Translation of the Meanings of the Noble Qur'an - English Translation - Dr. Waleed Bleyhesh Omary * - Translations’ Index
Translation of the meanings Ayah: (1) Surah: At-Tawbah
At-Tawbah
بَرَآءَةٞ مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِۦٓ إِلَى ٱلَّذِينَ عَٰهَدتُّم مِّنَ ٱلۡمُشۡرِكِينَ
(1) ˹This is˺ A repudiation[2014] ˹declared˺ by Allah and His Messenger to those of the Associators with whom you have forged pacts.
[2014] It is notable that this sura, of all the suras of the Qur’an, is not preceded by the usual opening statement, known as al-basmalah: “In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful”. Scholars are of different opinions about the reason behind this. Ibn Kathīr says: “One is not to recite the al-basmalah at the beginning of it ˹al-Tawbah˺ because the ˹honourable˺ Companions did not write it down at the beginning of this sura in the canonical codex on the behest of the leader of the Believers, ʿUthmān Ibn ʿAffān (رضي الله عنه)” (cf. also Ibn Ḥajar, Fatḥ al-Bārī, 4/101). It is reported that ʿUthmān Ibn ʿAffān (رضي الله عنه) said: “Both al-Anfāl and Barā’ah were called at the time of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), al-qarīnatayn (lit. the two conjoined suras). This is why I included them both in the seven lengthy suras ˹in the Uthmanic codex˺ and did not write: “In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful” ˹at the beginning of al-Tawbah˺” (al-Naḥḥās, al-Nāsikh wa al-Mansūkh, 3/208, also al-Ṭabarānī, al-Muʿjam al-Awsaṭ, 7/327; other opinions also exist).
The sura begins with this unqualified declaration of non-responsibility for the pacts that the Muslims, under the leadership of the Messenger (ﷺ), had with the Associators of Arabia (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn al-ʿArabī, Aḥkām al-Qur’ān), announcing thus that the upper hand in the land was now with the Believers (cf. al-Biqāʿī, Naẓm al-Durar, Ibn ʿĀshūr). Among the reasons behind this unequivocal declaration and the four months reprieve are: 1) so that the Associators would think deeply about their state of affairs and be ready for what was to come; 2) acquitting the Believers from any responsibility incumbent on the severance of any agreement, and 3) the Messenger (ﷺ) intended to perform pilgrimage (later known as the Farewell Pilgrimage) the next year and he did not want to witness the custom, outright vice (cf. 7: 28), of people circumambulating around the Kaʿbah naked (cf. al-Rāzī, Tafsīr al-Madīnah al-Munawwarah).
The sura begins with this unqualified declaration of non-responsibility for the pacts that the Muslims, under the leadership of the Messenger (ﷺ), had with the Associators of Arabia (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn al-ʿArabī, Aḥkām al-Qur’ān), announcing thus that the upper hand in the land was now with the Believers (cf. al-Biqāʿī, Naẓm al-Durar, Ibn ʿĀshūr). Among the reasons behind this unequivocal declaration and the four months reprieve are: 1) so that the Associators would think deeply about their state of affairs and be ready for what was to come; 2) acquitting the Believers from any responsibility incumbent on the severance of any agreement, and 3) the Messenger (ﷺ) intended to perform pilgrimage (later known as the Farewell Pilgrimage) the next year and he did not want to witness the custom, outright vice (cf. 7: 28), of people circumambulating around the Kaʿbah naked (cf. al-Rāzī, Tafsīr al-Madīnah al-Munawwarah).
Arabic explanations of the Qur’an:
Translation of the meanings Ayah: (1) Surah: At-Tawbah
Translation of the Meanings of the Noble Qur'an - English Translation - Dr. Waleed Bleyhesh Omary - Translations’ Index
Translation of the meanings of the Noble Qur’an into English - in progress - translated by Dr. Walid Bleihesh Al-Omari.