Tafseer of The Repentance · At-Tawba · 9:24
Say, [O Muhammad], "If your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your wives, your relatives, wealth which you have obtained, commerce wherein you fear decline, and dwellings with which you are pleased are more beloved to you than Allah and His Messenger and jihad in His cause, then wait until Allah executes His command. And Allah does not guide the defiantly disobedient 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: قُلْ إِنْ كَانَ آبَاؤُكُمْ وَأَبْنَاؤُكُمْ وَإِخْوَانُكُمْ وَأَزْوَاجُكُمْ وَعَشِيرَتُكُمْ وَأَمْوَالٌ اقْتَرَفْتُمُوهَا وَتِجَارَةٌ تَخْشَوْنَ كَسَادَهَا وَمَسَاكِنُ تَرْضَوْنَهَا أَحَبَّ إِلَيْكُمْ مِنَ اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ وَجِهَادٍ فِي سَبِيلِهِ فَتَرَبَّصُوا حَتَّى يَأْتِيَ اللَّهُ بِأَمْرِهِ وَاللَّهُ لا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الْفَاسِقِينَ (9:24) (Say: If your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your wives, your kinsfolk, and the possessions you have acquired, and commerce whose stagnation you fear, and dwellings that please you, are dearer to you than Allah and His Messenger and the jihād in His way, then wait until Allah brings about His command; and Allah does not guide the corrupt people.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Blessed and Exalted says to His prophet Muḥammad, the Prophet ﷺ: (Say) O Muḥammad, to those who have stayed behind from the emigration (hijra) to the land of Islam and who remain dwelling in the land of polytheism (shirk): If remaining with your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your wives, and your kinsfolk = and if (the possessions you have acquired), that is to say: which you have earned = (and commerce whose stagnation you fear) through leaving your land = (and dwellings that please you) and which you inhabit = (are dearer to you) than the emigration to Allah and His Messenger, away from the land of polytheism = and than the jihād in His way, that is to say: in aiding the religion of Allah which He has chosen = (then wait), that is to say: then look on = (until Allah brings about His command), until Allah brings the conquest of Mecca = (and Allah does not guide the corrupt people), that is to say: and Allah does not grant success toward the good to those who step outside His obedience and persist in His disobedience.
* * *
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
16569- 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: (until Allah brings about His command), with the conquest.
16570- 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: (then wait until Allah brings about His command), the conquest of Mecca.
16571- Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: (and the possessions you have acquired, and commerce whose stagnation you fear), he says: you fear that it will come to a standstill and that you would then have to sell it = (and dwellings that please you), he said: these are the palaces and the houses.
16572- Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, his word: (and the possessions you have acquired), he says: which you have obtained.
