Tafseer of The Repentance · At-Tawba · 9:7
How can there be for the polytheists a treaty in the sight of Allah and with His Messenger, except for those with whom you made a treaty at al-Masjid al-Haram? So as long as they are upright toward you, be upright toward them. Indeed, Allah loves the righteous [who fear Him].
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: كَيْفَ يَكُونُ لِلْمُشْرِكِينَ عَهْدٌ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ وَعِنْدَ رَسُولِهِ إِلا الَّذِينَ عَاهَدْتُمْ عِنْدَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ فَمَا اسْتَقَامُوا لَكُمْ فَاسْتَقِيمُوا لَهُمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ الْمُتَّقِينَ (7) (How can the polytheists have a covenant with Allah and with His Messenger, except those with whom you made a covenant at the Sacred Mosque? So long as they conduct themselves correctly toward you, conduct yourselves correctly toward them. Indeed, Allah loves the God-fearing.) (7)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: How can it be, O believers in Allah and His Messenger, and in what sense, that the polytheists (mushrikīn) who associate partners with their Lord should have a covenant and a pledge of protection with Allah and with His Messenger that would be kept toward them, on the basis of which they would be left in peace, traveling safely through the land? The meaning is only: they have no covenant, and it is obligatory for the believers to kill them wherever they find them, except those among them who have been granted a covenant at the Sacred Mosque. For Allah, exalted is His praise, has commanded the believers to keep their covenant with these and to hold to it toward them, so long as they conduct themselves correctly toward the believers.
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The exegetes differed concerning who was meant by His word: (except those with whom you made a covenant at the Sacred Mosque).
Some said: They are a people of Jadhīma ibn al-Duʾil.
* Mention of who said that:
16490 — Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to me, saying: Aḥmad ibn Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: (How can the polytheists have a covenant with Allah and with His Messenger, except those with whom you made a covenant at the Sacred Mosque? So long as they conduct themselves correctly toward you, conduct yourselves correctly toward them) — they are the Banū Jadhīma ibn al-Duʾil.
16491 — 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 Muḥammad ibn ʿAbbād ibn Jaʿfar, concerning His word: (except those among the polytheists with whom you made a covenant), he said: They are Jadhīma of Bakr of Kināna.
16492 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: (How can the polytheists) — those who had with you the general covenant, namely that you would not cause them fear and they would not cause you fear in the sacred precinct nor in the sacred month — (have a covenant with Allah and with His Messenger, except those with whom you made a covenant at the Sacred Mosque), and these are the clans of Banū Bakr who had entered into the covenant of Quraysh and their agreement on the day of al-Ḥudaybiya, for the term that was between the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and Quraysh. None broke it except this portion of Quraysh and the Banū al-Duʾil of Bakr. Thus it was commanded to keep the covenant toward whoever of the Banū Bakr had not broken his covenant, until its term — (So long as they conduct themselves correctly toward you), the verse.
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Others said: They are Quraysh.
* Mention of who said that:
16493 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said: Ibn ʿAbbās said concerning His word: (except those with whom you made a covenant at the Sacred Mosque), they are Quraysh.
16494 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: (except those with whom you made a covenant at the Sacred Mosque), that is to say: the people of Mecca.
16495 — Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: (except those with whom you made a covenant at the Sacred Mosque), he says: They are a people between whom and the Prophet ﷺ there was a term. And it is not fitting that a polytheist enter the Sacred Mosque, nor that he give the Muslim the poll-tax for non-Muslims (jizyah). (So long as they conduct themselves correctly toward you, conduct yourselves correctly toward them), that is to say: the people of the covenant among the polytheists.
16496 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word: (except those with whom you made a covenant at the Sacred Mosque; so long as they conduct themselves correctly toward you, conduct yourselves correctly toward them), he said: These are Quraysh. And this abrogated the months that were appointed for them; and they betrayed them and did not conduct themselves correctly, as Allah said. Therefore four months were appointed for them after the conquest, during which they could choose concerning their affair: either to submit (to convert to Islam), or to join whatever land they wished. He said: And they submitted before the four months, and before the death penalty.
16497 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: (except those with whom you made a covenant at the Sacred Mosque; so long as they conduct themselves correctly toward you, conduct yourselves correctly toward them), he said: It is the day of al-Ḥudaybiya. He said: They did not conduct themselves correctly, but broke their covenant, that is to say: they aided the Banū Bakr, allies of Quraysh, against Khuzāʿa, allies of the Prophet ﷺ.
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Others said: They are a people of Khuzāʿa.
* Mention of who said that:
16498 — Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Ibn ʿUyayna related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid: (except those with whom you made a covenant at the Sacred Mosque), he said: The people of the covenant among Khuzāʿa.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: The correct of these statements, in my view, is the statement of him who said: They are a portion of the Banū Bakr of Kināna, namely those who held to their covenant and were not involved in breaking what existed between the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and Quraysh on the day of al-Ḥudaybiya — the covenant with Quraysh — when they broke it by aiding their allies of the Banū al-Duʾil against the allies of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ from Khuzāʿa.
* * *
I have said only: this statement is the correct of the statements concerning this, because Allah commanded His Prophet and the believers to keep the covenant toward those with whom they had made a covenant at the Sacred Mosque, so long as they held to their covenant. And we have already explained that these verses were proclaimed by ʿAlī in the ninth year of the hijra, and that was a year after the conquest of Mecca. At that time there was in Mecca no unbeliever (kāfir) of Quraysh nor of Khuzāʿa between whom and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ a covenant existed, such that it would be commanded to keep his covenant so long as he held to his covenant, for those among them who were inhabitants of Mecca had already broken the covenant and had been fought before the revelation of these verses.
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As for His word: (Indeed, Allah loves the God-fearing), its meaning is: indeed, Allah loves whoever fears Allah and heeds Him in carrying out His obligations, in keeping His covenant toward whoever has made a covenant with Him, in avoiding His acts of disobedience, and in refraining from treachery against his covenants toward whoever has made a covenant with him.
