Muslim99Muslim99
← Tafsir library

9. At-Tawba

The Repentance · Medinan · 129 ayahs

سُورَةُ التَّوۡبَةِ

Reading Al-Mukhtasar in Interpreting the Noble Qur'an by Tafsir Center for Quranic Studies

Ayahs 71–80 of 129

71

وَٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ وَٱلْمُؤْمِنَٰتُ بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلِيَآءُ بَعْضٍۢ ۚ يَأْمُرُونَ بِٱلْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ ٱلْمُنكَرِ وَيُقِيمُونَ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَيُؤْتُونَ ٱلزَّكَوٰةَ وَيُطِيعُونَ ٱللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُۥٓ ۚ أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ سَيَرْحَمُهُمُ ٱللَّهُ ۗ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌۭ

The believing men and believing women are allies of one another. They enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and establish prayer and give zakah and obey Allah and His Messenger. Those - Allah will have mercy upon them. Indeed, Allah is Exalted in Might and Wise.

The believers, men and women, are helpers to one another, because of the faith that unites them. They command good – which is everything loved by Allah, represented by the various forms of obedience, such as accepting His Oneness and the ritual prayer – and they prohibit evil – which is everything hated by Allah, and includes sins such as disbelief and dealing in usury in financial transactions. They perform the ritual prayer in a complete manner, and they obey Allah and His Messenger. People with these praiseworthy qualities will receive Allah’s mercy. Allah is Mighty and nothing can overcome Him. He is Wise in His creating, handling of matters and establishment of laws.

72

وَعَدَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَٱلْمُؤْمِنَٰتِ جَنَّٰتٍۢ تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهَا ٱلْأَنْهَٰرُ خَٰلِدِينَ فِيهَا وَمَسَٰكِنَ طَيِّبَةًۭ فِى جَنَّٰتِ عَدْنٍۢ ۚ وَرِضْوَٰنٌۭ مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ أَكْبَرُ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ هُوَ ٱلْفَوْزُ ٱلْعَظِيمُ

Allah has promised the believing men and believing women gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they abide eternally, and pleasant dwellings in gardens of perpetual residence; but approval from Allah is greater. It is that which is the great attainment.

Allah has promised those men and women who have faith in Him that He will enter them, on the Day of Judgement, into gardens with rivers flowing beneath their palaces, where they will live eternally. In these gardens, they will not die and their delight will never end. Yet the pleasure that Allah will give to them will be greater than all of that. This reward is the great success which no other success can equal.

73

يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّبِىُّ جَٰهِدِ ٱلْكُفَّارَ وَٱلْمُنَٰفِقِينَ وَٱغْلُظْ عَلَيْهِمْ ۚ وَمَأْوَىٰهُمْ جَهَنَّمُ ۖ وَبِئْسَ ٱلْمَصِيرُ

O Prophet, fight against the disbelievers and the hypocrites and be harsh upon them. And their refuge is Hell, and wretched is the destination.

O Messenger, strive against the disbelievers by fighting against them with the sword, and strive against the hypocrites with well-expressed arguments. Be hard with both groups because that is what they deserve. Their resting place on the Day of Judgement will be Hell. What an evil place they will end up in!

74

يَحْلِفُونَ بِٱللَّهِ مَا قَالُوا۟ وَلَقَدْ قَالُوا۟ كَلِمَةَ ٱلْكُفْرِ وَكَفَرُوا۟ بَعْدَ إِسْلَٰمِهِمْ وَهَمُّوا۟ بِمَا لَمْ يَنَالُوا۟ ۚ وَمَا نَقَمُوٓا۟ إِلَّآ أَنْ أَغْنَىٰهُمُ ٱللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُۥ مِن فَضْلِهِۦ ۚ فَإِن يَتُوبُوا۟ يَكُ خَيْرًۭا لَّهُمْ ۖ وَإِن يَتَوَلَّوْا۟ يُعَذِّبْهُمُ ٱللَّهُ عَذَابًا أَلِيمًۭا فِى ٱلدُّنْيَا وَٱلْءَاخِرَةِ ۚ وَمَا لَهُمْ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ مِن وَلِىٍّۢ وَلَا نَصِيرٍۢ

They swear by Allah that they did not say [anything against the Prophet] while they had said the word of disbelief and disbelieved after their [pretense of] Islam and planned that which they were not to attain. And they were not resentful except [for the fact] that Allah and His Messenger had enriched them of His bounty. So if they repent, it is better for them; but if they turn away, Allah will punish them with a painful punishment in this world and the Hereafter. And there will not be for them on earth any protector or helper.

The hypocrites swear a false oath by Allah that they did not say the words of insults about you and your religion that have reached you. But they did say those things which showed them to be disbelievers after they had announced that they have faith. They had intended to assassinate the Prophet (peace be upon him), but were unsuccessful. They only disliked something that should not have been disliked!: that Allah had graciously favoured the Prophet and the believers by blessing them with the gains of war. If they turn to Allah and repent from their hypocrisy, their repentance will be better for them than remaining in their hypocrisy. Yet if they do not repent to Allah, He will punish them with a painful punishment in this world, by having them killed or taken prisoner, and He will also punish them in the Afterlife in the fire of Hell, and they will not have anyone to save them from the punishment.

75

۞ وَمِنْهُم مَّنْ عَٰهَدَ ٱللَّهَ لَئِنْ ءَاتَىٰنَا مِن فَضْلِهِۦ لَنَصَّدَّقَنَّ وَلَنَكُونَنَّ مِنَ ٱلصَّٰلِحِينَ

And among them are those who made a covenant with Allah, [saying], "If He should give us from His bounty, we will surely spend in charity, and we will surely be among the righteous."

Some of the hypocrites have made a promise with Allah, saying: If Allah gives us from His bounty, we will certainly give charity to the poor and we will be of the righteous ones whose actions are good.

76

فَلَمَّآ ءَاتَىٰهُم مِّن فَضْلِهِۦ بَخِلُوا۟ بِهِۦ وَتَوَلَّوا۟ وَّهُم مُّعْرِضُونَ

But when he gave them from His bounty, they were stingy with it and turned away while they refused.

When Allah, may He be glorified, gave them from His bounty, they did not fulfil the promise they made with Him. Instead, they became miserly and did not give any charity, and they turned away from accepting the faith with hatred.

77

فَأَعْقَبَهُمْ نِفَاقًۭا فِى قُلُوبِهِمْ إِلَىٰ يَوْمِ يَلْقَوْنَهُۥ بِمَآ أَخْلَفُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ مَا وَعَدُوهُ وَبِمَا كَانُوا۟ يَكْذِبُونَ

So He penalized them with hypocrisy in their hearts until the Day they will meet Him - because they failed Allah in what they promised Him and because they [habitually] used to lie.

Allah therefore firmly established hypocrisy in their hearts until the Day of Judgement, as a punishment for their breaking their promise with Allah and for their lying.

78

أَلَمْ يَعْلَمُوٓا۟ أَنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَعْلَمُ سِرَّهُمْ وَنَجْوَىٰهُمْ وَأَنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَلَّٰمُ ٱلْغُيُوبِ

Did they not know that Allah knows their secrets and their private conversations and that Allah is the Knower of the unseen?

Do the hypocrites not know that Allah knows the plots they keep secret in their meetings and that Allah, may He be glorified, is the Knower of all Ghaib things? No action of theirs is hidden from Him and He will repay them for that.

79

ٱلَّذِينَ يَلْمِزُونَ ٱلْمُطَّوِّعِينَ مِنَ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ فِى ٱلصَّدَقَٰتِ وَٱلَّذِينَ لَا يَجِدُونَ إِلَّا جُهْدَهُمْ فَيَسْخَرُونَ مِنْهُمْ ۙ سَخِرَ ٱللَّهُ مِنْهُمْ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ

Those who criticize the contributors among the believers concerning [their] charities and [criticize] the ones who find nothing [to spend] except their effort, so they ridicule them - Allah will ridicule them, and they will have a painful punishment.

Those who find fault with the believers who voluntarily give a little charity, who only find a little that they are able to give, and they poke fun at them – saying: Of what use is their charity? – Allah mocks them in return for their mocking the believers; and they will receive a painful punishment.

80

ٱسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ أَوْ لَا تَسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ إِن تَسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ سَبْعِينَ مَرَّةًۭ فَلَن يَغْفِرَ ٱللَّهُ لَهُمْ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ كَفَرُوا۟ بِٱللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِۦ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ لَا يَهْدِى ٱلْقَوْمَ ٱلْفَٰسِقِينَ

Ask forgiveness for them, [O Muhammad], or do not ask forgiveness for them. If you should ask forgiveness for them seventy times - never will Allah forgive them. That is because they disbelieved in Allah and His Messenger, and Allah does not guide the defiantly disobedient people.

Allah will never forgive the hypocrites, even if the Messenger was to ask for their forgiveness, because they do not deserve to be forgiven, nno matter how much forgiveness is sought for them. They disbelieved in Allah and His Messenger and they deliberately oppose Allah’s sacred law.

Commentary: Al-Mukhtasar in Interpreting the Noble Qur'an by Tafsir Center for Quranic Studies. Qur'an text and translation via AlQuran Cloud.