Tafseer of The Repentance · At-Tawba · 9:124
And whenever a surah is revealed, there are among the hypocrites those who say, "Which of you has this increased faith?" As for those who believed, it has increased them in faith, while they are rejoicing.
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: وَإِذَا مَا أُنْزِلَتْ سُورَةٌ فَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ يَقُولُ أَيُّكُمْ زَادَتْهُ هَذِهِ إِيمَانًا فَأَمَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا فَزَادَتْهُمْ إِيمَانًا وَهُمْ يَسْتَبْشِرُونَ (124) (And whenever a sūra is sent down, there are among them those who say: "Which of you has this increased in faith?" As for those who believe, it has increased them in faith, and they rejoice.) (9:124)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: And whenever Allah sends down a sūra from the sūras of the Qurʾān upon His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ, there are among these hypocrites (munāfiqūn), whom Allah has mentioned in this sūra, those who say: O people, which of you has this sūra increased in faith (īmān)? He says: in affirming Allah and His signs. Allah says: (As for those who believe), among those to whom that was said, (it has increased them), namely the sūra that was sent down, (in faith), and they rejoice over what Allah has bestowed upon them of faith (īmān) and certainty.
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If a questioner says: Is not "al-īmān" in the language of the Arabs affirmation and acknowledgment (al-taṣdīq wa-l-iqrār)? Then it is answered: Indeed!
If it is said: How then did the sūra increase them in affirmation and acknowledgment? Then it is answered: It increased their faith when it was sent down, for before the sūra was sent down there did not rest upon them the obligation to affirm it specifically and to act upon it, except within the totality of their faith, namely that everything which their Prophet ﷺ brought to them from Allah is truth. So when Allah sent down the sūra, there rested upon them the obligation to affirm that it specifically is from Allah, and there became incumbent upon them the duty to believe in the rulings of Allah contained therein, His limits (ḥudūd) and His ordinances. And that was the increase which the sending down of the sūra, when it was sent down, brought them in faith and in affirmation of it.
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And in accordance with what we have said about this, so have the interpreters of the Qurʾān (ahl al-taʾwīl) spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
17488- Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, he said: my father related to me, he said: my uncle related to me, he said: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: (And whenever a sūra is sent down, there are among them those who say: "Which of you has this increased in faith?"), he said: Whenever a sūra was sent down, they believed in it, and then Allah increased them in faith and affirmation, and they rejoiced.
17489- Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Isḥāq related to us, he said: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, concerning His word: (it has increased them in faith), he said: fear (khashya).
