Tafseer of The Repentance · At-Tawba · 9:74
They swear by Allah that they did not say [anything against the Prophet] while they had said the word of disbelief and disbelieved after their [pretense of] Islam and planned that which they were not to attain. And they were not resentful except [for the fact] that Allah and His Messenger had enriched them of His bounty. So if they repent, it is better for them; but if they turn away, Allah will punish them with a painful punishment in this world and the Hereafter. And there will not be for them on earth any protector or helper.
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.
Explanation of His word: يَحْلِفُونَ بِاللَّهِ مَا قَالُوا وَلَقَدْ قَالُوا كَلِمَةَ الْكُفْرِ وَكَفَرُوا بَعْدَ إِسْلامِهِمْ وَهَمُّوا بِمَا لَمْ يَنَالُوا وَمَا نَقَمُوا إِلا أَنْ أَغْنَاهُمُ اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ مِنْ فَضْلِهِ فَإِنْ يَتُوبُوا يَكُ خَيْرًا لَهُمْ وَإِنْ يَتَوَلَّوْا يُعَذِّبْهُمُ اللَّهُ عَذَابًا أَلِيمًا فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالآخِرَةِ وَمَا لَهُمْ فِي الأَرْضِ مِنْ وَلِيٍّ وَلا نَصِيرٍ (9:74) (They swear by Allah that they said nothing, but they have certainly spoken the word of unbelief and have become unbelievers after their submission (islām), and they sought after that which they did not attain. And they had nothing to avenge, except that Allah and His Messenger had enriched them out of His bounty. So if they repent, it will be better for them, but if they turn away, Allah will punish them with a painful punishment in this world and in the Hereafter; and they have on earth no protector and no helper.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The people of interpretation differ concerning the one about whom this verse was revealed, and concerning the statement that he had made — that of which Allah has reported that he swears by Allah that he did not utter it.
Some of them say: The one about whom this verse was revealed is al-Julās ibn Suwayd ibn al-Ṣāmit.
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And the statement that he had made was what follows:
16967 — Ibn Wakīʿ related this to us, saying: Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of Hishām ibn ʿUrwa, on the authority of his father: they swear by Allah that they said nothing, but they have certainly spoken the word of unbelief, he said: it was revealed about al-Julās ibn Suwayd ibn al-Ṣāmit, who said: "If what Muḥammad has brought is true, then we are worse than donkeys!" Then his stepson said to him: "By Allah, O enemy of Allah, I shall certainly tell the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, what you have said, for if I do not do so, I fear that a calamity will befall me and that I shall be taken to account for your sin!" Then the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, summoned al-Julās and said: "O Julās, did you say this and that?" But he swore that he had not said it. Then Allah, blessed and exalted is He, revealed: they swear by Allah that they said nothing, but they have certainly spoken the word of unbelief and have become unbelievers after their submission, and they sought after that which they did not attain, and they had nothing to avenge except that Allah and His Messenger had enriched them out of His bounty.
16968 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Muʿāwiya al-Ḍarīr related to us, on the authority of Hishām ibn ʿUrwa, on the authority of his father, he said: this verse was revealed: they swear by Allah that they said nothing, but they have certainly spoken the word of unbelief and have become unbelievers after their submission, about al-Julās ibn Suwayd ibn al-Ṣāmit. He and his stepson Muṣʿab came walking from Qubāʾ, and al-Julās said: If what Muḥammad has brought is true, then we are worse than these donkeys of ours upon which we ride! Then Muṣʿab said: By Allah, O enemy of Allah, I shall certainly tell the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, what you have said! So I came to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace — and I feared that the Qurʾān would be revealed about me, or that a calamity would befall me, or that I would be implicated [in his sin] — and I said: O Messenger of Allah, I came walking, I and al-Julās, from Qubāʾ, and he said this and that; and were it not out of fear that I would be implicated in his sin, or that a calamity would befall me, I would not have told you of it. He said: Then he summoned al-Julās and said to him: O Julās, did you say what Muṣʿab has said? He said: Then he swore (that he had not said it). Then Allah, blessed and exalted is He, revealed: they swear by Allah that they said nothing, but they have certainly spoken the word of unbelief and have become unbelievers after their submission, the verse.
16969 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, he said: The one who made that statement was, as has been related to me, al-Julās ibn Suwayd ibn al-Ṣāmit; and the one who reported it against him was a man under his guardianship, called "ʿUmayr ibn Saʿīd." He (al-Julās) denied it and swore by Allah that he had not uttered it. But when the Qurʾān was revealed about him, he repented and gave it up, and his repentance was good, as has been related to me.
16970 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: the word of unbelief, one of them said: "If what Muḥammad says is true, then we are worse than donkeys!" Then a man of the believers said to him: Indeed, what he says is true, and you are worse than a donkey! He said: Then the hypocrites sought to kill him, and that is His word: and they sought after that which they did not attain.
16971 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, the like of it.
16972 — ...... he said: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh related to us, on the authority of Warqāʾ, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, the same.
16973 — Ayyūb ibn Isḥāq ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Rajāʾ related to us, saying: Isrāʾīl related to us, on the authority of Simāk, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was sitting in the shade of a tree, and said: Soon a human being will come to you who will look at you with the eyes of a devil; when he comes, do not speak with him. It was not long before a blue-eyed man appeared. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, summoned him and said: Why do you revile me, you and your companions? Then the man went away and returned with his companions, and they swore by Allah that they had said nothing and had done nothing, until he forgave them. Then Allah revealed: they swear by Allah that they said nothing, then He described them all, to the end of the verse.
And others say: No, it was revealed about ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy ibn Salūl. They say: and the word that he spoke was what follows:
16974 — Bishr related this to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: they swear by Allah that they said nothing, up to His word: no protector and no helper, he said: it has been related to us that two men were fighting with one another, one of (the tribe of) Juhayna and the other of Ghifār, and Juhayna were allies of the Anṣār, and the Ghifārī got the upper hand over the Juhanī. Then ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy said to the Aws: Help your brother! For by Allah, our example and the example of Muḥammad is only as the speaker has said: "Fatten your dog, and it will devour you." And he said: لَئِنْ رَجَعْنَا إِلَى الْمَدِينَةِ لَيُخْرِجَنَّ الأَعَزُّ مِنْهَا الأَذَلَّ [Surah Al-Munāfiqūn: 8] (If we return to Medina, the mightier will surely expel the lowlier from it). Then a man of the Muslims reported this to the Prophet of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and he sent for him and questioned him, and he began to swear by Allah that he had not said it. Then Allah, blessed and exalted is He, revealed: they swear by Allah that they said nothing, but they have certainly spoken the word of unbelief.
16975 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to me, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: they swear by Allah that they said nothing, but they have certainly spoken the word of unbelief, he said: it was revealed about ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy ibn Salūl.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: And the correct view of the judgment on this, in our opinion, is to say: Allah, exalted is He, has reported about the hypocrites that they swear falsely by Allah concerning a word of unbelief that they had uttered, (swearing) that they had not said it. And it is possible that that statement is what is related from ʿUrwa: that al-Julās said it = and it is possible that the one who uttered it was ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy ibn Salūl, and that the word was what Qatāda has mentioned from him that he said. And we have no knowledge of which of the two it is, since there is no report on either of the two that makes the proof binding and by which one arrives at certain knowledge of it, nor is it among that the knowledge of which is attained by innate reason. So the correct view is to say concerning this as Allah, exalted be His praise, has said: they swear by Allah that they said nothing, but they have certainly spoken the word of unbelief and have become unbelievers after their submission.
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As for His word: and they sought after that which they did not attain, the people of interpretation differ concerning the one who had sought that, and what the matter was that he had sought.
[Some of them say: it was a man of the hypocrites, and that which he sought was] the killing of his stepson, from whom he had heard what he said, and he feared that he would spread it about him.
* Mention of who said that:
16976 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, he said: The hypocrite sought to kill him = that is, the killing of the believer who had said to him: "You are worse than the donkey!" And that is His word: and they sought after that which they did not attain.
16977 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim (related to us), on the authority of ʿĪsā, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, the same.
* * *
And others say: The one who sought it was a man of the Quraysh = and that which he sought was the killing of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.
* Mention of who said that:
16978 — Al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Jābir, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: and they sought after that which they did not attain, he said: a man of the Quraysh sought to kill the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, called "al-Aswad."
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And others say: The one who sought it was ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy ibn Salūl, and that which he sought but did not attain was his statement: لَئِنْ رَجَعْنَا إِلَى الْمَدِينَةِ لَيُخْرِجَنَّ الأَعَزُّ مِنْهَا الأَذَلَّ [Surah Al-Munāfiqūn: 8] (If we return to Medina, the mightier will surely expel the lowlier from it), according to the statement of Qatāda, which we have already mentioned.
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And His word: and they had nothing to avenge except that Allah and His Messenger had enriched them out of His bounty, it has been related to us that the hypocrite about whom Allah has reported that he spoke the word of unbelief was poor, and Allah enriched him because a freedman was killed for him, whereupon the Messenger of Allah gave him the blood-money (diya) for it. So when he then said what he said, Allah, exalted is He, said: and they had nothing to avenge, He says: they had nothing to hold against the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace = except that Allah and His Messenger had enriched them out of His bounty.
* Mention of who said that:
16979 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of Hishām ibn ʿUrwa, on the authority of his father: and they had nothing to avenge except that Allah and His Messenger had enriched them out of His bounty, and for al-Julās a freedman had been killed, whereupon the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, decreed for him the blood-money for it, and so he became rich; that is His word: and they had nothing to avenge except that Allah and His Messenger had enriched them out of His bounty.
16980 — ...... he said: Ibn ʿUyayna related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr, on the authority of ʿIkrima, he said: The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, adjudged the blood-money at twelve thousand (dirhams) for a freedman of the Banū ʿAdī ibn Kaʿb, and about him this verse was revealed: and they had nothing to avenge except that Allah and His Messenger had enriched them out of His bounty.
16981 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: and they had nothing to avenge except that Allah and His Messenger had enriched them out of His bounty, he said: there was for ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy a blood-money, and the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, paid it out for him.
16982 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, he said: ʿAmr related to us, saying: I heard ʿIkrima (say): that a freedman of the Banū ʿAdī ibn Kaʿb killed a man of the Anṣār, whereupon the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, adjudged the blood-money at twelve thousand, and about him was revealed: and they had nothing to avenge except that Allah and His Messenger had enriched them out of His bounty. ʿAmr said: I heard this from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, only from ʿIkrima = that is: the blood-money of twelve thousand.
16983 — Ṣāliḥ ibn Mismār related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Sinān al-ʿAwaqī related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Muslim al-Ṭāʾifī related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Dīnār, on the authority of ʿIkrima, the freedman of Ibn ʿAbbās, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, set the blood-money at twelve thousand. That is His word: and they had nothing to avenge except that Allah and His Messenger had enriched them out of His bounty, he said: by the taking of the blood-money.
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As for His word: if they repent, it will be better for them, He, exalted be His mention, says: if these speakers of the word of unbelief repent of the statement that they had made and turn back from it, then their turning back and their repentance from it will be better for them than the hypocrisy = but if they turn away, He says: and if they turn away from repentance, so that they do not undertake it, and persist in their unbelief = Allah will punish them with a painful punishment, He says: He will punish them with a grievous punishment in this world, whether by the death penalty, or by an immediate humiliation for them therein, and He will punish them in the Hereafter with the Fire.
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And His word: and they have on earth no protector and no helper, He says: and these hypocrites have, if Allah should punish them already in this worldly life, no protector who would stand by them to shield them from the punishment of Allah = and no helper who would help them against Allah and rescue them from His punishment. And they used to be people of power and defensive strength through their tribes and their people, protected by them against whoever wished them harm. Then He, exalted be His praise, reported that those who used to protect them against whoever wished them harm — of their tribes and their allies — will not protect them against Allah and will not help them against Him, if they should need their help.
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And it is mentioned that the one about whom this verse was revealed repented of the hypocrisy in which he was.
* Mention of who said that:
16984 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of Hishām ibn ʿUrwa, on the authority of his father: if they repent, it will be better for them, he said: al-Julās said: Allah has set repentance as an exception for me, so I repent. And the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, accepted it from him.
16985 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of Hishām ibn ʿUrwa, on the authority of his father: if they repent, it will be better for them, the verse, and al-Julās said: O Messenger of Allah, I see that Allah has set repentance as an exception for me, so I repent! And he repented, and the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, accepted it from him.
