Tafseer of The Repentance · At-Tawba · 9:113
It is not for the Prophet and those who have believed to ask forgiveness for the polytheists, even if they were relatives, after it has become clear to them that they are companions of Hellfire.
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 explanation of His word: مَا كَانَ لِلنَّبِيِّ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَنْ يَسْتَغْفِرُوا لِلْمُشْرِكِينَ وَلَوْ كَانُوا أُولِي قُرْبَى مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا تَبَيَّنَ لَهُمْ أَنَّهُمْ أَصْحَابُ الْجَحِيمِ (113) (It is not fitting for the Prophet and those who believe to ask forgiveness for the polytheists, even though they be kinsmen, after it has become clear to them that they are the inhabitants of the Hellfire.) (113)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is mentioned, says: It did not befit the Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ and those who believed in him = "to ask forgiveness," He says: to implore forgiveness for the polytheists (mushrikīn), even though the polytheists for whom they were asking forgiveness were = "kinsmen," that is to say people with whom they had kinship = "after it has become clear to them that they are the inhabitants of the Hellfire," He says: after they have died in their shirk against Allah and their worship of the idols, and it has become clear to them that they belong to the inhabitants of the Fire (al-nār), for Allah has already decreed that He will not forgive any polytheist. It therefore does not befit them to ask their Lord to do what they know He will not do. And if they then say: But did not Ibrāhīm ask forgiveness for his father, while he was a polytheist? — then Ibrāhīm's asking forgiveness for his father was only on account of a promise he had made to him. When it became clear to him and he knew that he was an enemy of Allah, he let him go and abandoned him, and ceased asking forgiveness for him, and placed Allah and His command above him, and dissociated himself from him when his condition became clear to him. (17)
* * *
The exegetes differed concerning the occasion regarding which this verse was revealed.
Some said: it was revealed concerning Abū Ṭālib, the uncle of the Prophet ﷺ, because the Prophet ﷺ wished to ask forgiveness for him after his death, whereupon Allah forbade him that.
* Mention of who said that:
17324 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, who said: When death drew near to Abū Ṭālib, the Prophet ﷺ entered upon him, while Abū Jahl and ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Umayya were with him, and he said: O uncle, say: there is no god but Allah, a word by which I will plead for you before Allah! But Abū Jahl and ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Umayya said to him: O Abū Ṭālib, do you turn away from the creed of ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib? Thereupon the Prophet ﷺ said: I will surely ask forgiveness for you as long as I am not forbidden to do so! Then was revealed: "It is not fitting for the Prophet and those who believe to ask forgiveness for the polytheists," and there was revealed: إِنَّكَ لا تَهْدِي مَنْ أَحْبَبْتَ (Indeed, you cannot guide whom you love) [Al-Qaṣaṣ: 56].
17325 - Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Wahb related to me, saying: My uncle ʿAbd Allāh ibn Wahb related to us, saying: Yūnus related to me, on the authority of al-Zuhrī, who said: Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab informed me, on the authority of his father, who said: When death drew near to Abū Ṭālib, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ came, and he found with him Abū Jahl ibn Hishām and ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Umayya ibn al-Mughīra, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: O uncle, say: there is no god but Allah, a word by which I will testify for you before Allah! Abū Jahl and ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Umayya said: O Abū Ṭālib, do you turn away from the creed of ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib? The Messenger of Allah ﷺ kept putting it to him and repeated those words to him, until Abū Ṭālib said as the last thing he spoke to them: "He is upon the creed of ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib," and he refused to say: "there is no god but Allah." Thereupon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: By Allah, I will surely ask forgiveness for you as long as I am not forbidden to do so! Then Allah revealed: "It is not fitting for the Prophet and those who believe to ask forgiveness for the polytheists," and Allah revealed concerning Abū Ṭālib, and said to the Messenger of Allah: إِنَّكَ لا تَهْدِي مَنْ أَحْبَبْتَ (Indeed, you cannot guide whom you love), the verse. (18)
