At-Tawbah 9:94
The Repentance · Juz 11 · Page 202
يَعۡتَذِرُونَ إِلَيۡكُمۡ إِذَا رَجَعۡتُمۡ إِلَيۡهِمۡۚ قُل لَّا تَعۡتَذِرُواْ لَن نُّؤۡمِنَ لَكُمۡ قَدۡ نَبَّأَنَا ٱللَّهُ مِنۡ أَخۡبَارِكُمۡۚ وَسَيَرَى ٱللَّهُ عَمَلَكُمۡ وَرَسُولُهُۥ ثُمَّ تُرَدُّونَ إِلَىٰ عَٰلِمِ ٱلۡغَيۡبِ وَٱلشَّهَٰدَةِ فَيُنَبِّئُكُم بِمَا كُنتُمۡ تَعۡمَلُونَ ٩٤
They will make excuses to you when you have returned to them. Say, "Make no excuse - never will we believe you. Allāh has already informed us of your news [i.e., affair]. And Allāh will observe your deeds, and [so will] His Messenger; then you will be taken back to the Knower of the unseen and the witnessed,1 and He will inform you of what you used to do."
1 translator’s note
- See footnotes to 6:73. ↩
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Tazkirul Quran
Brief · Short modern reflections on each passage.
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Commentary on 9:92–94
Now, who are those fortunate people whose inaction is regarded as action and who are therefore rewarded for it? They are those who, while not physically participating because of some incapacity, give proof of three things—heartfelt solidarity with the participants (nush); doing at least by word of mouth whatever is possible for them to do (ihsan); and, sorrowfulness about their shortcomings that is so intense that it gushes out in the form of tears (huzn). If an individual relegates something to an unimportant category in his life and does so again and again, it can happen that the very consciousness of its importance vanishes from his heart. The demands of that task keep coming before him, but there being no urge left in his heart to accomplish it, he fails to come to grips with it. This growing insensitivity is termed in the Quran ‘the sealing of hearts’. ‘God has already informed us about you.’ This statement makes it clear that the hypocrites referred to here are those present at the time of revelation of the Quran, that is, the Prophet’s contemporaries. According to Tabaqat ibn Sa‘d, there were eighty individuals about whose hypocritical character God had informed the Prophet through His revelation. However, in spite of this knowledge, the behaviour which the companions of the Prophet were allowed to adopt towards them was to overlook and ignore them. The issue of meting out punishment to them was kept by God in His own Hands. However, the only severity shown to the hypocrites of Madinah was that the excuses they offered were not accepted. So much so that when Tha‘laba ibn Hatib Ansari, a hyprocite, offered zakat, it was not accepted from him. ‘Abdullah ibn Ubayy’s son wanted to take drastic action against his father for his hypocritical actions, but the Prophet restrained him, saying, ‘Leave him. By God, as long as he is amongst us, we will treat him properly.’ (Tabaqat ibn Sa‘d).
Page 202
9:94
يَعۡتَذِرُونَ إِلَيۡكُمۡ إِذَا رَجَعۡتُمۡ إِلَيۡهِمۡۚ قُل لَّا تَعۡتَذِرُواْ لَن نُّؤۡمِنَ لَكُمۡ قَدۡ نَبَّأَنَا ٱللَّهُ مِنۡ أَخۡبَارِكُمۡۚ وَسَيَرَى ٱللَّهُ عَمَلَكُمۡ وَرَسُولُهُۥ ثُمَّ تُرَدُّونَ إِلَىٰ عَٰلِمِ ٱلۡغَيۡبِ وَٱلشَّهَٰدَةِ فَيُنَبِّئُكُم بِمَا كُنتُمۡ تَعۡمَلُونَ ٩٤
They will make excuses to you when you have returned to them. Say, "Make no excuse - never will we believe you. Allāh has already informed us of your news [i.e., affair]. And Allāh will observe your deeds, and [so will] His Messenger; then you will be taken back to the Knower of the unseen and the witnessed,1 and He will inform you of what you used to do."
1 translator’s note
- See footnotes to 6:73. ↩
9:95
سَيَحۡلِفُونَ بِٱللَّهِ لَكُمۡ إِذَا ٱنقَلَبۡتُمۡ إِلَيۡهِمۡ لِتُعۡرِضُواْ عَنۡهُمۡۖ فَأَعۡرِضُواْ عَنۡهُمۡۖ إِنَّهُمۡ رِجۡسٞۖ وَمَأۡوَىٰهُمۡ جَهَنَّمُ جَزَآءَۢ بِمَا كَانُواْ يَكۡسِبُونَ ٩٥
They will swear by Allāh to you when you return to them that you would leave them alone. So leave them alone; indeed they are evil; and their refuge is Hell as recompense for what they had been earning.
9:96
يَحۡلِفُونَ لَكُمۡ لِتَرۡضَوۡاْ عَنۡهُمۡۖ فَإِن تَرۡضَوۡاْ عَنۡهُمۡ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يَرۡضَىٰ عَنِ ٱلۡقَوۡمِ ٱلۡفَٰسِقِينَ ٩٦
They swear to you so that you might be satisfied with them. But if you should be satisfied with them - indeed, Allāh is not satisfied with a defiantly disobedient people.
9:97
ٱلۡأَعۡرَابُ أَشَدُّ كُفۡرٗا وَنِفَاقٗا وَأَجۡدَرُ أَلَّا يَعۡلَمُواْ حُدُودَ مَآ أَنزَلَ ٱللَّهُ عَلَىٰ رَسُولِهِۦۗ وَٱللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ حَكِيمٞ ٩٧
The bedouins are stronger in disbelief and hypocrisy and more likely not to know the limits of what [laws] Allāh has revealed to His Messenger. And Allāh is Knowing and Wise.
9:98
وَمِنَ ٱلۡأَعۡرَابِ مَن يَتَّخِذُ مَا يُنفِقُ مَغۡرَمٗا وَيَتَرَبَّصُ بِكُمُ ٱلدَّوَآئِرَۚ عَلَيۡهِمۡ دَآئِرَةُ ٱلسَّوۡءِۗ وَٱللَّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٞ ٩٨
And among the bedouins are some who consider what they spend as a loss1 and await for you turns of misfortune. Upon them will be a misfortune of evil. And Allāh is Hearing and Knowing.
1 translator’s note
- i.e., a fine or penalty. ↩
9:99
وَمِنَ ٱلۡأَعۡرَابِ مَن يُؤۡمِنُ بِٱللَّهِ وَٱلۡيَوۡمِ ٱلۡأٓخِرِ وَيَتَّخِذُ مَا يُنفِقُ قُرُبَٰتٍ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ وَصَلَوَٰتِ ٱلرَّسُولِۚ أَلَآ إِنَّهَا قُرۡبَةٞ لَّهُمۡۚ سَيُدۡخِلُهُمُ ٱللَّهُ فِي رَحۡمَتِهِۦٓۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَفُورٞ رَّحِيمٞ ٩٩
But among the bedouins are some who believe in Allāh and the Last Day and consider what they spend as means of nearness to Allāh and of [obtaining] invocations of the Messenger. Unquestionably, it is a means of nearness for them. Allāh will admit them to His mercy. Indeed, Allāh is Forgiving and Merciful.