Tafseer of The Repentance · At-Tawba · 9:87
They were satisfied to be with those who stay behind, and their hearts were sealed over, so they do not understand.
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 exegesis of His saying: رَضُوا بِأَنْ يَكُونُوا مَعَ الْخَوَالِفِ وَطُبِعَ عَلَى قُلُوبِهِمْ فَهُمْ لا يَفْقَهُونَ (9:87) (They were content to be with those who stayed behind, and their hearts were sealed, so that they do not understand.)
Abū Jaʿfar [al-Ṭabarī] said: The Exalted, whose praise is mentioned, says: These hypocrites (munāfiqīn) consented — those who, when it was said to them: "Believe in Allah and fight alongside His Messenger," the wealthy among them asked you for leave to stay behind from the campaign (ghazw) and from going forth with you to fight the enemies of Allah among the polytheists (mushrikīn) — that they should remain in their dwellings, like the women upon whom the obligation of jihād does not rest, and who therefore stay at home in their houses and dwellings = وَطُبِعَ عَلَى قُلُوبِهِمْ ("and their hearts were sealed"), that is to say: and Allah has sealed the hearts of these hypocrites = فَهُمْ لا يَفْقَهُونَ ("so that they do not understand"), namely: Allah's admonitions, that they might be admonished thereby.
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We have already set forth the meaning of "the sealing" (al-ṭabʿ), and how the sealing of the hearts takes place, in an earlier place, with that which dispenses us from repeating it here.
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And in accordance with what we have said concerning the meaning of "al-khawālif" (those who stay behind), the people of exegesis (ahl al-taʾwīl) spoke.
* Mention of who said that:
17064 - 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, concerning His saying: رَضُوا بِأَنْ يَكُونُوا مَعَ الْخَوَالِفِ ("They were content to be with those who stayed behind"), he said: "al-khawālif" are the women.
17065 - 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: رَضُوا بِأَنْ يَكُونُوا مَعَ الْخَوَالِفِ ("They were content to be with those who stayed behind"), this means: the women.
17066 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Ḥabawiya Abū Yazīd related to us, on the authority of Yaʿqūb al-Qummī, on the authority of Ḥafṣ ibn Ḥumayd, on the authority of Shamir ibn ʿAṭiyya: رَضُوا بِأَنْ يَكُونُوا مَعَ الْخَوَالِفِ ("They were content to be with those who stayed behind"), he said: the women.
17067 - ...... he said: al-Muḥāribī related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk: مَعَ الْخَوَالِفِ ("with those who stayed behind"), he said: with the women.
17068 - Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His saying: رَضُوا بِأَنْ يَكُونُوا مَعَ الْخَوَالِفِ ("They were content to be with those who stayed behind"), that is to say: with the women.
17069 - 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 and al-Ḥasan: رَضُوا بِأَنْ يَكُونُوا مَعَ الْخَوَالِفِ ("They were content to be with those who stayed behind"), they both said: the women.
17070 - 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 that.
17071 - 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 Mujāhid, the like of that.
17072 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His saying: رَضُوا بِأَنْ يَكُونُوا مَعَ الْخَوَالِفِ ("They were content to be with those who stayed behind"), he said: with the women.
