at-Taubah [Al-Muntakhab]

9:1
- Allah and His Messenger declare explicitly that the obligation made between you Muslims and the idolaters who break their vows is, as of today, rendered voi
9:2
- Nonetheless, you infidels, worshippers of idols, may move freely in the land, if you will, and as, you please. You will be well secured against all assaults for a period of four months. But you must realize that you shall not defeat Allah's purpose nor can you escape His sure watch. He is Omnipresent with unlimited audition, Omniscient of all those whose purpose is to defy His cause, He shall disgrace them and put to shame
9:3
- On the day of the great occasion of AL-Hajj (major pilgrima
9:4
- But exempt from this immediate liability, are those of the Pagans with whom you Muslims have concluded a peace treaty they have honoured and for the mean time refrained from helping others against you. It is incumbent on you to fulfill your obligation to them until they have reached the end of the term of security. Allah likes those who obey Him and entertain the profound reverence dutiful to Him
9:5
- When the four Sacred Months of grace have expired, then kill the vicious idolaters wherever you find them, seize them besiege them and lie down for them in ambush everywhere. But should they repent, engage in the act of worship and give Zakat (alms), then leave them alone; Allah is Ghafurun (Forgiving) and Rahimun (Merciful)
9:6
- If anyone of the Pagans seeks your protection O Muhammad, then protect him and grant him asylum; he may open his heart's ears to Allah's discourse. Escort him to where he will be out of harm's way. They are people deficient in sense and intelligence; they are simpletons
9:7
- You must realize O Muslims that these treacherous Pagans place before themselves one thing to be attained, that is to divert your minds from righteousness and uprightness and suppress Allah's system of faith. Therefore, how could they honour their vow or treaty with Allah and with His Messenger; they only conclude with you a treaty as a stratagem to obtain an advantage. Yet you must honour your obligation to those of them with whom you concluded a treaty at the Sacrosanct Mosque. As long as they honour their part you will have to honour yours. Allah likes those who obey Him and entertain the profound reverence dutiful to Him
9:8
- So conditioned, how can these Pagans impel themselves to the sense of feelings and good disposition toward you people when they entertain evil thoughts of you! If they get an advantage over you and prevail against you they shall reduce you to a useless form disregarding totally the ties of kinship as well as their obligations. They put in words the sweet discourse which gratifies you while their hearts bode ill, and most of them are indeed wicked
9:9
- These people have exchanged the truth of Allah's revelations and His Messenger's mission for the vanity of the fleeting and ephemeral world and obstructed the way to the path of Allah, the path of righteousness. Evil indeed is what their minds and their souls have impelled them to do
9:10
- If they get an advantage over a Muslim and prevail against him, they shall injure him, disregarding totally their ties of kinship and their obligations. Their disposition reflects their transgressive infirmities. They prevail themselves of what the occasion gives
9:11
- If they in lowliest plight repentant stood performed regular prayer and imprinted their deeds with wisdom and piety and gave Zakat, then they are your Co-religionists and an integral part of your brotherhood. We expound Our revelations and render Our discourse readily understood to people who reflect
9:12
- But should they infringe their oaths after they have pledged their vows to you, and assailed your religion with opprobrious or abusive language, then you must battle against the ring-leaders of bigotry whose professed system of faith is featured in idolatry and infidelity, for then they will have proved themselves of a faithless disposition, false to the vows. They may with such calculated punishment desist, for their own sake, from their hostile course of action
9:13
- These Pagans were they who almost always broke their vows and disregarded their treaties, they purposed to oust the Messenger from Macca and plotted to turn him out of Madina and they were the aggressors following the covenant into which both of you entered*. Therefore, would you not take these matters of fact as have been narrated to you and circumstance them after the right manner or do you fear them, when it is Allah whom you should fear if indeed you have conformed to His system of faith and worship
9:14
- Fight them the good fight of faith; Allah intends to make them suffer at your hands and put them to shame, and make fortune and victory sit on your helm. A victory intended to heal the ill confined in the bosoms of the faithful and pour balm into the festering wounds of their hearts and minds
9:15
- To free their hearts from inveterate anger and their uneasy minds from soreness, and to return them to their settled calm. Allah gives up resentment against whom He will and pardons his offence, He is 'Alimun (Omniscient), and Hakimun (Wi
9:16
- Did you think O Muslims that you would be left untested and untampered or be left in peace before Allah has yet to see: that you have distinguished yourselves on every front or line of battle, that you have been distinguished as the valiant and the patient who are unwearied in the face of difficulties and undisturbed by good or ill fortune and that you have ground for sustaining your tutelage under no one besides Allah, His Messenger and your co-religionists; Allah is 'Alimun of all that you do
9:17
- It is never becoming nor is it consistent for the idolaters to attend the mosques of Allah bearing witness within themselves of their infidelity and the denial of Allah. These are they whose hopes shall be doomed to disappointment and their deeds to worthlessness here and Hereafter, and in Hell shall they have passed through nature to eternal suffering
9:18
- Indeed, the only people qualified to attend the mosques of Allah are those who faithfully believe in Him and in Day of Judgment, with hearts impressed with the image of religious and spiritual virtues, who engage in the act of worship and give Zakat, for zakat is but the vehicle of prayer, and fear no one but Allah. Such persons are hopefully expected to be among those who have resolved to attain no other way but the way to the path of Allah, the path of righteousness
9:19
- Do you Pagans wish to make quenching the thirst of the pilgrims and attending the Mosque equal with the mental consent to Allah on the ground of evidence and the belief in the truth of the Day of Judgment in addition to the ardour in the pursuit of the cause of Allah! Such duties as viewed by Him are not to be compared. Allah does not guide to His path of righteousness the wrongful of action
9:20
- Indeed, those who conformed to Allah's system of faith and worship and emigrated to where they could best serve Him and strove in His cause with their wealth and their lives are privileged by Allah with distinction in the scale of dignity and rank, and these are the triumphant who are bound to His care
9:21
- Their endeavour in Allah's cause has occasioned His gratification; He takes pleasure in announcing to them His mercy and blessings, His satisfaction and His heavenly gardens of supreme bliss wherein they shall have passed through nature to Eternity
9:22
- Their stay, in terms of state, is that of bliss, and in terms of time, is that vast; forever, and in heaven's realm does Allah have excellent rewards
9:23
- O you who have conformed to Islam: Do not favour the tutelage of your fathers nor of your sons if they prefer infidelity to Allah's system of faith and worship, and he who takes them as tutelary friends, protectors or guardians shall he and such persons be wrongful of actions
9:24
- Say O Muhammad to those who have conformed to Islam: "If your fathers and your sons, your brothers and your wives your kindred and the wealth you have acquired, your trade which you fear may stagnate or decline and the comfortable and attractive homes, are regarded with more esteem and affection than Allah and His Messenger and than fighting the good fight of faith, then you just wait until Allah's fitting judgement presents itself. Allah does not guide to His path of righteousness the wrongful of actions
9:25
- Allah has helped you win victory in many battles of belief against disbelief, and on the day of the battle of Hunain when you presumed upon the great superiority of your numbers but it availed you nothing and the earth, vast as it is, seemed, due to lack of discipline and the ambition of the worldly minded among you, drawn together and constricted, then you shrank from danger and sought safety in flight
9:26
- There and then did Allah inspire peace and tranquility as well as just confidence to the hearts and minds of His Messenger and of the faithful troops, and He sent down an invisible array of angels to assail your enemies and put them to rout, and there, He inflicted them with punishment in requital of their infidelity
9:27
- Yet, thereafter does Allah give up resentment against whom He will and pardons his offence, for Allah is Ghafurun and Rahimun
9:28
- O you who have conformed to Islam; the idolaters are impure spiritually and physically. Accordingly, they must not be allowed near the Sacrosanct Mosque after this year*. Should you fear scarcity as a result of breakage of commercial relations; Allah shall make His grace abound in you, if He will; He is indeed 'Alimun and Hakimun
9:29
- Fight those who deny Allah and the Day of judgement among Ahl AL-Kitab (people of the Book); they do not exclude what Allah and His Messenger have forbidden, nor do they conform to Allah's system of faith and worship, the system of divine truth. Fight them the good fight of faith until they pay tribute in acknowledgement of submission (to supply revenue -like the Muslims- so the State)
9:30
- The Jews distinguished Ezra -O Zair-* they called him the son of Allah and the Christians called the Messiah, son of Mary, the son of Allah; a fable resembling the falsehood fabled about Allah by those infidels who preceded them. Allah condemns them in as much as they are worth and afflicts them with such evils as indicate a malignant fate. How strongly deluded they are so as to cause what is false to be accepted as true
9:31
- They took their Rabbins and their monks as well as the AL- Messiah, son of Maryam (Mary), as tutelary Masters besides Allah, yet they have been commanded to worship but One Allah, the only Ilah there is. Praise be to Him and extolled are His glorious attributes. He is far beyond all those they incorporate with Him
9:32
- With all the feeling in their minds directed toward falsifying the truth, they wish they could quench the very light of Allah by word of mouth, that is by propagating false rumours and uttering error against Him. But Allah is not moved by undue influence; He continues to make His way unrestrained to send His illumination -the Quran- proceeding from Him, until the souls have been lit by divine truth, and enlightenment has prevailed, albeit this be hateful to those who refuse to acknowledge the truth
9:33
- He is it Who has sent His Messenger with the spirit of truth guiding into all truth and with the true system of faith and worship featured in the Quran, the Criterion and the cannon wherein Providence is the guide. It aligns the course of actions of thought and of life of all concerned, Muslims and Non- Muslims whose religious practices are contingent on man- made related aspects of the one religion whose unclouded and authoritative front is Islam; albeit this is hateful to those who incorporate with Allah other deities
9:34
- O you people whose hearts have been touched with the divine hand: Many of the Rabbins and the Monks do wrongfully eat the people out of their property*, and obstruct the way to the path of Allah, the path of righteousness. Those who treasure up gold and silver and do not spend of it in divine service were born to be losers; announce to them O Muhammad the anticipation of a grievous punishment
9:35
- One day shall these precious metals be melted by the heat of the Fire of Hell and their foreheads, their sides and their backs be branded therewith. There and then shall they be told: "This is what you had treasured up and cherished; benevolence occasioned to you so much discontent that you denied the poor at their need. Now, you taste the torment which is laid on the damned in requital of hoarding up money and cheating the poor of their due and Allah of divine service
9:36
- The calendar introduced by Allah when He created the universe -the heavens and the earth- determines the month as the space of time from one new moon to the next, corresponding to the period of one complete revolution of the moon in reference to a point, faxed or movable, and divides the year accordingly into twelve revolutions or months, four of which are sacred and exclusively appropriated to some special purpose emblematic of this right and commendable religion. Therefore, do not wrong yourselves during this period of time nor discredit yourselves by word or thought. And fight the idolaters in the whole as they fight you in the whole and do realize that Allah upholds those who entertain the profound reverence dutiful to Him
9:37
- To transpose a sacred month in favour of another month is to add to infidelity. Such a practice, as being adopted by the Pagans, made them sink deeper under the vexation of their minds; they permit it one year and forbid it another year so as to adjust means to ends and arrange them suitably to the number ordained by Allah, a practice that sets them at defiance with Allah in as much as it permits a course of action forbidden by Him. Thus were the Pagans enticed by their deeds of evil and iniquity that allured their minds' eyes and induced them to hug their irreverent conviction to their hearts and were swayed from the path of righteousness. Allah never guides to His path of righteousness the infidels whose aim is to defy Him
9:38
- O you who have conformed to Islam: what ails you that you are indisposed to action! When you are told to strive in the cause of Allah you cling heavily to the ground! Have you come to be worldly - minded and content with life here afore that Hereafter! But how little are the material and the immaterial things that minister to enjoyment and content here as compared with Hereafter
9:39
- Unless you respond favourably to the Messenger's call to serve Allah and be moved to action and fight the good fight of faith against disbelief, you will be pained at heart; Allah will afflict you, in His own way, with a condign punishment and replace you by others, and your indisposition to His purpose shall not harm Him in the least; Allah is Qadirun (Omnipotent) over all things
9:40
- If you do not afford him help and assist him in the accomplishment of Allah's purpose, you must realize that Allah graced him with triumph over his enemies -Quraish- who plotted for his life. Prompted by Allah and actuated by divine influence he left home with no one but his companion* to whom he was his second. In the cave** where they both hid, He said to his companion: Rest assured and do not grieve; we are not two but three; Allah is in our presence There and then did Allah inspire peace and tranquility as well as just confidence to the heart and mind of His Messenger and the thoughts were conveyed to one another, and He upheld him and supported him with an invisible array of angels. There, did Allah make what the infidels had forged in their breasts to what their tongues have vented fail to accord. Thus, was what they declared in words debased and the Word of Allah, supreme and dominant, is as always at the top; Allah is Azizun (Almighty) and Hakimun
9:41
- Move to action and fight the good fight of faith, each in his capacity, lightly armed and heavily armed, infantry and mounted troops men and women, old and young, rich and poor. Every hand must be open to contribute something to the common purpose, and strive in the cause of Allah with your wealth and your lives, a continuous series of operations constituting the whole. Such a campaign is to your advantage if only you knew. It kills the attempt your enemy has made to shake the dominion Allah intends to establish, it makes the final victory sit on your helm and brings you peace of mind and it helps you prevail and confirm Allah's system of faith and worship
9:42
- Had the expedition been a short distance and they were confident their march would attain its worldly end, they would have followed you. But the distance disenchanted their minds and appeared toilsome. They will swear to you O Muhammad that they would have gone out with you to fight had they been able to do so. They are the cause of their own destruction, and Allah knows that they are liars
9:43
- Allah bless you O Muhammad! Why did you grant them permission to be among the stay-at- home before sifting them in action to find out the truthful, and expose those who lie in their teeth
9:44
- Never shall those who lift to Allah their inward sight and assert the truth of the Hereafter ask you to exempt them from this obligation. They feel they must move to action as ordained by Allah Whose purpose is the heart of their purpose. They purpose to strive in His cause, which is their cause with their wealth and their lives. Allah is fully aware of those who entertain the profound reverence dutiful to Him
9:45
- For laboured impiety; what apology can be invented but by those who deny Allah and the Day of Judgement and their deep-rooted doubt affects their hearts and their minds profoundly, and in their objective uncertainty they vacillate
9:46
- Had they been disposed in mood and mind to obey such advice as Allah inclines them to propound, they would have made all preparations necessary for overpowering the assailant who is quick, skillful and deadly. But being fully aware of their innermost thoughts and of what their breasts forge, Allah disliked their participation in the campaign, and discouraged them and impelled them to the feeling of utter demoralization and it was decided that they join the stay-at-home
9:47
- Had they joined you in battle, they would have caused discord and hastened to sow dissension, slander and thoughts of sedition among you, And among you are attentive hearers who bow down their ears to them. Allah is 'Alimun of all the wrongful of actions
9:48
- They made it their aim before truth prevailed to sow thoughts of sedition and discord and the wicked plotted against the just. They deranged your ordinary pursuits of life O Muhammad as well as your divine course of action, hoping you would not prevail and firmly establish Allah's system of faith and worship. But great is truth and it did prevail, and there did Allah's word, as is always expected, assume the top, notwithstanding their opposition and their evil feeling
9:49
- Among them is he who asks you O Muhammad to exempt him from participating in the expedition lest he succumbs to temptation; He says to you: "Exempt me from this obligation and do not let me fall into temptation". Indeed, into error and impiety, into temptation and turmoil, into insurgency and insurrection of ignorance and into persecution by Heaven have they fallen, and Hell besets the infidels who deny Allah
9:50
- When good fortune falls in your way, be it through victory or through martyrdom, they come to be actuated with envy and grieved at heart. But if you are befallen with a misfortune or wedded to a calamity, they rejoice beyond a common joy and express their thoughts in words, thus: "With prudent foresight" they say, "we exercised caution beforehand to provide against misfortunes and turmoil", and they turn their backs and go away well pleased
9:51
- Say to them: Nothing befalls us good fortune or misfortune, victory or martyrdom, defeat or retreat, but has been divinely assessed and justly determined by Allah. He is our tutelary guardian and in Allah should those whose hearts have been touched with the divine hand put their trust
9:52
- Say to them: " Do you give yourselves up to the first anticipations of your thoughts! But only one of two things can happen to us, and either of them is but an advantage, martyrdom or victory. As for you, we do anticipate an inevitable retributive punishment either from heaven or at our hands. Therefore, await the event that shall come in due time and we are also waiting"
9:53
- Say to these hypocrites: "You may spend as much as you like, willingly or unwillingly, making great pretences to religion, but never shall your contributions be acknowledged nor be entered on the credit side of your account. You are a people whose wickedness has reached beyond your reach; it has reached the sky"
9:54
- The reason for refusing to acknowledge their contributions is their unforgivable grave offence against Allah; an offence no amount of money can expiate. They deny Allah and His Messenger, they perform their act of worship with an attitude of mind dispirited and despondent and they spend in Allah's service with great disinclination and reluctance
9:55
- Do not let the splendour of their riches and their progeny excite your emotion by astonishment mingled with bewildered curiosity. Allah intends to make these attributes the cause of their suffering here below, through unrest and anxiety, and their souls shall be disembodied captivated by disbelief
9:56
- And they insolently made a solemn declaration with an appeal to Allah that they are your co-religionists and therefore a part of you, when in fact together with you they do not make up a whole. They are a people who display ignoble fear in the face of danger, and they think they can avoid exciting your indignation
9:57
- If they can find a place of refuge or a cave or a hiding place, they will withdraw hastily from your society and fly to it
9:58
- Among these hypocrites are some who question your integrity in the way you distribute the spoils and Zakat and try to defame you. They disregard Allah's fundamental motive and reason of action and tend to go by their selfish motive principle. If they go share and share alike, they approve their hearts to Allah, and if they do not have a good share in what is distributed, they express their disapprobation and moral condemnation
9:59
- Had they been satisfied in mind with the divine fundamental assumption forming the basis of a chain of reasoning that guides the Messenger to action and said: "so be it, we are contented with Allah; His bounty will abound in us directly and through His Messenger and to Him we do homage and suit", it would have been to their advantage
9:60
- Zakat is but a vehicle of prayers; it is due only to:
  a) The poor who are destitute of means of livelihood and
  b) The needy who are in temporary distress due to sickness, disability or the like.
  c) Those who are engaged as collectors and administrators thereof and
  d) Those who have just reconciled themselves with their own hearts and with Allah,
  e) Those in bondage -who are eager to buy their freedom-
  f) Those in debt -who are genuinely unable to pay what is owed to others-
  g) The support of the cause of Allah and
  h) And the wayfarer -who does not have the means for transportation and has to travel on foot.
  This is an obligation incumbent on Muslims and dutiful to Allah
9:61
- Among these hypocrites are also those who prejudice the Prophet and label him: "all ears". "He attentively listens to all that is being said, be it false or true; he is easily deceived". Say to them: "He bows down his ear and listens graciously to all that is of advantage to you"; he believes those whose hearts have been touched with the divine hand and he is not deceived by those whom he perceives are lying". "He solemnly believes in Allah and trusts those whose hearts have been touched with the divine hand for whom he is Allah's given mercy". Indeed those who prejudice the Prophet shall suffer the torment laid upon the damned
9:62
- They are reluctant to join you in battle and offer you some excuse and affirm it by an appeal to Allah so that you accept it, when it is Allah and His Messenger that they should conciliate by fighting in their cause if in fact their hearts have been impressed with the image of religious and spiritual virtues
9:63
- Do they not know that he who sets himself against Allah and His Messenger shall suffer the fire of Hell wherein he will have passed through nature to eternal suffering, and this is indeed disgrace to the extreme
9:64
- Those hypocrites are subconsciously afraid of being found out, fearing lest a Surah should be revealed betraying their real character and their ill-natured hearts which they wish be kept secret. Say to them: "Hold whom you will in ridicule and laugh him to scorn. Allah shall expose your attributes you have always hoped would be kept secret"
9:65
- And if you should ask them O Muhammad after their real nature has been betrayed, as to why did they plunge into defaming religion and disobeying Allah and His Messenger and laugh them to scorn! They would insolently say: We always plunge into worldly ambition and like to turn matters into a joke. Say to them: Do you make Allah, His revelations and His Messenger the object of a joke and laugh them to scorn
9:66
- Do not vindicate your grievous wrong now by a prologue and an apology You have turned renegades. If We forgive some of you because of coming back to their senses, We will punish others who are indeed wicked
9:67
- The hypocrites -men and women- spring from one another and complement each other. They enjoin what is evil and forbid what is just and right. They keep their hands tightly shut, unwilling to spend in divine service and fail to recall Allah to mind and by consequence Allah has neglected them. Indeed the hypocrites are faithless, perverse and morally depraved
9:68
- Allah has promised the hypocrites the men and the women together with those who deny Him and disregard His authoritative commands the fire of Hell wherein they will have passed through nature to eternal suffering; Hell claims them as her own. Allah has cursed them and they shall suffer the torment laid upon the damned
9:69
- You hypocrites stand similitude exact of those who preceded you. They were mightier than you are and they lived in greater affluence of wealth and progeny. They enjoyed all that afforded pleasure and was of sensuous character and they neglected all that was dutiful to Allah. Similarly you enjoy all that affords pleasure and is of sensuous character in the same way as those who preceded you; you plunged into worldly ambition the same as they plunged themselves into defaming religion and disobeying Allah. You and such persons are those whose hopes shall be doomed to disappointment and their deeds to worthlessness here and Hereafter, and all of you were born to be losers
9:70
- Have they not been informed of what became of their predecessors -the people of Nuh (Noah) and those of 'Ad, the people of Thamud and those of Ibrahim(Abraham), the people of Shuaib -the Madianites- and those of Lut (Lot) - the subverted cities-. All of them received Messengers who brought them divine illumination and enlightenment. Never was Allah going to do them. injustice, but it was they who wronged themselves
9:71
- And those of the men and the women whose hearts have been touched with the divine hand are mutual friends; they have a sincere reciprocation of all their kind feelings, they enjoin what is just and right and forbid what is evil, they faithfully and regularly engage in the act of worship and give Zakat; and they obey Allah and His Messenger. These shall Allah have mercy on them and bless their souls. Indeed Allah is Azizun, and Hakimun
9:72
- Allah has promised the men and the women whose hearts reflect the image of religious and spiritual virtues, blissful gardens in the realm of heaven; gardens of surpassing beauty beneath which flow rivers flow wherein they will have passed through nature to Eternity. Allah has promised them also beautiful mansions in the Gardens of Eden, and above all they come in Allah's grace and win His satisfaction and esteem. This is indeed triumph supreme
9:73
- O you Prophet: Endeavour vigourously and strive hard against the infidels and the hypocrites and be harsh with them and forbidding. Their abode is Hell, and evil indeed is the destination
9:74
- They swear to you they never spoke slander against you, when in fact they uttered in a proud and unreserved manner the word emblematic of infidelity, and turned renegades. They meditated mischief featured in their plan to kill you on returning from battle* field, but their attempt upon your life utterly failed. And instead of impelling themselves to gratitude and gratefulness for your presence –in Madina which made Heaven endow them with prosperity, justice and suppression of selfishness; they attempted to avenge Allah's grace by returning evil for good. Nonetheless, if they return to their senses and in lowliest plight repentant stand, it will be to their advantage. But should they turn away and counsel deaf, Allah shall put thorn to the torment here and Hereafter, and no friend on earth nor a protector shall they find
9:75
- Among them were some whose vows were pledged to Allah that if His grace abounded in them, they would give in benevolence and spend in divine service and be of those whose deeds are printed with wisdom and Piety
9:76
- And when He bestowed on them of His bounty, their actions to their words did not accord. They were niggardly in divine service and they said to their money "you are my god". They turned away, refusing to heed and turned a deaf ear
9:77
- By consequence did Allah make hypocrisy go in pursuit of their hearts and overtake their will, their senses and their feelings until the Day they be in His presence and assemble before Him. This is in the train of their wickedness, featured in their disregard of the vows, pledged to Allah, and in their intentional assertion of what is false
9:78
- Do they not realize that Allah knows what their bosoms store of thoughts and feelings and what they suggest secretly to their minds and all that is not openly avowed! Do they not know that He is well acquainted with their secret counsel and with all that they whisper below their breath and that He is 'Alimun of the seen, the invisible and the unseen
9:79
- To sink deeper under the vexations of their minds, they spoke maliciously of the rich who consider Zakat is but the vehicle of prayer and consequently give Zakat and do benevolence, and of those who are not rich who contribute their effort or a part of what they earn by labour. They bombarded them with foul epithets and laughed them to scorn. Allah has mocked them and betrayed their wicked attributes and destined them to a condign punishment
9:80
- You may invoke Allah's forgiveness on their behalf O Muhammad or you may not; it is one and the same. Even if you invoke Allah's forgiveness on their behalf seventy times, never shall He forgive them. They denied Allah and His Messenger and insolently and defiantly disregarded Allah's commands; Allah does not guide the wicked to His path of righteousness
9:81
- These hypocrites, the stay-at-home, rejoiced for remaining behind, leaving the Messenger and his available troops to set forth for the battle and they hated to participate in the expedition; they disliked greatly to strive with their wealth and their lives and incited others not to join the expedition in the scorching heat of the summer. Say to them: The heat of Hell is far more intense and indeed merciless if only you have enough intelligence to reflect
9:82
- They may deride; ridicule and laugh the believers to scorn. They shall laugh only for a little but much shall they weep. They shall weep their fill and expend their endless life in Hell in weeping in requital of what their minds and souls had impelled them to do
9:83
- And if Allah destines you Muhammad to return back safe and secure from battle and the occasion arises for another expedition and any group of these hypocrites ask your permission to join you, you simply refuse and say to them: "Never shall you join me in any expedition nor shall you ever join me in combat or in any military campaign against an enemy. You rejoiced when you remained behind and stayed at home on the first occasion which was indeed crucial, and therefore, you shall again join those who remain behind"
9:84
- Nor should you pray -O Muhammad- for any of them who dies nor observe his funeral or burial rites. These are people who denied Allah and His Messenger and died with minds captivated by wickedness, moral and total depravity
9:85
- Nor should you let the splendour of their riches and their progeny excite your emotion by astonishment mingled with bewildered curiosity. Allah intends to make these attributes the cause of their suffering here below through unrest and anxiety, and their souls be disembodied captivated by disbelief
9:86
- And when a Surah is revealed from Heaven enjoining the belief in Allah and commanding action together with His Messenger in His cause you see the able and the affluent among them requesting exemption, saying to you: "Permit us to remain with those remaining behind. The stay-at-home"
9:87
- Satisfied in mind to remain behind with the stay-at-home, they rejoiced beyond a common joy; their hearts have been impressed with dullness of comprehension and therefore they do not apprehend the voice from heaven nor can they be provoked to apprehend virtu
9:88
- But the Messenger together with those who fell in line with him strove with their wealth and their lives to implement their obligation to Allah Whose purpose is the heart of their purpose. These are the recipients of Allah's grace and of all that is good to attain and it is these whom heaven hall prosper
9:89
- Allah has prepared for them in His heaven’s realm gardens of surpassing beauty beneath which rivers flow wherein they will have passed through nature to Eternity, and this is indeed triumph supreme
9:90
- Then there came those of the desert Arabs, full of false excuses, to claim exemption, while those of them who apparently conformed to Islam, but deep in heart they deny Allah and His simply sat at home. Those of them who deny Allah and do not submit to His commands shall be put to the torment laid upon the damned
9:91
- Absolved from warfare are the weak and the sick and those who are indigent lacking the necessities of life. These are excused to stay at home provided they are sincere with Allah and His Messenger, for the sincere shall always find acceptance with Allah These may contribute to the divine cause in their own way if and when they can. Allah is Ghafurun and Rahimun
9:92
- Absolved also are those who come to you O Muhammad intending sincerely to join your expedition and you tell them: "I do not have the means to carry you to the battle field" and they weep their fill due to their disappointment. They are grieved at heart over their inability to contribute to Allah's purpose which is the heart of their purpose
9:93
- But the consequence is indeed incurred on those who are rich and yet they make excuses to claim exemption and do not contribute to Allah's cause. Satisfied in mind, they are pleased to remain behind together with the stay-at- home. Allah has impressed their hearts with dullness of comprehension, and therefore, they do not apprehend the voice from Heaven nor can they be provoked to apprehend virtue. They do not know what is true and by consequence do not know what is good
9:94
- And when you return back from battle safe and secure, they apologize to you for their offence. Say to them O Muhammad: "Do not offer defensive arguments; we will not believe you; Allah has informed us of your disposition and betrayed your attributes, and Allah and His Messenger shall watch over your innocence and follies, then you shall be sent back to Him Who is 'Alimun of the invisible and of what your bosoms store of thoughts and feelings, and of the visible and the seen and of what is avowed openly and openly disclosed. There and then shall He inform you of what your minds and souls had impelled you to do"
9:95
- They will swear to you with an appeal to Allah when you return to them from battle safe and secure that what they offered you as a reason for claiming exemption was justified; they mean to be exculpated so that you do not censure them or meddle with them with hostile intent. Avoid them O Muhammad and have nothing to do with them. They are morally impure, unhallowed and defiled by sin. Their abode shall be Hell in requital of what their minds and souls have impelled them to do
9:96
- They swear to you to approve of them because of the kindness of your heart, you must realize that Allah never approves of a people who grow daily more and more wicked
9:97
- The desert Arabs -Bedouins- are more reprehensible morally and more addicted to infidelity and hypocrisy, they are the most fitted to be ignorant and unaware of the divine statutes and legislative provisions sent down to His Messenger, and Allah is 'Alimun and Hakimun
9:98
- Among these desert Arabs are some who consider spending in the cause of Allah a useless expenditure and a great loss. They pore their thoughts over evil and wish that you Muslims would be befallen with a misfortune or be wedded to a calamity. May Allah afflict them with a disaster and wed them to a calamity; Allah is Sami'un (Omnipresent with unlimited audition) and 'Alimun
9:99
- Nonetheless, among these -desert Arabs- are some whose hearts have been touched with the divine hand; they have faith in the doctrine of Islam and they faithfully recognize Allah and acknowledge the truth of the Day of Judgement. They look upon what they spend in His cause as offerings bringing them closer to Him and an inducement to His Messenger to invoke Allah's mercy and blessings on their behalf, for the invocatory prayer of the Messenger is indeed a great offering bringing them closer to Allah. He will admit their claim to His blessings and extend to them His mercy; Allah is indeed Ghafurun and Rahimun
9:100
- And the van of those who forsook their homes and emigrated with the Messenger, those who welcomed them and gave them aid and those who followed their example, are the recipients of Allah's blessings. Allah has been gracious to them. He is well pleased with them and they with Him. He has prepared for them gardens of surpassing beauty beneath which rivers flow, wherein they will have passed through nature to Eternity, and this is triumph supreme
9:101
- Some of the desert Arabs round about you, and of the a Madinite are hypocrites; to all of them hypocrisy is a way of life. They conceal their disposition and cleverly hide their nature from apprehension, you do not recognized them, but We do know them. We will make them suffer double, then be sent back to the torment laid upon the damned
9:102
- There are others who have confessed their faults; there is much good in them albeit they succumbed to evil. Some of their deeds were characterized by reverence and others by evil, Allah may give up resentment against them and pardon their offense. He accepts true repentance; Allah is indeed Ghafurun and Rahimun
9:103
- Take O Muhammad from their wealth a sum of money, an offering to set them upon the course of purity of thought and action and to impart sanctity to them, Pray Allah to forgive them; your invocatory prayer pacifies their minds and souls and frees them from mental and spiritual disturbance and from the conflict arising from their sense of guilt, Allah is Sami'un and 'Alimun
9:104
- Do they not know that Allah is He Who alone has the rightful claim to accepting repentance and the atonement made by His servants and that He accepts offerings, and acts of charity. It is only He Who relents and quits His servants all His debt and He is Rahimun
9:105
- Say to the people O Muhammad: "Work", that is to say: "Allah and His Messenger and the believers shall watch over your actions. Then you shall be sent back to Him Who is 'Alimun of the invisible and of what your bosoms store of thoughts and feelings, and of the visible and the seen and of what is avowed openly and openly disclosed. Then He shall inform you of all that your minds and your souls had impelled you to do." [this is a reconstruction of the interpretation of this ayat
9:106
- There are others the stay -at- home who are held in suspense for an expected decision; Allah may punish them or give up resentment against them and pardon their offence; And Allah is 'Alimun, and Hakimun
9:107
- Those who built a Mosque professedly from religious motives when in fact it was built from selfish and evil motives: to be a vexation to the Muslims, to establish infidelity, to be a mere nest of the conspirators against Islam to cause dissent among the Muslims and set them at variance and to be an outpost for the warriors who fought against Allah and His Messenger before. They swear to you O Muhammad that they only mean good, but Allah knows well and bears witness that they are liars
9:108
- Never set foot in it, nor perform an act of worship therein. A Mosque built on piety, obedience to Allah and the intention of serving Allah's purpose from the first day merits visiting for the purpose of worship; it is the most appropriate and the most worthy place for the purpose. Therein are people who aspire to physical purity and the purity of their souls and their minds. And Allah likes those who are physically, morally and spiritually pure
9:109
- Is he who has built his structure on a foundation of piety and the gratification of Allah better or the one who has built his structure on a foundation of impiety featured by a building founded on an undermined sandcliff which collapses and crumbles away in the fire of Hell! And Allah does not guide to His path of righteousness the wrongful of actions
9:110
- Their building which, crumbled to pieces in the fire of Hell shall not cease to be the cause of mental pain, sorrow and distress to their hearts, alarm and suspicion to their conscience until the day their hearts are crushed with sorrow and the day they die, and Allah is 'Alimun and Hakimun
9:111
- Allah has bought from those whose hearts have been touched with the divine hand their lives and their wealth in exchange for Paradise. They strive in His cause whether they gain victory or be martyrized in His cause. It is a solemn promise Allah has pledged in AL-Tawrah (the Torah), AL-Injil (the Gospel) and the Quran, and who can honour and fulfill his promise better than Allah. Therefore, you may rejoice O Muslims at the bargain you have made to your advantage; This is indeed triumph supreme
9:112
- Those who have the distinguished attributes of
9:113
- it is not in conformity with reason wherefore the Prophet together with those whose hearts have been touched with the divine hand make an invocatory prayer asking Allah's mercy on those Pagans who died with minds captivated in disbelief in Allah, even though they be of the same kin especially after they have been assured by Allah that such persons are destined to the abode in Hell
9:114
- The invocatory prayer made by Ibrahim on behalf of his father was in fulfillment of a promise he had made to him. But when he realized that his father was an avowed enemy to Allah, he declared his innocence of his ills and of his fatherhood. Indeed Ibrahim constantly implored Allah with touching entreaties, and forbearance was an attribute of his
9:115
- Nor would Allah lead, people into error after He has guided them lo His path of righteousness until He has explicitly made known to them what they must avoid and they did not, Allah is indeed 'Alimun (Omniscient) of all in all
9:116
- To Allah belongs the Absolute sovereignty of the heavens and the earth; He gives life and causes animate existence and He occasions death and deprives of animate existence. And besides Allah you people have no tutelary protector nor is- there anyone who affords you help
9:117
- Allah has accorded mercy to the Prophet and his troops who followed him and united in one body behind him at the hour of distress throughout the difficult days of the expedition* -scorching heat and inadequate supplies- when some of them lost heart through incipient weakness, and were about to lose field. Allah was merciful to them; He sustained them spiritually and upheld their pined bodies and minds after He has confirmed their true inclination and the truth of their firm disposition. He was gracious to them and indeed Rahimun. * Tabu
9:118
- As for the three affluent and able men, yet thoughtless, slack and wanting in strength of will who were boycotted and excluded from the life of the community to the end that, vast as it is, the earth seemed drawn together and constricted and their souls constrained. Poor in spirit, they realized through self- reproach that they would not and could not flee from Allah but could find solace in coming back to Him. He gave up resentment against them and pardoned their offense so that they would in lowliest plight repentant stand. Allah is AL-Tawab (Relenting) Who accepts repentance and the atonement made by the people; and He is AL-Rahim (Merciful)
9:119
- O you who have conformed to Islam: entertain the profound reverence dutiful to Allah and be an integral part of those who are strongly and habitually disposed to tell the truth and their words and their deeds together accord
9:120
- It was not right nor was it excusable that the Muslim residents of Madina and those of the desert Arabs round about them desert the Messenger in his expedition and remain behind, nor was there any cause inducing them to prefer their own lives to his. The conclusion of all this is that no thirst, hardship or hunger they suffer in Allah's cause or a scheme they design to outwit and anger the infidels and obtain an advantage over them or whether they gain victory or suffer loss but it is credited to them as a righteous deed; Allah does not annul, withhold or withdraw the fruit which people are entitled to reap from deeds of wisdom and piety
9:121
- Nor do they spend in divine service little or much nor journey across a valley to strive in the cause of Allah but is credited to their account so that He requites them for every deed at the gauge of the best of what they accomplished
9:122
- Nor should those who conformed to Islam go forth all at once to the Messenger, but only a group from each community should go to learn from him practical divinity and jurisprudence and convey back such divine knowledge to their people and caution them against provoking Allah's indignation that they may heed
9:123
- O you who have conformed to Islam: wage war against the infidels who dwell in the adjacent towns round about you; they are a source of danger to you. Let them feel that you are rigorous, unbending, firm and stern but you must realize that Allah upholds those who entertain the profound reverence dutiful to Him
9:124
- When a Surah is sent down, some of them -the hypocrites- insolently and mockingly say to each other: who among you has this Surah impressed his heart with religious and spiritual virtues? Indeed those whose hearts have been touched with the divine hand are receptive to divine knowledge; it gives them moral support and confidence and increases their force of reason; their hearts become impressed with the image of religious and spiritual virtues. Stirred by emotion, they rejoice beyond a common joy
9:125
- Whereas it -the Surah- adds doubt to those whose ill-natured hearts reflect the morbidity inherent in their innermost being and gives them occasion to uncertainty and increases the degree of their infidelity. They will depart life captivated in disbelief
9:126
- Do they not perceive by physical and mental sight what is below the surface! They are subjected to a severe test and a strain and they are put to straits once or twice every year that they may hopefully in lowliest plight repentant stand, but they neither repent nor do they reflect
9:127
- And when a Surah is sent down, they look at one another and express their thoughts in words, thus: "Does anyone see you", they ask, and they take their leave. May Allah turn their hearts and thoughts away from the truth and close their hearts' ears to admonition; they lack diligence and they are a people who have no comprehension of Allah nor of the spoken discourse of reason narrated by His Messenger
9:128
- O you people: There has come to you a Messenger raised in your midst and related to you by kinship. He is grieved at heart and affected with deep sorrow to see you perfect your ruin and be destroyed by your iniquities which oppress his feelings and his mind. You are his object of care and deep concern with view to guiding you to the path of righteousness, and he is kind, tender and merciful to those whose hearts have been touched with the divine hand
9:129
- Nonetheless, if they O Muhammad should close their hearts' ears and direct their thoughts away from you, then you simply express in words the invocatory prayer, thus: " Enough is Allah for me; in Him do I find the answer to my purpose, my hopes and my needs; there is no Ilah but He; in Him I trust and He is the Absolute Sovereign of the Great Throne of dominion, authority, grace and mercy

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IslamAwakened.com Qur'an Tafsir of Surah at-Taubah - Repentance as rendered by Al-muntakhab fi tafsir al-Qur'an al-Karim