Study the Quran

Tafsir

Scholarly commentary explaining a verse — its context, its meaning and how the scholars have understood it.

At-Tawbah 9:13

Word by word

أَلَا تُقَـٰتِلُونَ قَوْمًا نَّكَثُوٓا۟ أَيْمَـٰنَهُمْ وَهَمُّوا۟ بِإِخْرَاجِ ٱلرَّسُولِ وَهُم بَدَءُوكُمْ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ ۚ أَتَخْشَوْنَهُمْ ۚ فَٱللَّهُ أَحَقُّ أَن تَخْشَوْهُ إِن كُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ

Would you not fight against a people who broke their oaths and determined to expel the Messenger, and they had begun [the attack upon] you the first time? Do you fear them? But Allāh has more right that you should fear Him, if you are [truly] believers.

Ibn Kathir (Abridged) English Ma'arif al-Qur'an English Tafsir Muyassar Arabic Tafsir Ibn Kathir Arabic All sources

Ibn Kathir (Abridged)

Hafiz Ibn Kathir

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), thenوَيَتُوبُ 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.

Ma'arif al-Qur'an

Mufti Muhammad Shafi

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.

Tafsir Muyassar

Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Saudi Arabia

لا تترددوا في قتال هؤلاء القوم الذين نقضوا عهودهم، وعملوا على إخراج الرسول من (مكة) ، وهم الذين بدؤوا بإيذائكم أول الأمر، أتخافونهم أو تخافون ملاقاتهم في الحرب؟ فالله أحق أن تخافوه إن كنتم مؤمنين حقًا.

Tafsir Ibn Kathir

Hafiz Ibn Kathir

وهذا أيضا تهييج وتحضيض وإغراء على قتال المشركين الناكثين لأيمانهم ، الذين هموا بإخراج الرسول من مكة ، كما قال تعالى : ( وإذ يمكر بك الذين كفروا ليثبتوك أو يقتلوك أو يخرجوك ويمكرون ويمكر الله والله خير الماكرين ) [ الأنفال : 30 ] .وقال تعالى : ( يخرجون الرسول وإياكم أن تؤمنوا بالله ربكم [ إن كنتم خرجتم جهادا في سبيلي وابتغاء مرضاتي ] ) الآية [ الممتحنة : 1 ] وقال تعالى : ( وإن كادوا ليستفزونك من الأرض ليخرجوك منها وإذا لا يلبثون خلافك إلا قليلا ) [ الإسراء : 76 ] وقوله ( وهم بدءوكم أول مرة ) قيل : المراد بذلك يوم بدر ، حين خرجوا لنصر عيرهم فلما نجت وعلموا بذلك استمروا على وجوههم طلبا للقتال ؛ بغيا وتكبرا ، كما تقدم بسط ذلك .وقيل : المراد نقضهم العهد وقتالهم مع حلفائهم بني بكر لخزاعة أحلاف رسول الله - صلى الله عليه وسلم - حتى سار إليهم رسول الله - صلى الله عليه وسلم - عام الفتح ، وكان ما كان ، ولله الحمد .وقوله : ( أتخشونهم فالله أحق أن تخشوه إن كنتم مؤمنين ) يقول تعالى : لا تخشوهم واخشون ، فأنا أهل أن يخشى العباد من سطوتي وعقوبتي ، فبيدي الأمر ، وما شئت كان ، وما لم أشأ لم يكن .

Tafsir is provided for educational reference. Paragraph breaks are added for readability — the wording of each commentary is unchanged. For religious guidance, consult a qualified scholar.