At-Tawbah 9:73–78

In the last verse (73): جَاهِدِ الْكُفَّارَ‌ وَالْمُنَافِقِينَ وَاغْلُظْ عَلَيْهِمْ (carry out Jihad against the disbelievers and hypocrites and be strict with them), the Holy Prophet ﷺ has been commanded to wage Jihad against disbelievers and hypocrites both and to be strict in their case. The need to fight against belligerent disbelievers is self-evident. But, the meaning of carrying out Jihad against the hypocrites is explained by the very conduct of the Holy Prophet ﷺ . It proves that Jihad against them signifies vocal Jihad through which they should be induced to understand the veracity of Islam, start to feel for it and thus become sincere in their adherence to Islam. (Qurtubi and Mazhari) Please bear in mind that the real meaning of the word: غلظ (ghilaz) used in: واَغلظ (and be strict with them) is that one should not show any leniency or grant any concessions in taking a course of action which the person ad-dressed deserves. This word is used as an antonym to رأفۃ (ra'fah) which means mercy and kindheartedness.

In his comments, Imam al-Qurtubi has said that the use of the word: ghilzah (strictness) at this place means that leniency should not be shown and concessions should not be granted when the injunctions of Sharl'ah are enforced on them. This approach has nothing to do with being vocally strict - because, that is against the favored practice of the blessed prophets. They are never harsh in speech, nor do they curse and swear. In Hadith, the Holy Prophet ﷺ is reported to have said: اِذ ازَنَت اَمَۃُ اَحَدِکُم فَلیَجِلدُھَا الحَدّ ولا یُشَرِّب عَلَیھَا (If a bondwoman of anyone among you commits fornication, just enforce the Islamic legal punishment for it on her - but, do not denounce her verbally) (Qurtubi)

Alluding to the persona of the Holy Prophet ﷺ - the image he exuded in his presence before people - Allah Ta` ala has Himself said: وَلَوْ كُنتَ فَظًّا غَلِيظَ الْقَلْبِ لَانفَضُّوا مِنْ حَوْلِكَ (and had you been rough and hard hearted, they would have dispersed from around you - 3:159). Then, there is no evidence even from the actual dealings of the Holy Prophet ﷺ that he ever demonstrated any harsh attitude in conversation or address before disbelievers and hypocrites.

A warning signal

It is certainly a matter of regret that the attitude of harshness in address and conversation was something Islam never took to even against Kuffar, the rigid and hostile disbelievers. But, contemporary Muslims would not bat an eye and use it against other Muslims - not to say much about many of those who would congratulate themselves for having done this as some service to their religion. Innalillah ...

Commentary

In the first verse: يَحْلِفُونَ بِاللَّهِ (They swear by Allah -74), the text reverts to the hypocrites who keep uttering words of infidelity in their gatherings but, should Muslims come to know about that, they would promptly declare on oath that they had nothing to do with it. Giving the background in which this verse was revealed, Al-Baghawi reports that the Holy Prophet ﷺ gave an address on the occasion of the battle of Tabuk. He talked about the sorry state of affairs the hypocrites were in and warned them of their sad end. Also present there was Jullas, a hypocrite. When he returned to his people, he said ` if whatever Muhammad says is true, then, we are worse than donkeys.' By chance, a Sahabi whose name was ` Amir ibn Qays heard the comment. He told him that ` there is no doubt about what the Holy Prophet ﷺ has said for it is true and you are really worse than donkeys.'

When the Holy Prophet ﷺ returned to Madinah back from his trip to Tabuk, ` Amir ibn Qays told him about this event. But, Jullas flatly disowned what he had said. On top of that, he charged ` Amir ibn Qays of having accused him falsely. The Holy Prophet ﷺ ordered both of them to stand close to the Mimbar of the Nabiyy (the stepped platform used to deliver khutbah in the masjid originally occupied by the Holy Prophet ﷺ and traditionally regarded as a symbol of his message) and take an oath. Jullas was quick to take a false oath to the effect that he never said that and that ` Amir was lying. When it was ` Amir's turn, he took his oath. Then, he raised his hands of prayer before Allah saying, ` 0 Allah, let Your Messenger know about the reality of this matter through a revelation to him.' The Holy Prophet ﷺ said 'Amin (amen) following his prayer and so did all Muslims present there. These people had yet to move from there when came Angel Jibra'il (علیہ السلام) with the revelation which included this verse.

When Jullas heard this verse, he stood up immediately and started saying, ` ya rasulallah, now I confess that I was the one in the wrong and that which was said by ` Amir was the truth. But, this very verse has also given me the right of making Taubah (repentance). Hence, I seek forgiveness from Allah and repent for what I did earlier.' The Holy Prophet ﷺ accepted his Taubah after which he stayed firm in it and things turned towards the better in his life. (Mazhari)

Some commentators have referred to similar events as the back-ground of the revelation of this verse - especially as this verse includes the sentence: وَهَمُّوا بِمَا لَمْ يَنَالُوا (and had intended what they could not achieve -74). This sentence seems to suggest that the verse is connected with some event when the hypocrites had hatched some conspiracy against the Holy Prophet ﷺ and his Muslim followers in which they could not succeed. For example, there is a fairly well known incident that came to pass during the return from this very battle of Tabuk. Twelve men from among the hypocrites sat in ambush behind a mountain pass with the intention of taking the Holy Prophet ﷺ by surprise and kill him. Angel Jibra'il (علیہ السلام) informed him of their intention. He took a different route and their conspiracy went to dust.

For that matter, several other events of this nature are also on record. But, there is no element of contradiction or improbability in the likelihood that all those events are being referred to through this verse.

The second verse: وَمِنْهُم مَّنْ عَاهَدَ اللَّهَ (And among them there are those who made a pledge with Allah - 75) is also connected with a particular event which has been reported by Ibn Jarir, Ibn Abi Hatim, Ibn Marduwayh, Al-Tabarani and Al-Baihaqi on the authority of a narration from Sayyidna Abu Umamah Bahili ؓ . According to this report, a person called Tha'labah ibn Hatib al-Ansari presented himself before the Holy Prophet ﷺ and requested him to pray that he becomes rich. He said, ` Is it that you do not like my way? By the Being that holds my life in his His hands, if I had wished, mountains of Madinah would have turned into solid gold following behind me on my walkways. But, I do not like being that wealthy.' The man went away. But, he returned later and repeated his request for the same prayer with the pledge that, should he get the wealth prayed for, he would give every deserving person his share from it. The Holy Prophet ﷺ made the prayer. The effect of the prayer showed up in an unprecedented increase in the number of goats he owned. When the number increased further, the space in Madinah became too small for him. So, he moved out into the outskirts from where he used to come to Madinah where he offered the Sa1ah of Zuhr and ` Asr with the Holy Prophet ﷺ As for the rest of the prayers, he used to perform these in the wilderness where his herd of goats, his prized possession, was located.

Then, this very flock of goats became so large that even that area on the outskirts became insufficient. He moved farther away from Madinah coming there only on Fridays for the Jumu'ah Sa1ah. As for the five daily prayers, he did them where he was stationed. Then came further increases in his wealth and he had to leave that spot too, only to go far away from Madinah where he sat deprived of his Jumu'ah and Jama'ah both.

After the passage of some time, the Holy Prophet ﷺ asked people about him. They told him that his ` wealth' had increased to such proportions that he had to go far away from Madinah and that is why he is not seen in the city. On hearing this, the Holy Prophet ﷺ said: ویحَ ثَعلَبَۃ (Alas for Thalabah) three times.

By chance, it was the time when came the revelation of the verse of Sadaqat (60) where the Holy Prophet ﷺ has been commanded to collect Sadaqat from Muslims - (خُذْ مِنْ أَمْوَالِهِمْ صدقَۃً ). He had the whole law of Sadaqat committed to writing, appointed two persons as the collectors of Sadaqah and sent them to collect the Sadaqat due on livestock owned by Muslims. They were ordered to go to Tha'labah ibn Hatib as well, and to another person from the tribe of Bani Sulaym also.

When the two collectors reached Tha'labah and presented the order of the Holy Prophet ﷺ he said that this thing had be-come a sort of Jizyah which is taken from non-Muslims. Then he hedged and asked them to leave on that occasion, however, they could call on him on their way back. The two of them left.

Something different happened in the case of the other person from the tribe of Bahl Sulaym. When he heard about the order of the Holy Prophet ﷺ he himself called on the two emissaries of his master carrying with him the best from out of his livestock of camels and goats, precisely according to his Zakatable nisab of Sadaqah. They told him that they have orders not to pick out the best among animals, in fact, they were supposed to take the average ones, therefore, they could not take these. The man from Bahl Sulaym insisted that it was his pleasure to present those very animals and requested that they be accepted as they were.

After that, when these two emissaries had completed their circuit of Sadaqah collection, they returned to Tha'labah. He told them that he wanted to see that Law of Sadaqah they were talking about. He looked at it and said no more than what he had said earlier - ` this thing has become a sort of Jizyah that should not be taken from Muslims.' ` All right,' he said, ` you can go for now. I have to think about it first. I will decide later.'

When these two gentlemen reached Madinah, they went to see the Holy Prophet ﷺ . At that time he, before hearing their report on the mission, repeated the words he had said earlier: یَا وَیحَ ثَعلَبَۃ یَا وَیحَ ثَعلَبَۃ یَا وَیحَ ثَعلَبَۃ (Alas for Tha'labah). He said it three times. After that, he was pleased to hear about the Sulaymi deal and prayed for him. Thereupon, came the verse: وَمِنْهُم مَّنْ عَاهَدَ اللَّهَ (And among them there are those who made a pledge with Allah - 75). It means: ` if Allah gave them wealth, they would give out alms and charities and fulfill the rights of all de-serving people, the relatives and the poor, as done by the righteous people of the community. But, when Allah blessed them with wealth, out of His grace, they became misers overnight and turned away from their pledge of obedience to Allah and His Messenger.'

Verse 77: فَأَعْقَبَهُمْ نِفَاقًا فِي قُلُوبِهِمْ (So Allah, in turn, put hypocrisy in their hearts) points out to its cause which lies in their lying and pledge breaking. As a consequence, Allah made the hypocrisy of their hearts become deep and firm. Now, they would just not have the ability to make Taubah itself.

A serious note of warning

From here we learn that there are occasions when the curse of evil deeds assumes alarming proportions, so much so that one is deprived of the very ability (taufiq) of making Taubah. May Allah protect us from this misfortune!

Let us now go back to the detailed narrative of Sayyidna Abu Umamah ؓ mentioned a little earlier. Ibn Jarir writes at the end of it: When the Holy Prophet ﷺ said Was for Tha'labah' three times, some of his relatives were present in the gathering. When they heard it, one of them immediately traveled to see Tha’ labah. When he reached there, he reproached him for his behavior while informing him that it has caused the revelation of a particular verse of the Qur'an. This made Tha'labah nervous. He reached Madinah and requested the Holy Prophet ﷺ that his Sadaqah may be accepted. He said that Allah Ta` ala had told him not to accept his Sadaqah. Hearing this, Tha'labah went crazy with disappointment and literally started throwing dust on his head.

The Holy Prophet ﷺ said, ` this is something you have chosen to do on your own. I ordered you and you did not obey. Now, your Sadaqah cannot be accepted.' Tha'labah returned disappointed. Then, some days later, the Holy Prophet ﷺ departed from this mortal world and Sayyidna Abu Bakr ؓ became the Khalifah. Tha'labah came to Sayyidna Abu Bakr ؓ and requested that he should accept his sadaqah. Sayyidna Abu Bakr ؓ said, ` when the Holy Prophet ﷺ did not accept it, how can I do it?'

Then, after the demise of Sayyidna Abu Bakr ؓ Tha'labah came to Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ عن . He made the same request and got the same answer from him, as was given by Sayyidna Abu Bakr ؓ عن . Again, he submitted this request to Sayyidna Uthman ؓ during his period of Khilafah. He too refused it. It was during the tenure of the Khilafah of Sayyidna Uthman ؓ ، that Tha'labah died. We seek the protection of Allah from all evil deeds. (Mazhari)

A question and its answer

When Tha'labah had submitted in repentance, the question is why was his Taubah not accepted? The reason is evident. The Holy Prophet ﷺ was informed through revelation that he was not making his Taubah with absolute sincerity. He had hypocrisy concealed in his heart. He was simply trying to deceive Muslims for the time being only to put matters right between them. Therefore, it was not acceptable. And when the Holy Prophet I himself declared him to be a hypocrite, the Khulafa' who succeeded him were left with no right to accept his Sadaqah - because, being a Muslim is a condition for Zakah. Now, after the Holy Prophet JI no one knows the hypocrisy hidden in the heart of a person, therefore, the rule to follow in future is: Anyone who makes Taubah and confesses to his Islam and 'Iman should be treated as Muslims are treated - no matter what lies in his heart. (Bayn a1-Qur'n)