009- AL-TAWBAH
REPENTANCE
Al-Tawbah
The name of this sūrah, al-Tawbah, comes from the reference to repentance in v. 3, though some connect it with God’s “relenting” toward the Prophet and the believers as mentioned in vv. 117–18 (Āl), since “repent” and “relent” render the same verb with a different preposition following it. Another common name for this sūrah is al-Barāʾah (“The Repudiation”), a word that appears in its first verse, and several other names are also mentioned by commentators.
This Madinan sūrah contains some of the most important passages in the Quran concerning the conduct of war and political relations during peacetime, opening with a passage about how and why the believers should fight the idolatrous Arabs and also certain groups among the People of the Book (vv. 1–29), which is followed by a criticism of the corruption of religious leaders (vv. 29–32). A long passage describes the trials and disagreements that took place within the community over setting out on a military campaign and expands upon the dissension created by the hypocrites in Madinah who did not wish to go out to fight alongside the Prophet (vv. 38–106, 117–27). Loyalty and allegiance are major themes in the latter part of this sūrah and are applied to the attitudes of the nomadic Arabs (vv. 97–101), the efforts of some hypocrites to establish a competing mosque in Madinah (vv. 107–110), and the wavering and weakness of some Muslims in their commitment to following the Prophet into battle (vv. 117–18). The rules governing the zakāh, or alms, and the giving of charity also figure prominently in this sūrah (vv. 58–60, 103–4).
This is the only sūrah of the Quran that does not begin with the basmalah, the formula In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. It is reported that Ibn ʿAbbās asked ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib why there was no basmalah at the start of this sūrah. He responded that the basmalah is a statement of security, and this sūrah begins with the severing of a covenant and a declaration of conflict, which indicate the opposite of a state of security. When it was pointed out to him that the Prophet sent letters beginning with the basmalah to call various hostile groups to embrace Islam, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib responded that this was precisely a call to God, not the rescinding of a pact; the former leads to peace, the latter to war. Commentators note that it was a custom, even in pre-Islamic times, to omit In the Name of God in a message breaking a treaty.
One interpretation of the absence of the basmalah at the start of al-Tawbah is that it reinforces the connection between the final verse of the previous sūrah, which emphasizes the need to separate from the disbelievers—a message given in a different form at the start of this sūrah. One question that the absence of the basmalah has raised for some is whether al-Anfāl (Sūrah 8) and al-Tawbah (Sūrah 9) are two sūrahs or together make up a single sūrah, and it is recorded that there was disagreement among some of the Companions over this question. According to an account attributed to ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, throughout the period of revelation the Prophet would give specific instructions on the placement of sūrahs and verses. Al-Tawbah was one of the last sūrahs to be revealed, and because of its content some Companions believed that it belonged with the preceding sūrah. However, because they were unsure whether it was one sūrah or two, they placed them next to each other, but without the basmalah at the start of al-Tawbah. In this way, some interpret the absence of the basmalah as preserving the difference of opinion between the Companions over the question of the arrangement of the sūrahs. Nevertheless, the traditional view accepted by consensus is that it was the Prophet himself who gave the order for the sūrahs in the Quran, including considering Sūrahs 8 and 9 separate sūrahs.
(source: “The Study Quran” a new translation and commentary by Seyyed Hossein Nasr)
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