Surah Tawbah ayat 1 Tafsir Quran 9:1

﴿بَرَاءَةٌ مِّنَ اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ إِلَى الَّذِينَ عَاهَدتُّم مِّنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ﴾
[ التوبة: 1]

9:1 [This is a declaration of] disassociation, from Allah and His Messenger, to those with whom you had made a treaty among the polytheists.

This is A declaration of immunity from God and His Messenger to reach the idolaters with whom you made a pact a pact for an indefinite period of time or one for a period of less than or more than four months; the annulment of the pact shall be as God mentions in His saying

Allah and His Messenger declare explicitly that the obligation made between you Muslims and the idolaters who break their vows is, as of today, rendered void

Which was revealed in Makkah Why there is no Basmalah in the Beginning of This Surah This honorable Surah ( chapter 9 ) was one of the last Surahs to be revealed to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
Al-Bukhari recorded that Al-Bara' said, "The last Ayah to be revealed was, يَسْتَفْتُونَكَ قُلِ اللَّهُ يُفْتِيكُمْ فِى الْكَلَـلَةِ ( They ask you for a legal verdict.
Say: "Allah directs (thus ) about Al-Kalalah.") 4:176, while the last Surah to be revealed was Bara'ah." The Basmalah was not mentioned in the beginning of this Surah because the Companions did not write it in the complete copy of the Qur'an ( Mushaf ) they collected, following the Commander of the faithful, `Uthman bin `Affan, may Allah be pleased with him.
The first part of this honorable Surah was revealed to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ when he returned from the battle of Tabuk, during the Hajj season, which the Prophet thought about attending.
But he remembered that the idolators would still attend that Hajj, as was usual in past years, and that they perform Tawaf around the House while naked.
He disliked to associate with them and sent Abu Bakr As-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him, to lead Hajj that year and show the people their rituals, commanding him to inform the idolators that they would not be allowed to participate in Hajj after that season.
He commanded him to proclaim, بَرَآءَةٌ مِّنَ اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ ( Freedom from (all ) obligations ( is declared ) from Allah and His Messenger ( )...), to the people.
When Abu Bakr had left, the Messenger ﷺ sent `Ali bin Abu Talib to be the one to deliver this news to the idolators on behalf of the Messenger ﷺ, for he was the Messenger's cousin.
We will mention this story later. Publicizing the Disavowal of the Idolators Allah said, بَرَآءَةٌ مِّنَ اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ ( Freedom from obligations from Allah and His Messenger ( )), is a declaration of freedom from all obligations from Allah and His Messenger , إِلَى الَّذِينَ عَاهَدْتُمْ مِّنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَفَسِيحُواْ فِى الاٌّرْضِ أَرْبَعَةَ أَشْهُرٍ ( to those of the Mushrikin, with whom you made a treaty.
So travel freely (Mushrikin ) for four months ( as you will ) throughout the land) 9:1-2.
This Ayah refers to idolators who had indefinite treaties and those, whose treaties with Muslims ended in less than four months.
The terms of these treaties were restricted to four months only.
As for those whose term of peace ended at a specific date later ( than the four months ), then their treaties would end when their terms ended, no matter how long afterwards, for Allah said, فَأَتِمُّواْ إِلَيْهِمْ عَهْدَهُمْ إِلَى مُدَّتِهِمْ ( So fulfill their treaty for them until the end of their term )9:4.
So whoever had a coventant with Allah's Messenger ﷺ then it would last until its period expired, this was reported from Muhammad bin Ka`b Al-Qurazi and others.
We will also mention a Hadith on this matter.
Abu Ma`shar Al-Madani said that Muhammad bin Ka`b Al-Qurazi and several others said, "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent Abu Bakr to lead the Hajj rituals on the ninth year ( of Hijrah ).
He also sent `Ali bin Abi Talib with thirty or forty Ayat from Bara'ah ( At-Tawbah ), and he recited them to the people, giving the idolators four months during which they freely move about in the land.
He recited these Ayat on the day of `Arafah ( ninth of Dhul-Hijjah ).
The idolators were given twenty more days ( till the end ) of Dhul-Hijjah, Muharram, Safar, Rabi` Al-Awwal and ten days from Rabi` Ath-Thani.
He proclaimed to them in their camping areas, `No Mushrik will be allowed to perform Hajj after this year, nor a naked person to perform Tawaf around the House."' So Allah said,

(9:1) This is a declaration *1 of immunity (from obligationsby Allah and His Messenger to those mushriks with whom you had made treaties: *2

[This is a declaration of] disassociation, from meaning

*1) As has already been stated in the Preface to this Surah, this discourse ( vv.
1-37 ) was revealed in A.H.
9, when Hadrat Abu Bakr had left for Makkah as leader of the pilgrims to the Ka`abah.
Therefore the Companions said to the Holy Prophet, " Sir, send it to Abu Bakr so that he may proclaim it on the occasion of Haj.
" He replied, " The importance and nature of the Declaration demands that this should be proclaimed on my behalf by some one from my own family. " Accordingly, he entrusted this duty to Hadrat 'Ali and instructed him to proclaim it openly before the pilgrims, and also make these four announcements: ( 1 ) " No one who rejects Islam shall enter Paradise.
( 2 ) No mushrik should perform Haj after this.
( 3 ) It is forbidden to move round the Ka`abah in a naked state.
( 4 ) The terms of the treaties which are still in force ( i.e.
with those who have not broken their treaties with the Messenger of Allah up to that time ) would be faithfully observed till the expiry of the term of the treaties ".

In this connection, it will be worthwhile to know that the first Haj of the Islamic period after the conquest of Makkah was performed in A.H.
8, according to the old customs.
Then in A.H.
9 the second Haj was performed by the Muslims in the Islamic way, and by the mushriks in their own way.
But the third Haj, known as " Hajja-tul-Wida a ", was performed in A.H.
10 in the purely Islamic way under the guidance of the Holy Prophet himself.
He did not perform Haj during the two previous years because up to that time the mushriks had not been forbidden from it, and so there were still some traces of shirk associated with it.

*2) This declaration of the abrogation of the treaties with the mushriks was made in accordance with the law enjoined in VIII: 58 regarding the treacherous people, for it is treachery from the Islamic point of view to wage war against any people with whom a treaty of peace had been made, without openly declaring that the treaty had been terminated.
That is why a proclamation of the abrogation of the treaties was necessitated against those clans who were always hatching plots against Islam in spice of the treaties of peace they had made.
They would break the treaties and turn hostile on the first opportunity for treachery, and the same was true of all the mushrik clans with the exception of Bani Kananah, Bani Damrah and one or two other clans.

This proclamation practically reduced the mushriks of Arabia to the position of outlaws and no place of shelter was left for them, for the major part of the country had come under the sway of Islam.
As this released the Muslims from the obligations of the treaties made with them and forestalled them, they were driven into a tight comer.
For this smashed all their evil designs of creating trouble by inciting civil war at the time of a threat from the Roman and the Iranian Empires or after the death of the Holy Prophet.
But Allah and His Messenger turned the tables on them before the opportune moment for which they were waiting.
Now the only alternatives left with them were either to accept Islam that had become the state religion of Arabia, or to fight against it and be exterminated, or to emigrate from the country.

The wisdom of this grand plan became apparent when the mischief of apostasy broke out in different parts of Arabia a year and a half after this at the death of the Holy Prophet.
This disturbance was so sudden and violent that it shook to its foundations, the newly created Islamic State, and would have done a far greater harm if the organized power of shirk had not been broken beforehand by this abrogation.
It may be asserted that but for this timely action the mischief of apostasy, that rose at the very beginning of the Caliphate of Hadrat Abu Bakr, would have done ten-fold harm by rebellion and civil war, and might have changed the whole history of Islam.

 

Which was revealed in Makkah Why there is no Basmalah in the Beginning of This Surah This honorable Surah ( chapter 9 ) was one of the last Surahs to be revealed to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
Al-Bukhari recorded that Al-Bara' said, "The last Ayah to be revealed was, يَسْتَفْتُونَكَ قُلِ اللَّهُ يُفْتِيكُمْ فِى الْكَلَـلَةِ ( They ask you for a legal verdict.
Say: "Allah directs (thus ) about Al-Kalalah.") 4:176, while the last Surah to be revealed was Bara'ah." The Basmalah was not mentioned in the beginning of this Surah because the Companions did not write it in the complete copy of the Qur'an ( Mushaf ) they collected, following the Commander of the faithful, `Uthman bin `Affan, may Allah be pleased with him.
The first part of this honorable Surah was revealed to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ when he returned from the battle of Tabuk, during the Hajj season, which the Prophet thought about attending.
But he remembered that the idolators would still attend that Hajj, as was usual in past years, and that they perform Tawaf around the House while naked.
He disliked to associate with them and sent Abu Bakr As-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him, to lead Hajj that year and show the people their rituals, commanding him to inform the idolators that they would not be allowed to participate in Hajj after that season.
He commanded him to proclaim, بَرَآءَةٌ مِّنَ اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ ( Freedom from (all ) obligations ( is declared ) from Allah and His Messenger ( )...), to the people.
When Abu Bakr had left, the Messenger ﷺ sent `Ali bin Abu Talib to be the one to deliver this news to the idolators on behalf of the Messenger ﷺ, for he was the Messenger's cousin.
We will mention this story later. Publicizing the Disavowal of the Idolators Allah said, بَرَآءَةٌ مِّنَ اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ ( Freedom from obligations from Allah and His Messenger ( )), is a declaration of freedom from all obligations from Allah and His Messenger , إِلَى الَّذِينَ عَاهَدْتُمْ مِّنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَفَسِيحُواْ فِى الاٌّرْضِ أَرْبَعَةَ أَشْهُرٍ ( to those of the Mushrikin, with whom you made a treaty.
So travel freely (Mushrikin ) for four months ( as you will ) throughout the land) 9:1-2.
This Ayah refers to idolators who had indefinite treaties and those, whose treaties with Muslims ended in less than four months.
The terms of these treaties were restricted to four months only.
As for those whose term of peace ended at a specific date later ( than the four months ), then their treaties would end when their terms ended, no matter how long afterwards, for Allah said, فَأَتِمُّواْ إِلَيْهِمْ عَهْدَهُمْ إِلَى مُدَّتِهِمْ ( So fulfill their treaty for them until the end of their term )9:4.
So whoever had a coventant with Allah's Messenger ﷺ then it would last until its period expired, this was reported from Muhammad bin Ka`b Al-Qurazi and others.
We will also mention a Hadith on this matter.
Abu Ma`shar Al-Madani said that Muhammad bin Ka`b Al-Qurazi and several others said, "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent Abu Bakr to lead the Hajj rituals on the ninth year ( of Hijrah ).
He also sent `Ali bin Abi Talib with thirty or forty Ayat from Bara'ah ( At-Tawbah ), and he recited them to the people, giving the idolators four months during which they freely move about in the land.
He recited these Ayat on the day of `Arafah ( ninth of Dhul-Hijjah ).
The idolators were given twenty more days ( till the end ) of Dhul-Hijjah, Muharram, Safar, Rabi` Al-Awwal and ten days from Rabi` Ath-Thani.
He proclaimed to them in their camping areas, `No Mushrik will be allowed to perform Hajj after this year, nor a naked person to perform Tawaf around the House."' So Allah said,

And from his narration on the authority of Ibn ’Abbas who said regarding Allah’s saying: ( Freedom from obligation ): ’( Freedom from obligation ) this is freedom from obligation ( from Allah and His messenger towards those of the idolaters with whom ye made a treaty ) but then they broke that treaty; freedom from obligation is the breaking of treaties. Allah says: whosoever has a treaty with the Messenger of Allah ( pbuh ) let him know that it is broken. Some of them had a treaty lasting four months, and some of more nine months, while others had treaties for longer or shorter periods. Others had no treaty with Allah’s Messenger at all. All these treaties were broken except for the treaty with the Banu Kinanah which was for nine months. Whoever had a treaty for more or less than four months, their treaties were ratified to last four month beginning from the day of immolation; and whoever had a treaty of four months, that treaty was ratified to last four months beginning from the day of immolation. Those who had a treaty of nine months, their treaties were left as they were, while those who did not sign any treaty, were granted one of 50 days beginning from the day of immolation until the departure of the person who was in a state of ritual consecration:

Freedom from (all) obligations (is declared) from Allah and His Messenger (SAW) to those of the Mushrikun (polytheists, pagans, idolaters, disbelievers in the Oneness of Allah), with whom you made a treaty.

Page 187 English transliteration