9:116 At-Tawba (The Repentance)

إن لله مالك السموات والأرض وما فيهن لا شريك له في الخلق والتدبير والعبادة والتشريع، يحيي مَن يشاء ويميت مَن يشاء، وما لكم مِن أحد غير الله يتولى أموركم، ولا نصير ينصركم على عدوكم.

‏{‏إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَهُ مُلْكُ السموات وَالْأَرْضِ يُحْيِي وَيُمِيتُ‏}‏ أي‏:‏ هو المالك لذلك، المدبر لعباده بالإحياء والإماتة وأنواع التدابير الإلهية، فإذا كان لا يخل بتدبيره القدري فكيف يخل بتدبيره الديني المتعلق بإلهيته، ويترك عباده سدى مهملين، أو يدعهم ضالين جاهلين، وهو أعظم توليه لعباده‏؟‏‏\"‏‏.‏ فلهذا قال‏:‏ ‏{‏وَمَا لَكُمْ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ مِنْ وَلِيٍّ وَلَا نَصِيرٍ‏}‏ أي‏:‏ ولي يتولاكم بجلب المنافع لكم، أو ‏{‏نَصِيرٍ‏}‏ يدفع عنكم المضار‏.

وقوله تعالى " إن الله له ملك السموات والأرض يحي ويميت وما لكم من دون الله من ولي ولا نصير " قال ابن جرير هذا تحريض من الله تعالى لعباده المؤمنين في قتال المشركين وملوك الكفر وأنهم يثقوا بنصر الله مالك السموات والأرض ولم يرهبوا من أعدائه فإنه لا ولي لهم من دون الله ولا نصير لهم سواه وقال ابن أبي حاتم حدثنا علي بن أبي دلامة البغدادي حدثنا عبد الوهاب بن عطاء حدثنا سعيد عن قتادة عن صفوان بن محرز عن حكيم بن حزام قال بينا رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم بين أصحابه إذ قال لهم " هل تسمعون ما أسمع؟ " قالوا ما نسمع من شيء فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم " إنى لأسمع أطيط السماء وما تلام أن تئط ما فيها من موضع شبر إلا وعليه ملك ساجد أو قائم " وقال كعب الأحبار ما من موضع خرمة إبرة من الأرض إلا وملك موكل بها يرفع علم ذلك إلى الله وإن ملائكة السماء لأكثر من عدد التراب وإن حملة العرش ما بين كعب أحدهم إلى مخه مسيرة مائة عام.

Surely to God belongs the kingdom of the heavens and of the earth. He gives life and He makes to die; and you do not have O mankind besides God that is other than Him any protector to preserve you from Him or helper to defend you against His hurt.

This put some Muslims into doubt. Was it not, they thought, that Sayyidna Ibrahim ؓ too had prayed for his disbelieving father? To answer it, the second verse (114) was revealed: مَا كَانَ اسْتِغْفَارُ‌ إِبْرَ‌اهِيمَ. In gist, it means: As for the prayer made by Sayyidna Ibrahim ؓ for his father, it was conditioned by circumstances. In the beginning, Sayyidna Ibrahim ؓ did not know that he would keep on sticking to his disbelief right through the end and would die a disbeliever. In other words, his going to Hell was not certain. That was the time when he had made the promise that he would pray for his forgiveness: سَأَسْتَغْفِرُ‌ لَكَ رَ‌بِّي (I shall ask my Lord to forgive you - Maryam 19:47). Later, when it be-came clear to Sayyidna Ibrahim ؓ that he was an enemy of Allah, that is, he had remained a disbeliever right through the end, he elected to become indifferent to him and stopped asking pardon for him.

With regard to the mention of Sayyidna Ibrahim ؓ praying for the forgiveness of his father at different places in the Qur'an, it should all be taken in that sense, whereby it would mean that Allah may give him the taufiq of 'Iman and Islam so that he could be forgiven.

When the disbelievers inflicted a wound on the blessed face of the Holy Prophet ﷺ during the battle of Uhud, he was seen wiping blood from his face and praying: اللَّھُمَّ اغفِرلِقَومِی اِنَّھُم لَا یَعلَمُونَ ( O Allah, forgive my people. They do not know). The object of this prayer of forgiveness for the disbelievers is no other but that Allah may bless them with the taufiq of 'Iman and Islam so that they could become deserving of being forgiven.

Imam al-Qurtubi said, ` this proves that it is permissible to pray for the forgiveness of a living kafir with the intention that this disbelieving person may have the taufiq of 'Iman and become deserving of forgiveness.'

In the last sentence of the verse (114), it was said: إِنَّ ِبْرَ‌اهِيمَ حَلِيمٌ (Surely, Ibrahim is oft sighing [ before Allah ], forbearing). The word: اوَّاه awwah) is used for a host of meanings. Al-Qurtubi has reported fifteen meanings of this word but they are all close to each other without any real difference between them. Some of these are: one who sighs a lot, or one who supplicates profusely, or one who is full of mercy for the servants of Allah. This (last) meaning is reported from Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn Masud ؓ .