Tafsir Zone - Surah 9: at-Taubah (Repentance )

Tafsir Zone

Surah at-Taubah 9:0
 

Overview (Verses 1 - 4)

An Announcement is Made
 

Disavowal by God and His Messenger [is hereby announced] to those of the idolaters with whom you have made a treaty. (Announce to them:) You may go freely in the land for four months, but you must realize that you can never escape God’s judgement, and that God shall bring disgrace upon the unbelievers. And a proclamation from God and His Messenger is hereby made to all mankind on this day of the greater pilgrimage: God is free from obligation to the idolaters, and so is His Messenger. If you repent, it shall be for your own good; and if you turn away, then know that you can never escape God’s judgement. Give the unbelievers the news of grievous suffering, except for those idolaters with whom you have made a treaty and who have honoured their obligations [under the treaty] in every detail, and have not aided anyone against you. To these fulfil your obligations until their treaties have run their term. God loves those who are righteous. (Verses 1-4)

These verses and the following ones, up to verse 28, provide a framework demarcating relations between the Muslim community, now well established in Madinah and the Arabian Peninsula generally, and the unbelievers in Arabia who chose not to accept Islam. Relations were thus regulated with those Arabs who had violated their treaties with the Prophet when they felt that the Muslims were about to meet their match from the Byzantines at Tabūk. Relations were also put on a proper footing with those Arabs without a treaty but who maintained good relations with the Muslims, and those who had a treaty which they continued to observe, entertaining no thoughts of treachery.

The style employed in these verses takes the form of a general declaration coupled with high resonance to ensure perfect harmony between the subject matter, the general atmosphere surrounding the whole issue and the mode of expression.
 
“Disavowal by God and His Messenger [is hereby announced] to those of the idolaters with whom you have made a treaty.” (Verse 1) This is a general declaration, carrying a sharp rhythm, which outlines the basic principles that governed relations between the Muslims and the idolaters at the time, throughout the Arabian Peninsula. The treaties to which it refers were those that the Prophet had concluded with the idolaters in Arabia. The disavowal of these treaties by God and His Messenger defines the attitude of every Muslim. It generates a very strong impression on Muslim minds to leave no room whatsoever for hesitation or second thought.

This general statement is followed by qualifications and explanations: “[Announce to them:] You may go freely in the land for four months, but you must realize that you can never escape God’s judgement, and that God shall bring disgrace upon the unbelievers.” (Verse 2) This statement clarifies the terms now given to the unbelievers: they are given a period of four months during which they can move about freely to carry out business transactions, fulfil their commitments and modify their situations in peace.

With this four-month notice period, the idolaters are reminded of God’s will which in turn sends fear into their hearts. They are meant to open their eyes to the fact that they can never escape God’s judgement. They cannot seek refuge against what God has determined for them, which was certain disgrace and humiliation: “You must realize that you can never escape God’s judgement, and that God shall bring disgrace upon the unbelievers.” (Verse 2) How could they escape God’s judgement and what refuge could they seek when they, and the whole world, were in His grasp? He has predetermined to inflict misery and disgrace on the unbelievers. No power can ever stop God’s will.

This is followed by specifying the time when this disavowal was to be announced to the unbelievers, so that they would be fully aware of the time limits it included: “And a proclamation from God and His Messenger is hereby made to all mankind on this day of the greater pilgrimage: God is free from obligation to the idolaters, and so is His Messenger. If you repent, it shall be for your own good; and if you turn away, then know that you can never escape God’s judgement. Give the unbelievers the news of grievous suffering.” (Verse 3)

With the termination of all treaties and the proclamation of absolute disavowal, the unbelievers are encouraged once again to seek and follow divine guidance and warned against the consequences of remaining in error: “If you repent, it shall be for your own good; and if you turn away, then know that you can never escape God’s judgement. Give the unbelievers the news of grievous suffering.” (Verse 3)

The exception is then made in the case of treaties specifying a term of validity. These were allowed to remain in force for the rest of their term: “Except for those idolaters with whom you have made a treaty and who have honoured their obligations [under the treaty] in every detail, and have not aided anyone against you. To these fulfil your obligations until their treaties have run their term. God loves those who are righteous.” (Verse 4)

This report which we endorse is related by Muĥammad ibn `Abbād ibn Ja`far, who quotes al-Suddī as saying: “These were two clans of Kinānah known as Đamrah and Mudlij.” Mujāhid, an authoritative early scholar says: “The tribes of Mudlij and Khuzā`ah had entered into treaties and these were the ones meant in the instruction: “To these fulfil your obligations until their treaties have run their term. God loves those who are righteous.” (Verse 4) It should be noted, however, that the Khuzā`ah tribe embraced Islam after the conquest of Makkah, but this statement of exception applied to the idolaters who did not accept Islam.

Several reports speak of the general conditions prevailing at the time when this declaration was made, as well as the method and the person chosen for its announcement. Perhaps the most accurate and more fitting with the prevailing situation of the Muslim community and the nature of the Islamic approach is the one chosen by Ibn Jarīr al-Ţabarī, an early commentator on the Qur’ān. We will quote here some of his comments on the various reports which support our view of the event and how it took place. The following report he attributes to Mujāhid:
 
In the statement, ‘Disavowal by God and His Messenger [is hereby announced] to those of the idolaters with whom you have made a treaty,’ the reference is made to the tribe of Mudlij and the Arabs bound by a treaty with the Muslims and all other peoples with similar treaties. It is reported that when the Prophet returned from Tabūk, he wanted to go on pilgrimage. He then thought, `the Ka`bah is visited by idolaters who do the ţawāf naked. I would rather delay my pilgrimage until such a practice is stopped.’ He sent Abū Bakr and `Alī who went to see people at Dhu’l-Majāz and other markets, as well as their encampments in pilgrimage. They gave notice to all peoples who had treaties with the Prophet that they would have four months of peace. When those four consecutive months, beginning with the twenty days remaining of Dhu’l-Hijjah to the tenth day of Rabī` II, were over, the treaties would come to an end. All people in Arabia would then be in a state of war with the Muslims unless they believed in God and His Messenger. All the population of Arabia became Muslims and none continued with their old religion.
 
Examining the views of other commentators, Imām al-Ţabarī says: As for the notice given by God permitting idolaters with a treaty to ‘go freely in the land for four months,’ perhaps the more accurate view is to say that this notice is given by God to those idolaters who, despite having peace treaties, collaborated with others against the Prophet and the Muslim community violating their treaties before they ran out. As for those who fulfilled their obligations under such treaties and refrained from collaborating with others, God — limitless is He in His glory — ordered His Messenger to honour his treaty with them until their term had been completed. This is clear in the Qur’ānic statement: “Except for those idolaters with whom you have made a treaty and who have honoured their obligations [under that treaty] in every detail, and have not aided anyone against you. To these fulfil your obligations until their treaties have run their term. God loves those who are righteous.” (Verse 4)

It is important to reflect on the comment which concludes the verse that requires the Muslims to remain true to their obligations: “To these fulfil your obligations until their treaties have run their term. God loves those who are righteous.” (Verse 4) It relates the fulfilment of obligations to righteousness and to God’s love of the righteous. Thus, God makes the fulfilment of obligations to people an act of worship addressed to Him and an aspect of the righteousness He loves. This is the basis of Islamic ethics. Islam does not act on the basis of gain and interest, or on the basis of constantly changing traditions. All Islamic ethics are based on worshipping God and fearing Him, which is the essence of righteousness. A Muslim brings his behaviour in line with that which he knows to please God. His aim is to win God’s pleasure and to ensure that He is not displeased with him. This is the essence of the strong hold Islamic ethics have on Muslims. These ethics also serve people’s interests and work for their benefit. They establish a society in which friction and contradiction are reduced as much as possible. They also help human beings in their continuous march to a higher standard of humanity.

Numerous are the reports which confirm that when the Prophet sent `Alī to declare the disavowal of treaties to people, he also commanded him to make it clear that “whoever had a treaty with the Prophet, that treaty continued until its specified expiration date.” This provides the clearest support of our view. God did not order the Prophet to terminate a treaty with any group of people who remained faithful to it. He only put on four-month notice those who had violated their treaties and those whose treaties had no specified term. The treaties which ran for a specific term and were observed properly by the other side were to remain in force until their term was over. The Prophet sent his Companions to announce this during the pilgrimage, for this would ensure the announcement was well publicized.
 
In another comment on the various reports concerning treaties, al- Ţabarī says: The four-month notice was made to those whom we have mentioned. As for those whose treaties specified a term of expiry, God did not allow the Prophet and the believers to terminate such treaty in any way. Hence, the Prophet fulfilled God’s order and honoured his commitments under these treaties to their final dates. This is clearly stated in God’s revelations, and confirmed by many reports attributed to the Prophet.
 
Al-Tirmidhī relates a report which quotes `Alī as saying: “God’s Messenger sent me after the revelation of the sūrah Repentance to announce four points: no one may do the ţawāf naked, and no idolater may come near the Sacred Mosque after that year, and whoever had a treaty with God’s Messenger, their treaty would be observed until it had expired, and that no one may enter heaven except one who submits totally to God.” This report is the most authentic in this connection.