Repentance (Al-Tawbah)
Verses 25-28 GROUP_334 9.25-28
25
لَقَدْ نَصَرَكُمُ اللّهُ فِي مَوَاطِنَ كَثِيرَةٍ وَيَوْمَ حُنَيْنٍ إِذْ أَعْجَبَتْكُمْ كَثْرَتُكُمْ فَلَمْ تُغْنِ عَنكُمْ شَيْئًا وَضَاقَتْ عَلَيْكُمُ الأَرْضُ بِمَا رَحُبَتْ ثُمَّ وَلَّيْتُم مُّدْبِرِينَ
Indeed, God has helped you on many occasions. On the day of Hunayn, when you took pride in your great numbers, they proved of no avail to you—for the earth, despite all its vastness, became [too] narrow for you and you turned back, in retreat.
26
ثُمَّ أَنَزلَ اللّهُ سَكِينَتَهُ عَلَى رَسُولِهِ وَعَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَأَنزَلَ جُنُودًا لَّمْ تَرَوْهَا وَعذَّبَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ وَذَلِكَ جَزَاء الْكَافِرِينَ
God caused His tranquillity to descend upon His Messenger and the faithful: and sent down forces which you did not see: He punished those who denied the truth—for such is the recompense of all who deny the truth—
27
ثُمَّ يَتُوبُ اللّهُ مِن بَعْدِ ذَلِكَ عَلَى مَن يَشَاء وَاللّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
then after that, God will turn in His mercy to whom He wills: God is forgiving and merciful.
28
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ إِنَّمَا الْمُشْرِكُونَ نَجَسٌ فَلاَ يَقْرَبُواْ الْمَسْجِدَ الْحَرَامَ بَعْدَ عَامِهِمْ هَـذَا وَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ عَيْلَةً فَسَوْفَ يُغْنِيكُمُ اللّهُ مِن فَضْلِهِ إِن شَاء إِنَّ اللّهَ عَلِيمٌ حَكِيمٌ
Believers, know that the polytheists are impure,a so they should not approach the Sacred Mosque after this year onwards. If you should fear destitution, God will enrich you out of His bounty, if He so wishes. God is aware and wise.
No class discussions published for this verse group yet.
Commentary
(a) In Ramadan of the year 8 Hijrah, the Muslims successfully subdued the Quraysh and conquered Makkah. This was a virtually bloodless entry into Makkah. But in the very next month of Shawwal of the year 8 Hijrah, they were defeated by the polytheistic tribes of Hawazin and Thaqif, though at the conquest of Makkah, the number of Muslims was only ten thousand, while in the battle against the Hawazin and the Thaqif their number was twelve thousand. The reason for this was that when the Muslims had marched against the Quraysh, they had set out simply relying on God. But while proceeding to fight against the Hawazin and the Thaqif, they were proud of the fact that they were the conquerors of Makkah; that they had an army of twelve thousand men; that now nobody could defeat them. They were successful when they had reposed confidence in God; when they reposed confidence in themselves, they had to face defeat. Reliance on oneself develops a sort of a haughtiness in a man which results in carelessness of external facts. He falls short in carrying out disciplinary regulations. Due to overweening self-confidence, he starts acting in an unrealistic manner, the result of which is necessarily defeat in this world of cause and effect. As opposed to this, having confidence in God is reliance on the greatest power. This develops humility in a man; he becomes extremely realistic; and realism is the key to all success. (a) Initially, when the entry of polytheists into the Sacred Mosque of Makkah was banned, Muslims were worried because, Arabia being a non-agricultural country, its economy was based on trade and commerce, and trade is based on mutually harmonious relations. Muslims thought that when the entry of polytheists into the Sacred Mosque ended, trade relations with them would also come to an end. But they did not keep in view the possibility that these very polytheists might soon embrace Islam. And that is exactly what happened. Due to the general acceptance of Islam by Arabs, trade activities were restored in a new form. Moreover, the result of this initial sacrifice was that finally Islam became an international religion. The doors of their economy, which seemed to be closed at a local level, were opened at a universal level.