At-Tawbah () is the ninth chapter () of the Quran. It contains 129 verses () and is one of the last . This Surah is also known as Al-Bara'ah (). It is called At-Tawbah in light of the fact that it articulates tawbah (repentance) and informs about the conditions of its acceptance (verse , ). The name Bara'at (release) is taken from the opening word of the Surah.
It is believed by Muslims to have been revealed at the time of the Expedition of Tabuk in Medina in the 9th year of the Hijrah. The Sanaa manuscript preserves some verses, on parchment radiocarbon dated to between 578 CE (44 Before Hijra) and 669 CE (49 AH).
It is the only Surah of the Quran that does not begin with Basmala, the usual opening formula, In the name of God, the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate. It deals with almost the same topics as those dealt with in Al-Anfal. In contrast to all other surahs, the Islamic prophet Muhammad did not order that this formula should be put at the beginning of this surah.
Summary
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1 Allah makes a declaration of disassociation from the polytheists.
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2 they can travel freely for 4 months
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3 It would be better if they repent
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4 Polytheists who didn’t break any treaty are to be spared and treated with respect until time of treaty is over
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5 after the Sacred months have passed Polytheists are to be killed but if they repent they are accepted
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6 Any Polytheist who goes to Muslims and asks for protection is to be granted protection so they can hear the words of Allah
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7 Polytheists who upheld treaties not to be harmed
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8 Polytheists rebuked for not observing treaty believing they have the upper hand
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9 Polytheists rebuked for exchanging the signs of Allah and averting from his way
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10 Those who broke the treaties are the transgressors
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11 If those who broke the treaties become Muslims they are regarded as brothers to the believers
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12 Muslims are told to fight the leaders of disbelief
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13-16 Muslims exhorted to fight against the truce-breakers
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17-18 All but Muslims to be excluded from the sacred temples
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19 Abbás rebuked for his vainglory
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20-22 The Muhajirun assigned the first rank among Muslims—their reward
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23-24 True believers to refuse friendship with nearest kin if they be infidels
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25-27 The Battle of Hunayn victory due to God's help
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28 Idolators excluded from the Kaaba
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29 The Jews and Christians to be attacked (if they refuse to pay the Jizya tax)
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30 Jews and Christians reproved for applying the epithet “Son of God” to Uzair and Jesus
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31-32 They take their priests and monks and Jesus as Lords besides Allah.
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33 Islam superior to all other religions
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34-35 Stingy Muslims likened to covetous monks—their punishment
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36 Infidels may be attacked in sacred months
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37 The sacred months not to be transferred
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38–41 Muslims exhorted to go on expedition to Tabuk by reference to God's help to Muhammad and Abu Bakr in the cave; Abu Bakr is referenced as ('Second of the Two')
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42 The lukewarm Muslims rebuked for wishing to stay at home
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43 Muhammad rebuked for excusing some of these from going
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44-46 Willingness to fight for Muhammad, a test of faith
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47-50 Seditious Muslims rebuked
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51-52 The sure reward of the faithful
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53-55 God refuses the offerings of infidels and hypocrites
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55 The wealth and prosperity of infidels a sign of their reprobation
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56-57 Half-hearted Muslims reproved
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58-59 Those who had spread libellous reports regarding Muhammad's use of alms rebuked
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60 How alms should be expended
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61-69 Grumblers and hypocrites threatened
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70 They are warned by the example of the wicked in former ages
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71-72 The faithful described—their rewards
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73-74 Hypocrites denounced and threatened
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76-78 Prosperity of infidels a prelude to their destruction
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79 God shall scoff at the scoffers
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80 The defamers of the faithful shall never be forgiven
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81-83 Punishment of the “stayers at home”
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84 Muhammad forbidden to pray at the grave of unbelievers and hypocrites
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85-87 The Prophet not to wonder at the prosperity of the wicked
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88-89 Reward of those who assist the Apostle in his wars
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90 Hypocritical Arabs of the desert reproved
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91-92 Who may lawfully remain at home in time of war
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93-96 Other hypocrites reproved
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97-98 The Bedouin, the worst of hypocrites
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99 Some of them true believers
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100 The reward of the Ansars and Muhájjirín
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101 The desert Arabs and some of the people of Madína reproved
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102-105 The penitent confessors in Madína are pardoned
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106 Others await God's decision in their case
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107-110 Denunciation against those who built a Masjid in opposition to Muhammad and his faithful ones
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111-112 True believers are sold to God
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113 Muslims not to pray for idolatrous relatives
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114 Why Abraham prayed for his idolatrous parents
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115-117 God merciful to the faithful
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118 The three recreant Ansars pardoned
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119-121 The people of Madína rebuked for want of loyalty to Muhammad
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122 Some believers excused from going to war
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123 True believers to war against neighbouring infidels and hypocrisy
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124-127 Reproof of those who doubt the revelations of God and Muhammad
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128-129 The Apostle trusts in the help of God
[ ]
Omission of Bismillah
Out of all 114 Surahs of the Quran this is the only one to which Bismillah is not prefixed.
Among the explanations put forward for his not doing so, the most commonly accepted according to Unal is that, like the Islamic salutation,
Peace be upon you, the expression,
In the Name of God, the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate conveys security and giving of quarter to those addressed.
However,
Surat at-Tawbah begins with an ultimatum to certain polytheists in Arabia. It deals, for the most part, with a re-evaluation of the relations with the polytheists who were frequently violating their agreements, the campaign to Tabuk, a disclosure of the intrigues of the hypocrites in Madinah
(9:64-67, 101), the importance of
jihad in God's cause
(9:24), and relationships with the People of the Book.
Sanaa manuscript folio 22, Q9:122-129
Verses 122-129 are preserved in Folio 22 of the
Sanaa manuscript. The sequence of Sanaa 1 chapters do not follow any other known quranic order and folio 22 is shared with Chapter 19 (Mary). Saudi-based experts in Quranic history emphasize that while Muhammad was alive, Quranic texts did not follow any standard sequence of surahs.
|
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| مَا كَانَ |
| مِن كُلِّ |
| وَإِذَا أُنزِلَتْ |
| فِى قُلُوبِهِم |
| إِلَىٰ رِجْسِهِمْ |
| وَمَاتُوا۟ وَهُمْ |
| أَوَلَا |
| وَلَا هُمْ يَذَّكَّرُونَ |
| وَإِذَا أُنزِلَتْ |
| هَلْ |
| انصَرَفُوا |
| صَرَفَ ٱللَّـهُ |
| بِأَنَّهُمْ قَوْمٌ لَّا يَفْقَهُونَ |
| لَقَدْ جَاءَكُمْ |
| رَسُولٌ |
| عَزِيزٌ عَلَيْهِ مَا |
| فَإن تَوَلَّوْا |
| لَا إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ |
|
Three Discourses
From opening up to the 37th ayat, the initial talk,
[(vv. 1-37)] was uncovered in Zil-Qa'adah A.H. 9. As the significance of the subject of the talk required its affirmation on the event of Hajj Muhammad dispatched Ali to follow Abu Bakr, who had just left for Makkah to lead the Pilgrims to the Ka'abah. He trained Ali to convey the talk before the representatives of the various clans of Arabia in order to advise them regarding the new policy guidelines pertinent to the mushriks.
Starting from ayat 38 up to 72nd ayat the subsequent talk[(vv., 38-72)] was revealed during Rajab A.H. 9 or a little before this, when Muhammad was occupied with getting ready for the Campaign of Tabuk. The Believers were encouraged to take a dynamic part in Jihad, and the shirkers were seriously reproached for keeping down their riches and for wavering to forfeit their lives in the path for Allah due to their hypocrisy, powerless belief(iman) or carelessness.
The final section of ayaat 73rd to last,[(vv. 73-129)] was uncovered on his return from the Campaign of Tabuk. There are a few pieces revealed in different events during the same time frame and were incorporated by Muhammad into the Surah as per instructions from Allah. This talk cautions the hypocrites of their malevolent deeds and censures those Believers who had remained behind in the Campaign of Tabuk. At that point in the wake of berating them, Allah exculpates those genuine Believers who had not partaken in the Jihad in the Way of Allah for one explanation or the other.
In the middle of the ayat 97 In other words, apart from hypocrisy, one of their defects is that they did not even keep in touch with the Muslims of Madinah through which they would have known the rules of Sharia.
That is, these people want the Muslims to fall into such a cycle of trouble that these people get freedom from the kind of commands that they find very difficult to follow. Especially on the occasion of the Battle of Tabuk, these people had the hope that this time the Muslims were facing the great power of Rome, so maybe this time they would lose all their power after being defeated by the Romans. Further, Allah Ta'ala said that in reality these people are lying in the cycle of self-hypocrisy, which will cause them to be disgraced both in this world and in the hereafter.
Exegesis
Battle of Badr
Some parts of the chapter are believed to be speaking about the help of
Allah by sending the invisible army of war, particularly mentioning the battle of Badr.
According to Muhammad Sulaiman al-Ashqar from Islamic University of Madinah, who quoted several contemporary and classical scholars, the invisible army here were the Angels army consisted of Gabriel,
Michael,
Israfil and thousands of best angels from the third level of heaven, all came to the battle of Badr by impersonating the appearance of Zubayr ibn al-Awwam, companion of Muhammad.
are deemed as his other personal virtue and venerable status according to Islamic belief.
Meanwhile, Mahdi Rizqullah has compiled the commentary from classical Islamic scholars, that the verse narration about the angels attendance in the battle were also supported by hadiths from hadith collection from Muslim ibn Hajjaj, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and the also from Quranic historiography work by
Ibn Kathir.
Muhammad Nasiruddin al-Albani gave commentary of another supportive narration from
al-Baihaqi and
Ibn Ishaq, through various hadith narration chains about the testimony from several different
sahabah.
This included the narration of Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib who at that time fought on the side of Qurayshite polytheist, who testified that he has been taken captive on the aftermath of the battle by a horse rider whom he did not recognize at all from Muslims rank. According to the hadith authority from Ahmad ibn Hanbal, The captor of Abbas were confirmed by Muhammad as one of the angel who helped the Muslims during this battle.
Verses 9:2 - 9:6
The
Quran,
Surah 9 (
At-Tawba), verses 2–6:
is termed as the ''Sword Verse''. The journalist [[Arun Shourie]] has criticized this and many other verses from the Quran contending that the [[Sunnah]] and the [[Hadith]] are equally evocative in their support of [[Jihad]].[[[Shourie, Arun|Arun Shourie]]. ''Indian Controversies, Essays in Religion and Politics'', ASA Publications, New Delhi-110021] Many mainstream Islamic scholars, however, assert that this verse relates to a very specific event in early Islamic history i.e. the covenant that was made and consecutively broken by the polytheist tribes of Mecca
Similarly, Western Islam-scholar Rudolph F. Peters also asserts that indiscriminate killing is not supported in this verse.
Verse 9:29
At-Tawbah also contains:
Al-Rāzī (d. 606/1210), on this occasion quoted an early exegetical authority, Abū Rawq (d. 140/757), who explained that this verse was not a unilateral condemnation of all Jews and Christians, but those "who do not heed the prescriptions contained in the Torah and the Gospel, respectively". Similarly Al-Qurtubi (d. 671/1273) "did not read into Qurān 9:29 a wholesale denunciation of the People of the Book as an undifferentiated collectivity".
Verse 9:103
In
Kitab al-Kafi, Ja'far al-Sadiq has narrated that Imams are not needy to what people own but rather collect religious tax on accord that Allah said, "Take from their wealth (religious tax) and charity by which you purify them and cause them to increase and invoke blessings upon them." Therefore, it is the people who need that the Imam accepts from them.
Hadith
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Abu Ishaq said that he heard al-Bara' b. 'Azib (Allah be pleased with him) say: The last complete sura revealed (in the Holy Qur'an) is Sura At-Tawbah (i e. al-Bara'at, ix.), and the last verse revealed is that pertaining to Kalala.
[Sahih Muslim The Book of the Rules of Inheritance. (3)Chapter: The Last Verse To Be Revealed Was The Verse Of Kalalah 1618 c
]
In-book reference : Book 23, Hadith 15
USC-MSA web (English) reference : Book 11, Hadith 3941
(deprecated numbering scheme)
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Narrated Sa'id ibn Jubayr: I asked Ibn `Abbas about Surat At-Tawbah, and he said, "Surat Al-Tauba? It is exposure (of all the evils of the infidels and the hypocrites). And it continued revealing (that the oft-repeated expression): '...and of them ...and of them.' till they started thinking that none would be left unmentioned therein." I said, "What about) SuratAl-Anfal?" He replied, "Surat Al-Anfal was revealed in connection with the Battle of Badr." I said, "(What about) Surat Al-Hashr?" He replied, "It was revealed in connection with Banu Nadir."
[Sahih al-Bukhari » Prophetic Commentary on the Qur'an (Tafseer of the Prophet (pbuh)) USC-MSA web (English) reference : Vol. 6, Book 60, Hadith 404
]
Arabic reference : Book 65, Hadith 4882
[Sahih Muslim » The Book of Commentary on the Qur'an 3031
In-book reference : Book 56, Hadith 35
USC-MSA web (English) reference : Book 43, Hadith 7185
] (deprecated numbering scheme)
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Narrated Zayd ibn Thabit Al-Ansari: who was one of those who used to write the Divine Revelation: Abu Bakr sent for me after the (heavy) casualties among the warriors (of the battle) of Yamama (where a great number of Qurra' were killed). `Umar was present with Abu Bakr who said, `Umar has come to me and said, The people have suffered heavy casualties on the day of (the battle of) Yamama, and I am afraid that there will be more casualties among the Qurra' (those who know the Qur'an by heart) at other battle-fields, whereby a large part of the Qur'an may be lost, unless you collect it. And I am of the opinion that you should collect the Qur'an." Abu Bakr added, "I said to `Umar, 'How can I do something which Allah's Apostle has not done?' `Umar said (to me), 'By Allah, it is (really) a good thing.' So `Umar kept on pressing, trying to persuade me to accept his proposal, till Allah opened my bosom for it and I had the same opinion as `Umar." (Zaid bin Thabit added:) `Umar was sitting with him (Abu Bakr) and was not speaking. me). "You are a wise young man and we do not suspect you (of telling lies or of forgetfulness): and you used to write the Divine Inspiration for Allah's Messenger. Therefore, look for the Qur'an and collect it (in one manuscript). " By Allah, if he (Abu Bakr) had ordered me to shift one of the mountains (from its place) it would not have been harder for me than what he had ordered me concerning the collection of the Qur'an. I said to both of them, "How dare you do a thing which the Prophet has not done?" Abu Bakr said, "By Allah, it is (really) a good thing. So I kept on arguing with him about it till Allah opened my bosom for that which He had opened the bosoms of Abu Bakr and `Umar. So I started locating Qur'anic material and collecting it from parchments, scapula, leaf-stalks of date palms and from the memories of men (who knew it by heart). I found with Khuza`ima two Verses of Surat At-Tawbah which I had not found with anybody else, (and they were):-- "Verily there has come to you an Apostle (Muhammad) from amongst yourselves. It grieves him that you should receive any injury or difficulty He (Muhammad) is ardently anxious over you (to be rightly guided)" (9.128) The manuscript on which the Qur'an was collected, remained with Abu Bakr until Allah took him unto Him, and then with `Umar till Allah took him unto Him, and finally it remained with Hafsa, `Umar's daughter.
[Sahih al-Bukhari » Prophetic Commentary on the Qur'an (Tafseer of the Prophet (pbuh)) USC-MSA web (English) reference : Vol. 6, Book 60, Hadith 201
]
Arabic reference : Book 65, Hadith 4679
[Sahih al-Bukhari » Book of Judgments (Ahkaam) (37)Chapter: It is desirable that a scribe should be honest and wise 7191
In-book reference : Book 93, Hadith 53
USC-MSA web (English) reference : Vol. 9, Book 89, Hadith 301
] (deprecated numbering scheme)
[[[Sahih al-Bukhari]] » Book of Virtues of the Qur'an (3)Chapter: The collection of the Qur'an 4986
In-book reference : Book 66, Hadith 8
USC-MSA web (English) reference : Vol. 6, Book 61, Hadith 509
] (deprecated numbering scheme)
[[[Sahih al-Bukhari]] 7425
In-book reference : Book 97, Hadith 53
USC-MSA web (English) reference : Vol. 9, Book 93, Hadith 521
] (deprecated numbering scheme)
[[[Sahih al-Bukhari]] 4989
In-book reference : Book 66, Hadith 11
USC-MSA web (English) reference : Vol. 6, Book 61, Hadith 511
] (deprecated numbering scheme)
Placement and coherence with other surahs
The idea of textual relation between the verses of a chapter has been discussed under various titles such as
nazm and
munasabah in non-English literature and
coherence,
text relations,
intertextuality, and
unity in English literature. Hamiduddin Farahi, an
Islamic scholar of the Indian subcontinent, is known for his work on the concept of nazm, or coherence, in the Quran. Fakhruddin al-Razi (died 1209 CE), Zarkashi (died 1392) and several other classical as well as contemporary Quranic scholars have contributed to the studies.
The entire Qur'an thus emerges as a well-connected and systematic book.
Each division has a distinct theme. Topics within a division are more or less in the order of revelation. Within each division, each member of the pair complements the other in various ways. The seven divisions are as follows:
|
| Sharia |
| The consequences of denying Muhammad for the polytheists of Mecca |
| Glad tidings of Muhammad's domination |
| Arguments on the prophethood of Muhammad and the requirements of faith in him |
| Arguments on monotheism and the requirements of faith in it |
| Arguments on afterlife and the requirements of faith in it |
| Admonition to the Quraysh about their fate in the Herein and the Hereafter if they deny Muhammad |
See also
Appendix
Notes
Bibliography
External links
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Quran 9 Clear Quran translation
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Q9:5, 50+ translations, islamawakened.com
