At-Tawbah 9:118

Juz 11 · Page 206

9:118

وَعَلَى ٱلثَّلَٰثَةِ ٱلَّذِينَ خُلِّفُوا۟ حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَا ضَاقَتْ عَلَيْهِمُ ٱلْأَرْضُ بِمَا رَحُبَتْ وَضَاقَتْ عَلَيْهِمْ أَنفُسُهُمْ وَظَنُّوٓا۟ أَن لَّا مَلْجَأَ مِنَ ٱللَّهِ إِلَّآ إِلَيْهِ ثُمَّ تَابَ عَلَيْهِمْ لِيَتُوبُوٓا۟ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ هُوَ ٱلتَّوَّابُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ

And [He also forgave] the three who were left behind [and regretted their error] to the point that the earth closed in on them in spite of its vastness and their souls confined them and they were certain that there is no refuge from Allah except in Him. Then He turned to them so they could repent. Indeed, Allah is the Accepting of repentance, the Merciful.

Context

The three left behind: the story of Ka'b b. Malik

118

According to the long hadith in Bukhari told by Ka'b b. Malik himself, Ka'b, Murara b. al-Rabi' and Hilal b. Umayya failed to join the Tabuk expedition without a valid excuse, yet refused to lie and confessed their situation honestly. By the Prophet's order they were shunned by the community for fifty days; no one spoke to them, and for the last ten days they were commanded to keep away from their wives as well. When the earth, for all its vastness, had closed in upon them, the verse was revealed: “And to the three who were left behind, Allah turned in forgiveness”; Ka'b described the day he received the good news as the happiest of his life.

Buhârî 4418; Müslim 2769

Revelation context of the surah

Surah-wide

At-Tawbah is Medinan and among the very last surahs revealed (around 9 AH). Its main context is the Tabuk campaign, those who stayed behind from it, and the conduct of the hypocrites; it also declares the repudiation of treaties with the polytheists who had violated them. Its proclamations are reported to have been announced by Ali during the pilgrimage of 9 AH; it is the only surah that does not open with the basmala.

Klasik tefsir mukaddimeleri; Buhârî rivayetleri; siyer kaynakları

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