Tafseer of The Repentance · At-Tawba · 9:65
And if you ask them, they will surely say, "We were only conversing and playing." Say, "Is it Allah and His verses and His Messenger that you were mocking?"
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: "And if you question them, they will surely say: 'We were only talking idly and playing.' Say: 'Was it Allah, His signs, and His Messenger that you were mocking?'" (9:65)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is sublime, says to His prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: And if you, O Muḥammad, question these hypocrites (munāfiqīn) about the falsehood and lie they have spoken, they will surely say to you: "We said that only by way of play, and we were only talking idly in a conversation by way of play and mockery!" (8) Allah says to Muḥammad ﷺ: Say, O Muḥammad: "Was it Allah, the signs of His Book, and His Messenger that you were mocking?"
And Ibn Isḥāq said that the one who made this statement was as follows:
16910 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, who said: the one who made this statement, according to what has reached me, was Wadīʿa ibn Thābit, brother of the Banū Umayya ibn Zayd, from the Banū ʿAmr ibn ʿAwf. (9)
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16911 — ʿAlī ibn Dāwūd related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: al-Layth related to us, saying: Hishām ibn Saʿd related to me, on the authority of Zayd ibn Aslam: that a man of the hypocrites said to ʿAwf ibn Mālik during the campaign to Tabūk: "What is the matter with these Qurʾān-reciters of ours — they are the greediest of us in belly, the most lying of us in tongue, and the most cowardly of us at the encounter [with the enemy]!" Then ʿAwf said to him: "You lie, but you are a hypocrite! I will surely tell the Messenger of Allah ﷺ!" ʿAwf went to the Messenger of Allah to tell him, but he found that the Qurʾān had already preceded him. Zayd said (10): ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar said: Then I looked at him, while he was clinging to the belly-girth (ḥaqab) of the she-camel of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and the stones were striking against him (11), while he was saying: "We were only talking idly and playing!" And the Prophet ﷺ said to him: "Was it Allah, His signs, and His Messenger that you were mocking?" — nothing more than that. (12)
16912 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb reported to us, saying: Hishām ibn Saʿd related to me, on the authority of Zayd ibn Aslam, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar, who said: A man said during the campaign to Tabūk in a gathering: "We have not seen the like of these Qurʾān-reciters of ours — greedier of belly, more lying of tongue, or more cowardly at the encounter!" Then a man in the gathering said: "You lie, but you are a hypocrite! I will surely tell the Messenger of Allah ﷺ!" That reached the Prophet ﷺ and the Qurʾān was revealed. ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar said: Then I saw him clinging to the belly-girth (ḥaqab) of the she-camel of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, while the stones were striking against him, and he was saying: "O Messenger of Allah, we were only talking idly and playing!" while the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was saying: "Was it Allah, His signs, and His Messenger that you were mocking? Make no excuse; you have disbelieved after your belief." (13)
16913 — Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, saying: Ayyūb reported to us, on the authority of ʿIkrima, concerning His word: "And if you question them, they will surely say: 'We were only talking idly and playing'", up to His word: "because they were criminals" — he said: There was a man, whom — if Allah wills — He has forgiven, who said: "O Allah, I hear a verse by which I myself am meant, at which the skin shudders and at which the hearts tremble (14). O Allah, then make my death a death in battle on Your path, so that no one can say: I washed [his body], I wrapped it in shrouds, I buried it." He said: Then he was killed on the day of al-Yamāma, and there was no one of the Muslims [who fell on that day] for whom another was not found except him.
16914 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: "And if you question them, they will surely say: 'We were only talking idly and playing'", the verse — he said: While the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was advancing on his campaign to Tabūk, and ahead of him walked some men of the hypocrites, they said: "Does this man really hope to conquer the palaces and fortresses of Syria?! How far off, how far off [is that]!" Then Allah informed His prophet ﷺ about that, and the prophet of Allah ﷺ said: "Halt the caravan for me!" (15) He came to them and said: "You have said such-and-such, you have said so-and-so." They said: "O prophet of Allah, we were only talking idly and playing", whereupon Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, revealed about them what you hear.
16915 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, from Qatāda: "And if you question them, they will surely say: 'We were only talking idly and playing'" — he said: While the Prophet ﷺ was on the campaign to Tabūk, and a group of horsemen of the hypocrites advanced ahead of him, they said: "This one thinks to conquer the palaces and fortresses of the Romans (al-Rūm)!" Then Allah informed His prophet ﷺ about what they had said, and he said: "Bring me that group!" He called them and said: "You have said such-and-such!" Then they swore: "We were only talking idly and playing!"
16916 — Al-Ḥārith related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz related to us, saying: Abū Maʿshar related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb and others, they said: A man of the hypocrites said: "I see these Qurʾān-reciters of ours as nothing but the greediest of us in belly, the most lying of us in tongue, and the most cowardly of us at the encounter!" That was presented to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. He [the man] came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, when he had already set out and mounted his she-camel, and said: "O Messenger of Allah ﷺ, we were only talking idly and playing!" Then he said: "Was it Allah, His signs, and His Messenger that you were mocking?", up to His word: "criminals", while his two feet were kicking up the stones (16), and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ did not look back at him, and he was clinging to the leather strap (nisʿa) of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. (17)
16917 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, from Mujāhid: "We were only talking idly and playing" — he said: A man of the hypocrites said: "Muḥammad tells us that the she-camel of so-and-so is in such-and-such a valley, on such-and-such a day! But what does he know of the unseen?"
16918 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, from Mujāhid, in a similar manner.
