AL TAWBAH (Repentance) or BARA’AH (DISAvowal)
1 A declaration of immunity from God and his messenger, to those of the pagans with whom you have contracted mutual alliances:
2 Go then, for four months, backwards and forwards throughout the land, but know that you cannot frustrate God but that God will cover with shame those who reject him.
3 And an announcement from God and his messenger, to the people on the day of the great pilgrimage, that God and his messenger dissolve treaty obligations with the pagans. If, then, you repent, it were best for you; but if you turn away, know that you cannot frustrate God. And proclaim a grievous penalty to those who reject faith.
4 The treaties are not dissolved with those pagans with whom you have entered into alliance and who have not subsequently failed you in anything, nor aided anyone against you. So fulfil your engagements with them to the end of their term: for God loves the righteous.
5 But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the pagans wherever you find them, and seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem of war; but if they repent, and establish regular prayers and practise regular charity, then open the way for them: for God is oft-forgiving, most merciful.
6 If one among the pagans asks you for asylum, grant it to him, so that he may hear the word of God; and then escort him to where he can be secure. That is because they are men without knowledge.
7 How can there be a league, before God and his messenger, with the pagans, except those with whom you made a treaty near the sacred mosque? As long as these stand true to you, stand true to them: for God loves the righteous.
8 How can there be a treaty, seeing that if they get an advantage over you, they respect not in you the ties either of kinship or of covenant? With their mouths they entice you, but their hearts are averse from you; and most of them are rebellious and wicked.
9 The signs of God have they sold for a miserable price, and many have they hindered from his way: evil indeed are the deeds they have done.
10 In a believer they respect not the ties either of kinship or of covenant it is they who have transgressed all bounds.
11 But if they repent, establish regular prayers, and practise regular charity, they are your brothers in faith: we explain the signs in detail to those who understand.
12 But if they violate their oaths after their covenant, and taunt you for your faith, fight the chiefs of unfaith: for their oaths are nothing to them: that thus they may be restrained.
13 Will you not fight people who violated their oaths, plotted to expel the messenger, and took the aggressive by being the first to assault you? Do you fear them? No, it is God whom you should more justly fear, if you believe!
14 Fight them, and God will punish them by your hands, cover them with shame, help you to victory over them, heal the breasts of believers,
15 And still the indignation of their hearts for God will turn in mercy to whom he will; and God is all-knowing, all-wise.
16 Or do you think that you shall be abandoned, as though God did not know those among you who strive with might and main, and take none for friend and protectors except God, his messenger, and the believers? But God is well-acquainted with what you do.
17 It is not for such as join gods with God, to visit or maintain the mosques of God while they witness against their own souls to infidelity. The works of such bear no fruit: in fire shall they dwell.
18 The mosques of God shall be visited and maintained by such as believe in God and the Last Day, establish regular prayers, and practise regular charity, and fear no one except God. It is they who are expected to be on true guidance.
19 Do you make the giving of drink to pilgrims, or the maintenance of the sacred mosque, equal to those who believe in God and the Last Day, and strive in the cause of God? They are not comparable in the sight of God: and God guides not those who do wrong.
20 Those who believe, and suffer exile and strive with might and main, in God’s cause, with their goods and their persons, have the highest rank in the sight of God: they are the people who will achieve.
21 Their Lord gives them glad tidings of a mercy from himself, of his good pleasure, and of gardens for them, wherein are delights that endure:
22 They will dwell in them forever. Truly in God’s presence is the greatest reward.
23 O you who believe! Take not for protectors your fathers and your brothers if they love infidelity above faith: if any of you do so, they do wrong.
24 Say: If it be that your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your mates, or your kindred; the wealth that you have gained; the commerce in which you fear a decline; or the dwellings in which you delight — are dearer to you than God, or his messenger, or the striving in his cause — then wait until God brings about his decision: and God guides not the rebellious.
25 Assuredly God did help you in many battle fields and on the day of Hunain: behold your great numbers elated you, but they availed you nothing: the land, for all that it is wide, did constrain you, and you turned back in retreat.
26 But God poured his calm on the messenger and on the believers, and sent down forces which you saw not: he punished the unbelievers: thus does he reward those without faith.
27 Again after this, God will turn in mercy to whom he will: for God is oft-forgiving, most merciful.
28 O you who believe truly the pagans are unclean; so let them not, after this year of theirs, approach the sacred mosque. And if you fear poverty, soon will God enrich you, if he wills, out of his bounty, for God is all-knowing, all-wise.
29 Fight those who believe not in God nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which has been forbidden by God and his messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of truth, from among the people of Al-Kitab, until they pay the Jizyah with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.
30 The Jews call Uzair1 the son of God, and the Nasara2 call AL-MASIH3 the SON OF GOD4. That is a saying from their mouth. They only imitate what the unbelievers of old used to say. God’s curse be on them: how they are deluded away from the truth.
31 They take their religious leaders and teachers to be their lords in place of God, and AL-MASIH Ibn Maryam; yet they were commanded to worship only one God: there is no god but he. Praise and glory to him above having the partners they associate.
32 They want to extinguish God’s light with their mouths, but God will not allow but that his light should be perfected, even though the unbelievers may detest it.
33 It is he who has sent his messenger with guidance and the religion of truth, to proclaim it over all religion, even though the pagans may detest it.
34 O you who believe! There are indeed many among the religious leaders and teachers, who in falsehood devour the substance of men and hinder them from the way of God. And there are those who bury gold and silver and spend it not in the way of God: announce to them a most grievous penalty.
35 On the day when heat will be produced out of that wealth in the fire of hell, and with it will be branded their foreheads, their flanks, and their backs. This is the treasure you buried for yourself: taste then, what you buried.
36 The number of months in the sight of God is twelve. It was so ordained by him the day he created the heavens and the earth. Of them four are sacred: that is the straight usage. So do not wrong yourself about this, and fight the pagans all together as they fight you all together. But know that God is with those who restrain themselves.
37 Truly alteration of a sacred month is an addition to unbelief: the unbelievers are led to wrong thereby: for they make it lawful one year, and forbidden another year, in order to adjust the number of months forbidden by God and make such forbidden ones lawful. The evil of their course seems pleasing to them. But God guides not those who reject faith.
38 O you who believe! What is the matter with you, that when you are asked to go forth in the cause of God, you cling heavily to the earth? Do you refer the life of this world to the hereafter? But little is the comfort of this life, as compared with the hereafter.
39 Unless you mobilize, he will punish you with a grievous penalty, and put others in your place; but him you will not harm in the least. For God has power over all things.
40 If you do not help, still God helped him when the unbelievers drove him out: he had no more than one companion: both were in the cave, and he said to his companion, have no fear, for God is with us: then God sent down his peace upon him, and strengthened him with unseen forces, and humbled to the depths the word of the unbelievers. But the word of God is exalted to the heights: for God is exalted in might, wise.
41 Mobilize lightly or heavily, and strive and struggle, with your goods and your persons, in the cause of God. That is best for you, if you only knew.
42 If there had been immediate gain and an easy journey, without doubt they would have followed you, but the distance was too long for them. They would indeed swear by God, “If we only could, we would certainly have come out with you.” They would destroy their own souls; for God knows that they are certainly lying.
43 God gave you grace. Why did you grant them exemption until those who told the truth were seen by you in a clear light, and you had proved the liars?
44 Those who believe in God and the Last Day ask you for no exemption from fighting with their goods and persons. And God knows well those who do their duty.
45 Only those ask you for exemption who believe not in God and the Last Day, and whose hearts are in doubt, so that they are tossed in their doubts to and fro.
46 If they had intended to come out, they would certainly have made some preparations; but God was averse to their being sent forth; so he made them lag behind, and they were told, sit among those who sit.
47 If they had come out with you, they would have added nothing but trouble, hurrying back and forth among you and sowing sedition, and there would have been some among you who would have listened to them. But God knows well those who do wrong.
48 Indeed they had platted sedition before, and upset matters for you, until the truth arrived, and the decree of God became manifest, much to their disgust.
49 Among them is one who says: grant me exemption and draw me not into trial. Have they not fallen into trial already? And indeed hell surrounds the unbelievers.
50 If good befalls you, it grieves them; but if a misfortune befalls you, they say, we took indeed our precautions beforehand, and they turn away rejoicing.
51 Say: Nothing will happen to us except to us except what God has decreed for us: he is our protector: and on God let the believers put their trust.
52 Say: Can you expect for us other than one of two glorious things? But we can expect for you either that God will send his punishment from himself, or by our hands. So wait; we too will wait with you.
53 Say: Spend willingly or unwilling: not from you will it be accepted: for you are indeed a people rebellious and wicked.
54 The only reasons why their contributions are not accepted are: that they reject God and his messenger; that they come to prayer without earnestness; and that they offer contributions unwillingly.
55 Let not their wealth nor their sons dazzle you: in reality God’s plan is to punish them with these things in this life, and that their souls may perish in their denial of God.
56 They swear by God that they are indeed of you; but they are not of you: yet they are afraid.
57 If they could find a place to flee to, or caves, or a place of concealment, they would turn directly to it, with an obstinate rush.
58 And among them are men who slander you in the matter of the alms: if they are given part of it, they are pleased, but if not, behold they are indignant.
59 If only they had been content with what God and his messenger gave them, and had said, “Sufficient to us is God! God and his messenger will soon give us of his bounty: to God we turn our hopes.
60 Alms are for the poor and the needy, and those employed to administer it; it is for those whose hearts have been reconciled, for those in bondage and in debt, for the cause of God, and for the wayfarer. This is ordained by God, and God is full of knowledge and wisdom.
61 Among them are men who molest the prophet and say, “He is all ear.” Say, “He listens to what is best for you: he believes in God, has faith in the believers, and is a mercy to those of you who believe.” But those who molest the prophet will have a grievous penalty.
62 To you they swear by God. In order to please you: but it is more fitting that they should please God and his messenger, if they are believers.
63 Know they not that for those who oppose God and his messenger, is the fire of hell? There they shall dwell. That is the supreme disgrace.
64 The hypocrites are afraid lest a surah should be sent down about them, showing them what is in their hearts. Say: “Go ahead and mock! But truly God will bring to light all that you fear.”
65 If you question them, they declare: “We were only talking idly and in play.” Say: “Was it God, and his signs, and his messenger, that you were mocking?”
66 Make no excuses: you have rejected faith after you had accepted it. If we pardon some of you, we will punish others among you, for that they are in sin.
67 The hypocrites, men and women, have an understanding with each other: they enjoin evil, and forbid what is just, and are close with their hands. They have forgotten God; so he has forgotten them. Truly the hypocrites are rebellious and perverse.
68 God has promised the hypocrites men and women, and the rejecters, of faith, the fire of hell: in it shall they dwell: sufficient is it for them: for them is the curse of God, and an enduring punishment,
69 As in the case of those before you: they were mightier than you in power, and more flourishing in wealth and children. They had their enjoyment of their portion: and you have of yours, and you indulge in idle talk as they did. They and their works are fruitless in this world and in the hereafter, and they will lose.
70 Has not the story reached them of those before them? The people of Nuh, and Aad, and Thamud; the people of Ibrahim, the men of Madyan, and the cities overthrown. To them came their messengers with clear signs. It is not God who wrongs them, but they wrong their own souls.
71 The believers, men and women, are protectors, one of another: they enjoin what is just, and forbid what is evil: they observe regular prayers, practice regular charity, and obey God and his messenger. On them will God pour his mercy: for God is exalted in power, wise.
72 God has promised to believers, men and women, gardens under which rivers flow, to dwell in them, and beautiful mansions in gardens of everlasting bliss. But the greatest bliss is the good pleasure of God: that is the supreme felicity.
73 O prophet! Strive hard against the unbelievers and the hypocrites, and be firm against them. Their abode is hell — an evil refuge indeed.
74 They swear by God that they said nothing, but in fact they uttered blasphemy, and they did it after submitting to God; and they meditated a plot which they were unable to carry out: this revenge of theirs was their only return for the bounty with which God and his messenger had enriched them! If they repent, it will be best for them; but if they turn away, God will punish them with a grievous penalty in this life and in the hereafter: they shall have none on earth to protect or help them.
75 Among them are men who made a covenant with God, that if he bestowed on them of his bounty, they would give in charity, and be truly among those who are righteous.
76 But when he bestowed from his bounty, they became covetous, and turned away, averse.
77 So he has put as a consequence, hypocrisy into their hearts, until the day on which they shall meet him: because they broke their covenant with God, and because they lied.
78 Know they not that God knows their secrets and their hidden counsels, and that God knows well all things unseen?
79 Those who slander such of the believers as give themselves freely to charity, as well as such as can find nothing to give except the fruits of their labour, and throw ridicule on them, God will throw back their ridicule on them: and they shall have a grievous penalty.
80 Whether you ask for their forgiveness or not, even if you ask seventy times for their forgiveness, God will not forgive them: because they have rejected God and his messenger; and God guides not those who are perversely rebellious.
81 Those who were left behind rejoiced in their inaction behind the back of the messenger of God: they hated to strive and fight, with their goods and their persons, in the cause of God: they said, “Go not forth in the heat.” Say, “The fire of hell is fiercer in heat.” If only they could understand!
82 Let them laugh a little: much will they weep: a reward for what they do.
83 If, then, God bring you back to any of them, and they ask your permission to come out, say: never shall you come out with me, nor fight an enemy with me: for you preferred to sit inactive on the first occasion: so sit with those who lag behind.
84 Nor should you ever pray for any of them that dies, nor stand at his grave; for they rejected God and his messenger, and died in a state of perverse rebellion.
85 Nor let their wealth nor their sons dazzle you: God’s plan is to punish them with these things in this world, and that their souls may perish in their denial of God.
86 When a surah comes down, enjoining them to believe in God and to strive and fight along with his messenger, those with wealth and influence among them ask you for exemption, and say: “Leave us: we would be with those who sit.”
87 They prefer to be with those who remain behind: their hearts are sealed and so they do not understand.
88 But the messenger, and those who believe with him, strive and fight with their wealth and their persons: for them are good things: and it is they who will prosper.
89 God has prepared for them gardens under which rivers flow, to dwell in them: that is the supreme felicity.
90 And there were, among the desert Arabs, men who made excuses and came to claim exemption; and those who were false to God and his messenger sat inactive. Soon will a grievous penalty seize the unbelievers among them.
91 There is no blame on those who are infirm, or ill, or who find no resources to spend, if they are sincere to God and his messenger: no ground can there be against such as do right: and God is oft-forgiving, most merciful.
92 Nor on those who came to you to be provided with mounts, and when you said, I can find no mounts for you, turned back, their eyes streaming with tears of grief that they had no resources wherewith to provide the expenses.
93 There is ground against such as claim exemption while they are rich. They prefer to stay with those who remain behind: God has sealed their hearts; so they do not know.
94 They will present their excuses to you when you return to them. Say: “Present no excuses: we shall not believe you: God has already informed us of the true state of matters concerning you: it is your actions that God and his messenger will observe: in the end will you be brought back to him who knows what is hidden and what is open: then will he show you the truth of all that you did.”
95 They will swear to you by God, when you return to them, that you may leave them alone. So leave them alone: for they are an abomination, and hell is their dwelling place, a fitting reward for what they did.
96 They will swear to you, that you may be pleased with them. But if you are pleased with them, God is not pleased with those who disobey.
97 The Arabs of desert are the worst in unbelief and hypocrisy, and most fitted to be in ignorance of the command which God has sent down to his messenger but God is all-knowing, all-wise.
98 Some of the desert Arabs look upon their payments as a fine, and watch for dISAsters for you: on them be the dISAster of evil: for God is he that hearth and knows.
99 But some of the desert Arabs believe in God and the Last Day, and look on their payments as pious gifts bringing them nearer to God and obtaining the prayers of the messenger. Yes, indeed they bring them nearer: soon will God admit them to his mercy: for God is oft-forgiving, most merciful.
100 God is pleased with the Muhajirs who were first to leave, and the Ansars who gave them refuge, as well as those who imitate their good deeds — and they are pleased with God: for he has prepared gardens under which rivers flow, for them to dwell in forever: that is the supreme felicity.
101 Certain of the desert Arabs round about you are hypocrites, as well as those among the Medina folk: they are obstinate in hypocrisy: you know them not: we know them: twice shall we punish them: and in addition shall they be sent to a grievous penalty.
102 Others have acknowledged their wrong doings: they have mixed an act that was good with another that was evil. Perhaps God will turn to them: for God is oft-forgiving, most merciful.
103 Of their goods take alms, that so you might purify and sanctify them; and pray on their behalf. Truly your prayers are a source of security for them: and God is one who hears and knows.
104 Know they not that God accepts repentance from his votaries and receives their gifts of charity, and that God is truly he, the oft-returning, most merciful?
105 And say: “Take action! Soon will God observe your work, and so will his messenger, and the believers: soon will you be brought back to the knower of what is hidden and what is open: then will he show you the truth of all that you did.”
106 There are others, held in suspense for the command of God, whether he will punish them, or turn in mercy to them: and God is all-knowing, wise.
107 And there are those who put up a mosque by way of mischief and infidelity, to disunite the believers, and in preparation for one who warred against God and his messenger aforetime. They will indeed swear that their intention is nothing but good; but God declares that they are certainly liars.
108 Never stand there to pray. There is a mosque whose foundation was laid from the first day on piety; it is more worthy of your standing there to pray. In it are men who love to be purified; and God loves those who make themselves pure.
109 Which then is best? He that lays his foundation on piety to God and his good pleasure? Or he that lays his foundation on an undermined sand cliff ready to crumble to pieces? And it crumbles to pieces with him, into the fire of hell. And God guides not people who do wrong.
110 The foundation of those who so build is never free from doubts in their hearts, until their hearts are cut to pieces. And God is all-knowing, wise.
111 God has purchased of the believers their persons and their goods. For theirs is the garden because they fight in his cause; they slay and are slain. It is a promise binding on him in truth, through the Taurat5, the Injil6, and the Quran. And who is more faithful to his covenant than God? Then rejoice in the bargain which you have concluded: that is the achievement supreme.
112 Those that turn in repentance; that serve him, and praise him; that wander in devotion to the cause of God; that bow down and prostrate themselves in prayer; that enjoin good and forbid evil; and observe the limits set by God– So proclaim the glad tidings to the believers.
113 It is not fitting, for the prophet and those who believe, that they should pray for forgiveness for pagans, even though they be of kin, after it is clear to them that they are companions of the fire.
114 And Ibrahim prayed for his father’s forgiveness only because of a promise he had made to him. But when it became clear to him that he was an enemy to God, he dissociated himself from him: for Ibrahim was most tender hearted, forbearing.
115 And God will not mislead a people after he has guided them, in order that he may make clear to them what to fear for God has knowledge of all things.
116 To God belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth. He gives life and He takes it. Except for him you have no protector nor helper.
117 God turned with favour to the prophet, the Muhajirs, and the Ansar, who followed him in a time of distress, after that the hearts of a part of them had nearly swerved; but he turned to them: for he is to them most kind, most merciful.
118 He turned in mercy also to the three who were left behind. The earth seemed to such a degree constrained to them, for all its spaciousness, and their souls seemed straitened to them, and they perceived that there is no fleeing from God but to himself. Then he turned to them, that they might repent: for God is oft-returning, most merciful.
119 O you who believe! Fear God and be with those who are true.
120 It was not fitting for the people of Medina and the Bedouin Arabs of the neighbourhood, to refuse to follow God’s messenger, nor to prefer their own lives to his: because nothing could they suffer or do, but was reckoned to their credit as a deed of righteousness, whether they suffered thirst, or fatigue, or hunger, in the cause of God, or trod paths to raise the ire of the unbelievers, or received any injury whatever from an enemy: for God suffers not the reward to be lost of those who do good.
121 Nor could they spend anything small or great nor cut across a valley, but the deed is inscribed to their credit; that God may requite their deed with the best.
122 Nor should the believers all go forth together: if a contingent from every expedition remained behind, they could devote themselves to studies in religion, and admonish the people when they return to them, that thus they may guard themselves.
123 O you who believe fight the unbelievers who gird you about, and let them find firmness in you: and know that God is with those who fear him.
124 Whenever there comes down a surah, some of them say: which of you has had his faith increased by it? Yes, those who believe, their faith is increased, and they do rejoice.
125 But those in whose hearts is a disease, it will add doubt to their doubt, and they will die in a state of unbelief.
126 Do they not see that they are tried every year once or twice? Yet they turn not in repentance, and they take no heed.
127 Whenever there comes down a surah, they look at each other, saying, Does anyone see you? Then they turn aside: God has turned their hearts; for they are people that understand not.
128 Now has come to you a messenger from among yourselves: it grieves him that you should perish: ardently anxious is he over you: to the believers is he most kind and merciful.
129 But if they turn away, say: “God suffices me: there is no god but he: on him is my trust. He is Lord of the supreme throne!”
- 9:30 Uzair, or Ezra. ↩︎
- 9:30 Nasara, Arabic for Nazarenes, one of the early names given to the followers of ‘ISA AL-MASIH by the Jews (see Injil, Acts 24:5). ‘ISA himself was called the Nasrani, or the Nazarene, possibly because he was raised in the city of Nazareth. The Injil says that ‘ISA “came and lived in a city called Nazareth; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophets, that he will be called a Nasrani.” (Injil, Matthew 2:23). The name “Christian” was a nickname given to the followers of ‘ISA AL-MASIH later, by Greek-speaking disbelievers (Injil, Acts 11:26). ↩︎
- 9:30 AL-MASIH – an Arabic title equivalent to the Messiah (Hebrew) or Christ (Greek), all of which mean the Anointed One, that is, God’s Chosen One. In ancient times, divinely-appointed kings, priests and prophets were anointed with oil to signify their appointment to office. All of them point ahead to God’s ultimate Anointed One, the Messiah, AL-MASIH. Al-Kitab unanimously points to ‘ISA Ibn Maryam as the only person worthy to bear the title AL-MASIH. He is the one whom God sent into this world to save people from sin, and to usher in God’s Kingdom at his Second Coming. ↩︎
- 9:30 SON OF GOD, a title of the Messiah, ‘ISA AL-MASIH, revealed through Prophet Dawud in the Zabur 2:7-9, which says: I will tell of the decree. YAHWEH said to me, “You are my SON. Today I have become your FATHER. Ask of me, and I will give the nations for your inheritance, The ends of the earth for your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron. You shall dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” ↩︎
- 9:111 Taurat, derived from Torah (Hebrew) which means “instruction” or “teaching.” Depending on context, Taurat can refer to,
1. The whole Hebrew Bible contained here under the title Taurat, equivalent to what Jews today call Tanakh, and what Christians call the Old Testament.
2. The revelation given to Prophet Musa, that is, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, sometimes called the Pentateuch. Pentateuch is a Greek word meaning “five books” and includes Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. These five books are attributed to Prophet Musa himself. This is the traditional and most common meaning given to Taurat or Torah.
3. The Law of Musa found within the Pentateuch, with its hundreds of rules and regulations covering many aspects of daily life for the people of Israel. The most famous of these laws are the Ten Commandments, found in Exodus 20. ↩︎ - 9:111 Injil, derived from Euangel (Greek) and means “good news” or “Gospel” (old English for ‘good news’). Depending on context, Injil can refer to,
1. the whole Christian New Testament containing 27 books,
2. the first 4 books of the New Testament, that is, the Injil or Gospel ccording to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, or,
3. the message or “good news” of forgiveness of sins through ‘ISA AL-MASIH, revealed in the holy Injil (or New Testament). ↩︎