9:76 At-Tawba (The Repentance)

‏{‏فَلَمَّا آتَاهُمْ مِنْ فَضْلِهِ‏}‏ لم يفوا بما قالوا، بل ‏{‏بَخِلُوا بِهِ وَتَوَلَّوْا‏}‏ عن الطاعة والانقياد ‏{‏وَهُمْ مُعْرِضُونَ‏}‏ أي‏:‏ غير ملتفتين إلى الخير‏.‏

يقول تعالى ومن المنافقين من أعطى الله عهده وميثاقه لئن أغناه من فضله ليصدقن من ماله وليكونن من الصالحين فما وفى بما قال ولا صدق فيما ادعى فأعقبهم هذا الصنيع نفاقا سكن في قلوبهم إلى يوم يلقوا الله عز وجل يوم القيامة. عياذا بالله من ذلك وقد ذكر كثير من المفسرين منهم ابن عباس والحسن البصري أن سبب نزول هذه الآية الكريمة في ثعلبة بن حاطب والأنصاري وقد ورد فيه حديث رواه ابن جرير ههنا وابن أبي حاتم من حديث معان بن رفاعة عن علي بن زيد عن أبي عبدالرحمن القاسم بن عبدالرحمن مولى عبدالرحمن بن يزيد بن معاوية عن أبي أمامة الباهلي عن ثعلبة بن حاطب الأنصاري أنه قال لرسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ادع الله أن يرزقني مالا قال فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ويحك يا ثعلبة قليل تؤدي شكره خير من كثير لا تطيقه قال ثم قال مرة أخرى فقال أما ترضى أن تكون مثل نبي الله؟ فوالذي نفسي بيده لو شئت أن تسير الجبال معي ذهبا وفضة لسارت. قال والذي بعثك بالحق لئن دعوت الله فرزقني مالا لأعطين كل ذي حق حقه فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم اللهم ارزق ثعلبة مالا قال فاتخذ غنما فنمت كما ينمى الدود فضاقت عليه المدينة فتنحى عنها فنزل واديا من أوديتها حتى جعل يصلي الظهر والعصر في جماعة ويترك ما سواهما ثم نمت وكثرت فتنحى حتى ترك الصلوات إلا الجمعة وهي تنمي كما ينمى الدود حتى ترك الجمعة فطفق يتلقى الركبان يوم الجمعة ليسألهم عن الأخبار فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ما فعل ثعلبة؟ فقالوا يا رسول الله اتخذ غنما فضاقت عليه المدينة فأخبروه بأمره فقال يا ويح ثعلبة يا ويح ثعلبة يا ويح ثعلبة وأنزل الله جل ثناؤه خذ من أموالهم صدقة. الآية. ونزلت فرائض الصدقة فبعث رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم رجلين على الصدقة من المسلمين رجلا من جهينة ورجلا من سليم وكتب لهما كيف يأخذان الصدقة من المسلمين وقال لهما مرا بثعلبة وبفلان رجل من بني سليم فخذا صدقاتهما فخرجا حتى أتيا ثعلبة فسألاه الصدقة وأقرآه كتاب رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم فقال: ما هذه إلا جزية ما هذه إلا أخت الجزية ما أدري ما هذا؟ انطلقا حتى تفرغا ثم عودا إلي فانطلقا وسمع بهما السلمي فنظر إلى خيار أسنان إبله فعزلها للصدقة ثم استقبلهما بها فلما رأوها قالوا ما يجب عليك هذا وما نريد أن نأخذ هذا منك فقال بلى فخذوها فإن نفسي بذلك طيبة وإنما هي له فأخذاها منه ومرا على الناس فأخذا الصدقات ثم رجعا إلى ثعلبة فقال: أروني كتابكما فقرأه فقال ما هذه إلا جزية ما هذه إلا أخت الجزية انطلقا حتى أرى رأيي فانطلقا حتى أتيا النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم فلما رآهما قال يا ويح ثعلبة قبل أن يكلمهما ودعا للسلمى بالبركة فأخبراه بالذي صنع ثعلبة والذي صنع السلمى فأنزل الله عز وجل ومنهم من عاهد الله لئن آتانا من فضله لنصدقن. الآية. قال وعند رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم رجل من أقارب ثعلبة فسمع ذلك فخرج حتى أتاه فقال: ويحك يا ثعلبة قد أنزل الله فيك كذا وكذا فخرج ثعلبة حتى أتى النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم فسأله أن يقبل منه صدقته فقال إن الله منعني أن أقبل منك صدقتك فجعل يحسو على رأسه التراب فقال له رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم هذا عملك قد أمرتك فلم تطعني. فلما أبى رسول الله صلى الله عليه وإله وسلم أن يقبض صدقته رجع إلى منزله فقبض رسول الله صلى الله عليه وإله وسلم ولم يقبل منه شيئا ثم أتى أبا بكر رضي الله عنه حين استخلف فقال قد علمت منزلتي من رسول الله وموضعي من الأنصار فاقبل صدقتي فقال أبو بكر لم يقبلها منك رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم وأبى أن يقبلها فقبض أبو بكر ولم يقبلها. فلما ولى عمر رضي الله عنه أتاه فقال: يا أمير المؤمنين اقبل صدقتي فقال لم يقبلها رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ولا أبو بكر وأنا أقبلها منك؟ فقبض ولم يقبلها فلما ولي عثمان رضي الله عنه أتاه فقال: اقبل صدقتي فقال لم يقبلها رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ولا أبو بكر ولا عمر وأنا أقبلها منك؟ فلم يقبلها منه فهلك ثعلبة في خلافة عثمان.

Hypocrites seek Wealth but are Stingy with Alms

Allah says, some hypocrites give Allah their strongest oaths that if He enriches them from His bounty, they will give away alms and be among the righteous. However, they did not fulfill their vows or say the truth with their words. The consequence of this action is that hypocrisy was placed in their hearts until the Day they meet Allah the Exalted, on the Day of Resurrection. We seek refuge with Allah from such an end. Allah said,

بِمَآ أَخْلَفُواْ اللَّهَ مَا وَعَدُوهُ

(...because they broke that (covenant) with Allah which they had promised to Him) He placed hypocrisy in their hearts because they broke their promise and lied. In the Two Sahihs, it is recorded that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,

«آيَةُ الْمُنَافِقِ ثَلَاثٌ: إِذَا حَدَّثَ كَذَبَ، وَإِذَا وَعَدَ أَخْلَفَ، وَإِذَا ائْتُمِنَ خَان»

(There are three signs for a hypocrite: if he speaks, he lies; if he promises, he breaks the promise; and if he is entrusted, he betrays the trust.) Allah said,

أَلَمْ يَعْلَمُواْ أَنَّ اللَّهَ يَعْلَمُ سِرَّهُمْ وَنَجْوَاهُمْ

(Know they not that Allah knows their secret ideas, and their Najwa,) Allah states that He knows the secret and what is more hidden than the secret. He has full knowledge of what is in their hearts, even when they pretend that they will give away alms, if they acquire wealth, and will be grateful to Allah for it. Truly, Allah knows them better than they know themselves, for He is the All-Knower of all unseen and apparent things, every secret, every session of counsel, and all that is seen and hidden.

Yet when He gave them of His bounty they became niggardly with it and turned away from obedience to God in aversion.

The second verse: وَمِنْهُم مَّنْ عَاهَدَ اللَّـهَ (And among them there are those who made a pledge with Allah - 75) is also connected with a particular event which has been reported by Ibn Jarir, Ibn Abi Hatim, Ibn Marduwayh, Al-Tabarani and Al-Baihaqi on the authority of a narration from Sayyidna Abu Umamah Bahili ؓ . According to this report, a person called Tha'labah ibn Hatib al-Ansari presented himself before the Holy Prophet ﷺ and requested him to pray that he becomes rich. He said, ` Is it that you do not like my way? By the Being that holds my life in his His hands, if I had wished, mountains of Madinah would have turned into solid gold following behind me on my walkways. But, I do not like being that wealthy.' The man went away. But, he returned later and repeated his request for the same prayer with the pledge that, should he get the wealth prayed for, he would give every deserving person his share from it. The Holy Prophet ﷺ made the prayer. The effect of the prayer showed up in an unprecedented increase in the number of goats he owned. When the number increased further, the space in Madinah became too small for him. So, he moved out into the outskirts from where he used to come to Madinah where he offered the Sa1ah of Zuhr and ` Asr with the Holy Prophet ﷺ As for the rest of the prayers, he used to perform these in the wilderness where his herd of goats, his prized possession, was located.

Then, this very flock of goats became so large that even that area on the outskirts became insufficient. He moved farther away from Madinah coming there only on Fridays for the Jumu'ah Sa1ah. As for the five daily prayers, he did them where he was stationed. Then came further increases in his wealth and he had to leave that spot too, only to go far away from Madinah where he sat deprived of his Jumu'ah and Jama'ah both.

After the passage of some time, the Holy Prophet ﷺ asked people about him. They told him that his ` wealth' had increased to such proportions that he had to go far away from Madinah and that is why he is not seen in the city. On hearing this, the Holy Prophet ﷺ said: ویحَ ثَعلَبَۃ (Alas for Thalabah) three times.

By chance, it was the time when came the revelation of the verse of Sadaqat (60) where the Holy Prophet ﷺ has been commanded to collect Sadaqat from Muslims - (خُذْ مِنْ أَمْوَالِهِمْ صدقَۃً ). He had the whole law of Sadaqat committed to writing, appointed two persons as the collectors of Sadaqah and sent them to collect the Sadaqat due on livestock owned by Muslims. They were ordered to go to Tha'labah ibn Hatib as well, and to another person from the tribe of Bani Sulaym also.

When the two collectors reached Tha'labah and presented the order of the Holy Prophet ﷺ he said that this thing had be-come a sort of Jizyah which is taken from non-Muslims. Then he hedged and asked them to leave on that occasion, however, they could call on him on their way back. The two of them left.

Something different happened in the case of the other person from the tribe of Bahl Sulaym. When he heard about the order of the Holy Prophet ﷺ he himself called on the two emissaries of his master carrying with him the best from out of his livestock of camels and goats, precisely according to his Zakatable nisab of Sadaqah. They told him that they have orders not to pick out the best among animals, in fact, they were supposed to take the average ones, therefore, they could not take these. The man from Bahl Sulaym insisted that it was his pleasure to present those very animals and requested that they be accepted as they were.

After that, when these two emissaries had completed their circuit of Sadaqah collection, they returned to Tha'labah. He told them that he wanted to see that Law of Sadaqah they were talking about. He looked at it and said no more than what he had said earlier - ` this thing has become a sort of Jizyah that should not be taken from Muslims.' ` All right,' he said, ` you can go for now. I have to think about it first. I will decide later.'

When these two gentlemen reached Madinah, they went to see the Holy Prophet ﷺ . At that time he, before hearing their report on the mission, repeated the words he had said earlier: یَا وَیحَ ثَعلَبَۃ یَا وَیحَ ثَعلَبَۃ یَا وَیحَ ثَعلَبَۃ (Alas for Tha'labah). He said it three times. After that, he was pleased to hear about the Sulaymi deal and prayed for him. Thereupon, came the verse: وَمِنْهُم مَّنْ عَاهَدَ اللَّـهَ (And among them there are those who made a pledge with Allah - 75). It means: ` if Allah gave them wealth, they would give out alms and charities and fulfill the rights of all de-serving people, the relatives and the poor, as done by the righteous people of the community. But, when Allah blessed them with wealth, out of His grace, they became misers overnight and turned away from their pledge of obedience to Allah and His Messenger.'