Part of The Gentle Commentary (series completed)
· Lesson 106 of 117
The nice comment on the book of cards identifying the surahs of the Holy Qur’an | D. Muhammad Nassif | Surat Al-Tawbah
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Transcript
Machine translation — may contain errors
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In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
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A Gentle Commentary
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on the book *Profile Cards
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of the Surahs of the Noble Qur'an*
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by Dr. Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn 'Umar Nasif,
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may Allah preserve him.
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Surah al-Tawbah.
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In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
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All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings
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be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family, his Companions,
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and whoever follows his guidance.
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A gentle commentary
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on the profile cards,
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and now we turn to Surah al-Tawbah.
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I have three reflections regarding it.
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The first reflection concerns the occasions of revelation
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of the surah.
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I had mentioned that *Al-Sahih min Asbab al-Nuzul*
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by 'Isam al-Humaydan
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serves as the primary reference
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as a starting point, along with refining certain
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issues from the book *Al-Muharrar
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fi Asbab al-Nuzul*.
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I also attempted to examine
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the texts themselves
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to determine certain matters,
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most importantly the chronology of the surah's revelation.
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Here I will pause
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to reflect on an aspect of that
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in Surah al-Tawbah.
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I noted concerning it that
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fifteen occasions of revelation have been recorded,
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up until I mentioned one regarding the Jews
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that seems to have been revealed early on.
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It is well known that Surah al-Tawbah
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was revealed late,
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in fact, it was among the very last to be revealed,
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and this is explicitly stated
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in the book as well.
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One of the occasions, when we read through them—
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and this is what I hope everyone listening to me will do:
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to obtain
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a copy of this book,
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begin reading the occasions of revelation,
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and reflect upon them—
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you will find that the occasion connected
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to verse thirty: ﴾The Jews say,
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"'Uzayr is the son of Allah"﴿—even though the surah
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was revealed late—
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gives the impression that the Jews were still
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in dialogue with the Muslims.
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This typically
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belongs to a period relatively earlier than the Expedition of Tabuk.
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On the authority of Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him),
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he said that there came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
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Sallam ibn Mishkam, Nu'man ibn Awfa,
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Shas ibn Qays, and Malik ibn al-Sayf,
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and they said, "How can we follow you when you have abandoned our Qiblah
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and you do not claim that 'Uzayr is the son of Allah?"
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So Allah revealed the verse.
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Here is another observation:
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many of these occasions—
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that is, this chain of transmission which
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is cited for this occasion resembles
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the chains that frequently recur
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regarding the occasions of revelation in Surah Al 'Imran,
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as cited by Ibn Ishaq
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and, naturally following him in this, Ibn Hisham.
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It is from the narration of Muhammad ibn Abi
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Muhammad, a report
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accepted by al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar
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in *Al-'Ujab fi Bayan al-Asbab*.
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I recall that this book
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is the one where he explicitly stated this,
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and it was relied upon by those who took a moderate stance
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in examining the occasions of revelation,
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not treating them
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strictly as hadiths of legal rulings are treated.
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This is what I indicated at the very beginning
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regarding the reason for choosing this book.
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Thus, this narration,
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when joined with many narrations mentioned concerning Al 'Imran,
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gives the sense that these
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interactions that took place between the Jews—
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and sometimes between the Jews, the Christians,
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and the Prophet (peace be upon him)—
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occurred early on;
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they are not
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like many verses of Surah
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al-Tawbah
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that pertain to the Expedition of
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Tabuk and were revealed late
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in the timeline of revelation.
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This is an example of examining
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the occasions of revelation to see
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whether they consistently align
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with the overall chronology of the surah's revelation, or whether
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some verses were revealed earlier.
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This implies that Surah al-Tawbah
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was revealed in installments, some of which were sent down
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early on, as is apparent from
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this text; and true knowledge belongs to Allah Almighty.
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One of my goals in this book
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is to open avenues of research,
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so that a researcher can
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take a surah and begin
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reflecting upon its occasions of revelation.
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Most of the studies I have seen—
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indeed, all the studies I have seen—focus merely
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on whether the occasion is authentically established
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and on explaining unfamiliar vocabulary and the like.
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However, we want to look
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from another perspective at the occasions of revelation:
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a thematic overview across the entire surah,
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in order to derive insights that help
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establish the chronology of the surah's revelation
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and date the revelation of
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its individual verses, which may have been
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revealed over scattered years.
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The second reflection
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is connected to the late
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revelation of the surah, which I pointed out in the first reflection.
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The majority of the surah was revealed late,
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and this
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draws attention
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to an important matter: namely, that
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Surah al-Anfal and Surah al-Tawbah
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share thematic content
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to a great extent, as both are
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about jihad in the cause of Allah.
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However, the style of the two surahs
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differs considerably,
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and this is due to differences
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in the era
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and circumstances.
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Surah al-Tawbah was revealed
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at a time when the Muslims had grown powerful,
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and in it came the command:
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﴾Fight those who do not believe in Allah﴿,
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“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)
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﴾nor forbid what Allah and His Messenger have forbidden﴿,
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“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)
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﴾until they pay the jizyah willingly﴿
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﴾while they are humbled.﴿
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This is far firmer
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than what was revealed in
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Surah al-Anfal.
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Likewise, His saying at the end of the surah:
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“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)
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﴾and let them find harshness in you.﴿
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I advise you to refer to
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Ibn 'Ashur in his Tafsir of this verse,
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for his words are vital in dispelling certain misconceptions
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that are raised
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from time to time
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regarding the legitimacy of the conquests
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carried out by the Companions.
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In summary, one must not
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understand any verse
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in either of the two surahs in isolation
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from the chronology of the surah's revelation
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and the circumstances under which it was revealed;
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otherwise, confusion
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will inevitably arise.
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﴾If it had been from other than Allah,﴿
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﴾they would surely have found within it much contradiction.﴿
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As for the third
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and final reflection, it concerns the names of the surah,
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in that it is among the surahs
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that have numerous names.
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In the book, regarding the surahs with many names, I restricted myself
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to
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three names;
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so I mentioned al-Tawbah and Bara'ah,
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both of which are well-known, and al-Fadihah (the Exposer).
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The truth is that contemplating
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or keeping in mind one of the surah's names
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reveals to a person many profound
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meanings;
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and when one recites the surah while keeping in mind
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another name, yet other meanings
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become apparent.
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Surah al-Tawbah is
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among the surahs of the Qur'an
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with the greatest number of names,
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and I do not recall
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any surah exceeding it in this regard
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except Surah al-Fatihah,
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the Mother of the Book.
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I will suffice with this much.
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May Allah send blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and all his Companions.
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All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds.