Tafseer of The Repentance · At-Tawba · 9:19
Have you made the providing of water for the pilgrim and the maintenance of al-Masjid al-Haram equal to [the deeds of] one who believes in Allah and the Last Day and strives in the cause of Allah? They are not equal in the sight of Allah. And Allah does not guide the wrongdoing 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: أَجَعَلْتُمْ سِقَايَةَ الْحَاجِّ وَعِمَارَةَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ كَمَنْ آمَنَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الآخِرِ وَجَاهَدَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ لا يَسْتَوُونَ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ وَاللَّهُ لا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الظَّالِمِينَ (19) (Have you made the giving of drink to the pilgrims and the maintenance of the Sacred Mosque equal to him who believes in Allah and the Last Day and wages jihād in the path of Allah? They are not equal in the sight of Allah, and Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people.) (19)
Abū Jaʿfar said: This is a rebuke from Allah, the Exalted, whose mention is exalted, against a people who took pride in giving drink to the pilgrims and in the management of the House. He, exalted be His praise, made known to them that the [true] pride lies in faith in Allah and the Last Day and jihād in His path, not in that which they took pride in, namely the management and the giving of drink.
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To this the transmitted reports and the exegesis of the exegetes bear witness.
* Mention of who said that:
16557 — Abū al-Walīd al-Dimashqī Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: al-Walīd ibn Muslim related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya ibn Sallām related to me, on the authority of his grandfather Abū Sallām al-Aswad, on the authority of al-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr al-Anṣārī, who said: I was at the pulpit of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in a group of his companions, and a man among them said: I do not care if, after Islam, I perform no other deed except that I give drink to the pilgrims! Another said: No, rather the maintenance of the Sacred Mosque! Another said: No, jihād in the path of Allah is better than what you have said! Then ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb — may Allah be pleased with him — rebuked them and said: Do not raise your voices at the pulpit of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ — and that was on a Friday — but when I have performed the Friday prayer, I will go in to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and ask him for a ruling concerning that about which you differ. He said: And so he did, whereupon Allah, hallowed and exalted, sent down: (Have you made the giving of drink to the pilgrims) up to His word: (and Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people).
16558 — al-Muthannā related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: (Have you made the giving of drink to the pilgrims and the maintenance of the Sacred Mosque equal to him who believes in Allah and the Last Day): al-ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib said, when he had been taken captive on the day of Badr: If you have preceded us in Islam, the hijra and the jihād, yet we used to maintain the Sacred Mosque, give drink to the pilgrims and free the captive! Allah said: (Have you made the giving of drink to the pilgrims) up to His word: (the wrongdoers), meaning: that was in the state of the ascribing of partners (shirk), and I do not accept what is performed in shirk.
16559 — Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my paternal 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: (Have you made the giving of drink to the pilgrims) up to His word: (the wrongdoers). That was because the polytheists said: The maintenance of the House of Allah and the management of the giving of drink is better than he who believes and wages jihād. They took pride in the sacred precinct and were arrogant, because they were its inhabitants and maintainers. Allah mentioned their arrogance and their turning away, and said to the people of the sacred precinct among the polytheists: قَدْ كَانَتْ آيَاتِي تُتْلَى عَلَيْكُمْ فَكُنْتُمْ عَلَى أَعْقَابِكُمْ تَنْكِصُونَ * مُسْتَكْبِرِينَ بِهِ سَامِرًا تَهْجُرُونَ [Surah Al-Muʾminūn: 66, 67] (My signs were already recited to you, but you turned back on your heels, arrogant concerning it, while you spent the night in idle talk and forsook them [the signs]), meaning that they were arrogant by reason of the sacred precinct. And He said: بِهِ سَامِرًا (concerning it, talking by night), because they would sit talking at night and forsake the Qurʾān and the Prophet ﷺ. Thus He preferred faith in Allah and jihād with the prophet of Allah ﷺ over the maintenance of the House by the polytheists and their management of the giving of drink. It availed them nothing with Allah, with their shirk against Him, that they maintained His House and served it. Allah said: (They are not equal in the sight of Allah, and Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people), meaning: those who claimed that they were the people of maintenance. Allah named them "wrongdoers" on account of their shirk, and the maintenance availed them nothing.
16560 — al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Yaḥyā ibn Abī Kathīr, on the authority of al-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr, that a man said: I do not care if, after Islam, I perform no other deed except that I give drink to the pilgrims! Another said: I do not care if, after Islam, I perform no other deed except that I maintain the Sacred Mosque! Another said: Jihād in the path of Allah is more excellent than what you have said! Then ʿUmar rebuked them and said: Do not raise your voices at the pulpit of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ — and that was on a Friday — but when he has performed the Friday prayer, we will go in to him! Whereupon was sent down: (Have you made the giving of drink to the pilgrims and the maintenance of the Sacred Mosque) up to His word: (they are not equal in the sight of Allah).
16561 — al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of ʿAmr, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, who said: It was sent down concerning ʿAlī, ʿAbbās, ʿUthmān and Shayba; they disputed about it, and al-ʿAbbās said: I think I shall give up our giving of drink! Thereupon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Hold fast to your giving of drink, for in it there is something good for you."
16562 — ... he said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Ibn ʿUyayna informed us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, who said: It was sent down concerning ʿAlī and al-ʿAbbās; the two of them disputed about it.
16563 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: I was informed on the authority of Abū Ṣakhr, who said: I heard Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb al-Quraẓī say: Ṭalḥa ibn Shayba of the Banū ʿAbd al-Dār, al-ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib and ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib vaunted themselves over one another. Ṭalḥa said: I am the keeper of the House, I hold its key; if I wished, I would spend the night in it! Al-ʿAbbās said: I am the keeper of the giving of drink and the one responsible for it; and if I wished, I would spend the night in the mosque! ʿAlī said: I do not know what the two of you are saying; I prayed toward the prayer-direction (qibla) six months before the people, and I am the man of jihād! Whereupon Allah sent down: (Have you made the giving of drink to the pilgrims and the maintenance of the Sacred Mosque), the entire verse.
16564 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, who said: When (Have you made the giving of drink to the pilgrims) was sent down, al-ʿAbbās said: I think I shall give up our giving of drink! Thereupon the Prophet ﷺ said: "Hold fast to your giving of drink, for in it there is something good for you."
16565 — Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan related to me, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: (Have you made the giving of drink to the pilgrims and the maintenance of the Sacred Mosque equal to him who believes in Allah and the Last Day and wages jihād in the path of Allah? They are not equal in the sight of Allah), he said: ʿAlī, ʿAbbās and Shayba ibn ʿUthmān vaunted themselves over one another. He ([ʿAbbās]) said to al-ʿAbbās: I am the most excellent of you, I give drink to the pilgrims of the House of Allah! Shayba said: I maintain the mosque of Allah! ʿAlī said: I emigrated with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and I wage jihād with him in the path of Allah! Whereupon Allah sent down: الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَهَاجَرُوا وَجَاهَدُوا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ (Those who have believed and emigrated and waged jihād in the path of Allah) up to: نَعِيمٌ مُقِيمٌ (an abiding bliss).
16566 — It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faraj, who said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān related to us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His word: (Have you made the giving of drink to the pilgrims), the verse: The Muslims turned to al-ʿAbbās and his companions who had been taken captive on the day of Badr, and reproached them for the shirk. Thereupon al-ʿAbbās said: But by Allah, we used to maintain the Sacred Mosque, free the captive, guard the House and give drink to the pilgrims! Whereupon Allah sent down: (Have you made the giving of drink to the pilgrims), the verse.
Abū Jaʿfar said: The explanation of the word is therefore: Have you, O people, made the giving of drink to the pilgrims and the maintenance of the Sacred Mosque equal to the faith of him who believes in Allah and the Last Day and wages jihād in the path of Allah? (They are not equal), these and those, and the states of the two and their ranks are not equivalent in the sight of Allah, because Allah, the Exalted, without faith in Him and in the Last Day, accepts no deed whatsoever — (and Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people), He says: and Allah does not grant success to virtuous deeds to him who was disbelieving (kāfir) toward Him and denied His oneness.
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He placed the noun in the position of the verbal noun (maṣdar) in His word: (equal to him who believes in Allah), since its meaning was known, as the poet said:
By your life, youth is not that the beards grow out, but youth is rather every noble young man.
Thus he made the predicate of "the youths" to be "an" (that...), and it is as one says: "Verily, generosity is Ḥātim, and poetry is Zuhayr."
