Tafseer of The Repentance · At-Tawba · 9:61
And among them are those who abuse the Prophet and say, "He is an ear." Say, "[It is] an ear of goodness for you that believes in Allah and believes the believers and [is] a mercy to those who believe among you." And those who abuse the Messenger of Allah - for them is a painful punishment.
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: وَمِنْهُمُ الَّذِينَ يُؤْذُونَ النَّبِيَّ وَيَقُولُونَ هُوَ أُذُنٌ قُلْ أُذُنُ خَيْرٍ لَكُمْ يُؤْمِنُ بِاللَّهِ وَيُؤْمِنُ لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَرَحْمَةٌ لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مِنْكُمْ ("And among them are those who harm the Prophet and say: 'He is an ear.' Say: 'An ear of good for you; he believes in Allah and believes the believers, and is a mercy for those of you who believe.'")
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: And among these hypocrites (munāfiqūn) is a group who harm the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and revile him, "and they say: he is an ear" — that is to say: a listening ear; he hears from everyone what he says, accepts it and believes it.
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This stems from their expression: "a man who is an udhana," after the pattern faʿala, when he is quick in listening and accepting, just as one says: "he is yaqan and yaqin" when he has certainty regarding all that is told to him. Its origin lies in "adhina lahu yaʾdhanu," when he listens to him. To this also belongs the narration of the Prophet ﷺ: "Allah has not listened to anything as He has listened to a prophet who recites the Qurʾān with a melodious voice." And to this also belongs the verse of ʿAdī ibn Zayd:
O heart, console yourself with play and amusement (badan), verily, my longing is for song and listening (adhan).
And it was mentioned that this ayah was revealed concerning Nabtal ibn al-Ḥārith.
16899 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, who said: Allah mentioned their deceit — he means: that of the hypocrites — and their harming of the Prophet ﷺ, and said: "And among them are those who harm the Prophet and say: he is an ear," the entire ayah. And the one who made that statement, according to what has reached me, was Nabtal ibn al-Ḥārith, brother of the Banū ʿAmr ibn ʿAwf, and concerning him this ayah was revealed. And that was because he said: "Muḥammad is only an ear! Whoever tells him something, he believes it!" Whereupon Allah says: "Say: an ear of good for you," that is to say: he hears the good and believes it.
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And the reciters differed regarding the reading of His word: "Say: an ear of good for you."
The generality of the reciters of the great cities read it as: قُلْ أُذُنُ خَيْرٍ لَكُمْ, joining "the ear" (al-udhun) to "the good" (al-khayr), that is to say: say to them, O Muḥammad: he is an ear of good, not an ear of evil.
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And it was reported of al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī that he read it as: قُلْ أُذُنٌ خَيْرٌ لَكُمْ, with nunation of "udhun," whereby "khayr" becomes its predicate, in the meaning: say: the one of you who listens, O hypocrites, to what you say and who believes you, if Muḥammad is as you have described him — namely that you, when you come to him and deny what he has been informed about you concerning the harming of him and the reviling of him, he listens to you and believes you — that is better for you than that he accuse you of lying and not accept from you what you say. Then He accused them of lying and said: no, he accepts only from the believers: "he believes in Allah and believes the believers."
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Abū Jaʿfar said: And the correct reading herein is, in my judgment, the reading of the one who read: قُلْ أُذُنُ خَيْرٍ لَكُمْ, joining "the ear" to "the good" and with the kasra ending on "al-khayr," that is to say: say: he is an ear of good for you, not an ear of evil.
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And in accordance with what we have said herein, the exegetes have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
16900 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbdallāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to me, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: "And among them are those who harm the Prophet and say: he is an ear," he hears from everyone.
16901 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: "And among them are those who harm the Prophet and say: he is an ear," he said: They said: "Muḥammad is only an ear; nothing is told to him about us but that he is an ear that hears what is said to him."
16902 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Ibn Numayr related to us, on the authority of Warqāʾ, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: "and they say: he is an ear," [they said:] we say what we wish and we swear oaths, and then he believes us.
16903 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: "he is an ear," he said: They say: "We say what we wish, and afterward we swear oaths to him, and then he believes us."
16904 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid, similar.
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As for His word: "he believes in Allah," He says: he believes in Allah alone, who has no partner.
And His word: "and believes the believers," He says: and he believes the believers, not the unbelievers and not the hypocrites.
And this is a refutation by Allah of the hypocrites who said: "Muḥammad is an ear!" The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: Muḥammad ﷺ is only a listener to the good; he believes in Allah and in what came to him from Him, and he believes the believers, not the people of hypocrisy and disbelief in Allah.
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And it was said: "and believes the believers" (wa-yuʾminu li-l-muʾminīn) — its meaning is: and he believes the believers, for the Arabs say, according to what was reported to us about them: "āmantu lahu" and "āmantuhu," in the meaning: I believed him, just as it is said: رَدِفَ لَكُمْ بَعْضُ الَّذِي تَسْتَعْجِلُونَ [sūrat al-Naml: 72], whose meaning is: a part of that which you seek to hasten has drawn near to you — and just as He said: لِلَّذِينَ هُمْ لِرَبِّهِمْ يَرْهَبُونَ [sūrat al-Aʿrāf: 154], whose meaning is: for those who fear their Lord.
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And in accordance with what we have said herein, the exegetes have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
16905 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbdallāh related to me, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "he believes in Allah and believes the believers," that means: he believes in Allah and believes the believers.
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As for His word: "and is a mercy for those of you who believe," the reciters differed regarding its reading. The generality of the reciters of the great cities read it as: وَرَحْمَةٌ لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا, in the meaning: say: he is an ear of good for you, and he is a mercy for those of you who believe — and they gave "al-raḥma" the rafʿ ending, by coupling it to "al-udhun."
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And some of the Kūfans read it as: وَرَحْمَةٍ, by coupling it to "al-khayr," with the interpretation: say: an ear of good for you, and an ear of mercy.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: And the more correct of the two readings herein is, in my judgment, the reading of the one who read it: وَرَحْمَةٌ, with the rafʿ ending, by coupling it to "al-udhun," in the meaning: and he is a mercy for those of you who believe. And Allah made him a mercy for whoever followed him and was guided by his guidance, and believed in what he brought from his Lord, because Allah saved them through him from misguidance and, through following him, made them inherit His gardens (jannāt).
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The explanation of His word: وَالَّذِينَ يُؤْذُونَ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ (61) ("And those who harm the Messenger of Allah, for them there is a painful punishment." (61))
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: For these hypocrites who revile the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and say: "he is an ear," and their like among those who accuse him of lying and who utter absurd and false speech about him — for them there is a punishment (ʿadhāb) from Allah that strikes them painfully in the fire of hell (jahannam).
