Surah At-Tawba (9): Read Online and Download - English Translation

Commentary

Behavior patterns of hypocrites who did not take part in the battle of Tabuk, despite the general call of Jihad, continue to be the main theme since several previous verses.

The current verses give another example of their behavior. Then, it was said that they will be punished in the Hereafter, their names will be eliminated from the list of the mujahidin of Islam forever in this mortal world and that they will never be allowed to take part in any future Jihad.

The word: مُخَلَّفُونَ (those who were left behind - 81) is the plural of مُخَلَّفُ (mukhallaf) which means ` abandoned' or left out. The subtle hint thus released is that these people are pleased with the idea that they have stayed away from endangering their lives by not participating in the Jihad. But, the truth of the matter is that Allah Ta` ala did not consider them to be worthy of this supreme honor. Therefore, it is not they who have abandoned the Jihad, in fact, it is Jihad that has abandoned them. The reason is that Allah and His Messenger have, at their discretion, considered it fit that they should be left out.

Following immediately, there is the word: خلاف (khilaf) in: خِلَافَ رَ‌سُولِ اللَّـهِ translated as ` to the displeasure of the Messenger of Allah.' This word could be taken in the sense of ` behind' or ` after' as well. In fact, this is the meaning Abu ` Ubayd has gone by. If so, it would mean that these people were rejoicing in their staying (at home) after (the departure of) the Messenger of Allah - an occasion not really worth the mirth. As for the word: بِمَقْعَدِهِمْ (bimaq` adihim: their sitting back) in the same verse, it appears here in the sense of قعود (qu’ ud: sitting) as a verbal noun.

It is also possible to take the word khilaf in the sense of mukhalafat (contravention, opposition). In that case, it would mean that they sat home in contravention of the command of the Holy Prophet ﷺ . Then, they did not leave it at that. They prompted others too by saying that they should not march in that hot weather: (لَا تَنفِرُ‌وا فِي الْحَرِّ‌.

We already know that the command to fight the battle of Tabuk was given at a time when the heat was intense. The rejoinder to their comment came from Allah Ta` ala: قُلْ نَارُ‌ جَهَنَّمَ أَشَدُّ حَرًّ‌ا (Say: [ 0 Prophet ] the fire of Jahannam is more intense in heat) that is, these people are really unfortunate. They see the heat of a certain given time and try to beat it one way or the other. But, they do not realize that their disobedience to the command of Allah and His Messenger would bring them face to face with the fire of Jahannam. Why would they not worry about it? Is it that the heat of our seasons is more intense than the heat of Hell?

After that it was said: فَلْيَضْحَكُوا قَلِيلًا (So, let them laugh a little, and weep a lot, being a reward of what they used to earn - 82). Though, the word ` falya dhak u' (So, laugh) has been used in the imperative form, but commentators interpret it in the sense of the predicate of a nominal clause. The wisdom behind the use of the imperative form given by them is that this is categorical and certain. In other words, this is going to happen as a matter of certainty. Such people could laugh for the days they have in the mortal world - but, in 'Akhirah, they must weep and weep forever.

Commentator Ibn Abi Hatim reports the explanation of this verse from Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Abbas ؓ as follows:

اَلدُنیِا قلیلُ فَلیَضحکُوا فِیھَا مَاشَآُء وافاِذَا انقَطعتِ الدُّنیَا و صَارُوآ اِلٰی اللہِ فَلیَستَانِفُوافلیستانِفُوا البُکَاءَ بُکَاًء لَا یَنقَطِع اَبَداً

The dunya (present world) is short-lived. So, let them laugh therein as they wish but when ` dunya will come to an end and they will start coming to Allah, then, they will start weeping, a weeping which will never come to an end. (Mazhari)

The statement: لَّن تَخْرُ‌جُوا (Ian takhruju ... you shall never march) in the second verse (83) has been explained by Maulana Ashraf ` Ali Thanavi (رح) in the summary of his Tafsir Bay-an a1-Qur'an. According to him, ` even if these people intend to participate in a future Jihad, they would get out of it when they want to, under one or the other pretext; and since they do not have faith in their heart, their intention too will not be backed by sincerity. Therefore, the Holy Prophet ﷺ was commanded that, even if they want to take part in a Jihad, he should tell them the truth that he does not trust their word and deed. So, they would neither go for Jihad nor fight an enemy of Islam in his company.'

Most of the commentators have said that this injunction has been enforced as their punishment in the present world, that is, even if they themselves were to make a request that they be allowed to take part in Jihad, even then, they should not be allowed to do that.

Commentary

It stands established from Sahih Ahadith, and confirmed by a consensus of the Muslim Ummah on it that this verse was revealed at the time of the death of the hypocrite, ` Abdullah ibn Ubaiyy, and about the Salah of-Janazah for him. Then, it also stands established from the report in Sahih of Muslim and the Sahih of Al-Bukhari that the Holy Prophet ﷺ offered Salah of Janazah for him. After he had done it, this verse was revealed. And thereafter, he never offered the Salah of Janazah for any munafiq (hypocrite).

The background in which this verse was revealed appears in the Sahih of Muslim. According to this report from Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Umar ؓ عنہما when ` Abdullah ibn Ubaiyy ibn Salul died, his son ` Abdullah ؓ came to the Holy Prophet ﷺ . He was a sincere Muslim, and a Sahabi. When he requested for his shirt so that he could use it as a shroud for the dead body of his father, the Holy Prophet ﷺ let him have it. Then, he requested him to also lead the Salah of Janazah for his father. He accepted and rose to do that. At that point, Sayyidna ` Umar ibn al-Khattab ؓ held the fall of his shirt cloth and said: ` you are going to lead the Janazah Salah for this munafiq although Allah Ta` ala has prohibited you from doing that.' The Holy Prophet ﷺ said: ` Allah Ta` a1a has given me a choice. I may pray for their forgiveness, or I may not - and as for forgiveness not to be granted even if prayed for it seventy times as in the verse, I can say that I can do that more than seventy times.' The verse referred to here is verse 80 of Surah At-Taubah which you have gone through a little earlier. For your convenience, its words are: اسْتَغْفِرْ‌ لَهُمْ أَوْ لَا تَسْتَغْفِرْ‌ لَهُمْ إِن تَسْتَغْفِرْ‌ لَهُمْ سَبْعِينَ مَرَّ‌ةً فَلَن يَغْفِرَ‌ اللَّـهُ لَهُمْ (Ask pardon for them or do not ask pardon for them; even if you ask pardon for them seventy times, Allah shall never pardon them). Then, the Holy Prophet ﷺ offered the Salah of Janazah for him. Soon after the Salah, this verse: لَا تُصَلِّ عَلَىٰ أَحَدٍ مِّنْهُم (And never offer a prayer. on any one of them...) was revealed (so, after that, he never led the Salah of Janazah for any munafiq).

Removal of ambiguities concerning this event

A question arises here about ` Abdullah ibn Ubaiyy, a munafiq whose hypocrisy was laid bare on many different occasions and who was regarded as ring leader of all hypocrites. How was it that he received such unusual treatment from the Holy Prophet ﷺ when he gave his blessed shirt to be used as his funeral shroud?

In answer, two reasons can be given for it. Firstly, it was done on the request of his son who was a sincere Sahabi and the motive was simply to console him on his loss. There could be a second reason as well. This has been reported in Al-Bukhari on the authority of Sayyidna Jabir ؓ . When some Quraysh chiefs were arrested on the occasion of the battle of Badr, one of them happened to be ` Abbas, the uncle of the Holy Prophet ﷺ . When he saw that his uncle does not have a shirt on his body, he asked his Companions ؓ to put a shirt on him. Sayyidna ` Abbas ؓ was tall. No shirt other than that of ` Abdullah ibn Ubaiyy would fit him. So, the Holy Prophet ﷺ took the shirt from ` Abdullah ibn Ubaiyy and had his uncle ` Abbas wear it. It was only to repay this favor that the Holy Prophet ﷺ had given his shirt for him. (Qurtubi)

The second question relates to what Sayyidna ` Umar had said to the Holy Prophet. It will be recalled that he had said, ` Allah Ta` ala has prohibited you from leading the Salah of Janazah for a hypocrite.' We have to look for the basis on which he said that, because no verse had ever prohibited the Holy Prophet ﷺ expressly from offering the Salah of Janazah for a hypocrite. From here it becomes fairly clear that Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ must have deduced that sense of prohibition from this very verse of Surah At-Taubah referred earlier, that is, اسْتَغْفِرْ‌ لَهُمْ (Ask pardon for them...80). Now the question is, if this verse of prohibition refers to the Salah of Janazah, why would the Holy Prophet ﷺ not let this be regarded as prohibited, instead of which, he said that the choice in the verse had been given to him?

The answer is that, in reality, the formal arrangement of words in the verse does carry the sense of giving a choice - and it is also obvious that the mention of seventy times at this place is not for prescribing a limit. It is, rather, to express the sense of many times. Thus, the out-come of the verse, in terms of its obvious sense, turns out to be that ` a hypocrite will not be pardoned, no matter how many times you were to seek forgiveness for him.' But, he has not been expressly prohibited from praying for their forgiveness as such. Another verse of the Holy Qur'an from Surah Ya Sin is a parallel example. There it has been said: سَوَاءٌ عَلَيْهِمْ أَأَنذَرْ‌تَهُمْ أَمْ لَمْ تُنذِرْ‌هُمْ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ (And it is all the same for them whether or not you warn them - they are not going to believe - 36:10). This verse has not categorically stopped him from warning people of evils and inviting them to what is good. For that matter, some other verses of the Qur'an also prove that the ongoing mission of calling people towards the faith never stopped. Of course, it included such people as well - for example, بَلِّغْ مَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْكَ مِن رَّ‌بِّكَ (0 Messenger, convey all that has been sent down to you from your Lord. - 5:67) and إِنَّمَا أَنتَ مُنذِرٌ‌ ۖ وَلِكُلِّ قَوْمٍ هَادٍ (you are only a warner, and for every people, there is a guide - 13:7). The outcome is that the verse of Surah Ya Sin (36:10) quoted above proved that choice was given to the Holy Prophet ﷺ though in a limited frame of reference. Then, the later verses quoted immediately earlier provided the standing proof of the continuance of the mission of warning people against evils. From the verse under study too, the Holy Prophet ﷺ had gathered that they will not be pardoned, but the situation was that he had not been restrained from seeking forgiveness for them through some other verse either, till then.

Then, the Holy Prophet ﷺ also knew that neither his shirt nor the Salah of Janazah he offered for the deceased hypocrite were to bring forgiveness for him. But, he did hope that his action would yield benefits for other aspects of Islamic public policy. People of his family and the disbelieving people in general were bound to observe the way the Holy Prophet l deals with their leader. This was likely to bring them closer to Islam, even embracing it. As for some clear prohibition of offering the Salah of Janazah, it just did not exist until that time. Therefore, he led the Salah.

Perhaps, the other answer lies in the sentence that has been re-ported in the Sahih of Al-Bukhari on the authority of Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Abbas ؓ . There, the Holy Prophet ﷺ has been quoted to have said: ` Had I known that he will be pardoned by praying for his forgiveness more than seventy times, I would have done that too.' (Qurtubi)

The second evidence comes from another Hadith in which the following words from the Holy Prophet ﷺ have been reported: ` my shirt cannot save him from the punishment of Allah. But, I did it in the hope that on the basis of this action thousands of his people will embrace Islam.' So, according to what was said, after having witnessed this event, one thousand people from the tribe of Khazraj embraced Islam (as reported in the books of maghazi and in some books of Tafsir).

Summary

To sum up, the Holy Prophet ﷺ knew from previous verses that no matter what they do, the munafiqs (the hypocrites) will not be pardoned. But, there were some factors that explain the rationale of his action. The words of the verse seemed to have given him the choice. No other verse had yet prohibited him from doing so. Then, there was the opportunity to pay back the favor of a disbeliever here in this world. Last, but not the least, was the hope of other disbelievers embracing Islam as a result of this action. Therefore, he preferred to lead the Salah of Janazah. As for the action of Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ ، he thought that once it stands proved through the verse in question that a hypocrite will not be pardoned, he found no reason for offering a Salah of Janazah for him and praying that he may be forgiven. According to him, it might be redundant, and against the station of a prophet. Therefore, he deemed it prohibited to offer the janazah. The position of the Holy Prophet ﷺ was that he did not, though, consider this action as beneficial in its own right - but, he did have the likelihood of others embracing Islam in sight. Therefore, this action did not remain futile. To conclude, in this manner, no ambiguity remains either in the conduct of the Holy Prophet ﷺ or in the words of Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ (Bayan al-Qur'an)

Now, came the verse: لَا تُصَلِّ (and never offer a prayer) revealed in clear terms. It was realized that, no doubt, there was a religiously expedient advantage visible to the Holy Prophet in offering the Salah but it also carried a disturbing factor in it, almost the reverse of what was expected to be expedient. This element somehow did not attract the attention of the Holy Prophet ﷺ . The likelihood of this action creating dissatisfaction among sincere Muslims was strong. They may have thought that sincere Muslims and wily hypocrites have been equated officially. To offset this danger, this particular prohibition was revealed in the Qur'an - and after that, the Holy Prophet ﷺ never offered the Salah of Janazah for any munafiq.

Rulings

1. This verse tells us that offering Salah on the Janazah of a kafir or the making of Du'a seeking his or her forgiveness is not permissible.

2. This verse also proves that to stand before the grave of a kafir as a mark of respect for him, or to go to visit it, is Iharam. Should this be to learn some lesson there from, or because of some compulsion, then, it is not contrary to this. For example, it appears in Hidayah that, should a kafir relative of a Muslim die without leaving a guardian or heir be-hind, the Muslim relative can put the deceased into hollowed ground as is, without having to make it conform to the standard practice of

the Holy Prophet ﷺ (Bayan al-Qur'an)

Commentary

Once again, the present verses carry the description of hypocrites who had avoided participating in the battle of Tabuk under one or the other pretext. Among such hypocrites, there were some rich people as well. Their affluent life could have made Muslims ask, ` when these people are so unacceptable with Allah, why did they have to get all those blessings in this world?'

In response, it was said that a little thinking would unfold the reality behind what they possess in the form of wealth and children. These are no mercy and blessing for them. Instead, these are their trial and punishment in this world - not to say much about the additional punishment due in the Hereafter. It is not difficult to understand the reason. They love wealth, guard it and keep worrying as to how they can go on increasing it. They are never at peace. They collect things of comfort around them but genuine peace and comfort never knock at their doors, for they are things of the heart. And since this engrossment in the pursuit of wealth makes them heedless towards the concerns of the Hereafter, they indulge in acts of disobedience to their Creator that in turn becomes the cause of their punishment. So, whether a cause or its effect, it remains a punishment. This is the reason why the Qur'an has used the words: لِيُعَذِّبَهُم بِهَا (to punish them with these) in the sense that Allah Ta` ala wants to punish them by and through these very possessions.

The expression: اُولُوا الطَّولِ (ulu 'at-caul: translated as ` the capable ones' ) (86) is not for particularization. Instead, it serves a purpose. It tells that there were others too, the ones not so capable. And the incapable ones had, at least, some obvious excuse to stay behind.