Tafseer of The Repentance · At-Tawba · 9:83
If Allah should return you to a faction of them [after the expedition] and then they ask your permission to go out [to battle], say, "You will not go out with me, ever, and you will never fight with me an enemy. Indeed, you were satisfied with sitting [at home] the first time, so sit [now] with those who stay behind."
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 discourse on the explanation of His statement: فَإِنْ رَجَعَكَ اللَّهُ إِلَى طَائِفَةٍ مِنْهُمْ فَاسْتَأْذَنُوكَ لِلْخُرُوجِ فَقُلْ لَنْ تَخْرُجُوا مَعِيَ أَبَدًا وَلَنْ تُقَاتِلُوا مَعِيَ عَدُوًّا إِنَّكُمْ رَضِيتُمْ بِالْقُعُودِ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ فَاقْعُدُوا مَعَ الْخَالِفِينَ (So if Allah brings you back to a faction of them, and they ask your permission to go forth, say: "You shall never go forth with me, and you shall never fight an enemy with me. Indeed, you were content to sit at home the first time, so sit at home with those who stay behind") (9:83).
Abū Jaʿfar (al-Ṭabarī) said: The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: if Allah brings you back, O Muḥammad, from this campaign of yours to a faction of these hypocrites (munāfiqūn); فاستأذنوك للخروج (and they ask your permission to go forth), with you on another campaign; فقل (then say) to them: لن تخرجوا معي أبدًا ولن تقاتلوا معي عدوًّا إنكم رضيتم بالقعود أوّل مرة (you shall never go forth with me, and you shall never fight an enemy with me; indeed, you were content to sit at home the first time), and that was at the going forth of the Prophet ﷺ to Tabūk; فاقعدوا مع الخالفين (so sit at home with those who stay behind), He says: so sit at home with those who stayed behind of the hypocrites, in opposition to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, for you are among them; so follow their leadership, and do as they have done in disobedience to Allah, for Allah is already angered against you.
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And in line with what we have said about this, the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
17047 – 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, who said: A man said: "O Messenger of Allah, the heat is severe and we cannot go forth, so do not go forth in the heat!" — and that was during the campaign of Tabūk — then Allah said: قُلْ نَارُ جَهَنَّمَ أَشَدُّ حَرًّا لَوْ كَانُوا يَفْقَهُونَ (Say: the Fire of Hell is more intense in heat, if only they understood). So Allah commanded him to go forth. Some men stayed behind from him, but their souls reproached them and they said: "By Allah, we have done nothing good!" Three of them set out and joined the Messenger of Allah ﷺ; and when they came to him, they showed repentance, and afterwards they returned to Medina. Then Allah revealed: فإن رجعك الله إلى طائفة منهم (So if Allah brings you back to a faction of them), up to His statement: وَلا تَقُمْ عَلَى قَبْرِهِ (and do not stand at his grave). The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then said: "Ruined are those who stayed behind." But Allah revealed their excuse when they showed repentance, and said: لَقَدْ تَابَ اللَّهُ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ وَالْمُهَاجِرِينَ وَالأَنْصَارِ (Certainly Allah has turned in mercy to the Prophet and the Emigrants and the Helpers), up to His statement: إِنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ التَّوَّابُ الرَّحِيمُ (Indeed, Allah is the Accepter of repentance, the Merciful), [Surah At-Tawba: 117, 118].
17048 – Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement: فإن رجعك الله إلى طائفة منهم (So if Allah brings you back to a faction of them), up to His statement: فاقعدوا مع الخالفين (so sit at home with those who stay behind), meaning: with the women. It has been related to us that they were twelve men of the hypocrites, concerning whom was said what was said.
17049 – 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: فاقعدوا مع الخالفين (so sit at home with those who stay behind), and "those who stay behind" (al-khālifūn) are the men.
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Abū Jaʿfar (al-Ṭabarī) said: And the correct view concerning the explanation of His statement الخالفين (those who stay behind) is what Ibn ʿAbbās said.
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As for what Qatāda said, namely that they are the women, that is a statement that has no meaning. For the Arabs do not form a plural for women, when there are no men among them, with the yāʾ and the nūn, nor with the wāw and the nūn. And if the women were intended thereby, it would have been said: "فاقعدوا مع الخوالف" (so sit at home with the female stayers-behind) or "مع الخالفات" (with the women who stayed behind). But its meaning is what we have said, namely that what is intended by it is: so sit at home with the sick men and the disabled among them and the weak among them, and the women. And when men and women are combined in a single statement, the Arabs give precedence to the masculine over the feminine; and for that reason it was said: فاقعدوا مع الخالفين (so sit at home with those who stay behind), and the meaning is what we have mentioned.
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And if one were to direct the meaning of that to: so sit at home with the people of corruption, according to their saying "خَلَف الرجل عن أهله يخْلُف خُلُوفًا" (the man stayed away from his family and became corrupt), when he becomes corrupt, and according to their saying "هو خَلْف سَوْءٍ" (he is a bad successor) — then that would be an acceptable meaning. And its origin, when this meaning is intended, goes back to their saying "خَلَف اللبن يَخْلُفُ خُلُوفا" (the milk went bad), when it spoils from remaining a long time in the leather skin until it turns rancid, and to their saying "خَلَف فم الصائم" (the mouth of the fasting person became unpleasant), when its odor changes.
