Tafseer of The Repentance · At-Tawba · 9:16
Do you think that you will be left [as you are] while Allah has not yet made evident those among you who strive [for His cause] and do not take other than Allah, His Messenger and the believers as intimates? And Allah is Acquainted with what you do.
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: أَمْ حَسِبْتُمْ أَنْ تُتْرَكُوا وَلَمَّا يَعْلَمِ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ جَاهَدُوا مِنْكُمْ وَلَمْ يَتَّخِذُوا مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ وَلا رَسُولِهِ وَلا الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَلِيجَةً وَاللَّهُ خَبِيرٌ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ (16) ("Or did you think that you would be left alone, while Allah has not yet made evident those among you who strive and have taken none as an intimate confidant besides Allah and His Messenger and the believers? And Allah is well-acquainted with what you do.") (16)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is mentioned, says to the believers whom He commanded to fight these polytheists (mushrikīn) — those who had broken their covenant that existed between them and Him — through His word: قَاتِلُوهُمْ يُعَذِّبْهُمُ اللَّهُ بِأَيْدِيكُمْ ("Fight them; Allah will punish them by your hands"), the āya, urging them to jihād against them: (Or did you think), O believers, that Allah would leave you alone without a trial by which He tests you, and without an examination by which He examines you, so that He might distinguish the truthful among you in his religion from the false therein — (while Allah has not yet made evident those who strive), He says: did you think that you would be left alone without an examination by which the people of His friendship (walāya) are distinguished — those among you who strive in His way — from those who neglect the command of Allah therein and are heedless — (and have taken none as an intimate confidant besides Allah and His Messenger), He says: while Allah has not yet made evident who among you strive, and who have taken none — besides Allah, nor besides His Messenger, nor besides the believers — (as an intimate confidant).
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It (the walīja) is the thing that penetrates into something else. One says of this: "So-and-so penetrated into such-and-such matter, he penetrates into it, so he is a walīja (confidant/penetrator)."
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And what is intended here in this place is: the inner circle (biṭāna) from among the polytheists. Allah forbade the believers to take from their enemy, the polytheists, protectors (awliyāʾ) to whom they would disclose their secrets — (and Allah is well-acquainted with what you do), He says: and Allah has knowledge of what you do, namely the taking, besides Allah and besides His Messenger and the believers in Him, of protectors and an inner circle, after He has already forbidden you that. That does not escape Him, nor does any other of your deeds, and Allah will requite you for it: if it is good, then with good, and if it is evil, then with evil.
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And in accordance with what I have said about the meaning of "the walīja," the people of interpretation have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
16548 - Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to me, he said: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: (and have taken none of the believers as a confidant), whom he brings in from friendship with the polytheists.
16549 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of Abū Jaʿfar, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ: (confidant), he said: a penetrator (dakhal).
16550 - Yūnus related to me, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word: (Or did you think that you would be left alone), up to His word: (confidant), he said: He refused to leave them alone without purification. And he recited: ("Or did you think that you would be left alone, while Allah has not yet made evident those among you who strive"), and he recited: أَمْ حَسِبْتُمْ أَنْ تَدْخُلُوا الْجَنَّةَ وَلَمَّا يَعْلَمِ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ جَاهَدُوا مِنْكُمْ ("Or did you think that you would enter Paradise, while Allah has not yet made evident those among you who strive") [sūrat Āl ʿImrān: 142], أَمْ حَسِبْتُمْ أَنْ تَدْخُلُوا الْجَنَّةَ وَلَمَّا يَأْتِكُمْ مَثَلُ الَّذِينَ خَلَوْا مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْ ("Or did you think that you would enter Paradise, while there has not yet come to you the like of what befell those who passed away before you") — all the āyāt [sūrat al-Baqara: 214]. He informed them that He would not leave them alone until He purified and tested them. And he recited: الم * أَحَسِبَ النَّاسُ أَنْ يُتْرَكُوا أَنْ يَقُولُوا آمَنَّا وَهُمْ لا يُفْتَنُونَ ("Alif Lām Mīm. Do the people think that they will be left alone to say, 'We believe,' without being put to trial?") — not being tested — وَلَقَدْ فَتَنَّا الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ فَلَيَعْلَمَنَّ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ صَدَقُوا وَلَيَعْلَمَنَّ الْكَاذِبِينَ ("And indeed, We tested those before them; and Allah will surely make evident those who are truthful, and He will surely make evident the liars") [sūrat al-ʿAnkabūt: 1-3]. Allah refused anything other than to purify.
16551 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, he said: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: (confidant), he said: it is unbelief (kufr) and hypocrisy (nifāq) — or he mentioned one of the two.
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And it was said: (Or did you think - am ḥasibtum), and He did not say "a-ḥasibtum," because it belongs to the interrogative form that is inserted in the middle of the speech; therefore "am" was included in it to distinguish it from the question that stands at the beginning. And I have expounded the likes of this in more than one place in the book.
