Sura al-Tawba: Difference between revisions

Sura al-Tawba or al-Baraʾa is the ninth sura of the Quran. It is a Madani sura of the Quran, located in juzʾ ten or eleven. It is called “al-Tawba” because some of its verses are about tawba (repentance).  The name “Baraʾa” (repudiation) comes from its first verse. Sura al-Tawba begins without “Bism Allah al-Rahman al-Rahim” (In the Name of Allah, the All-beneficent, the All-merciful). It commands Muslims to cut their ties to polytheists, and commands the Prophet (s) not to ask for the forgiveness of polytheists. The sura also talks about jihad against disbelievers and polytheists as well as zakat. According to hadiths, the Prophet (s) first entrusted Abu Bakr with the task of declaring this sura to polytheists, but he then cancelled Abu Bakr’s mission and left it to Imam ʿAli (a).

Well-known verses of Sura al-Tawba include the Verse of “Do not grieve” (or La-Tahzan), al-Sadiqin Verse, Verse of Permission (Idhn), and Nafr Verse. This sura also refers to the event of Dirar Mosque, the Battle of Hunayn, and the defiance of the decree to attend the Battle of Tabuk on part of some Muslims.

- According to a hadith from Ibn ʿAbbas, ʿUthman said that the Prophet (s) did not say anything about the place of these two suras. Thus, we wrote them consecutively because both were revealed in Medina and were concerned with the same topic.

In addition to exegeses of Sura al-Tawba in comprehensive books of Quranic exegsis, there are independent works that are devoted to the interpretation of this sura, including Dar sarzamin Tabuk: tafsir sura tawba (In the land of Tabuk: exegesis of Sura al-Tawba) by Jaʿfar Subhani Tabrizi, published by Bustan Kitab in Qom in 296 pages.

Note: Ibn ʿAbbas says: “I told ʿUthman why you have included Sura al-Baraʾa, which is a “miʾun” sura [suras with at least one hundred verses], among the seven long suras together with Sura al-Anfal which is one of al-Mathani, and why did you not write ‘Bism Allah’ between these two suras?” ʿUthman said: “When Quranic verses were revealed to the Prophet (s), he had the practice of telling the scribes of revelation to include those verses in such and such suras. Sura al-Anfal was one of the first suras revealed in Medina, and Sura al-Baraʾa was among the last suras revealed therein, and since these two suras involve the same stories [or similar contents], we treated Sura al-Baraʾa as a sequel of Sura al-Anfal. The Prophet himself never said anything about this until he died. Thus, we included it among the long seven suras, without writing ‘Bism Allah’ between them.”