Tafseer of The Family of Imraan · Aal-i-Imraan · 3:129
And to Allah belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. He forgives whom He wills and punishes whom He wills. And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The discourse on the explanation of His statement: لَيْسَ لَكَ مِنَ الأَمْرِ شَيْءٌ أَوْ يَتُوبَ عَلَيْهِمْ أَوْ يُعَذِّبَهُمْ فَإِنَّهُمْ ظَالِمُونَ (3:128) (You have no say in the matter, or He turns to them in forgiveness, or He punishes them, for they are wrongdoers.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: He — exalted be His mention — means by this: that He may cut off a portion of those who disbelieved, or humiliate them, or turn to them in forgiveness, or punish them, for they are wrongdoers; you have no say in the matter.
* * *
His statement "or He turns to them in forgiveness" stands in the accusative, as a coordination with His statement "or He humiliates them."
It is possible that its explanation is: you have no say in the matter, until He turns to them in forgiveness — so that the accusative of "He turns in forgiveness" arises from the meaning of "or" (aw), which here bears the meaning of "until" (ḥattā).
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: The first reading is the correct one, for no affair of the creatures rests with anyone other than their Creator, neither before the repentance of the disbelievers and their punishment, nor after it.
* * *
The explanation of His statement "you have no say in the matter" is: to you, O Muḥammad, belongs nothing of the affair of My creation, except that you carry out My command among them and hold fast to My obedience among them. For their affair belongs to Me, and the judgment over them is in My hand, not in another's: I judge over them and pass over them the sentence that I will, whether by granting repentance to whoever disbelieved in Me, disobeyed Me, and resisted My command, or by punishment — whether in the nearness of this world through killing and destroying calamities, or in the distance of the Hereafter through what I have prepared for the people who disbelieved in Me. As:
7804 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to me, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, who said: Then He said to Muḥammad ﷺ: "You have no say in the matter, or He turns to them in forgiveness, or He punishes them, for they are wrongdoers" — that is to say: you have no say in the judgment over My servants, except in what I have charged you concerning them, or I turn to them in forgiveness through My mercy — if I will, I do that — or I punish them for their sins. "For they are wrongdoers" — that is to say: they have deserved that through their disobedience toward Me.
* * *
It has been mentioned that Allah, mighty and exalted is He, sent down this verse upon His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ only because, when there befell him at Uḥud what befell him from the side of the polytheists (mushrikīn), he said — as one despairing of their guidance or of their return to the truth: "How can a people prosper who have done this to their prophet!"
Mention of the report concerning that:
7805 — Ḥumayd ibn Masʿada related to us, saying: Bishr ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Anas said: The Prophet ﷺ said on the day of Uḥud, when his front teeth had been broken and he had been wounded, while he was wiping the blood from his face: "How can a people prosper who have stained their prophet with blood while he calls them to their Lord!" Then was sent down: "You have no say in the matter, or He turns to them in forgiveness, or He punishes them, for they are wrongdoers."
7806 — Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, on the authority of Ḥumayd, on the authority of Anas, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, with a similar report.
7807 — Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, on the authority of Ḥumayd al-Ṭawīl, on the authority of Anas, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, with a similar report.
7808 — Yaḥyā ibn Ṭalḥa al-Yarbūʿī related to me, saying: Abū Bakr ibn ʿAyyāsh related to us, on the authority of Ḥumayd al-Ṭawīl, on the authority of Anas ibn Mālik, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, when he had been wounded in his forehead and his front teeth had been broken: "A people who have done this to their prophet shall not prosper!" Then Allah revealed to him: "You have no say in the matter, or He turns to them in forgiveness, or He punishes them, for they are wrongdoers."
7809 — Yaʿqūb related to me, on the authority of Ibn ʿUlayya, who said: Ibn ʿAwn related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: that the Prophet ﷺ said on the day of Uḥud: "How can a people prosper who have made the face of their prophet bleed while he calls them to Allah, mighty and exalted is He!" Then was sent down: "You have no say in the matter, or He turns to them in forgiveness, or He punishes them, for they are wrongdoers."
7810 — Yaʿqūb related to us, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Ḥumayd, on the authority of Anas, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, something similar.
7811 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement: "You have no say in the matter, or He turns to them in forgiveness, or He punishes them, for they are wrongdoers" — it has been mentioned to us that this verse was sent down upon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ on the day of Uḥud, when the Prophet of Allah ﷺ had been wounded in his face and a part of his front teeth had been struck, and he said — while Sālim, the freedman of Abū Ḥudhayfa, was washing the blood from his face: "How can a people prosper who have stained the face of their prophet with blood while he calls them to their Lord!" Then Allah, mighty and exalted is He, sent down: "You have no say in the matter, or He turns to them in forgiveness, or He punishes them, for they are wrongdoers."
7812 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiḥ related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn ibn Wāqid related to us, on the authority of Maṭar, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: The Prophet ﷺ was wounded on the day of Uḥud, his front teeth were broken, and his eyebrow was split open. He fell, while he wore two coats of mail and the blood flowed. Sālim, the freedman of Abū Ḥudhayfa, passed by him, set him upright, and wiped over his face, whereupon he came to and said: "What of a people who have done this to their prophet while he calls them to Allah!" Then Allah, blessed and exalted is He, sent down: "You have no say in the matter, or He turns to them in forgiveness, or He punishes them, for they are wrongdoers."
7813 — It was related to me on the authority of ʿAmmār, who said: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, concerning His statement: "You have no say in the matter" — the verse. He said: ar-Rabīʿ ibn Anas said: This verse was sent down upon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ on the day of Uḥud, when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had been wounded in his face and his front teeth had been struck, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was minded to invoke a curse against them, and said: "How can a people prosper who have made the face of their prophet bleed while he calls them to Allah and they call him to Satan, and he calls them to guidance and they call him to error, and he calls them to the Garden (janna) and they call him to the Fire!" He was minded to invoke a curse against them, when Allah, mighty and exalted is He, sent down: "You have no say in the matter, or He turns to them in forgiveness, or He punishes them, for they are wrongdoers." And the Messenger of Allah ﷺ refrained from cursing them.
7814 — Muḥammad ibn Sinān related to me, saying: Abū Bakr al-Ḥanafī related to us, saying: ʿAbbād related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning His statement: "You have no say in the matter, or He turns to them in forgiveness" — the whole verse. He said: Abū Sufyān came after a year, enraged at what had been done to his companions on the day of Badr, and he fought against the companions of Muḥammad ﷺ on the day of Uḥud with a fierce fighting (qitāl), until he had killed of them the number of the prisoners of war on the day of Badr. Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ uttered a word that Allah knew was mingled with anger: "How can a people prosper who have stained the face of their prophet with blood while he calls them to Islam!" Then Allah, mighty and exalted is He, said: "You have no say in the matter, or He turns to them in forgiveness, or He punishes them, for they are wrongdoers."
7815 — al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd ar-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda: that the front tooth of the Prophet ﷺ was struck on the day of Uḥud — ʿUtba ibn Abī Waqqāṣ struck him and wounded him in his face. And Sālim, the freedman of Abū Ḥudhayfa, washed the blood of the Prophet ﷺ, while the Prophet ﷺ said: "How can a people prosper who have done this to their prophet!" Then Allah, mighty and exalted is He, sent down: "You have no say in the matter, or He turns to them in forgiveness, or He punishes them, for they are wrongdoers."
7816 — al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd ar-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of az-Zuhrī, and on the authority of ʿUthmān al-Jazarī, on the authority of Miqsam: that the Prophet ﷺ invoked a curse on the day of Uḥud against ʿUtba ibn Abī Waqqāṣ, when the latter had broken his front tooth and bruised his face, and he said: "O Allah, let the year not pass over him before he dies as a disbeliever!" He said: And the year did not pass over him before he died as a disbeliever.
7817 — al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said: Ibn ʿAbbās said: The Prophet ﷺ was wounded in the cleft of his eyebrow, and his front tooth was broken.
= Ibn Jurayj said: It has been mentioned to us that, when he had been wounded, Sālim, the freedman of Abū Ḥudhayfa, began to wash the blood from his face, while the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "How can a people prosper who have stained the face of their prophet with blood while he calls them to Allah!" Then Allah, mighty and exalted is He, sent down: (You have no say in the matter).
* * *
And others said: No, this verse was sent down upon the Prophet ﷺ because he had invoked a curse against a people, whereupon Allah, mighty and exalted is He, sent down: The matter does not rest with you concerning them.
Mention of the report concerning that:
7818 — Yaḥyā ibn Ḥabīb ibn ʿArabī related to me, saying: Khālid ibn al-Ḥārith related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn ʿAjlān related to us, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar: that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to invoke a curse against four men, whereupon Allah, mighty and exalted is He, sent down: (You have no say in the matter, or He turns to them in forgiveness, or He punishes them, for they are wrongdoers). He said: And Allah guided them to Islam.
7819 — Abū as-Sāʾib Salm ibn Junāda related to me, saying: Aḥmad ibn Bishr related to us, on the authority of ʿUmar ibn Ḥamza, on the authority of Sālim, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "O Allah, curse Abū Sufyān! O Allah, curse al-Ḥārith ibn Hishām! O Allah, curse Ṣafwān ibn Umayya!" Then was sent down: (You have no say in the matter, or He turns to them in forgiveness, or He punishes them, for they are wrongdoers).
7820 — Mujāhid ibn Mūsā related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq informed us, on the authority of ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān ibn al-Ḥārith ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAyyāsh ibn Abī Rabīʿa, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Kaʿb, on the authority of Abū Bakr ibn ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān ibn al-Ḥārith ibn Hishām, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ performed the dawn prayer (al-fajr), and when he raised his head from the second prostration he said: "O Allah, save ʿAyyāsh ibn Abī Rabīʿa and Salama ibn Hishām and al-Walīd ibn al-Walīd! O Allah, save the oppressed among the Muslims! O Allah, intensify Your grip upon Muḍar! O Allah, years like the years of the people of Yūsuf!" Then Allah sent down: (You have no say in the matter, or He turns to them in forgiveness) — the verse.
7821 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Yūnus ibn Yazīd informed me, on the authority of Ibn Shihāb, who informed him, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab and Abū Salama ibn ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān: that the two of them heard Abū Hurayra say: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to say, when in the dawn prayer he had finished the recitation and pronounced the takbīr and raised his head: "Allah hears whoever praises Him; our Lord, to You belongs the praise." Then he said, while standing: "O Allah, save al-Walīd ibn al-Walīd and Salama ibn Hishām and ʿAyyāsh ibn Abī Rabīʿa and the oppressed among the believers! O Allah, intensify Your grip upon Muḍar, and make it over them like the years of Yūsuf! O Allah, curse Liḥyān and Riʿl and Dhakwān and ʿUṣayya, who disobeyed Allah and His Messenger!" Then it has been mentioned to us that he refrained from that when His statement was sent down: (You have no say in the matter, or He turns to them in forgiveness, or He punishes them, for they are wrongdoers).
