9:61 At-Tawba (The Repentance)

أي‏:‏ ومن هؤلاء المنافقين ‏{‏الَّذِينَ يُؤْذُونَ النَّبِيَّ‏}‏ بالأقوال الردية، والعيب له ولدينه، ‏{‏وَيَقُولُونَ هُوَ أُذُنٌ‏}‏ أي‏:‏ لا يبالون بما يقولون من الأذية للنبي، ويقولون‏:‏ إذا بلغه عنا بعض ذلك، جئنا نعتذر إليه، فيقبل منا، لأنه أذن، أي‏:‏ يقبل كل ما يقال له، لا يميز بين صادق وكاذب، وقصدهم ـ قبحهم اللّه ـ فيما بينهم، أنهم غير مكترثين بذلك، ولا مهتمين به، لأنه إذا لم يبلغه فهذا مطلوبهم، وإن بلغه اكتفوا بمجرد الاعتذار الباطل‏.‏ فأساءوا كل الإساءة من أوجه كثيرة، أعظمها أذية نبيهم الذي جاء لهدايتهم، وإخراجهم من الشقاء والهلاك إلى الهدى والسعادة‏.‏ ومنها‏:‏ عدم اهتمامهم أيضًا بذلك، وهو قدر زائد على مجرد الأذية‏.‏ ومنها‏:‏ قدحهم في عقل النبي ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ وعدم إدراكه وتفريقه بين الصادق والكاذب، وهو أكمل الخلق عقلا، وأتمهم إدراكا، وأثقبهم رأيا وبصيرة، ولهذا قال تعالى‏:‏ ‏{‏قُلْ أُذُنُ خَيْرٍ لَكُمْ‏}‏ أي‏:‏ يقبل من قال له خيرا وصدقا‏.‏ وأما إعراضه وعدم تعنيفه لكثير من المنافقين المعتذرين بالأعذار الكذب، فلسعة خلقه، وعدم اهتمامه بشأنهم ، وامتثاله لأمر اللّه في قوله‏:‏ ‏{‏سَيَحْلِفُونَ بِاللَّهِ لَكُمْ إِذَا انْقَلَبْتُمْ إِلَيْهِمْ لِتُعْرِضُوا عَنْهُمْ فَأَعْرِضُوا عَنْهُمْ إِنَّهُمْ رِجْسٌ‏}‏ وأما حقيقة ما في قلبه ورأيه، فقال عنه‏:‏ ‏{‏يُؤْمِنُ بِاللَّهِ وَيُؤْمِنُ لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ‏}‏ الصادقين المصدقين، ويعلم الصادق من الكاذب، وإن كان كثيرا ما يعرض عن الذين يعرف كذبهم وعدم صدقهم، ‏{‏وَرَحْمَةٌ لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مِنْكُمْ‏}‏ فإنهم به يهتدون، وبأخلاقه يقتدون‏.‏ وأما غير المؤمنين فإنهم لم يقبلوا هذه الرحمة بل ردوها، فخسروا دنياهم وآخرتهم، ‏{‏وَالَّذِينَ يُؤْذُونَ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ‏}‏ بالقول أو الفعل ‏{‏لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ‏}‏ في الدنيا والآخرة، ومن العذاب الأليم أنه يتحتم قتل مؤذيه وشاتمه‏.‏

يقول تعالى ومن المنافقين قوم يؤذون النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم بالكلام فيه ويقولون هو أذن أي من قال له شيئا صدقه فينا ومن حدثه صدقه فإذا جئناه وحلفنا له صدقنا روي معناه عن ابن عباس ومجاهد وقتادة قال الله تعالى قل أذن خير لكم أي هو أذن خير يعرف الصادق من الكاذب يؤمن بالله ويؤمن للمؤمنين أي ويصدق المؤمنين ورحمة للذين آمنوا منكم وهو حجة على الكافرين ولهذا قال تعالى:" والذين يؤذون رسول الله لهم عذاب اليم".

Hypocrites annoy the Prophet

Allah says, some hypocrites bother the Messenger of Allah ﷺ by questioning his character, saying,

هُوَ أُذُنٌ

(he is (lending his) ear), to those who say anything about us; he believes whoever talks to him. Therefore, if we went to him and swore, he would believe us. Similar was reported from Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid and Qatadah. Allah said,

قُلْ أُذُنُ خَيْرٍ لَّكُمْ

(Say: "He listens to what is best for you"), he knows who's saying the truth and who is lying,

يُؤْمِنُ بِاللَّهِ وَيُؤْمِنُ لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ

(he believes in Allah; has faith in the believers), he believes the believers,

وَرَحْمَةٌ لِّلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ مِنكُمْ

(and is a mercy to those of you who believe"), and a proof against the disbelievers,

وَالَّذِينَ يُؤْذُونَ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ

(But those who annoy Allah's Messenger, will have a painful torment.)

And of them the hypocrites are those who injure the Prophet by casting aspersions on him and communicating to others what he says in confidence saying when they are forbidden from doing this lest it should reach him ‘He is only a listener!’ that is he listens to anything that is said and accepts it so that when we swear to him that we have not communicated to others a particular thing he believes us. Say he is ‘A listener who listens to good for you and not one who listens to evil one who believes in God and has faith he trusts in the believers in what they inform him and not in others the lām of li’l-mu’minīna ‘in the believers’ has been added to distinguish between belief in the sense of ‘submitting to God’ islām and in other senses such as ‘trusting’ and who is a mercy read rahmatun in the nominative as a supplement to udhunun ‘a listener’ or rahmatin in the genitive as a supplement to khayrin ‘to good’ to those of you who believe. Those who injure God’s Messenger for them there is a painful chastisement’.

Commentary

The present verses, like the previous ones, chastise hypocrites for their absurd objections, hostility to the Holy Prophet ﷺ and their feigned professions of Faith on false oaths.

The first verse (61) mentions the painful comment made by the hypocrites against the Holy Prophet ﷺ . They thought, since he hears and believes everything, they had nothing to worry about. In the event, their conspiracy was exposed, they would simply tell him on oath that they had nothing to do with it. Allah Almighty corrected them by saying that His Messenger preferred silence against baseless hostilities because of his high morals. He did not believe in what they said. He himself knew reality as it was. He simply avoided refuting them on their faces because of his inherent gentleness of nature.

(And of them are those who vex the Prophet and say: He is only a hearer�) [9:61-62]. This was revealed about a group of hypocrites who used to harm the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, by saying about him things that should not be said. One of them said: �Do not do this, for we fear that what we say might reach him and he will punish us�. Al-Julas ibn Suwayd said: �We will say whatever we wish to say and when we go to him he will believe whatever we tell him, for Muhammad is nothing but a hearer�, and so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse. Muhammad ibn Ishaq ibn Yasar and others said: �This verse was revealed about one hypocrite whose name is Nabtal ibn al-Harith. This man was dark-skinned, red-eyed, burned in the cheeks and deformed. It is this man about whom the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: �Whoever wants to look at the devil, let him look at Nabtal ibn al-Harith�. This man was a tale-bearer; he related the words of the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, to the hypocrites. And when he was told to stop doing this, he said: �Indeed, Muhammad is but a hearer, he believes everything that people tell him. We say whatever we like and then we go to him and swear that we never said it and he believes us�. And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse�. Al-Suddi said: �A group of hypocrites, including Julas ibn Suwayd ibn al-Samit and Wadi�ah ibn Thabit, gathered and wanted to speak ill of the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace. They had with them a boy from the Helpers by the name of �Amir ibn Qays. These hypocrites mocked the Prophet and then spoke and said �By Allah, if what Muhammad (s)ays is true, then we are worse than asses�. The boy got angry and said: �By Allah, what Muhammad (s)ays is true and you are worse than asses�. The boy then went to the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, and informed him about what they said. The Prophet summoned them and when he asked them they swore that �Amir was a liar. �Amir also swore that they were liars. �Amir then prayed: �O Allah, do not make us disperse until you show who is lying and who s telling the truth�. And so this verse was revealed about them (And of them are those who vex the Prophet and say: He is only a hearer) and He also revealed (They swear by Allah to you (Muslims) to please you�) [9:62]�.