At-Tawba 9:8 · The Repentance · Arabic, translation, recitation

Other English translations

Abdel Haleem (Oxford)+

"[How,] when, if they were to get the upper hand over you, they would not respect any tie with you, of kinship or of treaty? They please you with their tongues, but their hearts are against you and most of them are lawbreakers."

Pickthall (classic)+

"How (can there be any treaty for the others) when, if they have the upper hand of you, they regard not pact nor honour in respect of you? They satisfy you with their mouths the while their hearts refuse. And most of them are wrongdoers."

Yusuf Ali (classic)+

"How (can there be such a league), seeing that if they get an advantage over you, they respect not in you the ties either of kinship or of covenant? With (fair words from) their mouths they entice you, but their hearts are averse from you; and most of them are rebellious and wicked."

Tafsīr · classical commentary

Ibn Kathir

Abridged English, public domain

Allah encourages the believers to show enmity to the idolators andto dissociate from them, affirming that they do not deserve to enjoy a covenant of peace, because of their Shirk in Allah and disbelief in Allah's Messenger ﷺ.

Allah encourages the believers to show enmity to the idolators and to dissociate from them, affirming that they do not deserve to enjoy a covenant of peace, because of their Shirk in Allah and disbelief in Allah's Messenger ﷺ If these disbelievers have a chance to defeat Muslims, they will cause great mischief, leave nothing unharmed, disregard the ties of kinship and the sanctity of their vows. `Ali bin Abi Talhah, `Ikrimah and Al-`Awfi narrated that Ibn `Abbas said, "Ill means kinship, while, Dhimmah means covenant." Ad-Dahhak and As-Suddi said similarly.

Tafsir Saʿdi

English translation, public domain

О мусульмане! Какой договор может быть у многобожников с Аллахом? Если они обретут достаточно силы для того, чтобы одолеть вас, то не пощадят вас и позабудут о своих родственных связях и договорных обязательствах. Они не будут обращаться с вами по-доброму, опасаясь разгневать Аллаха, а подвергнут вас ужасным мучениям. Они непременно поступят так, если смогут одержать верх над вами. Поэтому вам не следует обольщаться той любезностью, которую они проявляют, пока опасаются вас. Они делают вид, что склоняются на вашу сторону и питают к вам искренние чувства, но в действительности они - ваши заклятые враги, питающие к вам лютую ненависть. И большинство их - грешники, лишенные набожности и мужества.

Maʿārif al-Qur'ān

Mufti Shafi Usmani, English

Earlier when it was said that disbelieving people had nursed betrayal in their hearts right from the beginning and had no intention of staying faithful to their pledge, an exception was also granted. Similarly, when the text says: أَكْثَرُ‌هُمْ فَاسِقُونَ (Most of them are sinners - 8), it hints that all of them were not like that. There were some nice people among them too, who wanted to stand by their commitment, but they were not heard before others.

This is the same subject the Holy Qur'an takes up elsewhere saying in very clear terms: لَا يَجْرِ‌مَنَّكُمْ شَنَآنُ قَوْمٍ عَلَىٰ أَلَّا تَعْدِلُوا (and malice against a people should not bid you to not doing justice - 5:8)

After that comes the ninth verse with the reason why these Mushriks were so chronically treacherous and what was it that ailed them. Thus, they too were given a prescription of hope to ponder about so that they could still correct themselves if they chose to. At the same time, Muslims at large were also served with a warning that they should take their guard against the pitfall of treachery and disobedience which had sucked these people in and make a total abstention from this behavior model their distinct life style. The reason is their relentless love of the material. The desire to acquire, possess and expend the limitless range of things of this world had blinded them to the limit that they would not hesitate to sell off the very Words of Allah and their own faith in exchange for paltry gains. This character is, to make an understatement, evil.

Moving on to the tenth verse, the text describes the extreme crookedness of these people by saying: لَا يَرْ‌قُبُونَ فِي مُؤْمِنٍ إِلًّا وَلَا ذِمَّةً (They do not observe, in the case of a believer, any bond or treaty). The sense is that this was no isolated case of disbelieving people acting treacherously against Muslims to whom they were bound by ties of kinship and treaty obligations. In fact, disbelieving people were a lot who would never consider kinship or pledge as valid grounds when dealing with Muslims.

Given the aforesaid behavior pattern of disbelieving people, it could have been but natural for Muslims to have become disillusioned with them forever and refuse to have any brotherly relationship with them under any condition. Therefore, as the Qur'anic justice and equity would have it, the eleventh verse gives the following instruction: