Commentary
This is a Madani Surah. Most of its subjects feature is the loveable persona of the Holy Prophet ﷺ and his special place with Allah. There it has been variously emphasized that showing reverence for him is obligatory and that causing any pain to him is haram (forbidden). Then the rest of the subjects taken up in the Surah also serve as complements to the ultimate perfection of his station.
The background of revelation
Some narrations have been reported outlining the cause of the revelation of this Surah:
1. When the Holy Prophet ﷺ came to live in Madinah after his hijrah, the environs of the city were inhabited by Jewish tribes, some of whom being Quraizah, Nadir and Banu Qainuqa . Being the prophet of mercy for all, he wished and tried that they somehow embrace Islam. It so happened that a few men from among these Jews started visiting him and posing as Muslims hypocritically. There was no faith in their heart. The Holy Prophet ﷺ took this as sufficient to begin within the hope that the incidence of some people becoming Muslims would make it easier for him to invite others. Therefore, he used to welcome everyone from among these people particularly and warmly, so much so that even if they happened to do something bad, he would ignore it as a measure of religious expediency. It was because of this event that the initial verses of Surah al-Ahzab were revealed. (al-Qurtubi)
According to another event reported by Ibn Jarir from Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ ، it was after hijrah that Walid Ibn Mughirah and Shaibah Ibn Rabi'ah from among the kuffar of Makkah came to Madinah. They made an offer before the Holy Prophet ﷺ that they would let him have half of the entire wealth of the Quraish of Makkah, if he were to withdraw his claim of prophethood. And the hypocrites and Jews of Madinah gave him a threat that they would kill him, if he did not withdraw from his claim and call. Thereupon, these verses were revealed. (Ruh al-Ma’ ani)
The third event has been reported by Tha` alibi and Wahidi with no ascription of authority. This event, according to them, goes back to the time when a no war pact was signed between the pagans of Makkah and the Holy Prophet t at Hudaibiyah. It was at that time that Abu Sufyan, ` Ikrimah, Ibn Abi Jahl and Abu al-A'war Sulami came to Madinah. There they said to the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، ` You stop speaking ill of our objects of worship - or simply say that they will also intercede on our behalf and bring benefits to us. If you do just that much, then we, on our part, will forget about you and your Lord - and the dispute will be all over.'
What they said was very unpleasant for the Holy Prophet ﷺ and for all Muslims who wanted to kill them. The Holy Prophet ﷺ said, ` I have made a peace pact with them, therefore, this cannot be done.' Thereupon, these verses were revealed. (Ruh al-Ma’ ani) Though, these reports are different but, in reality, there is no contradiction therein. These events could also be the cause of the revelation of the cited verses.
In these verses, the Holy Prophet ﷺ has been asked to do two things: (1) اِتَّقِ اللہَ (ittaqillah), that is, 'fear Allah.' (2) لَا تُطِیعِ الکَافِرِینَ (la tuti'il-kafirin), that is, 'do not obey the disbelievers.' The order to fear Allah was given for the reason that killing them was a breach of trust which is haram (forbidden). As for the order of not obeying the disbelievers, it was given for the reason that the demands made by the infidels in all these events were unacceptable. Relevant details follow.
Explanation of Verses
In the opening verse of the Surah: یَٰایُّھَا النَّبِیُّ اتَّقِ اللہَ (0 Prophet, fear Allah - 1), the wording of the address to the Holy Prophet ﷺ is significant. This is a singular honor given and the high regard shown to the Holy Prophet ﷺ . Nowhere in the entire Qur'an, has he ever been addressed directly by his name - as has been the case in addressing other prophets. They have been addressed as یَا آدَمُ (0 'Adam), یَا نُوحُ (0 Nuh), یَا اِبرَاھِیمُ (0 Ibrahim), یَا مُوسیٰ (0 Musa) and likewise, repeatedly. Contrary to this, wherever throughout the Qur'an an address was made to the last among the prophets, may peace and the blessings of Allah be upon him, he was addressed by some title, like nabiyy (prophet) or rasul (messenger of Allah) etc. The only exception is that of four occasions [ 3:144; 33:40; 47:2; 48:29] where the very purpose was to declare that he is the rasul of Allah. It is there only that his blessed name has been mentioned - which was functionally necessary.
In this address, two orders were given to the Holy Prophet ﷺ : (1) That of fearing Allah in the sense that the peace pact entered into with the Mushriks of Makkah should not be contravened. (2) That of not yielding to what is said by the disbelievers, hypocrites and the Jews. At this point, a question may arise. Is it not that the Holy Prophet ﷺ is, after all, protected from all sins? Now, a breach of solemn pledge is obviously a major sin, and similarly, it is also a great sin to accept the offer of disbelievers and polytheists, quoted under the background of revelation. Since the Holy Prophet ﷺ was already protected from all kinds of sins, what was the need for such an order? According to Ruh al-Ma’ ani, these orders have the sense of instruction to abide by this conduct in future as well - as he did in the event concerned. And the order of: اِتَّقِ اللہ (ittaqillah: fear Allah) was made to come earlier for the reason that Muslims wanted to kill the Mushriks of Makkah with whom a treaty of peace was already in effect. Therefore, the instruction to avoid a breach of pledge was made to precede through the expression: اِتَّقِ اللہ (ittagillah: fear Allah). As for the instruction of not yielding to the kuffar and mushrikin, since no one had even wanted to do that, it was mentioned later.
And some respected commentators have said that, in this verse, though the address is to the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، but the purpose is to warn the Muslim community at large. As for him, he was ma` sum, that is, protected in the sense that there was just no probability of the contravention of Divine injunctions from him. But, the law is for the whole community. So, a corresponding mode was employed to make the community hear it and become alerted, and the address was made to the Holy Prophet ﷺ which enhanced the importance of the order significantly by suggesting: When, even the rasul of Allah is the addressee of the order, how can any individual of the Muslim community remain exempted from it?
And Ibn Kathir has said: In this verse, the real purpose of prohibiting the obedience of the disbelievers is that the Holy Prophet ﷺ should not consult with them or let them have the opportunity of sitting with him frequently, because such consultation or mutual interaction generally becomes the cause of ending up in a disposition favouring the acceptance of what they proposed. Though, there was no probability that the Holy Prophet ﷺ would do what they asked him to do, still, he was stopped from maintaining such liaison with them and from having them participate in his consultations. It is this idea that has been expressed through the word: اِطَاعَۃ (ita’ ah: obedience, submission or listening to and doing the bidding of someone), because such consultations and mutual interaction usually become the cause of ultimate acceptance. So, what has really been done here is that he has been prohibited from adopting the ways that could lead to such 'itaa'ah or obedience. As for obedience itself, there was no probability that he would ever do that.
Now the second question that may arise here is that according to this verse, the disbelievers and the hypocrites were expected to propose things counter to the true Islamic position. To the extent of open disbelievers, such proposals coming from them were not improbable, and warning against yielding to them is understandable. But, if the hypocrites said anything counter to Islam, they would no longer remain hypocrites, because in that case they would become open disbelievers. What, then, was the need to mention them separately? The answer is that it is possible that although the hypocrites may not have said anything against Islam very openly, but that they may have said something in support of other disbelievers.
And if the event featuring the hypocrites, described under the background of revelation, is taken to be the cause of revelation, it simply leaves no difficulty or vagueness behind - because, in terms of this event, the Holy Prophet ﷺ has simply been prohibited from dealing with Jews calling themselves Muslims in a spirit of extra civility and accommodation.
Later, towards the end of this verse, by saying: اِن اللہَ عَلِیماً حَکِیمَاً (Surely, Allah is All- Knowing, Wise - 1), stated there is the wisdom of the order given immediately earlier - that is, 'fear Allah and do not obey the disbelievers and hypocrites.' The reason is that Allah Ta’ ala, who knows the consequences of everything, is most wise, and fully aware of what is better for His servants. This was said to counter some of the things put forth by the disbelievers or hypocrites which could generate for them certain advantages of lesser tension and increased mutual tolerance. But, from this Allah Ta’ ala prohibited him by declaring that even this tolerance of such people was counter to what was expedient under the circumstances and that such a policy was not going to end well.
