Surah At-Tawba: Verse 2 - فسيحوا في الأرض أربعة أشهر... - English

Go ye, then, for four months, backwards and forwards, (as ye will), throughout the land, but know ye that ye cannot frustrate Allah (by your falsehood) but that Allah will cover with shame those who reject Him. (2)

Commentary

Now begins Surah Al-Bara'ah which is also called Surah At-Taubah (as written; also Surah At-Taubah as pronounced). It is called Bara'ah for the reason that it mentions bara'ah or disengagement with the consequences of what the kuffar (disbelievers) do. Then, it is also called Taubah because it announces that the repentance of Muslims has been accepted. (Mazhari). It is a feature of this Surah that ` bismillah' (بسم اللہ الرحمٰن الرحیم Bismillahir-Rahma.nir-Rahim: With the name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Very Merciful) is not written in the copies of the Qur'an when the Surah begins. However, Bismillah is written at the head of all Surahs of the Qur'an - the sole exception being that of Surah At-Taubah. Before we find out the relevant reason, let us bear in mind that the Holy Qur'an was revealed bit by bit during the period of twenty three years. The verses of a Surah were revealed at different times. When Sayyidna Jibra'i1 would come with a revelation, he would also point out to the Divinely intended arrangement of each revealed verse, explaining that it should be placed in such and such Surah after such and such 'Ayah (verse). It was in accordance with this Divinely intended arrangement that the Holy Prophet ﷺ would have scribes of the revelation write them up.

And when, at the end of a Surah, the next was to begin, ` Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim' would be revealed before the next actually did - which made it easy to understand that the previous Surah had concluded and another Surah was beginning. All Surahs of the Holy Qur'an were revealed in that manner. Surah At-Taubah is, in terms of the order of revelation, among one of the very last Surahs. When it began, neither was Bismillah revealed as customary, nor did the Holy Prophet ﷺ instruct the scribe of the revelation to do that. So, this was how things stood when the Holy Prophet ﷺ passed away.

When Sayyidna ` Uthman al-Ghani ؓ arranged the Holy Qur'an in the form of a book during the period of his Caliphate, Bismillah was not there at the beginning of Surah At-Taubah, an arrangement contrary to that of the rest of Surahs. Therefore, a doubt rose - perhaps, this is not an independent Surah, or may as well be a part of some other Surah. Now, they thought, if this happens to be a part of some other Surah, which Surah is that? In terms of its subjects, Surah Al-Anfal seemed to fit the slot.

Also, as narrated by Sayyidna ` Uthman ؓ elsewhere, ` during the blessed period of the Holy Prophet ﷺ both these Surahs were called: قَریَتَین (qarinatayn: the two connected ones) '. (Mazhari). Therefore, it was placed after Surah Al-Anfal. This precaution was taken for the reason that, should it be a part of another Surah, it must stay with it. But, it was also probable that it may be a separate and independent Surah. Therefore, when writing, a particular format was adopted whereby some space was left open at the end of Surah Al-Anfal and before the beginning of Surah At-Taubah - similar to the spot meant for writing Bismillah at the head of other Surahs.

The precise reason why Bismillah was not written at the beginning of Surah Al-Bara'ah or At-Taubah has been reported from the great compiler of the revealed text of the Qur'an, Saiyyidna ` Uthman ؓ himself. At that time, he was answering a question posed by Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Abbas, the Sahabi and Mufassir (exegete) of the Qur'an, which appears in Abu Dawud, An-Nasa'i, the Musnad of Ahmad and Tirmidhi. In that question, Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ had also asked Sayyidna ` Uthman ؓ about the order in which the Surahs of the Qur'an have been arranged. Giving an example, he pointed out that placed first were the larger Surahs that have more than hundred verses. Technically, they are called میٔن (mi'In: hundreds). After that, there are the large Surahs that have less than hundred verses. They are called مَثَانِی (mathani: the oft-repeated ones). Placed thereafter were smaller Surahs that are called مُفَصَّلات (mufassalat: the Surahs starting from "Qāf' [ 50] to the end of the Qur'an [ 114]). The order of this very arrangement necessitated that Surah At-Taubah should be placed before Surah Al-Anfal - because the verses carried by Surah At-Taubah are more than one hundred while those of Surah Al-Anfal are less than one hundred. The first seven long Surahs called سبع طوال (sab' tiwal: the seven long ones) also show that the placement of Surah At-Taubah before Surah Al-Anfal is naturally more appropriate there too. After having stated the existing position, Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ asked about the consideration that had led to a contrary arrangement. Sayyidna ` Uthman ؓ said: ` Correct. But, the Qur'an was serious matter. Precaution demanded that we do what we did - because, in case Surah At-Taubah is not taken as an independent S ئ rah, instead, is taken as a part of Surah Al-Anfal, it will be obvious that the verses of Surah Al-Anfal have been revealed earlier and those of Surah At-Taubah after that. Given this situation, it is not permissible to give precedence to the verses of the latter over the verses of Surah Al-Anfal without the sanction of Wahy (revelation). And since we did not find any such instruction in the Wahy, therefore, Surah Al-Anfal was made to precede and Surah At-Taubah, to succeed.'

From these precise details we learn that the reason for not writing Bismillah at the beginning of Surah At-Taubah lies in the probability that Surah At-Taubah may not be an independent Surah, instead, be a part of Surah Al-Anfal. Given this probability, writing Bismillah at this place shall be as incorrect as someone were to write Bismillah in the middle of any Surah of the Qur'an.

On this basis, Muslim jurists have said that a person who has already been reciting Surah Al-Anfal from above and is going to begin Surah At-Taubah, then, he or she should not recite Bismillah. But, a person who is starting his or her tilawah (recitation of the Qur'an) from the beginning, or from somewhere in the middle, of this very Surah should say: بسم اللہ الرحمٰن الرحیم (Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Ralhim) and then begin his or her recitation. Some people who do not know rules think that the recitation of Bismillah while reciting Surah At-Taubah is not permissible under any condition. This is a mistaken notion. Then, they would make another mistake on top of that. Instead of reciting Bismillah, they would recite: اَعُوذُ بِاللہِ مِنَ النَّارِ (I seek the protection of Allah from the Fire) when initiating or beginning from it. For this, there is no proof from the Holy Prophet رضی اللہ تعالیٰ عنہم and his Companions ؓ .

Then, there is the statement of Sayyidna AIi ؓ reported in a narrative from Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ . It says, ` the reason for not writing Bismillah at the beginning of Surah Bara'ah (At-Taubah) is that بسم اللہ الرحمٰن الرحیم ،; (Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim) is an assurance of protection, but in Surah Al-Bara'ah, this assurance of protection and the pledge of peace given to disbelievers has been terminated.' This statement should be taken as a refinement of approach that does not go against the real cause. And the real cause is nothing but that Bismillah was not written on the basis of the probability that Surah Al-Anfal and Surah At-Taubah may be one. Then, there could be yet an-other subtle point about why it was not written. This Surah proclaims freedom from any responsibility for the disbelievers and announces the withdrawal of peace and protection from those people - which is not fit for Bismillah. Therefore, in terms of the design of creation, particular causes were generated here so that Bismillah was not to be written at this place.

To understand the present verses of Surah At-Taubah fully, it is necessary to know some events that became the cause of the revelation of these verses. Therefore, given here first are consolidated details of the relevant events:

1. As a whole, Surah At-Taubah carries the description of some battles, events related to them, and many injunctions and rulings emerging there-from - for example, the termination of pacts with all tribes of Arabia, the Conquest of Makkah, the battles of Hunain and Tabuk. Out of these events, first came the Conquest of Makkah in Hijrah year 8, then came the battle of Hunain in the same year, then the battle of Tabuk in Rajab of Hijrah year 9. Finally came the announcement terminating pacts with all tribes of Arabia in the month of Dhu al-Hijjah, Hijrah year 9.

2. A summary of subjects concerning the repudiation of treaties mentioned in these verses shows that it was in the Hijrah year 6 that the Holy Prophet ﷺ started with the intention of ` Umrah but the Quraysh blocked their entry into Makkah. Then came the peace treaty between them at Hudaibiyah. The time frame of this treaty, as reported in Ruh al-Ma'ani, was ten years. In Makkah, there were other tribes too, other than the Quraysh. An article was included in the peace treaty to cover them. It allowed a tribe, from out of the tribes other than the Quraysh, to become allies to the Quraysh and be with them, if they chose to do so; and whoever chose to become the ally of the Holy Prophet ﷺ and be with him was allowed to do that. So, the tribe of Khuza` ah chose to become an ally of the Holy Prophet ﷺ and went with him, while the tribe of Banu Bakr chose to go with the Quraysh. According to the treaty, it was necessary that within ten years there shall be no internecine war, nor shall any aggressor be helped from any side. And the tribe that was an ally of a party to the treaty shall be considered as governed by the same rule that governed the party. In other words, launching an attack on it or helping the aggressor was to be taken as a contravention of the treaty.

This treaty was signed in the Hijrah year 6. In Hijrah year 7, according to this treaty, the Holy Prophet ﷺ and his Companions ؓ left for Makkah to perform the ` Umrah they had missed earlier ('Umrah al-qada' ). After staying there for three days, he returned as stipulated in the treaty. Until then, no party had acted against the peace treaty in any way.

After that, it was within a period of five or six months when the tribe of Banu Bakr mounted a nightly ambush against the tribe of Banu Khuza` ah. Thinking that the Holy Prophet ﷺ was far away and things were happening during the night which would make it difficult for the Holy Prophet ﷺ to find out details of what had actually happened, the Quraysh too came to the assistance of Banu Bakr by providing weapons and men to them.

Events as they transpired and conditions as they prevailed made the Quraysh to accept that the treaty of peace entered into at Hudaibiyah - requiring a ten-year moratorium on internecine wars - was broken.

The tribe of Banu Khuza` ah, being an ally of the Holy Prophet ﷺ informed him about this event. When he learnt about this breach of trust committed by the Quraysh, he started making secret preparations for war against them.

During their encounters at Badr, 'Uhud and Ahzab, the Quraysh had realized that some unseen Divine power was at work in favour of Muslims. They were no more intoxicated with their muscle and might. Now that they had broken their solemn pledge, the danger of a war likely to be initiated by Muslims had become all too obvious to them. The likelihood became much stronger after the report of their breach of trust reached the Holy Prophet ﷺ and he chose to observe a total silence about the matter. Left with no choice, they asked Abu Sufyan to go to Madinah personally, assess the situation there and should he sense a war action being initiated by the Holy Prophet ﷺ should offer his apologies on what had happened in the past and have the treaty renewed for the future.

When Abu Sufyan reached Madinah, he did notice some indicators of war preparations being made by the Holy Prophet ﷺ . This increased his concerns. He went out to see prominent Sahabah of the Holy Prophet ﷺ one by one so that they would recommend his case and help him have the treaty renewed. But, all of them refused to do so in view of their unpleasant past and present dealings. Consequently, Abu Sufyan returned empty-handed. The Quraysh of Makkah were hit by panic.

At the other end, as reported in Bidayah and Ibn Kathir, it was on Ramadan 10, Hijrah year 8 when the Holy Prophet ﷺ marched out from Madinah with a large force of his noble Companions ؓ in order to attack Makkah. Ultimately, Makkah was conquered.

Conquest of Makkah: Vanquished enemies were treated nobly

At the time of the Conquest, there were many Quraysh chiefs who believed in the veracity of Islam earlier too, but they could not express themselves freely due to peer pressure in the society. Now that they had their opportunity, they embraced Islam. As for those who chose to stick to their time-worn creed of disbelief even at that hour, they too - with the exception of some individuals - were granted amnesty by the Holy Prophet ﷺ . This was an unusual demonstration of morals, prophetic and miraculous, something others could not even dream of. He ignored all their hostilities and injustices in the past and simply said: ` Today, I say to you exactly what was said: ‘Today, I say to you exactly what was said by Yusuf (علیہ السلام) to his brothers at the time when they had reached him in Egypt with their parents: لَا تَثْرِ‌يبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الْيَوْمَ (This day, there is no blame on you).' It means that, for him, taking a revenge for the past injustices inflicted by them or seeking to punish them in some way was unimaginable, in fact, he did not consider it appropriate even to blame them for anything that happened in the past.

Rules for four kinds of Mushriks at the time of the Conquest of Makkah

So then, Makkah came under the control of Muslims. Non-Muslims living in and around Makkah were given full protection of their lives and properties. But, that was a time when the existing status of these non-Muslims was different. One kind of people among them was of those who were a party to the peace treaty of Hudaibiyah which they themselves broke and which by itself became the cause of the Conquest of Makkah. Then, there was another set of people with whom a peace treaty was signed for a specified period of time and they continued abiding by this treaty, such as the two tribes of Banu Kinanah called Banu Damurah and Banu Mudlaj. The peace treaty with them was for a specified period of time and, at the time of the revelation of Surah A1-Bara'ah (At-Taubah) as stated by Khazin, they had another nine months left for their period of treaty to expire.

Thirdly, there were people with whom a peace treaty was concluded without any set time limit. Fourthly, there were those with whom no treaty existed.

The unsavory experience of all treaties entered into by the Holy Prophet ﷺ with disbelievers or the People of the Book (Jews and Christians) was that they flouted these openly and secretly always conspiring with enemies to hurt him and his Muslim adherents as much as they could. Therefore, led by his own long experience and Divinely inspired indicators, the Holy Prophet ﷺ had made up his mind not to enter into any peace treaty with any of these people and that the Arabian Peninsula was to be particularized with Muslims only as a bastion of Islam. This required a proclamation soon after the takeover of Makkah and the Arabian Peninsula ordering non-Muslims to leave and go somewhere else. But, in view of Islam's principle of justice, equity and humane dealing as well as under the universal mercy of the Holy Prophet ﷺ himself, doing something like that without allowing a suitable time limit was not considered appropriate.

Therefore, at the beginning of Surah Al-Bara'ah (At-Taubah), separate injunctions were revealed that covered the four kinds of non-Muslim groups.

The first such group was that of the Quraysh of Makkah who had themselves broken the treaty of Hudaibiyah. Now, they deserved no extra respite. But, since this was the period of ` sacred months' during which fighting and killing was forbidden by Allah, therefore, the injunction which covers them appears in the fifth verse of Surah At-Taubah, that is, فَإِذَا انسَلَخَ الْأَشْهُرُ‌ الْحُرُ‌مُ فَاقْتُلُوا الْمُشْرِ‌كِينَ حَيْثُ وَجَدتُّمُوهُمْ (So, when the sacred months expire, kill the Mushriks wherever you find them. And catch them and besiege them and sit in ambush for them everywhere. Then, if they repent and establish salah and pay zakah, leave their way. Surely, Allah is most Forgiving, Very Merciful - 9:5). It means that they had, though, forfeited all their rights by breaking the treaty obligations, but observing the sanctity of the ` sacred months' was after all necessary, therefore, they should either leave the Arabian Peninsula soon after the ` sacred months' expire, or embrace Islam, or be prepared to face war.

Then, there was the second group with whom a peace treaty was made for a specified period of time and they had abided by it. The injunction about them was given in the fourth verse of Surah At-Taubah:

إِلَّا الَّذِينَ عَاهَدتُّم مِّنَ الْمُشْرِ‌كِينَ ثُمَّ لَمْ يَنقُصُوكُمْ شَيْئًا وَلَمْ يُظَاهِرُ‌وا عَلَيْكُمْ أَحَدًا فَأَتِمُّوا إِلَيْهِمْ عَهْدَهُمْ إِلَىٰ مُدَّتِهِمْ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّـهَ يُحِبُّ الْمُتَّقِين

Except those of the Mushriks with whom you have a treaty, and they have abated nothing of your rights and backed no one against you, so then, fulfill the treaty with them up to their term. Surely, Allah loves the God-fearing - (9:4).

This injunction pertained to Banu Damurah and Banu Mudlaj as a result of which they were allowed a respite of nine months.

As for the third and the fourth group, only one injunction was revealed to cover both. It has been mentioned in the first and the second verse of Surah At-Taubah as follows:

بَرَ‌اءَةٌ مِّنَ اللَّـهِ وَرَ‌سُولِهِ إِلَى الَّذِينَ عَاهَدتُّم مِّنَ الْمُشْرِ‌كِينَ ﴿1﴾ فَسِيحُوا فِي الْأَرْ‌ضِ أَرْ‌بَعَةَ أَشْهُرٍ‌ وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّكُمْ غَيْرُ‌ مُعْجِزِي اللَّـهِ ۙ وَأَنَّ اللَّـهَ مُخْزِي الْكَافِرِ‌ينَ ﴿2﴾

Here is a withdrawal [ proclaimed ] by Allah and His Messenger against those of the Mushriks with whom you have a treaty. So, move in the land freely for four months, and be sure that you can never defeat Allah and that Allah is about to disgrace the disbelievers - (9: 1, 2).

Thus, according to the first two verses, all those who were covered by some treaty without a fixed time limit, or those with whom there was no treaty, were allowed a respite of four months.

And according to the fourth verse, those who had a treaty for a specified period of time received a respite until it expired and, according to the fifth verse, the Mushriks of Makkah got their respite until the ` sacred months' expired.

(2)