Summary of Quran Chapter 9 Surah Tauba The Repentance

This is also a Madani Surah and was revealed in the last period of the life of the Holy Prophet (sws). In terms of its subject matter, this is a complement to the previous surah, Surah Anfal. Probably this is why Bismillah-ur-Rehman-ur-Rehman (The meaning of this Islamic phrase is, “In the name of Allah, The Most Gracious and The Most Merciful“) was not revealed or written at the beginning of this surah, unlike the common surahs. And the rule of its recitation is that whoever is reciting Surah Anfal from behind, should not recite Bismillah here. And some people have made some other sentences instead of Bismillah at the beginning of this surah to read, they are baseless. The method written above has been the method of our pious ancestors.

This Surah was revealed after the conquest of Makkah. Many Arab tribes were waiting to see what the outcome of the Quraysh war with the Holy Prophet would be. When the Quraysh broke the treaty of Hudaybiyyah, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) attacked Makkah and conquered it without any special bloodshed. On this occasion, the infidels' backs were broken, but as a last resort, the Hawazan tribe gathered an army to fight the Muslims, which led to the last major battle in the valley of Hunain, and after a slight defeat at the beginning, the Muslims also won it. Happened Some incidents of this war are also mentioned in this surah.

Now the Arab tribes who were afraid to accept Islam because of the Quraysh, or were waiting for the end of their wars, removed every obstacle against Islam from their hearts, and they came to Madinah in droves and became Muslims. And so the flag of Islam began to fly over most of the Arabian Peninsula. On this occasion, Allah Almighty declared the Arabian Peninsula as the main center of Islam and Muslims. The original intention was that no non-Muslims should remain as permanent residents in the whole of the Arabian Peninsula, as the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) wished that no two religions should remain in the Arabian Peninsula. (Mutta Imam Malik, Kitab al-Jami 'wa Musnad Ahmad vol. 6 P.572).

But a gradual approach was adopted to achieve this goal. The first goal was to rid the Arabian Peninsula of idolaters. Thus the remnants of the idolatrous Arabs, who had been subjected to the brutal persecution of the Muslims for more than twenty years, were given a respite of different periods at the beginning of this surah, in which if they converted to Islam. If they do not, they are ordered to leave the Arabian Peninsula or face war, and the Masjid al-Haram is declared to be cleansed of all traces of idolatry. After this goal was achieved, the second step in the complete cleansing of the Arabian Peninsula was to expel the Jews and Christians. This stage was not completed in the life of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). But he had bequeathed it. As will be explained under the verse of this surah.

Earlier, the Roman emperor, seeing the growing power of the Muslims, gathered a large army to attack them. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) advanced to Tabuk to meet him. Much of this surah sheds light on various aspects of this campaign. The hostile actions of the hypocrites continued. In this Surah, their corruption has also been exposed. This Surah is also called Surah Tawbah, and also Surah Baraat. Innocence because at the beginning of it the acquittal and renunciation of the polytheists have been announced, and repentance because it mentions the acceptance of the repentance of some of the Companions who did not take part in the Tabuk campaign, and they later repented of their mistake.