Tafsir

Let us now study some specific sentences of the Surah:وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ تَعَالَوْا يَسْتَغْفِرْ‌ لَكُمْ رَ‌سُولُ اللَّـهِ (And when it is said to them, “ Come on, and Allah’ s Messenger will pray for your forgiveness”…63:5). When this Surah exposed the false oaths of ‘Abdullah Ibn Ubayy, the leader of the hypocrites, people went up to him to advise him to approach the Holy Prophet ﷺ and admit his guilt. They said that he has still time to request the Holy Prophet ﷺ to pray to Allah to forgive him. To this, the responded by turning his head around and saying arrogantly. “ I believed when you asked me to believe; I paid Zakah when you asked to; and now the only thing left is for you to ask me to prostrate to Muhammad ﷺ . The above verses were revealed on this occasion, which make plain that he has no faith, and therefore asking forgiveness for him cannot benefit him in any way.

Ibn Ubayy, after this incident, returned to Madinah, lived for a few days, and died soon thereafter. [ Mazhari ]