Tafseer of The Repentance · At-Tawba · 9:48
They had already desired dissension before and had upset matters for you until the truth came and the ordinance of Allah appeared, while they were averse.
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 the statement of the Most High: لَقَدِ ابْتَغَوُا الْفِتْنَةَ مِنْ قَبْلُ وَقَلَّبُوا لَكَ الأُمُورَ حَتَّى جَاءَ الْحَقُّ وَظَهَرَ أَمْرُ اللَّهِ وَهُمْ كَارِهُونَ (48) ("They had already sought to stir up sedition (fitnah) before, and they upended matters for you, until the truth came and the cause of Allah prevailed, while they were averse to it") (48).
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Most High, whose praise is exalted, says: These hypocrites (munāfiqūn) had already sought sedition (fitnah) for your companions, O Muḥammad; they strove to turn them away from their religion, and they were eager to bring them back to unbelief (kufr) by frightening them away from it and discouraging them — such as the conduct of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy toward you and your companions on the day of Uḥud, when he turned away from you together with those of his people who followed him. That was their seeking of what they had previously sought for the companions of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, of sedition beforehand. By His word "before" (min qablu) He means: before this. وَقَلَّبُوا لَكَ الأُمُورَ ("and they upended matters for you"), He says: and they directed against you and against the abolishing of the religion with which Allah sent you their schemes, by inciting others against you and discouraging them, and by denying what you brought them and turning it against you. حَتَّى جَاءَ الْحَقُّ ("until the truth came"), He says: until the help of Allah came. وَظَهَرَ أَمْرُ اللَّهِ ("and the cause of Allah prevailed"), He says: and the religion of Allah which He commanded and imposed upon His creatures, namely Islam, prevailed. وَهُمْ كَارِهُونَ ("while they were averse to it"), He says: and the hypocrites were averse to the prevailing of the cause of Allah and His help to you. And likewise now: Allah makes you prevail and makes His religion prevail over those who disbelieve among the Romans and others among them who disbelieve in Him, while they are averse to it.
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And in accordance with what we have said about this, the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
16782 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: وَقَلَّبُوا لَكَ الأُمُورَ ("and they upended matters for you"), that is: so that they might discourage your companions against you and turn your affair against you. حَتَّى جَاءَ الْحَقُّ وَظَهَرَ أَمْرُ اللَّهِ ("until the truth came and the cause of Allah prevailed").
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And it has been mentioned that this verse was revealed concerning a number of persons who are named by name.
16783 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of ʿAmr, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning His word: وَقَلَّبُوا لَكَ الأُمُورَ ("and they upended matters for you"), he said: Among them were ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy ibn Salūl, ʿAbd Allāh ibn Nabtal, brother of the Banū ʿAmr ibn ʿAwf, Rifāʿa ibn Rāfiʿ, and Zayd ibn al-Tābūt al-Qaynuqāʿī.
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And the discouraging by ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy of his companions against the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, in this campaign, was as follows:
16784 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of al-Zuhrī, and Yazīd ibn Rūmān, and ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Bakr, and ʿĀṣim ibn ʿUmar ibn Qatāda, and others — each of them related concerning the campaign of Tabūk what had reached him about it, with some of the people relating something that others do not relate, and all their reports are brought together in this report: that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ordered his companions to prepare for the fight against the Romans, and that was in a time of hardship among the people, severe heat, drought in the land, and at the moment when the fruits were good and the shade was beloved; the people loved to remain among their fruits and their shade, and they were averse to setting out from there, given the condition of the season in which they were. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, rarely set out on a campaign without concealing it and indicating that he intended something other than that which he was aiming at — except in the case of the campaign of Tabūk, for he made it clear to the people, on account of the distant journey, the severity of the season, and the great size of the enemy he was aiming at, so that the people might equip themselves properly for it. Thus he ordered the people to jihād and informed them that he intended the Romans. The people equipped themselves, despite the reluctance that was in their souls for that undertaking, on account of what was attached to it, in addition to the greatness they ascribed to the mention of the Romans and the fighting against them.
= Then the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, exerted himself for his journey, and he ordered the people to equip themselves and to make haste, and he urged the wealthy to expenditures and to providing mounts in the way of Allah.
= When the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, set out, he pitched his camp at Thaniyyat al-Wadāʿ, while ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy ibn Salūl pitched his camp separately, lower than him, opposite "Dhubāb" — a mountain in the cemetery lower than Thaniyyat al-Wadāʿ — and it was, as is claimed, not the smaller of the two camps. When the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, set off, ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy stayed behind, together with those who stayed behind of the hypocrites and the doubters. ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy was the brother of the Banū ʿAwf ibn al-Khazraj, and ʿAbd Allāh ibn Nabtal the brother of the Banū ʿAmr ibn ʿAwf, and Rifāʿa ibn Zayd ibn al-Tābūt the brother of the Banū Qaynuqāʿ, and they were among the leaders of the hypocrites, and they were among those who devised schemes against Islam and its adherents.
= He said: And concerning them — according to what Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Salama related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn ʿUbayd, on the authority of al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī — Allah revealed: لقد ابتغوا الفتنة من قبل ("They had already sought sedition before"), the verse.
