to him and then offered his funeral prayer. And in another narrative these words are also there: “He said to him: ‘Inform me, I will offer prayer. Then he informed him of the completion of the funeral preparations, and when he proceeded to offer prayer, Umar (R) tried to stop him”. –( Bukhari Kitabul Janaiz)

And in another tradition it is stated that the burial had taken place, but he ordered his body to be exhumed and then covered it with his shirt. It is obvious that there is open disagreement between the two traditions. Another example of this disagreement is: The words of the narrative of Abdullah bin Umar quoted by Bukhari are that the Prophet said that he would pray for forgiveness more than seventy times, but in the narrative that has been quoted by Ibn Abbas the words that have been ascribed to the Prophet are: Had I known that by praying for forgiveness for him he would be forgiven, I would have prayed for his forgiveness more times than that.”

-(Bukhari, Kitabut Tafseer Surah Taubah).

There is a lot of difference between the two things. The first statement is unconditonal, and the second statement is conditional, and Allama Jussas writes that the words, ‘I would add even to seventy times’ quoted in some narratives are because of the narrator’s error, because Allah had already informed that these people had rejected Allah and His messenger, then how could the prophet (Peace be upon him) pray for forgiveness for the rejectors of faith, when he knew that they would not be forgiven. Quoted here is an extract of an authentic narrative; “Had I known that by praying for forgiveness for them for more than seventy times they would be forgiven, I would have prayed for forgiveness for them more than that.”

– (Ahkamul Quran, Jussas. Vol. III, page 177).

(2) This tradition has been quoted in different ways with references to sources, but the middle link is Ubaidullah bin Abdullah bin Utbah, or it is Ubaidullah bin Abdullah bin Umar. Therefore, it stands as a report from a single narrator ( Khabar-i-wahid), and although a narrative from a single source is acceptable, provided it does not clash with the Quran and the Sunnah.

(3) In the hadith included in the Musnad-i- Ahmed which is narrated by Ibn Abbas, there is this elaboration: then the Prophet (Peace be upon, him) offered his funeral prayer, walked with the coffin and stood at his grave, while the tradition quoted by Bukhari as narrated by Jabir says that the Prophet arrived at the grave of Abdullah bin Ubai after his burial. These conflicting statements in the traditions has been admitted by Allama Sindi also, as he writes: This hadith is in contradiction of the previous hadith, because in this it is clearly stated that the Prophet offered the funeral prayer and before that he had given his shirt... But stretching its meaning, this tradition shows that he arrived after that and thereafter covered the dead body with his shirt. Some scholars have tried to show that both the traditions are similar, but that does not remove the objection fully.

–(Sunan-i-Nussai, Vol. IV, page 38, Hashiatul Imam Sindi).

(4) Ibn Jarir Tabri quotes the narrative of Anas (R) that when the prophet (Peace be upon him) wanted to offer the funeral prayer of Abdullah bin Ubai, Jibril held him by the edge of his clothing, and recited this verse: And never offer prayer.... But as Ibn Katheer has explained one of its narrators is Yazid Raqashi, who is unreliable.

– (Tafseer Ibn Katheer, Vol.II, page 379).

However, the probable or the likely thing is that Jibril might have stopped him and probably other narrators might have misunderstood that Umar (R) tried to stop the prophet. This is the reason why Allama Razi in his Tafseer-e- Kabir and Maulana Maududi in his Tafhimul Quran have relied on this tradition of weak sources, though in the narratives quoted in Bukhari and Muslim the description of the Prophet’s offering the funeral prayer is clearly given. In other words, according to them this weak tradition, from the viewpoint of its contents, is preferable to the tradition quoted by Bukhari.

(5) The context of the verse clearly shows that the verse was revealed at the time of the return journey from the Tabuk Expedition, because in its immediately preceding verse it is mentioned: “If Allah bring you back to a group of them...” which is a proof of the fact that these verses were revealed before his returning to Madina, and Abdullah bin Ubai died about two months after the Prophet’s return to Madina, i.e. in Zil Qa’dah 09 A.H. Therefore, this hadith has no relation with the context of the verse, but the subject which starts in verse No.73 and continues till this verse is a well-knit subject, and in view of the direction of fighting against the hypocrites and dealing with them strictly, what connection is there in treating the chief of the hypocrites so softly, and that he would give his own shirt to cover his dead body, and would offer his funeral prayer?

(6) The son of Abdullah bin Ubai, Abdullah was a sincere and righteous Muslim. At the time of the Battle (which took place in 6 A.H.) of Bani Al-mustaliq, when Abdullah Ubai uttered these insulting words: “We will return to Madina and the respectable people will oust the mean people”, his son went to the Prophet and sought his permission to sever his father’s neck.

– (Seerat Ibn Hasham. Vol. III. page 337).

Will such a person ask for prophet’s shirt for his hypocrite father and would he request him to offer his funeral prayer?

In view of these difficulties, it appears that the situation as reported in these traditions is not correct. Only Allah knows what really happened and in what manner it has been stated.

155. It has been explained in Note No. 103.

156. Refers to those hypocrites who were capable of participating in jihad but still they did not come out and sought to offer false excuses.

157. That is: Like women, they preferred to remain at home.

158. The result of this demoralisation and moral downfall was this that their ethical senstivity was dead, and they became shameless. This state is termed as their hearts being sealed, because such a state is developed under the law which Allah has fixed concerning ethical behaviour.