Surah 9. At-Tawbah

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Verses [Section]: 1-10[1], 11-16 [2], 17-24 [3], 25-29 [4], 30-37 [5], 38-42 [6], 43-59 [7], 60-66 [8], 67-72 [9], 73-80 [10], 81-89 [11], 90-99 [12], 100-110 [13], 111-118 [14], 119-122 [15], 123-129 [16]

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Quran Text of Verse 43-59عَفَا(May) Allah forgiveاللّٰهُ(May) Allah forgiveعَنْكَ ۚyouلِمَWhy (did)اَذِنْتَyou grant leaveلَهُمْto themحَتّٰیuntilیَتَبَیَّنَ(became) evidentلَكَto youالَّذِیْنَthose whoصَدَقُوْاwere truthfulوَ تَعْلَمَand you knewالْكٰذِبِیْنَ the liars لَا(Would) notیَسْتَاْذِنُكَask your permissionالَّذِیْنَthose whoیُؤْمِنُوْنَbelieveبِاللّٰهِin Allahوَ الْیَوْمِand the Dayالْاٰخِرِthe Lastاَنْthatیُّجَاهِدُوْاthey striveبِاَمْوَالِهِمْwith their wealthوَ اَنْفُسِهِمْ ؕand their livesوَ اللّٰهُAnd Allahعَلِیْمٌۢ(is) All-Knowerبِالْمُتَّقِیْنَ of the righteous اِنَّمَاOnlyیَسْتَاْذِنُكَask your leaveالَّذِیْنَthose whoلَا(do) notیُؤْمِنُوْنَbelieveبِاللّٰهِin Allahوَ الْیَوْمِand the Dayالْاٰخِرِthe Lastوَ ارْتَابَتْand (are in) doubtsقُلُوْبُهُمْtheir heartsفَهُمْso theyفِیْinرَیْبِهِمْtheir doubtsیَتَرَدَّدُوْنَ they waver وَ لَوْAnd ifاَرَادُواthey had wishedالْخُرُوْجَ(to) go forthلَاَعَدُّوْاsurely they (would) have preparedلَهٗfor itعُدَّةً(some) preparationوَّ لٰكِنْButكَرِهَAllah dislikedاللّٰهُAllah dislikedانْۢبِعَاثَهُمْtheir being sentفَثَبَّطَهُمْso He made them lag behindوَ قِیْلَand it was saidاقْعُدُوْاSitمَعَwithالْقٰعِدِیْنَ those who sit لَوْIfخَرَجُوْاthey (had) gone forthفِیْكُمْwith youمَّاnotزَادُوْكُمْthey (would) have increased youاِلَّاexceptخَبَالًا(in) confusionوَّ لَاۡاَوْضَعُوْاand would have been activeخِلٰلَكُمْin your midstیَبْغُوْنَكُمُseeking (for) youالْفِتْنَةَ ۚdissensionوَ فِیْكُمْAnd among you (are some)سَمّٰعُوْنَwho would have listenedلَهُمْ ؕto themوَ اللّٰهُAnd Allahعَلِیْمٌۢ(is) All-Knowerبِالظّٰلِمِیْنَ of the wrongdoers 9. At-Tawbah Page 195لَقَدِVerilyابْتَغَوُاthey had soughtالْفِتْنَةَdissensionمِنْbeforeقَبْلُbeforeوَ قَلَّبُوْاand had upsetلَكَfor youالْاُمُوْرَthe mattersحَتّٰیuntilجَآءَcameالْحَقُّthe truthوَ ظَهَرَand became manifestاَمْرُ(the) Order of Allahاللّٰهِ(the) Order of Allahوَ هُمْwhile theyكٰرِهُوْنَ disliked (it) وَ مِنْهُمْAnd among themمَّنْ(is he) whoیَّقُوْلُsaysائْذَنْGrant me leaveلِّیْGrant me leaveوَ لَاand (do) notتَفْتِنِّیْ ؕput me to trialاَلَاSurelyفِیinالْفِتْنَةِthe trialسَقَطُوْا ؕthey have fallenوَ اِنَّAnd indeedجَهَنَّمَHellلَمُحِیْطَةٌۢ(will) surely surroundبِالْكٰفِرِیْنَ the disbelievers اِنْIfتُصِبْكَbefalls youحَسَنَةٌgoodتَسُؤْهُمْ ۚit distresses themوَ اِنْbut ifتُصِبْكَbefalls youمُصِیْبَةٌa calamityیَّقُوْلُوْاthey sayقَدْVerilyاَخَذْنَاۤwe tookاَمْرَنَاour matterمِنْbeforeقَبْلُbeforeوَ یَتَوَلَّوْاAnd they turn awayوَّ هُمْwhile theyفَرِحُوْنَ (are) rejoicing قُلْSayلَّنْNeverیُّصِیْبَنَاۤwill befall usاِلَّاexceptمَاwhatكَتَبَAllah has decreedاللّٰهُAllah has decreedلَنَا ۚfor usهُوَHeمَوْلٰىنَا ۚ(is) our Protectorوَ عَلَیAnd onاللّٰهِAllahفَلْیَتَوَكَّلِlet put (their) trustالْمُؤْمِنُوْنَ The believers قُلْSayهَلْDoتَرَبَّصُوْنَyou awaitبِنَاۤfor usاِلَّاۤexceptاِحْدَیoneالْحُسْنَیَیْنِ ؕ(of) the two best (things)وَ نَحْنُwhile weنَتَرَبَّصُ[we] awaitبِكُمْfor youاَنْthatیُّصِیْبَكُمُAllah will afflict youاللّٰهُAllah will afflict youبِعَذَابٍwith a punishmentمِّنْfromعِنْدِهٖۤ[near] Himاَوْorبِاَیْدِیْنَا ۖؗby our handsفَتَرَبَّصُوْۤاSo waitاِنَّاindeed, weمَعَكُمْwith youمُّتَرَبِّصُوْنَ (are) waiting قُلْSayاَنْفِقُوْاSpendطَوْعًاwillinglyاَوْorكَرْهًاunwillinglyلَّنْneverیُّتَقَبَّلَwill be acceptedمِنْكُمْ ؕfrom youاِنَّكُمْIndeed youكُنْتُمْ[you] areقَوْمًاa peopleفٰسِقِیْنَ defiantly disobedient وَ مَاAnd notمَنَعَهُمْprevents themاَنْthatتُقْبَلَis acceptedمِنْهُمْfrom themنَفَقٰتُهُمْtheir contributionsاِلَّاۤexceptاَنَّهُمْthat theyكَفَرُوْاdisbelieveبِاللّٰهِin Allahوَ بِرَسُوْلِهٖand in His Messengerوَ لَاand notیَاْتُوْنَthey comeالصَّلٰوةَ(to) the prayerاِلَّاexceptوَ هُمْwhile theyكُسَالٰی(are) lazyوَ لَاand notیُنْفِقُوْنَthey spendاِلَّاexceptوَ هُمْwhile theyكٰرِهُوْنَ (are) unwilling 9. At-Tawbah Page 196فَلَاSo (let) notتُعْجِبْكَimpress youاَمْوَالُهُمْtheir wealthوَ لَاۤand notاَوْلَادُهُمْ ؕtheir childrenاِنَّمَاOnlyیُرِیْدُAllah intendsاللّٰهُAllah intendsلِیُعَذِّبَهُمْto punish themبِهَاwith itفِیinالْحَیٰوةِthe lifeالدُّنْیَا(of) the worldوَ تَزْهَقَand should departاَنْفُسُهُمْtheir soulsوَ هُمْwhile theyكٰفِرُوْنَ (are) disbelievers وَ یَحْلِفُوْنَAnd they swearبِاللّٰهِby Allahاِنَّهُمْindeed theyلَمِنْكُمْ ؕsurely (are) of youوَ مَاwhile notهُمْtheyمِّنْكُمْ(are) of youوَ لٰكِنَّهُمْbut theyقَوْمٌ(are) a peopleیَّفْرَقُوْنَ (who) are afraid لَوْIfیَجِدُوْنَthey could findمَلْجَاًa refugeاَوْorمَغٰرٰتٍcavesاَوْorمُدَّخَلًاa place to enterلَّوَلَّوْاsurely they would turnاِلَیْهِto itوَ هُمْand theyیَجْمَحُوْنَ run wild وَ مِنْهُمْAnd among themمَّنْ(is he) whoیَّلْمِزُكَcriticizes youفِیconcerningالصَّدَقٰتِ ۚthe charitiesفَاِنْThen ifاُعْطُوْاthey are givenمِنْهَاfrom itرَضُوْاthey are pleasedوَ اِنْbut ifلَّمْnotیُعْطَوْاthey are givenمِنْهَاۤfrom itاِذَاthenهُمْtheyیَسْخَطُوْنَ (are) enraged وَ لَوْAnd ifاَنَّهُمْ[that] theyرَضُوْا(were) satisfiedمَاۤ(with) whatاٰتٰىهُمُAllah gave themاللّٰهُAllah gave themوَ رَسُوْلُهٗ ۙand His Messengerوَ قَالُوْاand saidحَسْبُنَاSufficient for usاللّٰهُ(is) AllahسَیُؤْتِیْنَاAllah will give usاللّٰهُAllah will give usمِنْofفَضْلِهٖHis Bountyوَ رَسُوْلُهٗۤ ۙand His MessengerاِنَّاۤIndeed, weاِلَیtoاللّٰهِAllahرٰغِبُوْنَ۠turn our hopes

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Translation of Verse 43-59

[9:43] (O Prophet), may Allah forgive you! Why did you give them leave to stay behind before it became clear to you as to who were truthful and who were liars?⁴⁵

[9:44] Those who believe in Allah and the Last Day will never ask your leave to be excused from striving (in the cause of Allah) with their belongings and their lives. Allah fully knows the God-fearing.

[9:45] It is only those who do not believe in Allah and the Last Day, and whose hearts are filled with doubt that seek exemption from striving (in the cause of Allah). They keep tossing to and fro in their doubt.⁴⁶

[9:46] Had they truly intended to march forth to fight, they would have certainly made some preparation for it. But Allah was averse to their going forth, so He made them lag behind,⁴⁷ and they were told: "Stay behind with those that are staying behind."

[9:47] Had they gone forth with you, they would have only added to your trouble, and would have run about in your midst seeking to stir up sedition among you, whereas there are among you some who are prone to lend ears to them. Allah knows well the wrong-doers.

[9:48] Surely they sought even earlier to stir up sedition, and turned things upside down to frustrate you until the Truth came and the decree of Allah appeared, however hateful this may have been to them.

[9:49] And among them is he who says: "Grant me leave to stay behind, and do not expose me to temptation."⁴⁸ Lo! They have already fallen into temptation.⁴⁹ Surely Hell encompasses the unbelievers.⁵⁰

[9:50] If good fortune befalls you, it vexes them; and if an affliction befalls you, they turn away in jubilation and say: "We have taken due care of our affairs in good time."

[9:51] Say: "Nothing will befall us except what Allah has decreed for us; He is our Protector." Let the believers, then, put all their trust in Allah.⁵¹

[9:52] Tell them: "What you await to befall upon us is nothing but one of the two good things!⁵² And what we await for you is that Allah visit you with chastisement from Him or chastise you at our hands. So continue waiting; we too shall wait with you."

[9:53] Tell them: "Whether you spend your money willingly or unwillingly,⁵³ it shall not find acceptance (with Allah) for you are an evil-doing folk."

[9:54] Nothing prevents that their expendings be accepted except that they disbelieve in Allah and His Messenger, and whenever they come to the Prayer they do so lazily, and whenever they spend they do so grudgingly.

[9:55] Let neither their riches nor their children excite your admiration. Allah only wants to chastise them through these things in the present life,⁵⁴ and to cause them to die while they are unbelievers.⁵⁵

[9:56] They swear by Allah that they are part of you whereas they are certainly not part of you. They are merely a people who dread you.

[9:57] If they could find any shelter or any cavern, or any retreat, they would turn around and rush headlong into it.⁵⁶

[9:58] (O Prophet), some of them find fault with you in the distribution of alms. If they are given something of it they are pleased, and if they are given nothing they are angry.⁵⁷

[9:59] Would that they were content with what Allah and His Messenger gave them,⁵⁸ and were to say: "Allah suffices for us, and Allah will give us out of His bounty and so will His Messenger.⁵⁹ It is to Allah alone that we turn with hope."⁶⁰

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Commentary

45. Allah did not approve of the exemption which the Prophet (peace be upon him) had granted to the hypocrites who had put forward lame excuses. Though he knew it well that they were inventing false excuses, he gave them leave to stay behind because of his inherent kindness. But Allah warned him that such a leniency was not well placed as he gave them an opportunity of hiding their hypocrisy. Had they remained behind without getting an exemption, the false profession of their faith would have been exposed.

46. This verse shows clearly that the conflict between Islam and kufr is the criterion to distinguish between a true believer and a hypocrite. The one who supports Islam in this conflict with the whole of his heart and expends all of his energies and resources in order to make it victorious and does not hesitate in the least to make any sacrifices for this purpose, is a true believer. On the contrary, the one who hesitates to support Islam in this conflict and refrains from making sacrifices in its way, when he confronts the threat of the victory of kufr, is a hypocrite, for such an attitude is itself a proof of the fact that there is no faith in his heart.

47. Allah held them back for He did not like that they should join Jihad unwillingly without any sincere intention for it. As they had no mind to make sacrifices to exalt the cause of Islam, and, therefore, would have taken part in it half-heartedly to escape the taunts of the Muslims or to create mischief. This would have resulted in a greater evil, as has been stated explicitly in the next verse 48.

48. Some of the hypocrites, who were requesting the Prophet (peace be upon him) to give them leave to stay behind on one pretext or the other, were so impudent that they were inventing excuses of a religious or moral nature for refraining from Jihad in the Way of Allah. One of these was Jad-bin-Qais, who, according to traditions came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and said. “I am a lover of beauty and my people know that I am very weak in regard to women: therefore I am afraid to go forth lest the beauty of the Roman women should beguile me into sin. Therefore, “do not put me into trial.”

49. Though they wanted exemption, they had already fallen as a prey to the temptations of telling lies, of double dealings and hypocrisy. They deluded themselves that they would be considered pious people, if they would put forward the fear of temptations to avoid Jihad, when, in fact; they had already fallen into the greatest possible temptation of refraining from Jihad in the conflict between Islam and kufr.

50. That is, “Such a show of piety has not taken them away from Hell; nay, on the other hand, the same thing has caused them to be entangled in the clutches of Hell.”

51. In this passage a demarcation has been made between the attitudes of a man of the world and of a man of God. Whatever the man of the world does, he does it to please his own self. He exults if he attains some worldly ends but feels utterly dejected if he fails to attain them. Besides, he depends entirely on his material resources for his success and feels encouraged if these are favorable, but loses heart if these are unfavorable.

In contrast to the man of the world, whatever the man of God does, he does it to please Him and trusts in Him and not in his own powers nor in material resources. Therefore he is neither exultant over his success in the cause of Allah, nor loses heart by failure, for he believes that it is the will of God that is working in both the cases. Therefore he is neither disheartened by disasters nor is filled with conceit by successes. This is because he believes that both prosperity and adversity are from Allah and are nothing but a trial from Him. Therefore his only worry is to do his best to come out successful in His test. Besides, as there are no worldly ends before him, he does not measure his success or failure by the achievement or failure of his ends. On the other hand, the only object before him is to sacrifice his life and wealth in the Way of Allah, and he measures the success or failure of his efforts by the standard he achieves in the performance of this duty. Therefore if he is satisfied that he has done his best to perform this duty, he believes that he has come out successful by the grace of God, though he might not have been able to accomplish anything from the worldly point of view; for he believes that his Allah in whose cause he has expended his life and wealth will not let go waste the reward of his efforts. As he does not depend on the material resources only, he is neither grieved if they are unfavorable, nor feels exultant when these are favorable. His entire trust is in God who is the controller of all the resources; therefore he goes on doing his duty even under the most unfavorable circumstances with the same courage and perseverance that is shown by the worldly people unfavorable circumstances alone. That is why Allah asked the Prophet (peace be upon him) to say to the hypocrites, “There is a basic difference between you and us in regard to the conduct of affairs. We believe that both the good and the bad are from Allah: therefore the apparent result does not make us happy or sad. Moreover, we depend on Allah in our affairs and you depend on material resources: so we are content and happy in all circumstances.”

52. This is the answer to those who, as usual, were not taking any part in the conflict between Islam and kufr, but were very wisely watching it from a distance to see whether the Prophet (peace be upon him) and his companions would return victorious from Tabuk or would be totally destroyed by the powerful Roman army. They were told that either of the two results, they were awaiting, would be good for the Muslims. For it was obvious that it would be a good thing if they won victory. But even if they were killed in the Way of Allah, it would be a success from their point of view, though not in the sight of the world, as the Muslims’ standard of measurement is different from that of the hypocrites and the like. A believer considers it his success if he sacrifices his life and wealth in the Way of Allah, irrespective of whether he succeeds in conquering some country, or in establishing a government or not. According to him the criterion of success or failure is whether he has extended or not all the powers of his body and soul, his head and his heart to elevate the word of Allah, though from the worldly point of view the result of his efforts might be nothing at all.

53. This ayat is a sharp retort to those hypocrites who desired exemption froth Jihad but, at the same time, wanted to make some monetary contributions in order to avoid the exposure of their hypocrisy, They said, “Please grant us leave from military service because we are unable to do this, but we are ready to make monetary contributions towards it.” To this Allah retorted, saying, “Whatever you may contribute, it shall not be accepted.”

54. “Allah only intends to punish them through them in the life of the world”, because of their great love for their children and wealth as these misled them to adopt the hypocritical attitude which, in turn, degraded them in the Muslim society. Consequently, in the Islamic system they would lose the respect, tire reputation and the prestige they enjoyed in the pre-lslamic society. On the contrary, even the Muslim slaves and the sons of slaves, the farmers and the shepherds, who proved the sincerity of their faith would win honor in the new system, and the big hereditary chiefs, who refrained from this because of their love of the world, would lose their fame, honor and prestige.

In order to illustrate the above, we cite an incident that happened during the caliphate of Umar (may Allah be pleased with him). Once some big chiefs of the Quraish including Suhail-bin-Amr and Harith-bin-Hisham, went to see caliph Umar and took their seats near him. Soon after this some humble people from among the Muhajirin and the Ansar came there. The caliph asked those chiefs to make room for them, and seated these humble people near his own seat. This went on for some time till these chiefs reached the remotest corner in the assembly. When they came out, Harith-bin-Hisham said to his companions, “You have noticed what a humiliating treatment has been meted out to us today!” Suhail-bin-Amr replied, “It is no fault of Umar but it is our own fault. When we were invited to Islam, we turned away from it, but these humble people accepted it and made sacrifices for it.” Then both of them returned to the meeting and said, “Today we have noticed your treatment and we feel that it is all due to our own shortcomings, but tell us if there is a way for us to make atonements for our past failures”. The caliph did not give any reply but merely pointed towards the Roman territory, which meant that the only way of regaining their prestige was to expend their lives and wealth in doing Jihad there.

55. “Their souls shall pass away while they are disbelievers” because of their hypocrisy, which would not let them attain sincere faith till they die. Thus after ruining their moral and spiritual lives in this world, they would leave it in the state of unbelief, which will ruin their lives in the Hereafter in a far worse way.

56. This was the condition of the hypocrites of Al- Madinah, the majority of whom were rich and old. We find from a list of the hypocrites, cited by Ibn-Kathir in Al- Badayah-wan-Nihayah, that only one of them was young and none was poor. These people had large properties and flourishing businesses in Al-Madinah. They were worldlywise and their wide experience had taught them expediency, but their sense of self-interest had put them into a dilemma. When Islam reached Al-Madinah and a large majority of the population embraced it sincerely and enthusiastically, they found themselves in a very perplexing situation. They could not reject it outright for the majority of their own people, nay, their own sons and daughters, were filled with enthusiasm for Islam. If they had remained unbelievers, they would have lost their high position, their prestige and reputation and run the risk of a rebellion by the Muslims of their own household. On the other hand, if they sincerely embraced Islam, they would incur the danger of war, not only with the whole of Arabia but also with the adjoining nations and empires. Above all, selfinterest had so blinded them that, in resolving the dilemma, they would not consider the problem from the point of view of truth and righteousness which by themselves are worthy of every sacrifice. Therefore they decided that the best thing for them was to profess Islam outwardly in order to make their positions, properties and businesses secure, but to adopt a hypocritical attitude towards it so that they might be able to avoid the losses and perils inherent in the sincere acceptance of Islam.

This verse 57 depicts the dilemma of the hypocrites, as if to say, “In reality these people are not Muslims, though they swear that they are Muslims like you; they profess Islam simply because they are afraid of losses they might incur, if they reject it outright. Then they dare not stay at Al- Madinah as non-Muslims for they would lose the high positions they enjoyed and might even have to cut off their connection with their wives and children; and if they decided to emigrate from Al-Madinah, they would have to abandon their properties and business. But they are not prepared for these sacrifices for they have no sincere attachment even to kufr. Therefore they are compelled against their beliefs by the force of circumstances to remain in Al-Madinah: they offer their Salat but regard this as forced labor: they pay the Zakat dues but as a penalty, for they are in their hearts averse to these things. To add to their calamities they are asked every now and then to make sacrifices of their lives and their wealth and to go forth for Jihad and to fight with one enemy or the other. They are so much afraid of these calamities that, in order to escape from them, they would run in frantic haste to take refuge in any hole, if they hoped that it would provide immunity against these calamities.

57. The people referred to were the hypocrites, who felt depressed on every occasion of the distribution of the Zakat collections, for they thought that they were not being given their due share. Then they would taunt the Prophet (peace be upon him) with making unfair distributions. This happened when the payment of Zakat was made an obligatory duty on all those Muslims whose possessions exceeded the prescribed limits. They were required to contribute from their agricultural products, animals, commercial commodities, minerals dug out of mines and the gold and silver they possessed, at different rates, varying from 2.5% to 20%, and all these were collected and spent in a systematic way from a central place.

As a result of this so much wealth flowed into the hands of a single person, the Prophet (peace be upon him), that it had no parallel in the whole territory of Arabia. Naturally the materialists looked at these things with greedy eyes and wanted to grab as much as possible out of this wealth. But their greed could not be satisfied, for the Prophet (peace be upon him), who had made the use of Zakat fund unlawful for his own person and for his own relatives, could not be expected to give anything out of it to anyone who did not deserve it. It is thus obvious that they found fault with the Prophet (peace be upon him) not because he was unfair in the distribution of the Zakat collections but because he did not allow the hypocrites to grab anything from these without any right to them. They, however, very cunningly hid their real grievance, and accused the Prophet (peace be upon him) of showing partiality and injustice in the distribution of the Zakat collection.

58. That is, it would have been much better for them if they had been content with their share of the spoils which the Prophet (peace be upon him) gave them and what they earned by the grace of Allah and with the prosperity Allah had bestowed on them.

59. It would have been good for them to adopt this attitude: “Sufficient is Allah for us,” for they ought to have known that they would receive their due shares besides the Zakat collections out of the wealth that would come to the state treasury, just as they were receiving their shares previously.

60. “Indeed to Allah we are suppliants” means we give our attention to Allah and His grace and not to the world and its worthless riches and we desire to obey His will: we direct our expectations and hopes to Him and we are content with what He bestows on us.