9:80 At-Tawba (The Repentance)

‏{‏اسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ أَوْ لَا تَسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ إِنْ تَسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ سَبْعِينَ مَرَّةً‏}‏ على وجه المبالغة، وإلا، فلا مفهوم لها‏.‏ ‏{‏فَلَنْ يَغْفِرَ اللَّهُ لَهُمْ‏}‏ كما قال في الآية الأخرى ‏{‏سَوَاءٌ عَلَيْهِمْ أَسْتَغْفَرْتَ لَهُمْ أَمْ لَمْ تَسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ لَنْ يَغْفِرَ اللَّهُ لَهُمْ‏}‏ ثم ذكر السبب المانع لمغفرة اللّه لهم فقال‏:‏ ‏{‏ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ كَفَرُوا بِاللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ‏}‏ والكافر لا ينفعه الاستغفار ولا العمل ما دام كافرا‏.‏ ‏{‏وَاللَّهُ لَا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الْفَاسِقِينَ‏}‏ أي‏:‏ الذين صار الفسق لهم وصفا، بحيث لا يختارون عليه سواه ولا يبغون به بدلا، يأتيهم الحق الواضح فيردونه، فيعاقبهم اللّه تعالى بأن لا يوفقهم له بعد ذلك‏.‏

يخبر تعالى نبيه صلى الله عليه وسلم بأن هؤلاء المنافقين ليسوا أهلا للاستغفار وأنه لو استغفر لهم سبعين مرة فلن يغفر الله لهم وقد قيل إن السبعين إنما ذكرت حسما لمادة الاستغفار لهم لأن العرب في أساليب كلاهما تذكر السبعين في مبالغة كلامها ولا تريد التحديد بها ولا أن يكون ما زاد عليها بخلافها وقيل بل لها مفهوم كما روى العوفي عن ابن عباس أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال: لما نزلت هذه الآية أسمع ربي قد رخص لي فيهم فوالله لأستغفرن لهم أكثر من سبعين مرة لعل الله أن يغفر لهم فقال الله من شدة غضبه" سواء عليهم استغفرت لهم أم لم تستغفر لهم" الآية وقال الشعبي لما ثقل عبدالله بن أبي انطلق ابنه إلى النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم فقال إن أبي قد احتضر وأحب أن تحضره وتصلي عليه فقال له النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم ما اسمك قال الحباب بن عبدالله قال بل أنت عبدالله بن عبدالله إن الحباب اسم شيطان فانطلق معه حتى شهده وألبسه قميصه وهو عرق وصلى عليه فقيل له أتصلي عليه؟ فقال: إن الله قال إن تستغفر لهم سبعين مرة ولأستغفرن لهم سبعين وسبعين وسبعين وكذا روي عن عروة بن الزبير ومجاهد بن جبير وقتادة بن دعامة وروه ابن جرير بأسانيده.

The Prohibition of asking for Forgiveness for Hypocrites

Allah says to His Prophet that hypocrites are not worthy of seeking forgiveness for them and that if he asks Allah to forgive them seventy times, Allah will not forgive them. The number seventy here was mentioned to close the door on this subject, for Arabs use this number when they exaggerate, not that they actually mean seventy or more than seventy. Ash-Sha`bi said that when `Abdullah bin Ubayy was dying, his son went to the Prophet and said to him, "My father has died, I wish you could attend him and pray the funeral prayer for him." The Prophet said,

«مَا اسْمُك»

("What is you name) He said, "Al-Hubab bin `Abdullah." The Prophet said,

«بَلْ أَنْتَ عَبْدُاللهِ بْنُ عَبْدِاللهِ إِنَّ الْحُبَابَ اسْمَ شَيْطَان»

(Rather, you are `Abdullah bin `Abdullah, for Al-Hubab is a devil's name.) The Prophet went along with him, attended his father's funeral, gave him his shirt as a shroud and prayed the funeral prayer for him. He was asked, "Would you pray on him, when he is a hypocrite" He said,

«إِنَّ اللهَ قَالَ:

إِن تَسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ سَبْعِينَ مَرَّةً

وَلَأسْتَغْفِرَنَّ لَهُمْ سَبْعِينَ وَسَبْعِينَ وَسَبْعِين»

(Allah said,(...(and even) if you ask seventy times for their forgiveness...) Verily, I will ask Allah to forgive them seventy times and seventy more and seventy more.)" Similar narrations were collected from `Urwah bin Az-Zubayr, Mujahid, Qatadah bin Di`amah and Ibn Jarir.

Ask forgiveness for them O Muhammad (s) or do not ask forgiveness for them this leaves the choice of asking forgiveness or refraining up to him; the Prophet s said ‘I have been given the choice and I made it’ meaning the choice to ask forgiveness as reported by al-Bukhārī. If you ask forgiveness for them seventy times God will not forgive them it is said that the ‘seventy’ is intended to express by hyperbole a great frequency of asking forgiveness. In the Sahīh of al-Bukhārī there is a hadīth which states ‘If I was sure that were I to ask more than seventy times God would forgive them I would have done so’. It is also said however that the very number seventy is actually meant on account of this other hadīth of his ‘I shall ask more than seventy times’ whereupon it was made clear to him the Prophet that the matter regarding forgiveness had been concluded by the verse Q. 636 Alike it will be regarding them whether you ask forgiveness for them or you do not ask forgiveness for them God will not forgive them; that is because they disbelieved in God and His Messenger; and God does not guide the wicked folk.

Commentary

Mentioned in the first verse (79) are taunts thrown at Muslims who gave away in charity on a voluntary basis (Nafli Sadaqat). It appears ؓ in the Sahih of Muslim that Sayyidna Abu Masud ؓ said: ` we had orders from Allah Ta` ala that we must give Sadaqah and, believe it, we used to do manual labor for that (that is, we had no money or thing with us. We used to take out that Sadaqah too from whatever we earned through this very manual labor). Thus, Abu 'Aqil offered Sadaqah to the measure of 0.5 Sa` (approximately 1.75 kilos). Then, someone came and gave a little more than that. The hypocrites mocked at them for having brought something so insignificant in the name of Sadaqah. Allah never needs things like that. And whoever gave a little more in Sadaqah, they accused him that he had done it to show off before people. Thereupon, this verse was revealed.

Please note that, in the sentence: سَخِرَ‌ اللَّـهُ مِنْهُمْ (mocked they are by Allah - 79), the word 'mocked' stands for 'punished for their mockery'.

In the second verse (80), there is a statement about the hypocrites. It has been addressed to the Holy Prophet ﷺ . He has been told whether or not he seeks forgiveness for them makes no difference - and no matter how many times he seeks forgiveness for them, they shall not be forgiven. A detailed explanation of this appears under the comments on verse 84: لَا تُصَلِّ عَلَىٰ أَحَدٍ مِّنْهُم (and never offer a prayer on anyone of them who dies) appearing a little later.