Tafseer of The Repentance · At-Tawba · 9:73
O Prophet, fight against the disbelievers and the hypocrites and be harsh upon them. And their refuge is Hell, and wretched is the destination.
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 statement concerning the explanation of His saying: يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ جَاهِدِ الْكُفَّارَ وَالْمُنَافِقِينَ وَاغْلُظْ عَلَيْهِمْ وَمَأْوَاهُمْ جَهَنَّمُ وَبِئْسَ الْمَصِيرُ (9:73) (O Prophet, strive against the unbelievers (kuffār) and the hypocrites (munāfiqūn) and be harsh against them; their abode is Hell (jahannam), and that is an evil destination) (9:73).
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is mentioned, says: (O Prophet, strive against the unbelievers), with the sword and with arms, = (and the hypocrites).
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The people of interpretation differed concerning the nature of the "jihād" which Allah commanded His Prophet regarding the hypocrites. Some of them said: He commanded him to fight them with the hand and the tongue, and with everything by which he was able to fight them.
* Mention of who said that:
16961 – Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Ḥumayd ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān and Yaḥyā ibn Ādam related to us, on the authority of Ḥasan ibn Ṣāliḥ, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn al-Aqmar, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Jundub, on the authority of Ibn Masʿūd, concerning His saying: (strive against the unbelievers and the hypocrites), he said: with his hand; if he is not able to do so, then with his tongue; if he is not able to do so, then with his heart; and if he is not able to do so, let him show a scowling look on his face.
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Others said: Rather, He commanded him to fight them with the tongue.
* Mention of who said that:
16962 – Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His saying, the Exalted: (O Prophet, strive against the unbelievers and the hypocrites and be harsh against them). So Allah commanded him to fight the unbelievers with the sword, and the hypocrites with the tongue, and He removed gentleness toward them.
16963 – Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to me, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, saying: Ibn ʿAbbās said: (strive against the unbelievers and the hypocrites), he said: "the unbelievers" with armed combat (qitāl), and "the hypocrites" by being harsh against them with the word.
16964 – It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faraj, saying: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān informed us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His saying: (strive against the unbelievers and the hypocrites and be harsh against them), he says: fight the unbelievers with the sword, and be harsh against the hypocrites with the word, and that is the fighting of them.
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Others said: Rather, He commanded him to carry out the prescribed punishments (ḥudūd) upon them.
* Mention of who said that:
16965 – Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: (strive against the unbelievers and the hypocrites), he said: fight the unbelievers with the sword, and the hypocrites with the prescribed punishments (ḥudūd); carry out upon them the prescribed punishments of Allah.
16966 – Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His saying: (O Prophet, strive against the unbelievers and the hypocrites and be harsh against them), he said: Allah commanded His Prophet ﷺ to fight the unbelievers with the sword, and to be harsh against the hypocrites in the prescribed punishments (ḥudūd).
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Abū Jaʿfar said: And the correct of the statements concerning the explanation of this is, in my view, that which Ibn Masʿūd said: namely that Allah commanded His Prophet ﷺ to fight the hypocrites in a manner corresponding to that which He commanded him regarding the fighting of the polytheists (mushrikīn).
If someone were to say: How then is it that he ﷺ allowed them to dwell among his companions, despite his knowledge concerning them?
Then it is answered: Allah, the Exalted, whose praise is mentioned, only commanded armed combat against those of them who openly uttered the word of unbelief (kufr) and then persisted in that open utterance. But as for the one who, when it was discovered that he had uttered the word of unbelief and he was confronted about it, denied it, turned back from it, and said: "I am a Muslim" — the ruling of Allah concerning everyone who openly professes Islam with his tongue is that he thereby protects his blood and his property, even if he believes otherwise in his heart. And He, exalted be His praise, has Himself taken charge of their inner secrets, and He has not given the creatures the task of probing into the inner secrets. Therefore the Prophet ﷺ — despite his knowledge concerning them and despite that Allah informed him of their inner thoughts and the convictions of their hearts — allowed them to dwell among the companions, and he did not, regarding the fighting of them, tread the path of fighting the one who had fought him with war on the basis of assigning partners to Allah (shirk). For when it was discovered about one of them that he had made a statement by which he became an unbeliever toward Allah, and he was confronted about it, then he denied it and openly professed Islam. Thus the Prophet ﷺ held him to account only on the basis of what he had openly declared to him — at his presence and his resolve to carry out the judgment upon him — and not on the basis of earlier statements that he had uttered before that, and not on the basis of the conviction of his inner self, which Allah has permitted no one to call to account in the judgment, but for which He Himself has taken charge of the accounting, not His creatures.
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And His saying: (and be harsh against them), the Exalted, whose praise is mentioned, says: and be hard against them with the jihād, the armed combat (qitāl), and the instilling of terror.
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And His saying: (and their abode is Hell), He says: and their dwelling places are Hell (jahannam), and it is their abode and their refuge = (and that is an evil destination), He says: and how evil is the place to which one is led, namely Hell (jahannam).