9:62 At-Tawba (The Repentance)

‏{‏يَحْلِفُونَ بِاللَّهِ لَكُمْ لِيُرْضُوكُمْ‏}‏ فيتبرأوا مما صدر منهم من الأذية وغيرها، فغايتهم أن ترضوا عليهم‏.‏ ‏{‏وَاللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ أَحَقُّ أَنْ يُرْضُوهُ إِنْ كَانُوا مُؤْمِنِينَ‏}‏ لأن المؤمن لا يقدم شيئا على رضا ربه ورضا رسوله، فدل هذا على انتفاء إيمانهم حيث قدموا رضا غير اللّه ورسوله‏.‏

قال قتادة في قوله تعالى يحلفون بالله لكم ليرضوكم. الآية قال ذكر لنا أن رجلا من المنافقين قال والله إن هؤلاء لخيارنا وأشرافنا وإن كان ما يقول محمد حقا لهم شر من الحمير. قال: فسمعها رجل من المسلمين فقال: والله إن ما يقول محمد لحق ولأنت أشر من الحمار. قال فسعى بهل الرجل إلى النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم فأخبره فأرسل إلى الرجل فدعاه فقال " ما حملك على الذي قلت؟ " فجعل يلتعن ويحلف بالله ما قال ذلك وجعل الرجل المسلم يقول: اللهم صدِّق الصامت وكذِّب الكاذب فأنزل الله الآية.

Hypocrites revert to Lies to please People

Qatadah said about Allah's statement,

يَحْلِفُونَ بِاللَّهِ لَكُمْ لِيُرْضُوكُمْ

(They swear by Allah to you (Muslims) in order to please you) "A hypocrite man said, `By Allah! They (hypocrites) are our chiefs and masters. If what Muhammad says is true, they are worse than donkeys.' A Muslim man heard him and declared, `By Allah! What Muhammad says is true and you are worse than a donkey!' The Muslim man conveyed what happened to the Prophet who summoned the hypocrite and asked him,

«مَا حَمَلَكَ عَلَى الَّذِي قُلْتَ؟»

(What made you say what you said) That man invoked curses on himself and swore by Allah that he never said that. Meanwhile, the Muslim man said, `O Allah! Assert the truth of the truthful and expose the lies of the liar.' Allah revealed this Verse."' Allah's statement,

أَلَمْ يَعْلَمُواْ أَنَّهُ مَن يُحَادِدِ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ

(Know they not that whoever opposes and shows hostility to Allah and His Messenger,) means, have they not come to know and realize that those who defy, oppose, wage war and reject Allah, thus becoming on one side while Allah and His Messenger on another side,

فَأَنَّ لَهُ نَارَ جَهَنَّمَ خَالِداً فِيهَا

(certainly for him will be the fire of Hell to abide therein), in a humiliating torment,

ذَلِكَ الْخِزْىُ الْعَظِيمُ

(That is the extreme disgrace)9:63, that is the greatest disgrace and the tremendous misery.

They swear by God to you O believers that what has reached you of the Messenger being injured they did not do so that they might please you but God and His Messenger are more deserving that they should please them through obedience if they are true believers the merging of the pronouns into one in yurdūhu ‘their pleasing them’ is because the ‘pleasure’ of both God and His Messenger are mutually dependent; either that or it is because the predicate of Allāhu wa-rasūluhu ‘God and His Messenger’ has been omitted.

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]�.