In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
A Gentle Commentary
on the book *Profile Cards
of the Surahs of the Noble Qur'an*
by Dr. Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn 'Umar Nasif,
may Allah preserve him.
Surah al-Tawbah.
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings
be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family, his Companions,
and whoever follows his guidance.
A gentle commentary
on the profile cards,
and now we turn to Surah al-Tawbah.
I have three reflections regarding it.
The first reflection concerns the occasions of revelation
of the surah.
I had mentioned that *Al-Sahih min Asbab al-Nuzul*
by 'Isam al-Humaydan
serves as the primary reference
as a starting point, along with refining certain
issues from the book *Al-Muharrar
fi Asbab al-Nuzul*.
I also attempted to examine
the texts themselves
to determine certain matters,
most importantly the chronology of the surah's revelation.
Here I will pause
to reflect on an aspect of that
in Surah al-Tawbah.
I noted concerning it that
fifteen occasions of revelation have been recorded,
up until I mentioned one regarding the Jews
that seems to have been revealed early on.
It is well known that Surah al-Tawbah
was revealed late,
in fact, it was among the very last to be revealed,
and this is explicitly stated
in the book as well.
One of the occasions, when we read through them—
and this is what I hope everyone listening to me will do:
to obtain
a copy of this book,
begin reading the occasions of revelation,
and reflect upon them—
you will find that the occasion connected
to verse thirty: ﴾The Jews say,
"'Uzayr is the son of Allah"﴿—even though the surah
was revealed late—
gives the impression that the Jews were still
in dialogue with the Muslims.
This typically
belongs to a period relatively earlier than the Expedition of Tabuk.
On the authority of Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him),
he said that there came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
Sallam ibn Mishkam, Nu'man ibn Awfa,
Shas ibn Qays, and Malik ibn al-Sayf,
and they said, "How can we follow you when you have abandoned our Qiblah
and you do not claim that 'Uzayr is the son of Allah?"
So Allah revealed the verse.
Here is another observation:
many of these occasions—
that is, this chain of transmission which
is cited for this occasion resembles
the chains that frequently recur
regarding the occasions of revelation in Surah Al 'Imran,
as cited by Ibn Ishaq
and, naturally following him in this, Ibn Hisham.
It is from the narration of Muhammad ibn Abi
Muhammad, a report
accepted by al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar
in *Al-'Ujab fi Bayan al-Asbab*.
I recall that this book
is the one where he explicitly stated this,
and it was relied upon by those who took a moderate stance
in examining the occasions of revelation,
not treating them
strictly as hadiths of legal rulings are treated.
This is what I indicated at the very beginning
regarding the reason for choosing this book.
Thus, this narration,
when joined with many narrations mentioned concerning Al 'Imran,
gives the sense that these
interactions that took place between the Jews—
and sometimes between the Jews, the Christians,
and the Prophet (peace be upon him)—
occurred early on;
they are not
like many verses of Surah
al-Tawbah
that pertain to the Expedition of
Tabuk and were revealed late
in the timeline of revelation.
This is an example of examining
the occasions of revelation to see
whether they consistently align
with the overall chronology of the surah's revelation, or whether
some verses were revealed earlier.
This implies that Surah al-Tawbah
was revealed in installments, some of which were sent down
early on, as is apparent from
this text; and true knowledge belongs to Allah Almighty.
One of my goals in this book
is to open avenues of research,
so that a researcher can
take a surah and begin
reflecting upon its occasions of revelation.
Most of the studies I have seen—
indeed, all the studies I have seen—focus merely
on whether the occasion is authentically established
and on explaining unfamiliar vocabulary and the like.
However, we want to look
from another perspective at the occasions of revelation:
a thematic overview across the entire surah,
in order to derive insights that help
establish the chronology of the surah's revelation
and date the revelation of
its individual verses, which may have been
revealed over scattered years.
The second reflection
is connected to the late
revelation of the surah, which I pointed out in the first reflection.
The majority of the surah was revealed late,
and this
draws attention
to an important matter: namely, that
Surah al-Anfal and Surah al-Tawbah
share thematic content
to a great extent, as both are
about jihad in the cause of Allah.
However, the style of the two surahs
differs considerably,
and this is due to differences
in the era
and circumstances.
Surah al-Tawbah was revealed
at a time when the Muslims had grown powerful,
and in it came the command:
﴾Fight those who do not believe in Allah﴿,
“Fight against such of those who have been given the Scripture as believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, and forbid not that which Allah hath forbidden by His messenger, and follow not the Religion of Truth, until they pay the tribute readily, being brought low.” (9:29)
﴾nor forbid what Allah and His Messenger have forbidden﴿,
“Fight against such of those who have been given the Scripture as believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, and forbid not that which Allah hath forbidden by His messenger, and follow not the Religion of Truth, until they pay the tribute readily, being brought low.” (9:29)
﴾until they pay the jizyah willingly﴿
﴾while they are humbled.﴿
This is far firmer
than what was revealed in
Surah al-Anfal.
Likewise, His saying at the end of the surah:
“O ye who believe! Fight those of the disbelievers who are near to you, and let them find harshness in you, and know that Allah is with those who keep their duty (unto Him).” (9:123)
﴾and let them find harshness in you.﴿
I advise you to refer to
Ibn 'Ashur in his Tafsir of this verse,
for his words are vital in dispelling certain misconceptions
that are raised
from time to time
regarding the legitimacy of the conquests
carried out by the Companions.
In summary, one must not
understand any verse
in either of the two surahs in isolation
from the chronology of the surah's revelation
and the circumstances under which it was revealed;
otherwise, confusion
will inevitably arise.
﴾If it had been from other than Allah,﴿
﴾they would surely have found within it much contradiction.﴿
As for the third
and final reflection, it concerns the names of the surah,
in that it is among the surahs
that have numerous names.
In the book, regarding the surahs with many names, I restricted myself
to
three names;
so I mentioned al-Tawbah and Bara'ah,
both of which are well-known, and al-Fadihah (the Exposer).
The truth is that contemplating
or keeping in mind one of the surah's names
reveals to a person many profound
meanings;
and when one recites the surah while keeping in mind
another name, yet other meanings
become apparent.
Surah al-Tawbah is
among the surahs of the Qur'an
with the greatest number of names,
and I do not recall
any surah exceeding it in this regard
except Surah al-Fatihah,
the Mother of the Book.
I will suffice with this much.
May Allah send blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and all his Companions.
All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds.