Verses 81–96

Chapter 9: Al-Tawbah (The Repentance) · Printed edition: Volume 18, pp. 265–281

These verses appear to be connected to the previous section of verses as they share a common purpose with them.

فَرِحَ الْمُخَلَّفُونَ بِمَقْعَدِهِمْ خِلَافَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ وَكَرِهُوا أَنْ يُجَاهِدُوا بِأَمْوَالِهِمْ وَأَنْفُسِهِمْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَقَالُوا لَا تَنْفِرُوا فِي الْحَرِّ ۗ قُلْ نَارُ جَهَنَّمَ أَشَدُّ حَرًّا ۚ لَوْ كَانُوا يَفْقَهُونَ ٨١

(9:81) Those who were left behind (mukhallafūn) exulted (fariḥa) for their sitting back (maqʿad) in disobedience of (khilāf) the Messenger of God, and were reluctant to strive with their possessions and persons in the way of God, and they said, ‘Do not go forth in this heat.’ Say, the fire of hell is severer in heat, should they understand.

Faraḥ (to exult) and surūr (happiness) are the opposite of ghamm (grief), and these are states of the soul that can either be pleasurable or painful.

Mukhallafūn (‘those who were left behind’) is the passive participle of the verb khalafa, meaning ‘to leave behind.’

Maqʿad is derived from the verb qaʿada (‘to sit’), which is used figuratively here to denote the fact that they did not go forth to wage war.

Khilāf, like mukhālafa, is derived from the verb khālafa, meaning to disobey. It could also be used in the meaning of ‘after’, in a similar vein to the verse, but then they would not have stayed after you but a little (). Now, we would have expected the Qurʾan to use the construction khilāfak (‘in disobedience of you’), as God is addressing the Prophet directly in these verses. However, it instead opts for khilāfa Rasūl Allāh to show that they are only exulting in the fact that they are disobeying God Almighty, as the Messenger’s only duty is to convey His revelation.

Therefore, the meaning of this part of the verse is: ‘Those who you left behind when you set off on your campaign exulted at the fact they had not gone forth with you, in disobedience of your commands—or, after you—and they were averse to striving in the way of God with their persons and possessions.

…and they said, ‘Do not go forth in this heat’: They directed these words to others in order to undermine the Prophet and thwart his efforts to mobilise people to fight. That is why God commands the Prophet to respond to them by saying, the fire of hell is severer in heat. In other words, even if you think sitting back from fighting will save you from the heat of this world, it will not save you from the heat of hellfire, which is even more severe, as trying to escape the first will cast you into the second. Then God adds the words, should they understand (law yafqahūn), in which the use of the particle law suggests that there is no hope of them understanding anything.

فَلْيَضْحَكُوا قَلِيلًا وَلْيَبْكُوا كَثِيرًا جَزَاءً بِمَا كَانُوا يَكْسِبُونَ ٨٢

(9:82) So let them laugh a little and let them weep a lot as a requital for what they used to earn.

This follows on from their holding back from striving in the way of God with their persons and possessions and their exulting in the fact that they have remained behind and evaded their divine and human duty, without which there can be no happiness for anyone in this life.

…as a requital for what they used to earn: In other words, they will laugh a little in this world, exulting in the fact they have shirked their duties, but they will weep a lot in the Hereafter in the fires of Hell, which are more severe in heat. Therefore, this condition of laughing a little but weeping a lot stems from the contents of the previous verse, which is their joy at sitting back from fighting and escaping the heat of this world only to end up in the heat of Hellfire.

Based on the above, the meaning of the verse is: ‘Looking at what they have done and what they have earned, they should laugh and rejoice a little in this world, then weep and grieve abundantly in the Hereafter.’ The use of the imperative for laughter and weeping is to signify the necessary causal relationship between their deeds and their just desserts.

Now, if one were to read the two imperatives in this verse, let them laugh a little and let them weep a lot, as an actual command from God that engendered a real moral duty, this is not in harmony with the phrase, as a requital for what they used to earn.

However, it is possible to read let them laugh a little and let them weep a lot as both referring to this world and, together, being the requital for their past deeds. After all, it is these deeds that led them to the illusory respite of those few days that they disobeyed the command of the Messenger of God to go forth and fight, then to their humiliation and abasement in the eyes of God and the faithful for the rest of their lives in this world, and to a severe punishment in Hellfire in the next life.

فَإِنْ رَجَعَكَ اللَّهُ إِلَىٰ طَائِفَةٍ مِنْهُمْ فَاسْتَأْذَنُوكَ لِلْخُرُوجِ فَقُلْ لَنْ تَخْرُجُوا مَعِيَ أَبَدًا وَلَنْ تُقَاتِلُوا مَعِيَ عَدُوًّا ۖ إِنَّكُمْ رَضِيتُمْ بِالْقُعُودِ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ فَاقْعُدُوا مَعَ الْخَالِفِينَ ٨٣

(9:83) If God brings you back to a group of them and they seek your permission to go forth, say, ‘You shall never go forth with me, and you shall not fight with me against any enemy. You were indeed pleased to sit back the first time, so sit back with those who stay behind.’

The phrase, sit back the first time, refers to their original refusal to go forth the first time the Prophet commanded them to do so. Based on the context of the verse, this is most likely a reference to the campaign to Tabūk.

As for those who stay behind, this is a reference to those who are generally not capable of fighting, such as women, children, the sick, and the lame. Some have read this as a reference to those who stay behind without a valid reason, while others have said that this refers to immoral people. The remainder of the verse’s meaning is clear.

The phrase, if God brings you back to a group of them, this indicates that this verse and those it is connected to, both before and after it, were revealed after the Messenger of God had already set out on his journey and when he had returned to Medina, and that this was at the time of the Tabūk campaign.

وَلَا تُصَلِّ عَلَىٰ أَحَدٍ مِنْهُمْ مَاتَ أَبَدًا وَلَا تَقُمْ عَلَىٰ قَبْرِهِ ۖ إِنَّهُمْ كَفَرُوا بِاللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ وَمَاتُوا وَهُمْ فَاسِقُونَ ٨٤

(9:84) And never pray over any of them when he dies, nor stand at his graveside. They indeed disbelieved in God and His Messenger and died as transgressors.

This verse forbids the Prophet and the faithful from offering funeral prayers for the hypocrites or for standing beside their graves. The reason for this prohibition is that they disbelieved and transgressed and then died in a state of transgression. Equally, the Qurʾan invoked their disbelief and transgression to explain the futility of pleading to God for their forgiveness in the earlier verse, Whether you plead forgiveness for them or do not plead forgiveness for them… (), and also in the verse from Sūrah al-Munāfiqūn, It is the same for them whether you plead for forgiveness for them, or do not plead for forgiveness for them: God will never forgive them. Indeed God does not guide the transgressing lot ().

From all of the above, it is clear that when a person loses their faith in God and allows their heart to be overcome and consumed by disbelief, this leaves no room for their salvation. These three verses, taken together, reveal the pointlessness and futility of asking God to forgive the hypocrites and of praying over their deceased or standing beside their graves to recite invocations for them.

وَلَا تُعْجِبْكَ أَمْوَالُهُمْ وَأَوْلَادُهُمْ ۚ إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ أَنْ يُعَذِّبَهُمْ بِهَا فِي الدُّنْيَا وَتَزْهَقَ أَنْفُسُهُمْ وَهُمْ كَافِرُونَ ٨٥

(9:85) Let not their possessions or their children impress you. God only desires to punish them with these in this world, and that their souls may depart while they are faithless.

The meaning of this verse has already been explained in our commentary on the earlier similar verse of this chapter, so let not their wealth and children impress you… ().

وَإِذَا أُنْزِلَتْ سُورَةٌ أَنْ آمِنُوا بِاللَّهِ وَجَاهِدُوا مَعَ رَسُولِهِ اسْتَأْذَنَكَ أُولُو الطَّوْلِ مِنْهُمْ وَقَالُوا ذَرْنَا نَكُنْ مَعَ الْقَاعِدِينَ ٨٦ رَضُوا بِأَنْ يَكُونُوا مَعَ الْخَوَالِفِ وَطُبِعَ عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِهِمْ فَهُمْ لَا يَفْقَهُونَ ٨٧

(9:86-87) When a chapter is sent down: ‘Have faith in God, and strive along with His Messenger,’ the affluent (ūlū al-ṭawl) among them ask you for leave, and say, ‘Let us remain with those who sit back.’ They are pleased to be with those who stay back (khawālif), and their hearts have been sealed. So they do not understand.

The word ūlū al-ṭawl means those who possess power and blessings.

While khawālif denotes those who stay behind.

The remainder of the two verses’ meanings are clear.

لَٰكِنِ الرَّسُولُ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مَعَهُ جَاهَدُوا بِأَمْوَالِهِمْ وَأَنْفُسِهِمْ ۚ وَأُولَٰئِكَ لَهُمُ الْخَيْرَاتُ ۖ وَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ ٨٨

(9:88) But the Messenger and the faithful who are with him strive with their possessions and persons, and to such belong all the blessings (al-khayrāt), and it is they who are the felicitous.

Having condemned the hypocrites for being satisfied to hang back and avoid fighting and for their hearts being sealed in the previous two verses, the Qurʾan now turns to the Prophet and the believers who are with him. This, of course, is a reference to the truly faithful, whose hearts are free from the stain of hypocrisy—as shown by the fact that they are being contrasted with the hypocrites, who are only ‘believers’ in the sense that they outwardly belong to the community of the faithful. Here, the Qurʾan praises them for striving with their possessions and their persons, meaning that they were not happy to sit back from fighting and their hearts were not sealed. On the contrary, they attained felicity in this world and a divine light to guide them on their way, as per the verse, is he who was lifeless, then We gave him life and provided him with a light by which he walks among the people… (6:1222).

That is why God concludes the verse by saying, and to such belong all the blessings, and it is they who are the felicitous. In other words, they shall have all good things—as indicated by the fact that the word khayrāt is plural and preceded by the definite article, al—including a good life, the light of divine guidance, martyrdom, and everything else that will bring them closer to their Lord, and they are the felicitous and successful ones.

أَعَدَّ اللَّهُ لَهُمْ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِنْ تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا ۚ ذَٰلِكَ الْفَوْزُ الْعَظِيمُ ٨٩

(9:89) God has prepared (aʿadd) for them gardens with streams running in them, to remain in them. That is the great success.

Note that in this verse God does not say that He has promised the faithful gardens. Rather, He says that He has prepared these gardens and made them ready for them. This is because the verse is looking at the outcomes and consequences of their deeds. If this was described as a promise, then it would be a promise to everyone who believed with the Prophet, and this would mean that it was incumbent on God to grant them these gardens whether they remained true to their faith and righteous in their conduct or whether they changed and went astray later, for God does not break His promises.

However, this would be something that went against the principles of the Qurʾanic world view and God-given human nature, as neither of these would assent to God guaranteeing paradise and forgiveness to someone because of one deed that they did and then leave them to do whatever they want after that.

This is why, when we study the Qurʾan, we see that whenever God makes a promise, He makes it contingent on a general category, such as faith or righteous deeds that determine whether or not a person has earned that divine promise. What God does not do in the Qurʾan is grant a promise to specific individuals, as this would bring about a contradiction between a person’s moral duty and their knowledge that they had done something which guaranteed them paradise. See the verse, God has promised the faithful, men and women, gardens… (), and Muhammad, the Messenger of God, and those who are with him are hard against the faithless and merciful amongst themselves… God has promised those of them who have faith and do righteous deeds forgiveness and a great reward ().

وَجَاءَ الْمُعَذِّرُونَ مِنَ الْأَعْرَابِ لِيُؤْذَنَ لَهُمْ وَقَعَدَ الَّذِينَ كَذَبُوا اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ ۚ سَيُصِيبُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا مِنْهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ ٩٠

(9:90) Some of the Bedouins who sought to be excused came so that they may be granted leave; while those who lied to God and His Messenger sat back. Soon there shall visit the faithless among them a painful punishment.

It appears that those ‘who sought to be excused’ refers to those with genuine excuses not to fight, such as those who have no provisions or weapons. The evidence for this is the fact that those ‘who sought to be excused’ are contrasted with ‘those who lied to God and His Messenger.’ The context and tone of the verse show that the two groups are being compared to one another in order to expose the blameworthiness, vileness, and moral and spiritual corruption of the hypocrites. This is insofar as those Bedouins who had genuine excuses not to fight still came to seek leave from the Prophet to avoid fighting in response to the religious duty of striving in the way of God and coming to the aid of God and His Messenger, while the liars were utterly unaffected by it.

لَيْسَ عَلَى الضُّعَفَاءِ وَلَا عَلَى الْمَرْضَىٰ وَلَا عَلَى الَّذِينَ لَا يَجِدُونَ مَا يُنْفِقُونَ حَرَجٌ إِذَا نَصَحُوا لِلَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ ۚ مَا عَلَى الْمُحْسِنِينَ مِنْ سَبِيلٍ ۚ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ ٩١

(9:91) There is no blame on the weak (ḍuʿafāʾ), nor on the sick (marḍā), nor on those who do not find anything to spend, so long as they are sincere to God and His Messenger. There is no blaming (sabīl) the virtuous, and God is all-forgiving, all-merciful.

Based on the context of the verse, the ḍuʿafāʾ are those who are permanently incapable of fighting, such as those with chronic conditions, while the marḍā are those who are temporarily unable to fight because of an illness, and those who do not find anything to spend are those who are unable to fight because they lack the wealth, equipment, or resources to do so.

Therefore, all of these persons are excused from any hardship or difficulty—meaning religious obligation that would cause them unbearable difficulty or hardship were they to undertake it—just as any of those who wilfully disobey the obligation while being able to fulfil it are deemed worthy of blame and punishment.

Note that God has made excusing these persons from hardship contingent on the following condition: so long as they are sincere to God and His Messenger. This pertains to the blame and punishment of those who wilfully disobey and sit back, as this blame and punishment are only removed from those seeking to be excused so long as they are sincere to God and the Messenger. In other words, they should be free from all dishonesty and treachery, and they should not share the aims of the hypocrites who sat back from fighting in order to undermine the Prophet’s mission, turn affairs against him, and corrupt the hearts of the members of the community of the faithful. If they are not free from these traits, then they share in the blame and punishment due to the hypocrites.

There is no blaming the virtuous: This provides the rationale for why there is no blame on any of the aforementioned groups of those excused from fighting so long as they are sincere to God and His Messenger. In other words, because they are sincere to God and His Messenger, they are virtuous, and there is no blaming the virtuous, so there is blaming them either, and they will suffer no punishment as a result.

The term sabīl literally means ‘way’, and it is used here in the context of blame and punishment to show that those who are genuinely excused from fighting are safe from any harm or penalty as a result. It is as if to say that they are completely secure and there is no way for evil or harm to come to them. Moreover, the statement, there is no blaming the virtuous, appears to be a universal principle, even if it is being applied in this specific context.

وَلَا عَلَى الَّذِينَ إِذَا مَا أَتَوْكَ لِتَحْمِلَهُمْ قُلْتَ لَا أَجِدُ مَا أَحْمِلُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ تَوَلَّوْا وَأَعْيُنُهُمْ تَفِيضُ مِنَ الدَّمْعِ حَزَنًا أَلَّا يَجِدُوا مَا يُنْفِقُونَ ٩٢

(9:92) Nor on those who, when they came to you to provide them with a mount (li-taḥmilahum), you said, ‘I do not find any mount for you,’ they turned back, their eyes flowing (tafīḍ) with tears, grieved (ḥazanan) because they did not find any means to spend.

According to al-Ṭabrisī, writing in Majmaʿ al-bayān, the verb taḥmil means to provide someone with a mount in the form of a horse, a camel, or the like thereof. See, for example, the poem:

Is there not a young man with a pair of shoes / upon which to mount me (yaḥmilunī), for I am an old man on a journey?

The verb tafīḍ (flowing) means for something to overflow, as when a cup overflows with its contents, while ḥuzn (grief) denotes a pain experienced in one’s heart because of some loss. It is derived from ḥazn, which refers to hard and rugged ground that is difficult to traverse.

The phrase, ‘nor on those to whom…’ means that there is no blame ‘on those who… turned back…’ and the phrases ‘when they came to you… you said…’ are like the two parts of a conditional statement (‘if/when… then…’) and, taken together, are an adverb for ‘turned back,’ while ‘grieved’ is an object of cause (mafʿūl lah), meaning they turned away because they were grieved.

Therefore, the meaning of the verse is as follows: ‘Nor is there any blame on the poor who, when they came to you for you to provide them with a mount to ride and the other necessary provisions and equipment for battle, you told them, “I cannot find any mount for you”, and they turned away, their eyes overflowing with tears because of their grief that they could not find anything to spend in the way of God or to wage war against His enemies.’

Note that this group are appended to the three mentioned above—the weak, the sick, and those who do not find anything to spend—not as a fourth category, but as a specific sub-category of those who do not find anything to spend. They are singled out for mention in this way to show God’s special consideration for them, as they are even more sincere and virtuous than the others mentioned.

إِنَّمَا السَّبِيلُ عَلَى الَّذِينَ يَسْتَأْذِنُونَكَ وَهُمْ أَغْنِيَاءُ ۚ رَضُوا بِأَنْ يَكُونُوا مَعَ الْخَوَالِفِ وَطَبَعَ اللَّهُ عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِهِمْ فَهُمْ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ ٩٣

(9:93) The blame lies only on those who ask leave of you though they are well-off. They are pleased to be with those who stay back; God has set a seal on their hearts, so they do not know.

The meaning of this verse is clear.

يَعْتَذِرُونَ إِلَيْكُمْ إِذَا رَجَعْتُمْ إِلَيْهِمْ ۚ قُلْ لَا تَعْتَذِرُوا لَنْ نُؤْمِنَ لَكُمْ قَدْ نَبَّأَنَا اللَّهُ مِنْ أَخْبَارِكُمْ ۚ وَسَيَرَى اللَّهُ عَمَلَكُمْ وَرَسُولُهُ ثُمَّ تُرَدُّونَ إِلَىٰ عَالِمِ الْغَيْبِ وَالشَّهَادَةِ فَيُنَبِّئُكُمْ بِمَا كُنْتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ ٩٤

(9:94) They will offer you excuses when you return to them. Say, ‘Do not make excuses; we will never believe you (lan nuʾmina lakum). God has informed us of your state of affairs. God and His Messenger will observe your conduct, then you will be returned to the Knower of the sensible and the Unseen, and He will inform you concerning what you used to do.’

Note that the pronoun ‘you’ in this verse is plural, showing that it refers to both the Prophet and the faithful together.

‘…we will never believe you’—meaning we will never believe the excuses you offer, as indicated by the fact that the verb nuʾmina (‘believe’) is given the preposition la in the sense of ‘to believe in’ someone. Alternatively, it could be read as meaning, ‘we will never believe you in a way that is favorable to you’, in which case the la indicates ‘for you’ (i.e. ‘in your favour’). The phrase, ‘we will never believe you’, explains why the Prophet and the faithful tell the hypocrites not to make excuses. Meanwhile, the phrase, ‘God has informed us of your state of affairs’, explains why they will never believe them.

Therefore, the meaning of this verse is as follows: ‘The hypocrites will offer you excuses when you return to them from the battlefront. Tell them, O Muḥammad: “Do not make excuses to us, because we will never believe what you say, for God has already made us aware of the hypocrisy and deceit that you have displayed in these excuses. The true nature of your actions will soon be revealed, and it is already evident to God and His Messenger. Then, on the Day of Judgement, you will return to God, who knows the apparent and the unseen, and He will inform you of the reality of your deeds.”’

The significance of the phrase, ‘God and His Messenger will observe your conduct’, will become apparent shortly.

سَيَحْلِفُونَ بِاللَّهِ لَكُمْ إِذَا انْقَلَبْتُمْ إِلَيْهِمْ لِتُعْرِضُوا عَنْهُمْ ۖ فَأَعْرِضُوا عَنْهُمْ ۖ إِنَّهُمْ رِجْسٌ ۖ وَمَأْوَاهُمْ جَهَنَّمُ جَزَاءً بِمَا كَانُوا يَكْسِبُونَ ٩٥

(9:95) They will swear to you by God, when you return to them, that you may leave them alone. So leave them alone. They are indeed filth, and their refuge shall be hell, a requital for what they used to earn.

In other words, when they come to offer their excuses, turn away from them and do not expend your energy blaming them and rebuking them. This is not because you accept their oaths or excuses, on the contrary, it is because they are unclean, and you should avoid them. Their final abode will be Hell, which is a fitting recompense for their deeds in this life.

يَحْلِفُونَ لَكُمْ لِتَرْضَوْا عَنْهُمْ ۖ فَإِنْ تَرْضَوْا عَنْهُمْ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَرْضَىٰ عَنِ الْقَوْمِ الْفَاسِقِينَ ٩٦

(9:96) They swear to you that you may be reconciled to them. But even if you are reconciled to them God shall not be reconciled to the transgressing lot.

The previous verse says that the hypocrites swear oaths in order to escape your rebuke and condemnation. This verse says that they swear oaths in order to win you over and make you pleased with them. However, you should disregard these oaths and turn away from them because they are unclean, and you should not sully the purity and sanctity of your faith with the stain of their hypocrisy, deceit, faithlessness, and transgression. Equally, even if their oaths win you over, they will never win God over, because they are transgressors and God is never pleased with those who transgress.

The meaning of this verse, then, is that if you reconcile with them, then you have reconciled yourself to something that God will never be reconciled with. In other words, you will be pleased with something that is displeasing to God, and a believer should never be pleased with something that angers his Lord. This is an extremely eloquent way of subtly prohibiting the faithful from ever being reconciled with the hypocrites.

Examining Narrations

1. In al-Durr al-manthūr, concerning the verse, Those who were left behind exulted for their sitting back (), it is narrated by Ibn Abī Ḥātim from Jaʿfar b. Muḥammad, from his father: ‘The expedition to Tabūk was the last of the Messenger of God’s military expeditions, and it took place in the hot months, [about which the hypocrites said,] “do not go forth in this heat”, and it was a difficult campaign.’
2. From the same source, it is narrated from Ibn Jarīr, Ibn Abī Ḥātim, and Ibn Mardawayh from Ibn ʿAbbās: ‘The Messenger of God commanded people to go forth with him—and this was during the summer—so some men said, “O Messenger of God, the heat is most severe and we cannot go forth, so do not go out in this heat!” God responded with the verse, Say, the fire of hell is severer in heat, should they understand, and commanded him to go forth.’

Author’s comments: The apparent meaning of the verse suggests that the hypocrites only said this in order to discourage people from going forth with the Prophet, while the apparent meaning of these traditions suggests that they said this as advice. Therefore the verses and the traditions do not accord with one another.

3. In the same source, Ibn Jarīr narrates from Muḥammad b. Kaʿb al-Qaraẓī and others: ‘The Messenger of God set out during a time of intense heat for Tabūk, so a man of the Banū Salama tribe said: “Do not go forth in this heat!” In response, God revealed the verse, “Say, the fire of hell is severer in heat.”’

Author’s comments: We have already seen in the reports concerning the verse, Give me leave, and do not put me to temptation (), that the one who said, Do not go forth in this heat () was Jadd b. Qays.

4. Also in al-Durr al-manthūr, concerning the verse, And never pray over any of them when he dies (), it is narrated from al-Bukhārī, Muslim, Ibn Abī Ḥātim, Ibn Mundhir, Abū al-Shaykh, Ibn Mardawayh, and al-Bayhaqī in his Dalāʾil from Ibn ʿUmar: ‘When ʿAbd Allāh b. Ubayy b. Salūl died, his son ʿAbd Allāh came to the Messenger of God and asked him to give him his shirt as a funeral shroud for his father, and he gave it to him. Then he asked him to pray over him, so the Messenger of God got up to pray, but then ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb stood up, grabbed his robe, and said, “O Messenger of God, will you pray over him while God has forbidden you to pray over the hypocrites?” He said, “My Lord has given me a choice in this, for He says, whether you plead forgiveness for them or do not plead forgiveness for them, even if you plead forgiveness for them seventy times, God shall never forgive them, and I will plead more than seventy times for him.” ʿUmar replied, “But he is a hypocrite!” But the Prophet prayed over him anyway. Then God sent down the verse, and never pray over any of them when he dies, nor stand at his graveside, after which he no longer prayed over them.’

Author’s comments: There are other narrations with the same meaning that have come down via various collections of traditions and narrators of reports from ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb, Jābir, and Qatāda. Some of them say that the Prophet shrouded ʿAbd Allāh b. Ubayy with his shirt, recited supplications upon his corpse, and even got into his grave.

5. In the same source, it is narrated from Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal, al-Bukhārī, al-Tirmidhī, al-Nasāʾī, Ibn Abī Ḥātim, al-Naḥḥās, Ibn Ḥibbān, Ibn Mardawayh, and Abū Naʿīm’s Ḥilya from Ibn ʿAbbās: ‘I heard ʿUmar say, “When ʿAbd Allāh b. Ubayy died, the Messenger of God was asked to recite the funeral prayers over him, so he got up to pray, but when he stood up, I said, ‘Will you pray over the enemy of God, ʿAbd Allāh b. Ubayy, who said such-and-such and such-and-such?’—and I counted out his deeds. The Messenger of God kept smiling until I had gone on for a while, then said, ‘O ʿUmar, leave me be, for I have been given a say in this, as I have been told, plead forgiveness for them or do not plead forgiveness for them, even if you plead forgiveness for them seventy times (), so if I knew that by pleading more than seventy times for him, he would be forgiven, I would ask more than seventy times for him!’

‘“Then the Messenger of God offered prayers over him, walked with his procession, and stood over his grave until he was buried. I was surprised by my boldness towards the Messenger of God, and God and His Messenger know best, but by God it was not long before the verse was revealed, And never pray over any of them when he dies, nor stand at his graveside (). The Messenger of God did not pray over any hypocrite again, until God took him from us.”’

6. In the same source, Ibn Abī Ḥātim narrates from al-Shaʿbī that ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb said, ‘I once made an error in Islam the likes of which I have never made! The Messenger of God wanted to perform funerary prayers over the body of ʿAbd Allāh b. Ubayy, so I tugged on his robe and said, “By God, God has not commanded you to do this! God has said, whether you plead forgiveness for them or do not plead forgiveness for them, even if you plead forgiveness for them seventy times, God shall never forgive them ().” The Messenger of God replied, “My Lord has given me a choice in this, for he has said, plead forgiveness for them or do not plead forgiveness for them.” The Messenger of God sat down at the edge of the grave, and people were telling the deceased’s son, “O Ḥabbāb, do this” or “O Ḥabbāb, do that.” The Messenger of God said, “Ḥabbāb is the name of Satan, you are ʿAbd Allāh.”’
7. In the same source, al-Ṭabarānī, Ibn Mardawayh, and al-Bayhaqī in Dalāʾil narrate from Ibn ʿAbbās that ʿAbd Allāh b. Ubayy told his son, ‘Bring me a robe of the Prophet, shroud me in it, and tell him to pray over me.’ So his son went to him and said, ‘O Messenger of God, you know the dignity of ʿAbd Allāh—he is asking that you give me one of your robes so that we can shroud him in it for burial and that you recite the funeral prayers over his body.’

ʿUmar interjected, ‘O Messenger of God, you know ʿAbd Allāh and his hypocrisy well! Will you pray over him while God has forbidden you from doing so?’

The Prophet answered him, ‘Where has he forbidden me from doing so?’

He recited the verse, whether you plead forgiveness for them or do not plead forgiveness for them, even if you plead forgiveness for them seventy times, God shall never forgive them!

The Prophet said, ‘I will plead for his forgiveness more than seventy times!’

Then God sent down the verse, And never pray over any of them when he dies, nor stand at his graveside.

Upon receiving this revelation, the Prophet sent word to ʿUmar informing him of this, then God sent down the verse, it is the same for them whether you plead for forgiveness for them, or do not plead for forgiveness for them ().

Author’s comments: Accounts of the Prophet supplicating to God for the forgiveness of ʿAbd Allāh b. Ubayy and performing the funeral prayers over his body also appear in some Shīʿī narrations with incomplete chains of transmission, which are reported by al-ʿAyyāshī and al-Qummī in their commentaries. We have discussed the report of al-Qummī already.

However, these narrations contradict one another in their details and are plainly at odds with the meanings of the verses that they purport to explain.

First of all, consider the verse: Whether you plead forgiveness for them or do not plead forgiveness for them, even if you plead forgiveness for them seventy times, God shall never forgive them (). From its apparent meaning, it is evident that this verse intends to convey the futility of seeking forgiveness for the hypocrites rather than to suggest that the Prophet has a choice whether to seek forgiveness for them or not. It is equally evident that the number seventy is mentioned purely to convey a large quantity rather than there being anything special about the number seventy itself, so there is no reason to suppose that pleading more than seventy times for their forgiveness would yield a different result.

Equally, it does not befit the status of the Prophet to be ignorant of the meaning of this verse in the manner that these narrations portray: interpreting it as offering him the choice to pray for the hypocrites or not and saying that he will plead for their forgiveness more than seventy times, persisting in this ignorance until God sends down a verse to explicitly forbid him from praying over them or performing other acts on their behalf.

All of these verses are concerned with asking God to forgive the hypocrites and performing funeral prayers over their bodies: Whether you plead forgiveness for them or do not plead forgiveness for them… (); It is the same for them whether you plead for forgiveness for them, or do not plead for forgiveness for them… (); And never pray over any of them when he dies, nor stand at his graveside ().

Furthermore, all of these verses explain the futility of praying for them in terms of their disbelief in and transgressions against God. See also the verse forbidding the Prophet and the faithful for seeking forgiveness for the idolaters that appears later in this same chapter: The Prophet and the faithful may not plead for the forgiveness of the polytheists, even if they should be relatives, after it has become clear to them that they will be the inmates of hell (). This verse also explains the prohibition on seeking forgiveness for them in terms of their disbelief and consignment to hell, so how could the Prophet possibly imagine that it was permitted to seek forgiveness for them or pray over them when they were deceased?

Second, from the context and tone of these verses—particularly and never pray over any of them when he dies, nor stand at his graveside—it is clear that they were revealed during the Prophet’s expedition to Tabūk and his return to Medina. This was in the year 8 A.H., but it is a well-established historical fact that ʿAbd Allāh b. Ubayy died one year later, in 9 A.H., which means that these verses could not have possibly been revealed about his death and funeral arrangements.

This flatly rules out the claim found in these narrations, that the Prophet prayed over the corpse of ʿAbd Allāh b. Ubayy and stood beside his grave and that God sent down the verse, and never pray over any of them when he dies, nor stand at his graveside, in response to this.

More problematic than this is the detail in some narrations that ʿUmar told the Prophet, ‘Will you pray over him when you have been forbidden to pray over the hypocrites?’ and the Prophet responded, ‘Surely my Lord has given me a choice in this matter,’ only for God to reveal the verse, and never pray over any of them when he dies…

And even more problematic still is what we read in the final narration quoted above, namely that this was the occasion for the revelation of the verse, It is the same for them whether you plead for forgiveness for them, or do not plead for forgiveness for them (). However, this verse is found in Sūrah al-Munāfiqūn, which was revealed after the expedition against the Banū Muṣṭaliq tribe, in the year 5 A.H., when ʿAbd Allāh b. Ubayy was still very much alive. In fact, he is quoted in this chapter of the Qurʾan as saying, When we return to the city, the mighty will surely expel the abased from it ().

At the same time, a detail supporters of these narrations have clung to, which is found in some of them, is that the Prophet only pleaded for the forgiveness of ʿAbd Allāh b. Ubayy and offered prayers over his body in order to win the hearts of some of the hypocrites in the Khazraj tribe over to Islam. But how can this be right? How can the Prophet disobey the explicit command from God found in these verses in order to win the hearts and minds of the hypocrites? In fact, God delivered a forceful warning against doing exactly this, when He said, Then We would have surely made you taste a double punishment in this life and a double punishment after death (). Therefore, it seems apparent that these narrations are fabrications and, as such, should be set aside, because they explicitly contradict the Book of God.

8. In al-Durr al-manthūr, about the verse, They are pleased to be with those who stay back (), it is narrated by Ibn Mardawayh from Saʿd b. Abī Waqqāṣ that ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib set off with the Prophet towards Tabūk until he came to Thaniyyat al-Wadāʿ. There, ʿAlī wept and asked, ‘You are leaving me behind with those who stay back?’ The Messenger of God answered him, ‘Are you not pleased to be in the same position with me as Aaron had with Moses, except for prophethood?’

Author’s comments: This tradition is narrated by numerous chains of transmission in both Sunnī and Shīʿī collections.

9. In Tafsīr al-ʿAyyāshī, it is narrated from Jābir, from Imām al-Bāqir, concerning the verse, They are pleased to be with those who stay back: ‘It means with the womenfolk.’
10. In al-Durr al-manthūr, it is narrated from ʿAbd al-Razzāq’s Muṣannaf, Ibn Abī Shayba, Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal, al-Bukhārī, Abū al-Shaykh, and Ibn Mardawayh, from Anas, that when the Messenger of God was returning from the expedition to Tabūk and approached Medina, he said, ‘There were men who you left behind in Medina, but you did not follow a path, nor spend on provisions, nor traverse a valley, save that they were with you in that.’

The people said, ‘O Messenger of God? How could they be with us while they were in Medina?’

He answered, ‘They were detained there by some valid excuse.’

In Majmaʿ al-bayān, concerning the verses, there is no blame on the weak, nor on the sick… nor on those who, when they came to you to provide them with a mount… (9:91–2), we read that the first verse was revealed about ʿAbd Allāh b. Zāʾida, also known as Ibn Umm Maktūm, who suffered from blindness. He came to the Messenger of God and said, ‘O Prophet of God! I am a blind, frail, emaciated old man, and I have no guide, will you excuse me from participating in this campaign?’ The Prophet remained silent, but then God sent down this verse. This is transmitted from al-Ḍaḥḥāk. Others have said this verse was revealed about ʿĀʾidh b. ʿAmr and his associates. This is transmitted from Qatāda.

On the other hand, the second verse was revealed about ‘the weepers’ (al-bakkāʾīn), and they numbered seven persons, including ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Kaʿb, ʿUlba b. Zayd, and ʿAmr b. Thaʿlaba b. Ghanama from the Banū al-Najjār tribe, and Sālim b. ʿUmayr, Haramī b. ʿAbd Allāh, ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿAmr b. ʿAwf, and ʿAbd Allāh b. Mughaffal b. Mazīna. They came to the Messenger of God and said, ‘O Messenger of God, provide us with mounts, for we have nothing to go forth with you upon.’ He said, ‘I have no mounts to give you.’ This is narrated from Abū Ḥamza al-Thumālī.

Some have said that these seven individuals were from various tribes. They came to the Prophet and said: ‘Provide us with shoes and sandals.’ This is narrated from Muḥammad b. Kaʿb and Ibn Isḥāq.

Others have said that this group were from the Mazīna tribe. This is narrated from Mujāhid. Still others have said that these seven were poor members of the Helpers, and when they wept, ʿUthmān provided two of them with mounts, ʿAbbās b. ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib provided a further two with mounts, and Yāmīn b. Kaʿb al-Naḍarī provided three of them with mounts. This is narrated from al-Wāqidī. He says: ‘There were thirty thousand men with the Messenger of God at Tabūk, ten of whom were mounted on horseback.’

Author’s comments: There are major disagreements between different narrations on the identity of those who wept.

11. In Tafsīr al-Qummī, we read that these weepers had actually come to the Prophet and asked him for shoes to wear.
12. In Maʿānī al-akhbār, al-Ṣadūq narrates from Thaʿlaba, from some of his associates, from Imām al-Ṣādiq, about the verse, the Knower of the sensible and the Unseen: ‘The Unseen is what has yet to be, the sensible is what has already been.’

Author’s comments: This tradition is a case of the Imām providing some examples of the meaning of the verse. However, the terms themselves are broader than this.

13. In Tafsīr al-Qummī, we read: ‘When the Prophet approached Medina following the expedition to Tabūk and his companions were rebuking and harassing the hypocrites, God revealed the verses, They will swear to you by God, when you return to them, that you may leave them alone… They swear to you that you may be reconciled to them… ().
14. In Majmaʿ al-bayān, we read that these verses were revealed about Jadd b. Qays, Muʿattib b. Qushayr and their fellow hypocrites. There were eighty of them in total. When the Prophet approached Medina on his return from Tabūk, he said: ‘Do not sit with them and do not speak with them.’ This is narrated from Ibn al-ʿAbbās.