Tafseer of The Repentance · At-Tawba · 9:12
And if they break their oaths after their treaty and defame your religion, then fight the leaders of disbelief, for indeed, there are no oaths [sacred] to them; [fight them that] they might cease.
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: وَإِنْ نَكَثُوا أَيْمَانَهُمْ مِنْ بَعْدِ عَهْدِهِمْ وَطَعَنُوا فِي دِينِكُمْ فَقَاتِلُوا أَئِمَّةَ الْكُفْرِ إِنَّهُمْ لا أَيْمَانَ لَهُمْ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَنْتَهُونَ (12) ("And if they break their oaths after their treaty and revile your religion, then fight the leaders of disbelief — indeed, they have no oaths — so that they may desist." (12))
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is proclaimed, says: if these polytheists (mushrikīn) of the Quraysh, with whom you have concluded a treaty, break their treaties after they have agreed with you not to fight you and not to support any of your enemies against you = (and revile your religion), He says: and they disparage your religion, Islam, and slander and defile it = (then fight the leaders of disbelief), He says: then fight the chieftains of disbelief against Allah = (indeed, they have no oaths), He says: indeed, the chieftains of disbelief have no treaty = (so that they may desist), so that they may cease reviling your religion and supporting [others] against you.
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And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the people of interpretation have spoken, despite their mutual disagreement over who was meant by the leaders of disbelief.
Some of them said: they are Abū Jahl ibn Hishām, ʿUtba ibn Rabīʿa, Abū Sufyān ibn Ḥarb, and their like. And Ḥudhayfa said: the people of it have not yet come.
* Mention of who said: they are those whom I have named:
16520 – Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: (And if they break their oaths after their treaty), up to: (so that they may desist), this means: the treaty-bound parties among the polytheists; He called them "leaders of disbelief," and that is indeed what they are. Allah says to His Prophet: and if they break the treaty that exists between you and them, then fight them; the leaders of disbelief have no oaths = (so that they may desist).
16521 – Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: (And if they break their oaths after their treaty), up to: (desist), among the leaders of disbelief were: Abū Jahl ibn Hishām, Umayya ibn Khalaf, ʿUtba ibn Rabīʿa, Abū Sufyān, and Suhayl ibn ʿAmr, and they are those who resolved to expel him.
16522 – Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: (the leaders of disbelief), they are Abū Sufyān, Abū Jahl, Umayya ibn Khalaf, Suhayl ibn ʿAmr, and ʿUtba ibn Rabīʿa.
16523 – Ibn Wakīʿ and Ibn Bashshār related to us = Ibn Wakīʿ said: Jundar related to us = and Ibn Bashshār said: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us =, on the authority of Shuʿba, on the authority of Abū Bishr, on the authority of Mujāhid: (then fight the leaders of disbelief — indeed, they have no oaths), he said: Abū Sufyān is among them.
16524 – Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of As-Suddī: (And if they break their oaths), up to: (desist), they are the Quraysh. He says: if they break their treaty that they concluded concerning Islam, and revile it, then fight them.
16525 – It was related to me on the authority of Al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faraj, saying: I heard Abū Muʿādh say, saying: ʿUbayd related to us, saying: I heard Aḍ-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His word: (then fight the leaders of disbelief), this means: the chiefs of the polytheists, the people of Mecca.
16526 – Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd ar-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: (then fight the leaders of disbelief), they are Abū Sufyān ibn Ḥarb, Umayya ibn Khalaf, ʿUtba ibn Rabīʿa, Abū Jahl ibn Hishām, and Suhayl ibn ʿAmr, and they are those who broke the covenant of Allah and resolved to expel the Messenger. And, by Allah, it is not as the people of doubts, heresies, and fabrications against Allah and against His Book have interpreted it.
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* Mention of the narration of Ḥudhayfa with that which we have mentioned from him:
16527 – Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of Al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Zayd ibn Wahb, on the authority of Ḥudhayfa: (then fight the leaders of disbelief), he said: the people of this verse have not yet been fought.
16528 – Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Aḥmad related to us, saying: Ḥabīb ibn Ḥassān related to us, on the authority of Zayd ibn Wahb, saying: I was with Ḥudhayfa, and he recited this verse: (then fight the leaders of disbelief), and he said: the people of this verse have not yet been fought.
16529 – Abū as-Sāʾib related to me, saying: Al-Aʿmash related to us, on the authority of Zayd ibn Wahb, saying: Ḥudhayfa recited: (then fight the leaders of disbelief), he said: the people of this verse have not yet been fought.
16530 – Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān and Isrāʾīl, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Ṣila ibn Zufar: (indeed, they have no oaths), they have no treaty.
16531 – Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: (And if they break their oaths), he said: their treaty.
16532 – Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Aḥmad related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of As-Suddī: (And if they break their oaths), their treaty that they concluded concerning Islam.
16533 – Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Ṣila, on the authority of ʿAmmār ibn Yāsir, concerning His word: (they have no oaths), he said: they have no treaty.
16534 – Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayd al-Muḥāribī related to me, saying: Abū al-Aḥwaṣ related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Ṣila ibn Zufar, on the authority of Ḥudhayfa, concerning His word: (then fight the leaders of disbelief — indeed, they have no oaths), he said: they have no treaty.
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As for "an-nakth" (the breaking): its original meaning is the unravelling; one therefore says: "so-and-so unravelled the strands of his rope," when he untwisted them.
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And "al-aymān" is the plural of "al-yamīn" (the oath).
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And the reciters differed over the recitation of His word: (indeed, they have no oaths).
The reciters of the Ḥijāz, Iraq, and others read it: (إِنَّهُمْ لا أَيْمَانَ لَهُمْ), with fatḥa on the alif of "aymān," with the meaning: they have no treaties, in conformity with what we have mentioned of the statement of the people of interpretation concerning it.
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And it is reported from Al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī that he read it: (إِنَّهُمْ لا إِيمَانَ لَهُمْ), with kasra on the alif, with the meaning: they have no Islam.
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And his recitation in this manner may also be given an interpretation other than this. And that is that by reciting it thus he meant: that they have no safe-conduct (amān) = that is to say: grant them no safe-conduct, but kill them wherever you find them = as though he meant the verbal noun of the saying: "I granted him safe-conduct, and I grant him safe-conduct, granting safe-conduct (īmānan)."
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Abū Jaʿfar said: And the correct recitation herein, which I do not permit anyone to recite otherwise, is the recitation of him who read with fatḥa on the "alif" rather than with kasra, because of the consensus of the authoritative proof among the reciters to recite thus and the rejection of the contrary, and because of the consensus of the people of interpretation upon what I have mentioned, namely that its interpretation is: they have no treaty = and "al-aymān" bearing the meaning of the treaty occur only with fatḥa on the "alif," because it is the plural of "yamīn," which rested upon an agreement that existed between those who mutually granted one another a truce.
