Surah 9. Al-Tawba

BEHOLD, the number of months, in the sight of God, is twelve months, [laid down] in God's decree on the day when He created the heavens and the earth; [and] out of these, four are sacred:⁵³ this is the ever-true law [of God]. Do not, then, sin against yourselves with regard to these [months].⁵⁴ And fight against those who ascribe divinity to aught beside God, all together - just as they fight against you, [O believers,] all together⁵⁵ - and know that God is with those who are conscious of Him.

  - Mohammad Asad

This connects with the subsequent reference to fighting against "those who ascribe divinity to aught beside God" (see next note). The months spoken of here are lunar months, progressively rotating through the seasons of the solar year (see surah {2}, note [165]). Since reckoning by the easily observable lunar months is more natural than by the arbitrarily fixed months of the solar year, it is described in this passage as "the ever-true law (din) [of God]". The four "sacred months" during which warfare was considered blasphemous in pre-Islamic Arabia - a view which has been confirmed by Islam (see note [6] above) - are Muharram, Rajab, Dhu 'l-Qa'dah and Dhu 'l-Hijjah.

In their endeavour to obviate certain disadvantages for their trade caused by the seasonal rotation of the lunar months, the pagan Arabs used to intercalate a thirteenth month in the third, sixth and eighth year of every eight-year period, with a view to making the lunar calendar more or less stationary, and thus roughly corresponding to the solar year. An acceptance of this unwarranted intercalation by the Muslims would have tied the Mecca pilgrimage as well as the fast of Ramadan to fixed seasons, and would thus have made, permanently, the performance of these religious duties either too exacting or too easy, and in either case the believers would have been offending against the spiritual purpose underlying these duties - which is the meaning of the words "do not sin against yourselves with regard to these [months]": i.e., by following, without any warrant from God, a custom devised by "those who ascribe divinity to aught beside Him", to whom the sequence refers.

I.e., "just as all of them are, as it were, united against you in their rejection of the truth, be united against them in your readiness for self-sacrifice". As regards the circumstances in which the Muslims are authorized to make war against unbelievers, see the earlier parts of this surah, and especially verses {12-13}, as well as {2:190-194}, where the general principles relating to war are laid down.

The number of months ordained by Allah is twelve in the Book of Allah since the day He created the heavens and the earth. Of these, four are sacred; that is the established principle of Deen. Therefore, do not wrong yourselves by violating them. But you may fight against the mushrikin in all these months if they fight against you in all of them. Know that Allah is with the righteous.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Lo! the number of the months with Allah is twelve months by Allah's ordinance in the day that He created the heavens and the earth. Four of them are sacred: that is the right religion. So wrong not yourselves in them. And wage war on all the idolaters as they are waging war on all of you. And know that Allah is with those who keep their duty (unto Him).

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

The intercalation [of months] is but one more instance of [their] refusal to acknowledge the truth⁵⁶ - [a means] by which those who are bent on denying the truth are led astray. They declare this [intercalation] to be permissible in one year and forbidden in [another] year,⁵⁷ in order to conform [outwardly] to the number of months which God has hallowed: and thus they make allowable what God has forbidden.⁵⁸ Goodly seems unto them the evil of their own doings, since God does not grace with His guidance people who refuse to acknowledge the truth.

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "is but an increase in denying the truth (kufr)". The term nasi', rendered by me as "intercalation", may also be translated as "postponement" - i.e., the postponement of lunar months by means of the periodical intercalation of a thirteenth month, as practiced by the pre-Islamic Arabs with a view to bringing the traditional lunar calendar, for purely worldly reasons, into accord with the solar year (see note [54] above). The Qur'an describes this practice as an additional instance of kufr because it contravenes God's declared will as regards the observance of the lunar calendar in respect of various religious duties (cf. the preceding verse, as well as 2:189 and the corresponding note [165]).

An allusion to the arbitrary manner in which the pre-Islamic Arabs intercalated a thirteenth month in the third, sixth and eighth year of every eight-year period.

By means of the intercalation spoken of above, the pagan Arabs did in most years keep the number of months to twelve; but by divorcing the four "sacred months" (Muharram, Rajab, Dhu 'l-Qa'dah and Dhu 'l-Hijjah), from their proper lunar context they obviously profaned and perverted the natural law.

Transposing a prohibited month is only an addition to unbelief, thereby the disbelievers are misguided. They make a certain month lawful one year and in another year they make the same a forbidden month, so that they make up for the months which Allah has sanctified, thus making lawful what Allah has forbidden. Their evil actions seem pleasing to them. Allah does not guide the disbelieving people.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Postponement (of a sacred month) is only an excess of disbelief whereby those who disbelieve are misled, they allow it one year and forbid it (another) year, that they may make up the number of the months which Allah hath hallowed, so that they allow that which Allah hath forbidden. The evil of their deeds is made fair-seeming unto them. Allah guideth not the disbelieving folk.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

O YOU who have attained to faith! What is amiss with you that, when you are called upon, "Go forth to war in God's cause," you cling heavily to the earth?⁵⁹ Would you content yourselves with [the comforts of] this worldly life in preference to [the good of] the life to come? But the enjoyment of life in this world is but a paltry thing when compared with the life to come!

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., "you are sluggish in your response, clinging to the life of this world". This verse - as well as most of this surah from here onward - alludes to the campaign of Tabuk, in the year 9 H. The immediate reason for this expedition was the information which the Prophet received to the effect that the Byzantines, made apprehensive by the rapid growth of Islam in Arabia and incited by the Prophet's enemy Abu 'Amir (see note [142] on verse {107} of this surah), were assembling large forces on the confines of the Peninsula with a view to marching against Medina and overthrowing the Muslims. To guard against such an assault, the prophet assembled the strongest force the Muslims were capable of, and set out in the month of Rajab, 9 H., towards the frontier. On reaching Tabuk, about half-way between Medina and Damascus, the Prophet ascertained that the Byzantines were either not yet ready to invade Arabia or had entirely given up the idea for the time being; and so - in accordance with the Islamic principle that war may be waged only in self-defence - he returned with his followers to Medina without engaging in hostilities. At the time of the preparation for this expedition, the hypocrites and a minority among the believers displayed an extreme reluctance (referred to in this and the following verses) to embark on a war with Byzantium: and it is this minority that the above verse reproaches for "clinging heavily to the earth" (Manar X 493).

O believers! What is the matter with you that when you are asked to march forth in the way of Allah, you cling to the earth? Do you prefer the life of this world to the life of the hereafter? If it is so, then you should know that the comforts of this life are little compared to the life of the hereafter.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

O ye who believe! What aileth you that when it is said unto you: Go forth in the way of Allah, ye are bowed down to the ground with heaviness. Take ye pleasure in the life of the world rather than in the Hereafter? The comfort of the life of the world is but little in the Hereafter.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

If you do not go forth to war [in God's cause], He will chastise you with grievous chastisement, and will place another people in your stead - whereas you shall in no wise harm Him: for, God has the power to will anything.

  - Mohammad Asad

If you do not march forth, He will inflict on you a painful punishment and replace you with other people, and you cannot harm Him at all, for Allah has power over everything.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

If ye go not forth He will afflict you with a painful doom, and will choose instead of you a folk other then you. Ye cannot harm Him at all. Allah is Able to do all things.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

If you do not succour the Apostle,⁶⁰ then [know that God will do so - just as] God succoured him at the time when those who were bent on denying the truth drove him away, [and he was but] one of two:⁶¹ when these two were [hiding] in the cave, [and] the Apostle said to his companion, "Grieve not: verily, God is with us."⁶² And thereupon God bestowed upon him from on high His [gift of] inner peace,⁶³ and brought utterly low the cause of those who were bent on denying the truth, whereas the cause of God remained supreme:⁶⁴ for God is almighty, wise.

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "him". i.e., Muhammad.

Lit., "the second of two": an allusion to the Prophet's flight, in the company of Abu Bakr, from Mecca to Medina in the year 622 of the Christian era. The expression "the second of two" does not imply any order of precedence but is synonymous with "one of two": cf. the Prophet's saying to Abu Bakr, on that very occasion, "What [could], in thy opinion, [happen] to two [men] who have God as the third with them?" (Bukhari, in the chapter Fada'il Ashab an-Nabi.)

When the Prophet and Abu Bakr left on their hijrah to Medina, they first hid for three nights in a cave on Mount Thawr, in the vicinity of Mecca, where they were almost discovered and apprehended by the pagan Quraysh who were pursuing them (Bukhari, loc. cit.).

Cf. verse {26} above.

Lit., "is the highest". The expression rendered by me as "cause", which occurs twice in this sentence, reads, literally, "word" (kalimah).

If you do not help the Prophet, it does not matter: Allah did help him when the unbelievers drove him out of his town, the second of the two, while the two were in the cave and (the enemy came to the opening of the cave) he said to his companion (Abu Bakr, later the first of the rightly-guided caliphs), "Do not worry, Allah is with us." So Allah sent down his serenity on him and strengthened him with forces which you can not see, thus, He made the word of the unbelievers lowest, while words of Allah remain supreme. Allah is All-Mighty, All-Wise.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

If ye help him not, still Allah helped him when those who disbelieve drove him forth, the second of two; when they two were in the cave, when he said unto his comrade: Grieve not. Lo! Allah is with us. Then Allah caused His peace of reassurance to descend upon him and supported him with hosts ye cannot see, and made the word of those who disbelieved the nethermost, while Allah's word it was that became the uppermost. Allah is Mighty, Wise.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Go forth to war, whether it be easy or difficult [for you],⁶⁵ and strive hard in God's cause with your possessions and your lives: this is for your own good - if you but knew it!

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "lightly or heavily". The rendering adopted by me corresponds to the interpretation given to this expression by most of the classical commentators (e.g., Zamakhshari and Razi).

March forth whether you are equipped lightly or heavily and make Jihad (exert your utmost) in the way of Allah with your wealth and your persons. That is best for you if you understand.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Go forth, light armed and heavy armed, and strive with your wealth and your lives in the way of Allah! That is best for you if ye but knew.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Had there been [a prospect of] immediate gain, and an easy journey, they would certainly have followed thee, [O Prophet:] but the distance was too great for them.⁶⁶ And yet, [after your return, O believers,] they will swear by God, "Had we been able to do so, we would certainly have set out with you!" - [and by thus falsely swearing] they will be destroying their own selves: for God knows indeed that they are lying!

  - Mohammad Asad

A reference to the unwillingness of some of the Muslims to follow the Prophet's call and to set out on the expedition to the frontier (see last paragraph of note [59] above). A strenuous march of about fourteen days was needed to reach Tabuk, the goal of this expedition; and the uncertainty of its outcome, as well as the hardships involved, gave rise to all manner of spurious excuses on the part of the half-hearted believers and hypocrites. As the next verse shows, the Prophet accepted these excuses in many cases, and allowed the men concerned to remain at Medina.

As for the hypocrites, if the gain would have been immediate and the journey short, they would have certainly accompanied you, but the long journey (in Tabuk expedition) was too hard for them. To justify their not accompanying you, they would even swear by Allah, "If we were able, we would certainly have marched with you." By doing so, they are destroying their own souls, for Allah knows that they are liars.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Had it been a near adventure and an easy journey they had followed thee, but the distance seemed too far for them. Yet will they swear by Allah (saying): If we had been able we would surely have set out with you. They destroy their souls, and Allah knoweth that they verily are liars.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

May God pardon thee [O Prophet]!⁶⁷ Why didst thou grant them permission [to stay at home] ere it had become obvious to thee as to who was speaking the truth, and [ere] thou camest to know [who were] the liars?

  - Mohammad Asad

All the commentators agree in that this phrase, although expressed in the form of an invocation has the meaning of a statement - "God pardons thee" or "has pardoned thee" - absolving the Prophet of any moral responsibility for his mistaken, but humanly understandable, acceptance of equivocal pleas on the part of those who wished to be excused from participating in the campaign. To me it seems that this statement of "absolution" was primarily intended to free the Prophet from any self-reproach for his too-great liberality in this respect. (It should be borne in mind that this part of At-Tawbah was revealed during or immediately after the expedition.)

Allah forgives you! But why did you (O Muhammad) gave them leave to stay behind? (You yourself should have not given them leave) so that it would have become clear which of them spoke the truth and which of them invented false excuses.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Allah forgive thee (O Muhammad)! Wherefore didst thou grant them leave ere those who told the truth were manifest to thee and thou didst know the liars?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Those who [truly] believe in God and the Last Day do not ask thee for exemption from struggling with their possessions and their lives [in God's cause] - and God has full knowledge as to who is conscious of Him -:⁶⁸

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "has full knowledge of the God-conscious (bi'l-muttaqin)".

Those who believe in Allah and the Last Day will never ask you for exemption from fighting with their wealth and their persons. Allah is aware of those who are righteous.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Those who believe in Allah and the Last Day ask no leave of thee lest they should strive with their wealth and their lives. Allah is Aware of those who keep their duty (unto Him).

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

only those ask thee for exemption who do not [truly] believe in God and the Last Day and whose hearts have become a prey to doubt, so that in their doubting they waver between one thing and another.

  - Mohammad Asad

Only those people ask for exemption who do not believe in Allah and the Last Day and whose hearts are filled with doubt, and are wavering because of their doubts.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

They alone ask leave of thee who believe not in Allah and the Last Day, and whose hearts feel doubt, so in their doubt they waver.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

For, had they been [truly] desirous of setting out [with thee], they would surely have made some preparation therefor: but God was averse to their taking the field, and so He caused them to hold back when it was said, "[You may] stay at home with all [the others] who stay at home."⁶⁹

  - Mohammad Asad

This may refer to the permission granted by the Prophet (see verse {43}) to certain of his followers who, for apparently legitimate reasons, were unable to take part in the campaign (Tabari, Zamakhshari, Razi) - a permission of which the hypocrites only too readily availed themselves. As regards God's "causing" those hypocrites to sin in this way, see 2:7 and the corresponding note [7], as well as surah {3}, note [117].

If they had intended to march forth, they would certainly have made some preparation for it; but Allah did not like their going forth; so He made them lag behind and they were told "stay behind with those who stay behind."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And if they had wished to go forth they would assuredly have made ready some equipment, but Allah was averse to their being sent forth and held them back and (it was said unto them ) : Sit ye with the sedentary!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Had these [hypocrites] set out with you, [O believers,] they would have added nothing to you save the evil of corruption, and would surely have scurried to and fro in your midst, seeking to stir up discord among you, seeing that there are in your midst such as would have lent them ear: but God has full knowledge of the evildoers.

  - Mohammad Asad

Had they gone with you they would have added nothing but mischief, and they would have made efforts to create disorder among your ranks, and there would have been some among you who would have listened to them. Allah knows the wrongdoers.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Had they gone forth among you they had added to you naught save trouble and had hurried to and fro among you, seeking to cause sedition among you; and among you there are some who would have listened to them. Allah is Aware of evil-doers.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Indeed, even before this time⁷⁰ have they tried to stir up discord and devised all manner of plots against thee, [O Prophet,] until the truth was revealed and God's will became manifest, however hateful this may have been to them.

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., before the expedition to Tabuk, during which these passages were revealed.

Indeed they had plotted sedition before and created disturbance to make you unsuccessful until the truth came through and the decree of Allah prevailed, even though they disliked it.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Aforetime they sought to cause sedition and raised difficulties for thee till the Truth came and the decree of Allah was made manifest, though they were loth.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And among them there was [many a one] who said,⁷¹ "Grant me permission [to remain at home], and do not put me to too hard a test!" Oh, verily, [by making such a request] they had [already failed in their test and] succumbed to a temptation to evil:⁷² and, behold, hell will indeed encompass all who refuse to acknowledge the truth!

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., at the time when the Prophet was making preparations for the campaign.

See verses {44} and {45} above. It is to be noted that both the verbal form la taftinni (rendered by me as "do not put me to too hard a test") and the noun fitnah have the same root, comprising a great complex of meanings: e.g., test, trial, affliction, temptation to evil, seduction, persecution, oppression, discord, civil strife, etc. ({cf. surah 8, note 25}). Since it is impossible in any language but Arabic to reproduce all these many shades of meaning in a single expression, the rendering of the term fitnah must necessarily vary in accordance with the context in which it is used.

Among them there is someone (Jad-bin-Qais) who said: "Grant me exemption and do not expose me to temptation (of Roman women's beauty)." Have they not fallen into temptation (of telling lies, double dealings and hypocrisy) already? Surely hell has encircled these disbelievers.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Of them is he who saith: Grant me leave (to stay at home) and tempt me not. Surely it is into temptation that they (thus) have fallen. Lo! hell is all around the disbelievers.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Should good fortune alight on thee,⁷³ [O Prophet,] it will grieve them; and should misfortune befall thee, they will say [to themselves], "We have already taken our precautions beforehand!" - and will turn away, and will rejoice.

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., in the course of the expedition to Tabuk, during which most of this surah was revealed. One should, however, bear in mind that these verses have not merely a historical connotation but, rather, aim at depicting hypocrisy as such.

If you gain success, it grieves them, but if you face a setback, they say "We had taken our precautionary measures," and turn away, rejoicing.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

If good befalleth thee (O Muhammad) it afflicteth them, and if calamity befalleth thee, they say: We took precaution, and they turn away well pleased.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Say: "Never can anything befall us save what God has decreed! He is our Lord Supreme; and in God let the believers place their trust!"

  - Mohammad Asad

O Prophet, tell them: "Nothing will happen to us except what Allah has written for us; He is our protector;" and in Allah let the believers put their trust.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Say: Naught befalleth us save that which Allah hath decreed for us. He is our protecting Friend. In Allah let believers put their trust!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Say: "Are you, perchance, hopefully waiting for something [bad] to happen to us - [the while nothing can happen to us] save one of the two best things?⁷⁴ But as far as you are concerned, we are hopefully waiting for God to inflict chastisement upon you, [either] from Himself⁷⁵ or by our hands! Wait, then, hopefully; behold, we shall hopefully wait with you!"

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., either victory or martyrdom in God's cause. The verb tarabbasa has usually the connotation of waiting with expectancy, and is, therefore, most suitably rendered as "he hopefully waited".

Sc., in the life to come.

Further tell them: "Can you expect for us anything other than two excellent things (victory or martyrdom)? But we are waiting for Allah to afflict you with punishment either from Himself or by our hands. So wait if you will; we too are waiting."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Say: Can ye await for us aught save one of two good things (death or victory in Allah's way)? while we await for you that Allah will afflict you with a doom from Him or at our hands. Await then! Lo! we are awaiting with you.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Say: "You may spend [anything], willingly or unwillingly, [pretending that you do it for the sake of God:] it shall never be accepted from you⁷⁶ - for, verily, you are people bent on iniquity!"

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., "it shall never be acceptable to God": an allusion to the readiness on the part of many hypocrites to contribute financially to "good causes", ostensibly for the sake of moral considerations but, in reality, "only to be seen and praised by men" (cf. 2:264 and 4:38 ).

Say: "Whether you give willingly or with reluctance, it will not be accepted from you; for you are the people who are transgressors."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Say: Pay (your contribution), willingly or unwillingly, it will not be accepted from you. Lo! ye were ever froward folk.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

For, only this prevents their spending from being accepted from them:⁷⁷ they are bent on refusing to acknowledge God and His Apostle, and never pray without reluctance,⁷⁸ and never spend [on righteous causes] without resentment.

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "nothing prevents their spending from being accepted from them except that...", etc.

Lit., "and they do not approach prayer without being reluctant" - i.e., when they participate in acts of worship they do it only for the sake of outward conformity, and not out of inner conviction.

The reasons which prevent their contributions from being accepted are: that they disbelieve in Allah and His Rasool, that they come to offer Salah but reluctantly, and that they offer contributions but unwillingly.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And naught preventeth that their contributions should be accepted from them save that they have disbelieved in Allah and in His messenger, and they come not to worship save as idlers, and pay not (their contribution) save reluctantly.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Let not, then, their worldly goods or [the happiness which they may derive from] their children excite thy admiration: God but wants to chastise them by these means in this worldly life, and [to cause] their souls to depart while they are [still] denying the truth.⁷⁹

  - Mohammad Asad

Sc., "for which sin they will have to suffer in the life to come". See also 3:178 and 8:28 , and the corresponding notes.

Let neither their wealth nor their children dazzle you: in reality Allah intends to punish them with these things in this life and that their souls may depart while they are still unbelievers.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

So let not their riches nor their children please thee (O Muhammad). Allah thereby intendeth but to punish them in the life of the world and that their souls shall pass away while they are disbelievers

  - Marmaduke Pickthall