Repentance (Al-Tawbah)
Verses 17-22 GROUP_332 9.17-22
17
مَا كَانَ لِلْمُشْرِكِينَ أَن يَعْمُرُواْ مَسَاجِدَ الله شَاهِدِينَ عَلَى أَنفُسِهِمْ بِالْكُفْرِ أُوْلَئِكَ حَبِطَتْ أَعْمَالُهُمْ وَفِي النَّارِ هُمْ خَالِدُونَ
It is not right that the polytheists should frequent God’s places of worship while they are self-confessed unbelievers. It is they whose works shall come to nothing and they shall abide in Hell.
18
إِنَّمَا يَعْمُرُ مَسَاجِدَ اللّهِ مَنْ آمَنَ بِاللّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الآخِرِ وَأَقَامَ الصَّلاَةَ وَآتَى الزَّكَاةَ وَلَمْ يَخْشَ إِلاَّ اللّهَ فَعَسَى أُوْلَـئِكَ أَن يَكُونُواْ مِنَ الْمُهْتَدِينَ
Only he should tend God’s houses of worship who believes in God and the Last Day, and is constant in prayer, and spends in charity, and stands in awe of none but God: such people may hope to be among the rightly guided.
19
أَجَعَلْتُمْ سِقَايَةَ الْحَاجِّ وَعِمَارَةَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ كَمَنْ آمَنَ بِاللّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الآخِرِ وَجَاهَدَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللّهِ لاَ يَسْتَوُونَ عِندَ اللّهِ وَاللّهُ لاَ يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الظَّالِمِينَ
Do you regard giving water to pilgrims and tending the Sacred Mosque as being equal to the deeds of those who believe in God and the Last Day and who strive in God’s path? They are not equal in the sight of God. God does not guide such unjust people.
20
الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ وَهَاجَرُواْ وَجَاهَدُواْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللّهِ بِأَمْوَالِهِمْ وَأَنفُسِهِمْ أَعْظَمُ دَرَجَةً عِندَ اللّهِ وَأُوْلَئِكَ هُمُ الْفَائِزُونَ
Those who have believed and have migrated, and have striven for God’s sake with their possessions and persons, stand much higher in God’s esteem. It is they who will triumph;
21
يُبَشِّرُهُمْ رَبُّهُم بِرَحْمَةٍ مِّنْهُ وَرِضْوَانٍ وَجَنَّاتٍ لَّهُمْ فِيهَا نَعِيمٌ مُّقِيمٌ
their Lord gives them the good news of His mercy and His pleasure and gardens of eternal bliss.
22
خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا أَبَدًا إِنَّ اللّهَ عِندَهُ أَجْرٌ عَظِيمٌ
There they will dwell for ever. Truly there is an immense reward with God.
No class discussions published for this verse group yet.
Commentary
(a) At the time when the Quran was revealed, the position in Arabia was that the Muslims had gathered round the Prophet Muhammad and the polytheists around the Ka‘bah. Till that time the histories of glories which we are now acquainted with had not yet become attached to the name of the Prophet Muhammad. He appeared to the people like an ordinary man. On the other hand, the Sacred Mosque of Makkah, because of the thousands of years of history attached to it, appeared to them a symbol of greatness and holiness. The polytheists saw themselves as being servants and retainers of the holiest shrine. On the contrary, when they saw the Muslims, they thought of them, under the circumstances prevailing at that time, as a group of people gathered around a madman. (a) But this idea of the polytheists was absolutely wrong. They were making the mistake of comparing the outward appearances of things with the realities. Supplying drinking water to the visitors of the Sacred Mosque; cleaning the Mosque and lighting it; covering the Ka‘bah, attending to its floor and walls—all these are outward, showy deeds. How can they be equal to the deeds of a man who discovers God and spends the rest of his life caring about the Hereafter; who dedicates his life and property to God; who denies all other greatness and makes God his great one? The real discoverers of Truth are not those who discover it at the meaningless level of outward show, but those who are attached to Truth at the level of self-sacrifice and not simply at the level of superficial exhibitionism. There are two types of attachment: one is to ritual, in which a man performs deeds of a showy nature, but does not offer himself or his wealth for the cause of God. The other is one in which a man is so serious about his faith that if he is required to renounce anything for its sake, he does so willingly, and whatever he is required to give, he gives willingly. One who evinces the second kind of attachment will, after death, be blessed by God with great munificence.