Tafsir of Surah At-Taubah - Verse 13

Encouragement to fight the Disbelievers, and some Benefits of fighting Them

These Ayat encourage, direct and recommend fighting against the idolators who break the terms of their covenants, those who tried to expel the Messenger from Makkah. Allah said in other Ayat,

وَإِذْ يَمْكُرُ بِكَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ لِيُثْبِتُوكَ أَوْ يَقْتُلُوكَ أَوْ يُخْرِجُوكَ وَيَمْكُرُونَ وَيَمْكُرُ اللَّهُ وَاللَّهُ خَيْرُ الْمَـكِرِينَ

(And (remember) when the disbelievers plotted against you to imprison you, or to kill you, or to expell you; they were plotting and Allah too was plotting; and Allah is the best of those who plot.) 8:30,

يُخْرِجُونَ الرَّسُولَ وَإِيَّـكُمْ أَن تُؤْمِنُواْ بِاللَّهِ رَبِّكُمْ

(...and have driven out the Messenger and yourselves (from your homeland) because you believe in Allah your Lord!) 60:1, and,

وَإِن كَادُواْ لَيَسْتَفِزُّونَكَ مِنَ الاٌّرْضِ لِيُخْرِجُوكَ مِنْهَا

(And verily, they were about to frighten you so much as to drive you out from the land.) 17:76 Allah's statement,

وَهُم بَدَءُوكُمْ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ

(while they did attack you first), refers to the battle of Badr when the idolators marched to protect their caravan. When they knew that their caravan escaped safely, they still went ahead with their intent to fight Muslims out of arrogance, as we mentioned before. It was also said that these Ayat refer to the idolators breaking the peace agreement with Muslims and aiding Bani Bakr, their allies, against Khuza`ah, the ally of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. This is why the Messenger of Allah ﷺ marched to Makkah in the year of the victory, thus conquering it, all thanks and praise is due to Allah. Allah said,

أَتَخْشَوْنَهُمْ فَاللَّهُ أَحَقُّ أَن تَخْشَوْهُ إِن كُنتُم مُّؤُمِنِينَ

(Do you fear them Allah has more right that you should fear Him if you are believers.) Allah says here, `Do not fear idolators, but fear Me instead, for I am worthy of being feared by the servants due to My might and punishment. In My Hand lies the matter; whatever I will occurs, and whatever I do not will does not occur.' Allah next said, while ordering the believers and explaining the wisdom of ordaining Jihad against them, all the while able to destroy their enemies with a command from Him,

قَـتِلُوهُمْ يُعَذِّبْهُمُ اللَّهُ بِأَيْدِيكُمْ وَيُخْزِهِمْ وَيَنْصُرْكُمْ عَلَيْهِمْ وَيَشْفِ صُدُورَ قَوْمٍ مُّؤْمِنِينَ

(Fight against them so that Allah will punish them by your hands, and disgrace them and give you victory over them, and heal the breasts of a believing people.) This Ayah includes all believers, even though Mujahid, `Ikrimah and As-Suddi said that it refers to Khuza`ah. Concerning the believers, Allah said;

وَيُذْهِبْ غَيْظَ قُلُوبِهِمْ

(and remove the anger of their hearts), then

وَيَتُوبُ اللَّهُ عَلَى مَن يَشَآءُ

(Allah accepts the repentance of whom He wills), from His servants,

وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ

(Allah is All-Knowing), in what benefits His servants,

حَكِيمٌ

(All-Wise), in His actions and statements, whether narrative or legislative. Allah does what He wills, decides what He wills, and He is the Just Who never wrongs any. Not even the weight of an atom of good or evil is ever neglected with Him, but rather, He compensates for it in this life and the Hereafter.

After that, to persuade Muslims to fight, they were told in verse 13 that there was no reason why they would not be ready to fight against the kind of people who had conspired to expel the Messenger of Allah. This refers to the Jews of Madinah who had hatched a plan to expel the Holy Prophet ﷺ from the city of Madinah. They had said: لَيُخْرِ‌جَنَّ الْأَعَزُّ مِنْهَا الْأَذَلَّ (the one having more honor and power will certainly expel the one being humble and weak from there - 63:8). In their self-view, they were the people of honor and power while Muslims were weak and lowly. The answer they needed was given by Allah Al-mighty in His way. He took their proud statement as it was and made it come true in a manner that the Holy Prophet ﷺ and his Companions, by turning the Jews out of Madinah, proved that honor belonged to Muslims and disgrace to Jews.

Giving the second reason for fighting against them, it was said: وَهُم بَدَءُوكُمْ أَوَّلَ مَرَّ‌ةٍ (and it was they who started [ fighting ] against you for the first time). The sense is that they were the aggressors. What Muslims have to do now is simply to defend themselves, an action universally sane and normal.

Then, to remove the awe of the enemy from the hearts of Muslims, it was said: أَتَخْشَوْنَهُمْ ۚ فَاللَّـهُ أَحَقُّ أَن تَخْشَوْهُ (Do you fear them? Then, Allah is worthier that you fear Him) for there is no power that can cause His punishment to disappear. Finally, by saying: إِن كُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ (if you are be-lievers), it was made clear that fearing anyone or anything other than Allah in a manner that obstructs the fulfillment of the injunctions of the Shari’ ah of Islam is not what a true believing-practicing Muslim would do.

The root of all wisdom is fear of God. The fear of God develops in man the readiness to accept the Truth; it awakens in man a certain consciousness that enables him to see realities in their original form. That is why it does not take the God-fearing man long to understand the Divine plan. He comes to know the will of God and dedicates himself to it with full confidence. He starts moving on that right path which ultimately leads to success. The fear of God makes a man’s eye tearful, and before God, it is only the tearful eye which is destined to be cooled in this world as well as in the Hereafter.