Tafseer of The Repentance · At-Tawba · 9:14
Fight them; Allah will punish them by your hands and will disgrace them and give you victory over them and satisfy the breasts of a believing people
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: قَاتِلُوهُمْ يُعَذِّبْهُمُ اللَّهُ بِأَيْدِيكُمْ وَيُخْزِهِمْ وَيَنْصُرْكُمْ عَلَيْهِمْ وَيَشْفِ صُدُورَ قَوْمٍ مُؤْمِنِينَ (14) (Fight them; Allah will punish them by your hands, disgrace them, help you against them, and heal the breasts of a believing people.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is proclaimed, says: Fight, O you who believe in Allah and His messenger, against these polytheists (mushrikīn) who have broken their oaths and violated their covenants between you and them, and who have driven the messenger of Allah, Allah's blessing and peace be upon him, out from among them. Yuʿadhdhibuhumu llāhu bi-aydīkum (Allah will punish them by your hands) — He says: Allah will kill them by your hands. Wa-yukhzihim (and disgrace them) — He says: and He will humiliate them through captivity and subjugation. Wa-yanṣurkum ʿalayhim (and help you against them) — He will thus grant you victory and triumph over them. Wa-yashfi ṣudūra qawmin muʾminīn (and heal the breasts of a believing people) — He says: and He will heal the ailment of the hearts of a people who believe in Allah and His messenger, by killing these polytheists through your hands and by your humiliation and subjugation of them. And that ailment is what was alive in their hearts against them of rancor, because of the harm and injury that they had inflicted upon them.
* * *
And it has been said: that by His word wa-yashfi ṣudūra qawmin muʾminīn (and heal the breasts of a believing people) Allah meant: the hearts of [the tribe] Khuzāʿa, the allies of the messenger of Allah, Allah's blessing and peace be upon him. That was because Quraysh had violated the covenant between them and the messenger of Allah, Allah's blessing and peace be upon him, by supporting [the tribe] Bakr against them.
* Mention of who said that:
16540 — Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā and Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, both saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥakam, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning this verse wa-yashfi ṣudūra qawmin muʾminīn, he said: [they are] Khuzāʿa.
16541 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: ʿAmr ibn Muḥammad al-ʿAnqazī related to us, on the authority of Asbāṭ, on the authority of al-Suddī: wa-yashfi ṣudūra qawmin muʾminīn, he said: [they are] Khuzāʿa; He heals their hearts of Banū Bakr.
16542 — Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Aḥmad related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, something similar.
16543 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: wa-yashfi ṣudūra qawmin muʾminīn, [that is] Khuzāʿa, the allies of Muḥammad, Allah's blessing and peace be upon him.
16544 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Rajāʾ related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Kathīr, on the authority of Mujāhid: wa-yashfi ṣudūra qawmin muʾminīn, he said: [they are] the allies of the messenger of Allah, Allah's blessing and peace be upon him, from Khuzāʿa.
16545 — 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, something similar.
