Tafsir of Surah At-Taubah - Verse 80

The Prohibition of asking for Forgiveness for Hypocrites

Allah says to His Prophet that hypocrites are not worthy of seeking forgiveness for them and that if he asks Allah to forgive them seventy times, Allah will not forgive them. The number seventy here was mentioned to close the door on this subject, for Arabs use this number when they exaggerate, not that they actually mean seventy or more than seventy. Ash-Sha`bi said that when `Abdullah bin Ubayy was dying, his son went to the Prophet and said to him, "My father has died, I wish you could attend him and pray the funeral prayer for him." The Prophet said,

«مَا اسْمُك»

("What is you name) He said, "Al-Hubab bin `Abdullah." The Prophet said,

«بَلْ أَنْتَ عَبْدُاللهِ بْنُ عَبْدِاللهِ إِنَّ الْحُبَابَ اسْمَ شَيْطَان»

(Rather, you are `Abdullah bin `Abdullah, for Al-Hubab is a devil's name.) The Prophet went along with him, attended his father's funeral, gave him his shirt as a shroud and prayed the funeral prayer for him. He was asked, "Would you pray on him, when he is a hypocrite" He said,

«إِنَّ اللهَ قَالَ:

إِن تَسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ سَبْعِينَ مَرَّةً

وَلَأسْتَغْفِرَنَّ لَهُمْ سَبْعِينَ وَسَبْعِينَ وَسَبْعِين»

(Allah said,(...(and even) if you ask seventy times for their forgiveness...) Verily, I will ask Allah to forgive them seventy times and seventy more and seventy more.)" Similar narrations were collected from `Urwah bin Az-Zubayr, Mujahid, Qatadah bin Di`amah and Ibn Jarir.

Commentary

Mentioned in the first verse (79) are taunts thrown at Muslims who gave away in charity on a voluntary basis (Nafli Sadaqat). It appears ؓ in the Sahih of Muslim that Sayyidna Abu Masud ؓ said: ` we had orders from Allah Ta` ala that we must give Sadaqah and, believe it, we used to do manual labor for that (that is, we had no money or thing with us. We used to take out that Sadaqah too from whatever we earned through this very manual labor). Thus, Abu 'Aqil offered Sadaqah to the measure of 0.5 Sa` (approximately 1.75 kilos). Then, someone came and gave a little more than that. The hypocrites mocked at them for having brought something so insignificant in the name of Sadaqah. Allah never needs things like that. And whoever gave a little more in Sadaqah, they accused him that he had done it to show off before people. Thereupon, this verse was revealed.

Please note that, in the sentence: سَخِرَ‌ اللَّـهُ مِنْهُمْ (mocked they are by Allah - 79), the word 'mocked' stands for 'punished for their mockery'.

In the second verse (80), there is a statement about the hypocrites. It has been addressed to the Holy Prophet ﷺ . He has been told whether or not he seeks forgiveness for them makes no difference - and no matter how many times he seeks forgiveness for them, they shall not be forgiven. A detailed explanation of this appears under the comments on verse 84: لَا تُصَلِّ عَلَىٰ أَحَدٍ مِّنْهُم (and never offer a prayer on anyone of them who dies) appearing a little later.

That person is a hypocrite in the eyes of God who prays to God for the blessing of wealth and when God makes him wealthy, forgets to keep aside God’s share. When a man has no wealth, he finds fault with wealthy persons, saying that they are wasting wealth in improper ways; and that if he were to be blessed with wealth by God, he would spend it on good and charitable causes. But when he receives wealth, his mentality changes. He forgets what he had said earlier and what feelings he had expressed. Now, he thinks that his wealth is the result of his own diligence and talents, which gives him the right to sole possession of it. He forgets to set aside God’s share in his wealth. Such people, in order to cover up their weaknesses, indulge in further arrogance by ridiculing those who spend their wealth for the cause of God. If a person spends more, they belittle him by calling him ostentatious, and of one who can spend only a little, in view of his circumstances, they ask derisively whether God was in need of this man’s charity. Those people who are in this way obsessed with their own greatness, are never able to see the higher realities outside themselves.