Surah At-Tawbah 9:11-16 - Quran Translation Commentary

(9:11) However, if they repent, offer the Prayers, and pay the Zakah, then they are your brothers in faith.²¹ Thus We detail out the verses for a people who (wish to) believe.

(9:12) But, if they break their oaths after their treaties and defame your religion²² then, fight the leaders of disbelief²³ who care for no oaths,²⁴ haply they will desist.

(9:13| Will you not fight against a people who broke their oaths and were determined to expel the Messenger, and they are the ones who were the first to begin (war) against you? Do you fear them? Allah is more deserving that He should be feared if you are believers.

(9:14) Make war on them, Allah will chastise them at your hands. He will humiliate them and help you against them, and will heal the hearts of a believing people.²⁵

(9:15| He will remove the fury in their hearts. And Allah turns in forgiveness to whomsoever He will. Allah is the All knowing, the All wise.

(9:16) Or, do you think you will be spared when Allah has not yet known those of you who fought in His cause,²⁶ and took not friends apart from Allah, His Messenger, or the believers?²⁷ And Allah is Aware of what you do.²⁸

"O Lord of Prophet Muhammad, forgive me my sin, remove the anger of my heart and save me from tribulations that lead to misguidance" (Ibn Kathir).

Commentary

21. In the light of this verse, faith in Allah and His Messenger, Prayers and charity, can be considered as the basis of brotherhood in Islam. Hence we have Ibn Zayd's statement: "May Allah show mercy to Abu Bakr. How well he understood this verse when he said, ‘I shall not differentiate between the two that Allah placed together?'" That is, Salah and Zakah. As for the doubt as to how Zakah could be made a condition when there are always poor people in a society; the answer is, it is enough for such people that they should know and believe that paying out the Zakah is a condition for belonging to the Islamic brotherhood and to actually do so whenever it becomes obligatory on them (Manar).

22. Majid comments: "(The word ta`n) conveys more than anything else the idea of defiance. Reviling God's religion is blasphemy in its worst form and blasphemy, both in the Jewish and Christian religions, is punishable with death. ‘And he that blasphemeth the name of the Lord, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him.' (Le. 24: 16). It also stood, till recently, in the secular laws of Europe as an indictable offence punishable with the capital sentence. ‘By the law of Scotland, as it originally stood, the punishment of blasphemy was death, ... In France ... the punishment was death in various forms, burning alive, mutilation, torture, or corporeal punishment.' (EBr. IV, p. 44, 11th Ed.)."

This verse is the basis of the rule that anybody who insults the Prophet deserves to be put to death. This was the opinion of Malik, Layth, Ahmad, Is haq and of Shafe`i. It is said that someone quipped before `Ali, "Ka`b b. al Ashraf was not killed but by treachery." `Ali ordered the man to be beheaded. Someone made a similar statement in the presence of Mu`awiyyah. Muhammad b. Maslamah was there. He said to Mu`awiyyah, "Is that uttered in your presence and you do not act? By Allah, after this I shall never share the same roof with you. And, if I come across this man elsewhere, I shall kill him."

However, if a Dhimmi insults the Prophet, he might not be killed without given the opportunity to express regret. That is because Allah has added the words, "if they break their oath." This is the opinion of Abu Hanifah. Another opinion is that he should be killed without respite since he already broke the oath. On the topic, it might be appropriate to mention that there was a woman in Madinah during the Prophet’s time who used to insult the Prophet. She was the former slave of a blind man who had attained the free status by virtue of having given birth to two sons by her master. One night she began to insult the Prophet until the blind Muslim could not stand it anymore. He killed her with an axe and admitted his crime the next day. The Prophet did not punish him (Qurtubi).

23. Ibn Abi Hatim has recorded that when Abu Bakr was sending his troops to the Syrian region (ruled by the Romans), he instructed Ibn Jubayr b. Nufayr: "When you run into a combat with the people there, slaughter them. For, to kill one of them is better unto me than fifty others. This is because Allah has said: ‘Fight the leaders of disbelief’” (Ibn Kathir).

24. It is widely reported that the allusion is to the Quraysh tribes that had entered into a no war pact with the Prophet but soon crossed swords with Banu Khuza`ah, one of the Prophet's ally, committing aggression in support of Banu Bakr, their ally. In fact, it is said that the battle was the result of a quarrel that started between two individuals. One of them, belonging to Banu Bakr, sang a satire against the Prophet. Another, a Khuza`i told him, "If you repeat it before me, I'll break your jaw." The man repeated and he broke his jaw. Their quarrel led to the battle, and ultimately, when the Khuza`ah complained to the Prophet, it led to the subjugation of Quraysh and fall of Makkah (Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir).

On the basis of this verse, the Hanafiyyah have said that the oath of an unbeliever is worthless (when he sets it against a believer: Au.) Manar.

25. According to Ibn `Abbas, the allusion by the words, "and will cure the hearts of a believing people," is to those of the Banu Khuza`ah (a tribe from the interiors of Yemen and Saba') who embraced Islam and visited the Grand Mosque. But they were treated badly in Makkah. They sent a complaint to the Prophet. He said in reply, "Be of good cheer. Rescue is close" (Kashshaf, Alusi).

Ibn `Asakir has recorded that when `A'isha got angry the Prophet would hold her by her nose and say, "O `Uwaysh. Say,

اللَّهُمَّ رَبَّ مُحَمَّدٍ النَّبِيِّ اغْفِرْ لِي ذَنْبِي وَأَذْهِبْ غَيْظَ قَلْبِي وَأَجِرْنِي مِنْ مُضِلَّاتِ الْفِتَنِ

26. Verses of similar nature are many. E.g. (3: 142):

أَمْ حَسِبْتُمْ أَنْ تَدْخُلُوا الْجَنَّةَ وَلَمَّا يَعْلَمِ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ جَاهَدُوا مِنْكُمْ وَيَعْلَمَ الصَّابِرِينَ [آل عمران : 142]

"Do you think you will enter Paradise when Allah has not yet known those among you who fought."

And (2: 214):

"Do you think you will enter Paradise when that has not yet come upon you which came upon those before you?"

أَمْ حَسِبْتُمْ أَنْ تَدْخُلُوا الْجَنَّةَ وَلَمَّا يَأْتِكُمْ مَثَلُ الَّذِينَ خَلَوْا مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْ [البقرة : 214]

And (29: 2 3),

أَحَسِبَ النَّاسُ أَنْ يُتْرَكُوا أَنْ يَقُولُوا آمَنَّا وَهُمْ لَا يُفْتَنُونَ (2) وَلَقَدْ فَتَنَّا الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ فَلَيَعْلَمَنَّ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ صَدَقُوا وَلَيَعْلَمَنَّ الْكَاذِبِينَ [العنكبوت : 2 ، 3]

"Alif. Lam. Mim. Do the people think that they will be left alone if they said, ‘We have believed,' without being tried? Surely, we tried those before them. Surely Allah will find out those who are truthful and those who are liars" (Ibn Jarir).

27. The words, "and took not friends apart from Allah, His Messenger or the believers," have been added to check out the hypocrites who might fight along with the Muslims but, at heart, in sympathy with the unbelievers (Razi).

28. That is, Allah is aware of the intentions behind the deeds, nothing is hidden from Him and He will not accept, as Ibn `Abbas has said, a contradiction between the open and the secret (Razi).

Thanwi offers a fairly complicated explanation of the passage ending with verse 16 and says that he took several years to come to this conclusion, but is still not too sure if he is absolutely right. His commentary itself, although short, is pretty difficult to translate. A good amount of explanation will have to be added, which might give the commentary another coloring. We have merely intended to point out how diligent and cautious scholars have been with the Qur'an (Au.).