Reflections on the Opening Verses of Surat al-Tawbah

Occasion: A transcription of a lecture delivered on December 10, 2022Source: A transcription of a video lecture by Dr. Ahmed Abouseif — Watch the original video on YouTube

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings upon the servant of Allah and His Messenger, our master and our Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, and upon his family and Companions, with abundant peace.

Today we are speaking about Sūrat Barā'ah, which differs from the Qur'anic discourse we are used to. The Lord of the worlds, glory be to Him, opens the surahs of the Qur'an either with the disjointed letters, to draw people's attention to the content of the surah; or with a statement of one of the realities of the Hereafter or of this world, as in the saying of the Almighty: ﴿أَتَىٰ أَمْرُ اللَّهِ فَلَا تَسْتَعْجِلُوهُ﴾ (The command of Allah is coming, so do not seek to hasten it); or with praise, to stir people toward the blessing they live in and by which they live on the earth of this life; or with events that take place on the Day of Resurrection, to move souls toward complete readiness. Sūrat Barā'ah, however, begins by announcing disavowal.

Barā'ah and Tawbah: What Is the Link?

This surah was given this name, and it was also called Sūrat al-Tawbah. So what is the link between repentance (tawbah) and disavowal (barā'ah)? It is as though the disavowal announced in this noble surah is disavowal of the principle of idolatry in itself. We do not disavow persons; for us, persons are the object of our invitation, and a human being remains the object of invitation until he meets Allah, Blessed and Exalted. And among the general concepts in Islam is that we do not know how Allah the Almighty will seal the lives of His creatures. There may be a person whom I think died upon disbelief, and I meet him at the gate of Paradise by the permission of the Lord of the worlds, glory be to Him, the Almighty, and I say to him: What brought you to this side, my son? And he says: I died upon Islam without your knowing. Just like that, in utmost simplicity. Hence we are not speaking about individuals so much as about principles.

Indeed, at the beginning of Sūrat al-Ḥujurāt we see that Allah, Blessed and Exalted, says: ﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تُقَدِّمُوا بَيْنَ يَدَيِ اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ﴾ (O you who believe, do not put yourselves forward before Allah and His Messenger), and then, when He mentioned the testing of hearts, He did not say "the testing of hearts for the Messenger," but said: ﴿أُولَٰئِكَ الَّذِينَ امْتَحَنَ اللَّهُ قُلُوبَهُمْ لِلتَّقْوَىٰ﴾ (Those are the ones whose hearts Allah has tested for taqwā). So there is a principle that we walk by: we agree with it and follow it, or we differ from it and oppose it. And this noble surah comes to tell us that disavowal of idolatry, and of the idolaters who practice acts of idolatry at that time, is an inseparable part of the repentance by which we return to Allah. A split personality, where I claim one thing and then do another, is not among the principles of Islam.

Linking the Surah to What Precedes It

One of the things I always take care to do is to link a surah to the one before it. The surah before al-Tawbah is al-Anfāl. In al-Anfāl, Allah, Blessed and Exalted, prepared the Muslim community psychologically and morally so that they would be ready to meet any kind of challenge, from any fighter or opponent of this Islamic cause. And it is as though the first of the demarcations of this forward movement is the matter of disavowal of this idolatry. Imagine a person fighting someone while his heart is still attached to him, with affection and contact between them; outwardly he fights him, while inwardly he inclines to him. How could that work? So the announcement of disavowal was the first preliminary to any movement that shapes the future.

A Temporary Disavowal That Opens the Door of Return

﴿بَرَاءَةٌ مِّنَ اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ﴾ (A disavowal from Allah and His Messenger): could another word be used in this context? I see, and Allah the Almighty knows best, that using the word "barā'ah" is a kind of gentleness in speech, even though all people see it as severe: a disavowal from Allah and His Messenger to those of the idolaters with whom you made a treaty. Disavowing something does not mean doing without it; rather, one is free of it until he allies with it again.

Therefore, if one of the idolaters seeks protection, it may be asked: How can I grant protection to one whom Allah, Blessed and Exalted, has disavowed? That is, by what logic do I protect one whom Allah and His Messenger have disavowed? Because he is still the object of invitation, and here comes my role as a Muslim: to present to him what I have of rational, psychological, and spiritual means of persuasion, and to present to him the Qur'an and the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ, so that he responds. That is why you find the verses saying: "But if they repent." It is as though they are outside the legal framework until they repent and return, so I am dealing with a person who is outside the framework of the text; and if he returns to what I am upon, he is with me, for me, and by me, and I am for him, from him, and by him, and I never leave him.

My Lord, glory be to Him, the Almighty, said: ﴿بَرَاءَةٌ مِّنَ اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ إِلَى الَّذِينَ عَاهَدتُّم مِّنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ﴾ (A disavowal from Allah and His Messenger to those of the idolaters with whom you made a treaty). And disavowal here means: I am free of you, free of your deeds.^[1] So they are told: Convey this temporary disavowal, limited in time, by a decision taken on your part; if you take the decision to return, then welcome, and the disavowal that the Lord of the worlds, glory be to Him, declared is lifted from you. ﴿فَسِيحُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ أَرْبَعَةَ أَشْهُرٍ وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّكُمْ غَيْرُ مُعْجِزِي اللَّهِ وَأَنَّ اللَّهَ مُخْزِي الْكَافِرِينَ﴾ (So travel freely in the land for four months, and know that you cannot escape Allah, and that Allah will disgrace the disbelievers).

And if one person disavows another, is that not a declaration that his blood may be shed and his life and soul taken? Why, then, does the Lord of the worlds give them this respite? It is as though you threaten your son with a harsh word that he cannot take in; it does not mean what it literally says, but means only a threat and a warning. So it is as though the Lord of the worlds, glory be to Him, is warning these creatures that the opportunity is still open to them to return to the straight path.

﴿وَأَذَانٌ مِّنَ اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ إِلَى النَّاسِ يَوْمَ الْحَجِّ الْأَكْبَرِ أَنَّ اللَّهَ بَرِيءٌ مِّنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ وَرَسُولُهُ فَإِن تُبْتُمْ فَهُوَ خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ﴾ (And a proclamation from Allah and His Messenger to the people on the day of the greater pilgrimage that Allah is free of the idolaters, and so is His Messenger. So if you repent, it is better for you). So we have returned to the same matter: this disavowal is a temporary disavowal.

Those Who Live Around Us Are Not the Subject of This Disavowal

To bring the discussion down to the ground of reality, I say to our esteemed teachers, may Allah preserve your standing: I am not free of persons. The people who work with you in your workplace, who serve you as nurses, or help you as doctors, or oversee your work as accountants, or follow the comings and goings: you will find that one in a hundred, or two, or five of them are Muslims with you, unless you founded a company specially and gathered all Muslims around you. But in public work you see that most of the people who live around us are not Muslims, and you know perfectly well that they hold a belief that does not fully agree with what Allah the Almighty approved for the People of the Book. And although they deserve the term idolatry and disbelief, you still deal with them, show them warmth, do good to them, and show them the model of the Muslim person on whom the marks of good character appear in all their forms. Is that not so? We carry a gift for them on their birthdays, and we smile in the face of the man or woman who enters your clinic.

So how can we do that with people whom Allah, Blessed and Exalted, has disavowed? Can we picture this scene? But as we mentioned, Allah the Almighty has disavowed the work that takes place on the ground, while its doers remain the object of invitation for us, and we want to show them this righteous, good-doing model.

My Lord, glory be to Him, the Almighty, said: ﴿فَإِن تُبْتُمْ فَهُوَ خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ وَإِن تَوَلَّيْتُمْ فَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّكُمْ غَيْرُ مُعْجِزِي اللَّهِ وَبَشِّرِ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا بِعَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍ﴾ (So if you repent, it is better for you; but if you turn away, then know that you cannot escape Allah; and give those who disbelieve tidings of a painful punishment). One of those present pointed out to him that the tone rises relatively in this noble verse: ﴿وَبَشِّرِ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا بِعَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍ﴾ (and give those who disbelieve tidings of a painful punishment). He answered: Is the speech here directed to those idolaters who live in a state of peace and good coexistence? Or to people who challenge the call and lie in wait for it? Here this raised tone comes for those who lie in wait for the call and stand in the way of the natural, smooth progress of this Islam in the lives of people.

Then Allah, Blessed and Exalted, said: ﴿إِلَّا الَّذِينَ عَاهَدتُّم مِّنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ ثُمَّ لَمْ يَنقُصُوكُمْ شَيْئًا وَلَمْ يُظَاهِرُوا عَلَيْكُمْ أَحَدًا فَأَتِمُّوا إِلَيْهِمْ عَهْدَهُمْ إِلَىٰ مُدَّتِهِمْ﴾ (Except those of the idolaters with whom you made a treaty, and who then did not diminish you in anything nor supported anyone against you; so fulfill their treaty to them until their term). So the exception came for the people who live around us, directly and very explicitly from the Lord of the worlds, glory be to Him, but on a condition: ﴿ثُمَّ لَمْ يَنقُصُوكُمْ شَيْئًا وَلَمْ يُظَاهِرُوا عَلَيْكُمْ أَحَدًا﴾ (who then did not diminish you in anything nor supported anyone against you). It is as though the realm of complete disavowal comes only when they diminish something of our rights or support someone against us. And what treaty is this? It is the treaty we mentioned at the beginning: ﴿فَسِيحُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ أَرْبَعَةَ أَشْهُرٍ﴾ (So travel freely in the land for four months).

Empowerment: Only the Capable Grants Respite

The question remains: when can I allow him to travel freely in the land for four months? That can only happen when I am in a position of empowerment. I am the one in command, who allows you to leave the room or enter, or who says to you: Sit where you are and do not move. In the case of this empowerment, you can deal with people by this logic. It is as though, when the Lord of the worlds, glory be to Him, sent down "Barā'ah," it was an indication of the state of empowerment that the Muslim community should be in itself. Friends, we have a greater role than what is being practiced now on the ground, a very much greater one than merely living a pleasant, comfortable life, and than our trying to secure for ourselves the means of a dignified life, as we call it, which is in truth a life of luxury, and Allah the Almighty knows best.

War on Those Who Fight, and Protection for Those Who Seek It

My Lord, glory be to Him, the Almighty, said: ﴿فَإِذَا انسَلَخَ الْأَشْهُرُ الْحُرُمُ فَاقْتُلُوا الْمُشْرِكِينَ حَيْثُ وَجَدتُّمُوهُمْ وَخُذُوهُمْ وَاحْصُرُوهُمْ وَاقْعُدُوا لَهُمْ كُلَّ مَرْصَدٍ فَإِن تَابُوا وَأَقَامُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَآتَوُا الزَّكَاةَ فَخَلُّوا سَبِيلَهُمْ﴾ (Then when the sacred months have passed, kill the idolaters wherever you find them, seize them, besiege them, and lie in wait for them at every place of ambush; but if they repent, establish prayer, and give zakāh, then let them go on their way). This is like a declaration of war, but a declaration of war on people who were fighting in the first place, and we gave them a period of time out of respect for what we hold sacred of the sacred months, when we granted them this opportunity at that time. But once the period has run out and ended, we may apply the standards followed in this type of battle.

Then Allah, Blessed and Exalted, said: ﴿وَإِنْ أَحَدٌ مِّنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ اسْتَجَارَكَ … حَتَّىٰ يَسْمَعَ كَلَامَ اللَّهِ ثُمَّ أَبْلِغْهُ مَأْمَنَهُ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ قَوْمٌ لَّا يَعْلَمُونَ﴾ (And if any one of the idolaters seeks your protection … until he hears the word of Allah; then convey him to his place of safety. That is because they are a people who do not know). And the strong one is always one beside whom no one is wronged. So here they are idolaters, fighters, who diminish and so on and so forth, and yet if one seeks your protection and says: I seek your protection, you are bound by the command of Allah, Blessed and Exalted, to grant him protection and to preserve his life. And not only that, but to convey him to his place of safety. In the logic of ordinary language in life, if you know that you have an enemy, and that if he reaches his place of safety he will turn on you again, then for Allah's sake, by what logic do you convey him to his place of safety? At that point you would finish him off, would you not? But merely because he raised his hand and said: I seek your protection, he has declared that he is at a point of weakness, so you must yield to this weakness in him.

The point of the matter is that your kindness to him in his weakness may be the very path to his Islam, so he turns from an enemy into a friend, from an idolater into a believer, from a fighter into a peaceful man, and even becomes the starting point that spreads the call of Allah the Almighty in His land when he returns to it: ﴿ثُمَّ أَبْلِغْهُ مَأْمَنَهُ﴾ (then convey him to his place of safety).

That man returned from the Prophet ﷺ to tell people, saying: By Allah, I found a man than whom there is no one more generous on the face of the earth.^[2] And the meaning of the report: What did the Prophet ﷺ do with these people when he received them, knowing that in their hearts was hardness, in their minds coarseness, and in their souls aversion even to gentleness of speech? Yet he would take them in, to the point that one of them would pull him by his shoulder and say to him: It is not your money nor your father's money; and the Prophet ﷺ would respond in a way that sent people back to their tribes expressing an Islam whose words they had not heard, but which they had seen as conduct in the movement of people and their lives.

My Lord, glory be to Him, the Almighty, said: ﴿حَتَّىٰ يَسْمَعَ كَلَامَ اللَّهِ ثُمَّ أَبْلِغْهُ مَأْمَنَهُ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ قَوْمٌ لَّا يَعْلَمُونَ﴾ (until he hears the word of Allah; then convey him to his place of safety. That is because they are a people who do not know). It is as though their lack of knowledge is a responsibility placed on the shoulders of the Muslim community, individuals and peoples alike; people's information about Islam is our responsibility, we must reach them, and we must teach them the features of the religion.

A Treaty With People That Has No Treaty With Allah

Then Allah, Blessed and Exalted, says: ﴿كَيْفَ يَكُونُ لِلْمُشْرِكِينَ عَهْدٌ عِندَ اللَّهِ وَعِندَ رَسُولِهِ إِلَّا الَّذِينَ عَاهَدتُّمْ عِندَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ ۖ فَمَا اسْتَقَامُوا لَكُمْ فَاسْتَقِيمُوا لَهُمْ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ الْمُتَّقِينَ﴾ (How can the idolaters have a treaty with Allah and with His Messenger, except those with whom you made a treaty at the Sacred Mosque? So as long as they are upright toward you, be upright toward them. Indeed, Allah loves those who are mindful of Him).

My very simple comment on this verse: How can the absence of a treaty with Allah, Blessed and Exalted, be consistent with the existence of a treaty with human beings? How can the idolaters have a treaty with Allah and with His Messenger? They have no treaty, and that is understood. Then: ﴿إِلَّا الَّذِينَ عَاهَدتُّمْ﴾ (except those with whom you made a treaty), so Allah, Blessed and Exalted, agreed to, or affirmed, the treaty between the idolaters and the Muslims; so if they have a treaty with the Muslims, it is affirmed, even though they have no treaty with Allah, glory be to Him, the Almighty. So this situation, and Allah, Blessed and Exalted, knows best, is an empowerment of the individual Muslim to take the decision he sees right for the sake of the call; a decision that benefits the call is a decision that is respected even in heaven, in the presence of the Lord of the worlds, glory be to Him.

We will continue, if Allah, Blessed and Exalted, wills, another time.