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Draft:Verse 118 of Sura al-Tawba

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Verse 118 of Sura al-Tawba
Verse's Information
Suraal-Tawba (Qur'an 9)
Verse118
Juz'11
Content Information
Cause of
Revelation		Regarding three of the Ansar who refused to accompany the Muslims for deployment to the Battle of Tabuk
AboutRepentance


Qur'an 9:118 recounts the punishment and subsequent repentance[1] of three members of the Ansar[2] who refused to accompany the Prophet (s) and the Muslims in their deployment to the Battle of Tabuk. Their refusal to participate was driven by laziness and sloth rather than enmity or hypocrisy.[3] These individuals were Ka'b b. Malik, Hilal b. Umayya, and Murara b. Rabi'a.[4] According to exegetes, this verse vividly details the hardships and punishment they endured,[5] which included a strict social boycott and the severing of all ties.[6] This isolation was so severe that the verse describes their condition by stating "the earth, with all its spaciousness, became narrow for them"[7] and their souls "became narrow for them."[8] These expressions serve as hyperbole to illustrate the profound intensity of their distress.[9] The Shi'a exegete Modarresi describes this segment of the verse as depicting the "straits of life,"[10] arguing that the social boycott left a deep psychological impact on the community, effectively deterring others from committing similar acts of insubordination.[11]

Regarding the cause of revelation for Qur'an 9:118, Al-Shaykh al-Tusi notes that after the three individuals refused to join the Prophet (s) in the Battle of Tabuk, they felt profound regret upon the Muslims' return. However, the Prophet (s) refused to speak to them and ordered the Muslim community to similarly ostracize them. Even their own families shunned them. After forty days of isolation, they sincerely repented, and God accepted their repentance, prompting the revelation of Qur'an 9:118.[12] Other exegetical commentaries cite this cause of revelation with minor variations.[13]

Exegetes explain that the absolute severing of social ties drove the three sinners to despair of human aid,[14] making them realize that their only true refuge was God.[15] Consequently, they retreated to the desert, abandoned worldly pleasures, and engaged in fervent repentance[16] and seeking forgiveness.[17] They attained absolute certainty[18] that nothing but divine absolution could save them.[19] This spiritual state is captured in the Qur'an through the expression wa zannu an la malja'a min Allah illa ilayh (and they knew that there is no refuge from Allah except in Him).[20]

Addressing their absolution, Qur'an 9:118 states: Thumma taba 'alayhim li-yatubu (Then He turned to them so they might repent).[21] Scholars have offered several interpretations for the phrase "He turned to them."[22] Al-Tabarsi interprets it as God facilitating the path of repentance for them.[23] Others view it as a manifestation of divine grace, wherein God bestowed His favor upon them to inspire their return from sin.[24] Mughniyya posits that God accepted their initial remorse, enabling them to fully repent rather than persist in their transgressions.[25]

In his exegesis, Allama Tabataba'i outlines the stages of repentance derived from this verse: first, God grants the servant the spiritual success (Tawfiq) to repent (taba 'alayhim); next, the servant actively engages in repentance (li-yatubu); and finally, God accepts this repentance and forgives the sins.[26] The divine attribute Tawwab ultimately underscores God's boundless mercy and His infinite willingness to accept repentance.[27]

Notes

  1. ↑ Ḥusaynī Shīrāzī, Tabyīn al-Qurʾān, 1423 AH, p. 218.
  2. ↑ Mughniyya, Tafsīr al-kāshif, 1424 AH, vol. 4, p. 114.
  3. ↑ Mughniyya, Tafsīr al-kāshif, 1424 AH, vol. 4, p. 114.
  4. ↑ Ṭabarī, Jāmiʿ al-bayān, 1412 AH, vol. 11, p. 41.
  5. ↑ Jaʿfarī, Kawthar, 1376 Sh, vol. 4, p. 591.
  6. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i namūna, 1374 Sh, vol. 8, p. 175.
  7. ↑ Khusrawānī, Tafsīr-i Khusrawī, 1390 AH, vol. 4, p. 139.
  8. ↑ Mudarrisī, Min hudā l-Qurʾān, 1419 AH, vol. 4, p. 295.
  9. ↑ Ṭabrsī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, 1372 Sh, vol. 5, p. 121.
  10. ↑ Mudarrisī, Min hudā l-Qurʾān, 1419 AH, vol. 4, p. 295.
  11. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i namūna, 1374 Sh, vol. 8, p. 175.
  12. ↑ Ṭūsī, al-Tibyān, Beirut, vol. 5, p. 316.
  13. ↑ Qummī, Tafsīr al-Qummī, 1404 AH, vol. 1, p. 297.
  14. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i namūna, 1374 Sh, vol. 8, p. 175.
  15. ↑ Ṭayyib, Aṭyab al-bayān, 1378 Sh, vol. 6, p. 329.
  16. ↑ Ḥusaynī Shīrāzī, Tabyīn al-Qurʾān, 1423 AH, p. 218.
  17. ↑ Ṭayyib, Aṭyab al-bayān, 1378 Sh, vol. 6, p. 329.
  18. ↑ Fayḍ Kāshānī, Tafsīr al-Ṣāfī, 1415 AH, vol. 2, p. 386.
  19. ↑ Ṭabarī, Jāmiʿ al-bayān, 1412 AH, vol. 11, p. 40.
  20. ↑ Qur'an 9:118.
  21. ↑ Qur'an 9:118.
  22. ↑ Ṭūsī, al-Tibyān, Beirut, vol. 5, p. 317.
  23. ↑ Ṭabrsī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, 1372 Sh, vol. 5, p. 121.
  24. ↑ Ḥusaynī Shīrāzī, Tabyīn al-Qurʾān, 1423 AH, p. 218.
  25. ↑ Mughniyya, Tafsīr al-kāshif, 1424 AH, vol. 4, p. 115.
  26. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, 1417 AH, vol. 9, p. 402.
  27. ↑ Mughniyya, Tafsīr al-kāshif, 1424 AH, vol. 4, p. 115.

References

  • Jaʿfarī, Yaʿqūb, Kawthar, Qom, Hijrat, 1st edition, 1376 Sh.
  • Ḥusaynī Shīrāzī, Sayyid Muḥammad, Tabyīn al-Qurʾān, Beirut, Dār al-ʿUlūm, 2nd edition, 1423 AH.
  • Khusrawānī, ʿAlī Riḍā, Tafsīr-i Khusrawī, ed. Muḥammad Bāqir Bahbūdī, Tehran, Intishārāt-i Islāmiyya, 1st edition, 1390 AH.
  • Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan, al-Tibyān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān, intro. Shaykh Āghā Buzurg Tihrānī, ed. Aḥmad Qaṣīr ʿĀmilī, Beirut, Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1st edition, n.d.
  • Ṭabrsī, Faḍl b. Ḥasan, Majmaʿ al-bayān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān, intro. Muḥammad Jawād Balāghī, Tehran, Nāṣir Khusraw, 3rd edition, 1372 Sh.
  • Ṭabarī, Muḥammad b. Jarīr, Jāmiʿ al-bayān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān, Beirut, Dār al-Maʿrifa, 1st edition, 1412 AH.
  • Ṭayyib, Sayyid ʿAbd al-Ḥusayn, Aṭyab al-bayān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān, Tehran, Intishārāt-i Islām, 2nd edition, 1378 Sh.
  • Fayḍ Kāshānī, Mullā Muḥsin, Tafsīr al-Ṣāfī, ed. Ḥusayn Aʿlamī, Tehran, Intishārāt-i al-Ṣadr, 2nd edition, 1415 AH.
  • Qummī, ʿAlī b. Ibrāhīm, Tafsīr al-Qummī, ed. Sayyid Ṭayyib Mūsawī Jazāyirī, Qom, Dār al-Kitāb, 3rd edition, 1404 AH.
  • Mudarrisī, Sayyid Muḥammad Taqī, Min hudā l-Qurʾān, Tehran, Dār Muḥibbī al-Ḥusayn, 1st edition, 1419 AH.
  • Mughniyya, Muḥammad Jawād, Tafsīr al-kāshif, Tehran, Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 1st edition, 1424 AH.
  • Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir, Tafsīr-i namūna, Tehran, Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 1st edition, 1374 Sh.
  • Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn, al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān, Qom, Daftar-i Intishārāt-i Islāmī, 5th edition, 1417 AH.
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