Surah At-Tawbah: Thematic English Translation (Mustafa Çevik)

O believers! These verses are a warning and a proclamation to those who associate partners with Allah and deny the truth, who have not kept the peace treaties they made with you but break them time and again, that from this day on their treaties are void.

O you who associate partners with Allah and deny the truth, who have broken your agreements! From now on, for the four months that are the Sacred Months, move about freely, and then decide what you will do; use your reason and think once more about the call the Prophet makes in Allah’s name. Do not forget that those who persist in associating partners with Allah and denying the truth, and turn away from Allah’s call, can never escape His punishment. Sooner or later Allah will put to utter disgrace those who associate partners with Him and deny the truth.

This is a proclamation from Allah and His messenger to all humanity on the Day of the Greater Hajj. From now on Allah and His messenger have severed all ties with those who take other gods alongside Allah and turn away from His call. O you who associate partners with Allah and deny the truth! If you repent and give up your shirk and disbelief and turn to the right path, it will be for your own good. O Prophet! Give those who reject this the news of a painful punishment.

O believers! With those who have not broken the treaties they made with you, who have stayed true to their treaties and not collaborated with your enemies, and who have acted responsibly and conscientiously in this matter, keep to the terms of the treaty until its term is up; they are outside the rulings to be applied to those who do not keep their word. Never be the ones to break the treaties as long as they do not break them. Allah loves those who keep their word.

O believers! When the sacred months, in which fighting has long been held to be forbidden, are over, kill wherever you find them those who associate partners with Allah who have not abided by the terms of the peace and non-aggression treaty they made with you and who collaborate with your enemies; imprison those of them who need to be kept under watch, and do not let those who escape this out of your sight, but keep a constant watch on what they do. Set free those of them who repent and turn to living by the order and morality that are Allah’s call, who perform their prayers with care and give their zakat. For Allah is most merciful and forgiving toward those who repent sincerely and turn to what is right.

O Prophet! If any of those who associate partners with Allah seeks refuge with you and asks for protection, grant him asylum and ensure the safety of his life. It may be that in this way he will hear Allah’s call from you, grasp the beauty of being a believer, and be rightly guided. Then escort him to a place where he can be safe. They and the societies they come from have not grasped the importance of the honorable and virtuous life that faith brings.

The word of those who do not keep the treaties they make but break them at every opportunity and attack the believers has no worth whatever, either in Allah’s sight or in the sight of His Prophet.

O believers! Keep to the treaty you made with those who made a treaty with you near the Masjid al-Haram and are keeping their word, and as long as they keep their word, keep the word you gave them. Allah loves those who keep the word they give.

Had your enemies believed they would prevail and seen that strength in themselves, they would never have been willing to make any treaty with you. The treaties they made reluctantly because they were in a weak position they will betray at once, as soon as they grow strong. Never be deceived by the pleasing words they speak with their tongues because of their weakness; in their hearts they harbor great hostility toward you.

They are defiantly disobedient (fasiq). They prefer the petty gains and pleasures of the brief life of this world to the never-ending blessings of Paradise in the Hereafter.

Just as they use their own choice in this way, they also try to keep others from turning to Allah. They are not aware how evil and how harmful to themselves what they do is.

These frenzied people feel in no way responsible for the treaties they made with the believers, the word they gave, or the oppression they inflict. They are wrongdoers who recognize no right or law.

If, despite all their ingratitude, rebellion, revolt, and mischief-making, they repent of what they did, turn to living what is right, perform their prayers, and give their zakat, then they are henceforth your brothers in religion. This is how We explain Our verses, so that they may be reflected upon and a lesson taken from them; only those who wish to know Allah as He deserves and to grasp the reason for their creation take a lesson from them.

O believers! Fight those who have not stayed true to the treaties they made with you, who speak against and insult the Islamic order, who lead the way in shirk and disbelief, and those who side with them. Their oaths and their treaties alike count for nothing. Fight them so that you may put a stop to their aggression.

If you do not fight those who forced the Prophet to leave his homeland, who did not keep but broke the treaties they made with the believers, who attacked to wipe you out and started the war, then whom will you fight? Or do you let them loom large in your eyes and shy away from them? Those who have truly believed shy away from no one but Allah. So fight them; Allah will help you, punish them by your hands, humble and disgrace them, and graciously grant you victory, and so He will bring relief to your hearts and calm your anger toward them.

Allah accepts the repentance of those among them who repent and believe and fulfill what their faith requires. He knows best who repents sincerely and who does not.

Allah is all-knowing; in His every ruling there is wisdom and absolute rightness.

O believers! Or do you suppose that Allah will leave you to yourselves without making evident those among you who strive (jihad) with their wealth and their lives in the cause of living the Islamic life, and who take Allah, the Prophet, and the believers as their friends?

Allah knows what you do in this cause and what you fail to do when you should.

Those who associate partners with Allah expect reward for visiting Allah’s mosques and taking on services such as their upkeep and repair. Just as what they do has no worth in Allah’s sight, neither have they any right to visit Allah’s mosques, repair them, or serve them. What they do will come to nothing, and they themselves will go to Hell.

To visit Allah’s mosques, to maintain, repair, and serve them, is the right and the duty of the believers who take Allah alone as God, believe in the Last Day, respond to His call, perform their prayers, give their zakat, and fear nothing but Allah.

O you who associate partners with Allah and deny the truth! Do you hold giving water to those who come to visit the Kaaba, in which you have set up idols, and busying yourselves with the repair of the Kaaba and serving it, as equal to striving (jihad) in the cause of living and keeping alive the order of life that is Allah’s call? In Allah’s sight these are never equal, and what you do has no worth or reward. Allah will never let such people attain what they hope for.

Those who believe in Allah’s call and, in the cause of fulfilling what it requires, emigrate from their homeland and their homes and strive in Allah’s way with their wealth and their lives, will be rewarded with high ranks of honor and brought to matchless blessings and happiness in Gardens where they will remain forever.

O you who believe! If your fathers and your brothers choose to associate partners with Allah and deny the truth, taking other gods alongside Him, do not take them as walis and friends as long as they do so; those who take them as walis and friends are of them.

O Prophet! Say: “O believers! If your fathers, your children, your brothers, your spouses, your clan, the wealth you have earned, the trade you fear may decline, and the homes you love so much are dearer and more important to you than Allah, His messenger, and striving in the cause of Allah’s call, then wait for the day when the inevitable punishment Allah will give such people comes.”

Allah does not love those who do not fulfill what their faith requires. He does not guide the defiantly disobedient people.

O you who believe! Allah had helped you in battles in which you were very few in number and weak; but at the Battle of Hunayn, when you had grown many in number, you trusted in your numbers and grew somewhat boastful. On the day of that battle you saw that your great numbers were of no use at all. For all its breadth, the earth seemed to close in on you that day, and you turned your backs and began to flee. Thereupon Allah granted the hearts of the Prophet and the believers a feeling of calm, confidence, and courage, and supported you with forces you did not see. So you turned back, gave those who associate partners with Allah and deny the truth the punishment they deserved, defeated them, and with Allah’s help won the victory.

Those of you who trusted in your great numbers and forgot Allah’s help, and then realized the mistake you made and repented, Allah will forgive. For Allah is most merciful, compassionate, and forgiving toward the believers.

O you who believe! Those who associate partners with Allah and deny the truth are impure in every respect, so after this year let them not come near the Masjid al-Haram (the Kaaba). If you fear that the visitors to the Masjid al-Haram will decrease and that your trade will suffer as a result, know well that Allah provides for and enriches whom He wills through ways he never knew and never imagined. Surely Allah knows what is good for you, and His every ruling is absolutely right.

O believers! Fight those aggressors who, though they say they are of the People of the Book, do not take Allah alone as God, turn away from His call, do not believe in the Last Day, and do not hold unlawful what Allah and His messenger have made unlawful, until they yield to you in submission and pay the jizya.

The Jews said, “Ezra (Uzair) is the son of Allah,” and the Christians said, “Jesus the Messiah is the son of Allah.” These words are nothing but baseless slanders invented and spoken by those who associated partners with Allah and denied the truth before them. May Allah destroy those ignorant people who say such things.

The Jews took their rabbis, and the Christians their priests and Jesus son of Mary, as lords and gods alongside Allah. Yet they too had been commanded to live taking Allah alone as Lord and God. Allah is far above the partners they associate with Him.

With the words of shirk they blow from their mouths, they are trying to put out the light of Islam, which Allah has sent to bring people out of darkness into light. The truth is that Allah will never allow them to do what they want and achieve their aims. Allah will bring whoever wishes it to His light.

Though those who associate partners with Him may dislike it, Allah has sent His prophets and His Books so that people may abolish taghut (false authority) orders (religions), make the Islamic order prevail and stand supreme in their place, and live by it.

O you who believe! Many of the rabbis and priests exploit people’s wealth by unjust means and amass fortunes. Not only do they hoard gold and silver and not use it for good, they also lead people astray by covering up the truths.

On the Day of Resurrection this gold and silver they hoarded will be heated in the fire of Hell; their foreheads, their sides, and their backs will be branded with it, and it will be said: “Now taste the painful punishment of what you hoarded!”

In keeping with the measure He set and the order He established when He created the earth and the heavens, Allah has fixed the number of months at twelve. Four of them are sacred months (Dhu al-Qadah, Dhu al-Hijjah, Muharram, Rajab). O you who believe! Do not wrong yourselves, as those who associate partners with Allah do, by violating the prohibition in these months, in which fighting is forbidden. But if those who associate partners with Allah violate the prohibition in these months and wage all-out war on you, then fight them too; do not be the ones who violate your responsibilities toward Allah.

To add to the number of months Allah has fixed and bound by law, or to postpone a sacred month to the following month and so change their places and times, is to disregard and violate Allah’s limits. By such conduct those who associate partners with Allah go wholly astray. They make a sacred month lawful one year and forbidden the next. In their own reckoning, since they have changed the places of what Allah made known as sacred months but not their number, they turn the unlawful thing they have done into something lawful. What is more, they see nothing wrong in disregarding the limits Allah has set and setting limits of their own.

Allah does not guide the stubborn ingrates who rebel against Him, disregard His limits, and take it upon themselves to set limits.

O you who believe! What is the matter with you that, when you are called to fight against those hostile to Islam, Allah’s call, who attack you, some of you hold back and stay rooted to the spot? Or are you giving up the everlasting life of Paradise in the Hereafter and inclining toward the brief life of this world?

Do not forget that the passing pleasure and comfort of the life of this world are of very little worth beside the blessings of the everlasting life in Paradise. If you do not fight in the cause of the Islamic order and morality that are the reason for your creation, Allah will punish you with a severe punishment and bring in your place a people who will strive (jihad) in this cause. And by holding back you will have harmed not Allah but yourselves.

Even if you do not go out to fight the aggressors in Allah’s way, to which you are called, and turn your backs on the Prophet, Allah will help him, just as He helped him when those who associate partners with Allah and deny the truth drove him from his homeland... Recall how, as one of the two in that cave, he said to his companion: “Do not grieve; Allah is with us.” Thereupon Allah graciously granted his heart a feeling of security and calm, supported him with forces you did not see, and so humbled those who associate partners with Allah and deny the truth and brought their words and their schemes to nothing. It is Allah’s word that is truly supreme.

It is Allah, the Exalted, alone who holds sovereignty over His creation, and there is no true god but Him.

O you who believe! Though it may be hard on your souls, when you are called to battle in the cause of living and keeping alive Islam, the reason for your creation, join the striving (jihad) in Allah’s way with your wealth and your lives, whether mounted or on foot. If only you knew, this is surely for your own good.

O Prophet! Had the battle they were called to been easy and the spoils plentiful, the hypocrites too would certainly have joined such a battle. But when the road to be traveled for the battle they were called to was long and wearisome and the risk of the battle great, they invented baseless excuses and did not join it. Yet when you return from the battle, they will come to you and, talking smoothly and swearing oaths in a way that all but ruins them, say: “Had it not been for the reasons that prevented us from joining the battle, we would not have asked your leave to stay behind; we would have come with you.” Yet Allah knows full well that they are lying.

May Allah pardon you, O Prophet! Why did you give leave to those who did not want to join the battle before thoroughly finding out who was telling the truth and who was lying? Those who believe wholeheartedly in Allah’s call and the Last Day join the battle with their wealth and their lives; they do not ask your leave to stay behind. Allah knows full well those who do their utmost to fulfill what their faith requires.

Those who have given way to the sickness of doubt in their hearts about faith in Allah and the Hereafter look for ways to escape fighting in Allah’s way, invent excuses, and keep floundering in indecision.

These people with sickness in their hearts were never sincere, as they appeared and as they claimed. They felt no heartfelt desire to fight in Allah’s way, nor did they make any effort. And Allah, knowing this attitude of theirs, held them back from the battle, and it was as if they were told, “Sit at home like women and children.”

Had they joined the battle with you, they would have done nothing among you but stir up discord and confusion, and they would also have spied for the enemy.

Allah knows full well these two-faced wrongdoers. O Prophet! They had tried before too to stir up discord and mischief among the believers and to set traps for you. Though they may not want it, it is Allah’s rulings that will come to pass.

Some of these hypocrites would invent unimaginable excuses so as not to join the battle, like those who said, “I am someone who cannot control himself; during the battle I may lose control and fall into sin”... Because of their slippery, cowardly, divisive, and two-faced attitudes, all of them have sunk wholly into disbelief and set out on the road to Hell.

O Prophet! The victory you win, the spoils you gain, and every good that touches you trouble these hypocrites as well as those who associate partners with Allah and deny the truth; but if you meet with a defeat or some hardship, then they rejoice, saying, “How good that we took our precautions beforehand and put some distance between them and us, or the calamities would have touched us too,” and they turn away from you.

Say: “Nothing will befall us but what Allah has decreed to test us. He is our Mawla (Protector), our friend and helper, the One who protects and watches over us. And it is for the believers to trust in Him alone.”

Say: “While we fight in the cause of Allah’s call, nothing will befall us but one of the two good things He has decreed: either we win victory, or we are martyred in this cause. O you who associate partners with Allah, who deny the truth, and you hypocrites! Do you suppose we will meet with anything other than these good things?

What we hope for you is either, with Allah’s help, to deal you by our own hands in this world the punishment you deserve, or to witness a punishment from Allah befall you. Once we have done our utmost, we will wait and see how things end for us and for you.”

O Prophet! Say this too to those hypocrites: “What you spend, willingly or unwillingly, to give the appearance of effort in Allah’s way will never be accepted by Allah, and you will see no reward for it. For you are people who have chosen to be hypocrites and defiantly disobedient (fasiq), people who have strayed from the path.”

The reason what they do comes to nothing is that they are ungrateful to Allah and His Messenger, that they rise to prayer not wholeheartedly but lazily and reluctantly, and that they take a grudging attitude in the good they do.

Do not let the abundance of the hypocrites’ wealth and children make you envious and deceive you. Their wealth and their children, which they do not use in the way of Allah’s call, will be of no benefit to them; they will cause them to suffer hardship in this world and to go to Hell in the Hereafter.

Though they are not of the believers, they swear by Allah that they are of you because of petty, passing worldly interests and fears. When a danger appears, they at once invent an excuse, run away from there, and take refuge in whatever hole or hollow they can find.

And some of them, when they get the chance, slander the Prophet and speak against him, claiming that injustice was done in the distribution of zakat and charity, and expect to be given a larger share. When they are given a share they fall silent, but when they are not given one, because they have no right to it, they grow insolent and rail at him. Yet had they been content with what Allah and the Prophet gave them and said, “Allah is enough for us; Allah and His Messenger will grant us more; we believe in Allah wholeheartedly and trust in Him,” and acted accordingly, it would without doubt have been better for them.

Those entitled to zakat and charity, by Allah’s ruling, are: the poor, the destitute, the officials who collect the zakat, those whose hearts are to be warmed to the Islamic order and morality, slaves who are to be set free, travelers left stranded on the road, and the helpless who are far from their homeland and their homes.

Allah guides the believers through the rulings He lays down. He is the Possessor of judgment and wisdom.

And those hypocrites, when talking among themselves, censure and criticize the Prophet, saying, “He is someone who believes whatever anyone says,” and at times they even say this to his face and hurt him.

O Prophet! Say to them: “The Prophet listens to every word in order to understand what is good for you, but he gives credit to what is true. He believes in Allah alone and trusts the words of the believers.” This sensitivity of his is a mercy for the believers and proof of his compassion for them. For those who criticize Allah’s messenger and try to grieve him there is a painful punishment.

The hypocrites keep swearing by Allah that they are believers, in order to please you, win your trust, and hide their two-facedness. Yet had they truly believed, then, to please Allah and His Messenger more than anyone, they would not take shelter and hide behind baseless excuses when called to strive (jihad) for Islam to be lived, kept alive, and defended.

What is more, since it has been made known to them too that the reason for all the blessings offered them is to make the Islamic life prevail on earth and to live by it, the place that those who turn away from the call of Allah and His messenger deserve will be Hell, where they will remain forever.

Some of the hypocrites also tell everywhere, in a mocking way, how they fear that Allah will send down a surah about them and expose what is in their hearts. If you come upon them like this and ask them what they are mocking, they say, “It is nothing important; we are just chatting among ourselves.”

Say to them: “Go on mocking! But have no doubt that Allah will bring out the hypocrisy, discord, and mischief you fear will come out, and lay bare your hypocrisy, which is your true identity. So do not try in vain to hide that you mock Allah and His Prophet. Allah forgives those of you who repent of this attitude and turn to living Islam. And those of you who do not repent will be punished with the punishment they deserve.”

The men of these hypocrites and their women are alike. They urge people to do what Allah has prohibited and try to keep them from the right path. They are also very tight-fisted, and they call on others to be stingy like them and, what is more, to forget Allah. Without doubt Allah too has written them off and forgotten them. They are the very ones who are defiantly disobedient (fasiq).

To the hypocrite men and women, and to the men and women who declare that they associate partners with Allah and deny the truth, Allah has promised the fire of Hell, where they will remain forever. Allah has cursed them and condemned them to the fire they deserve.

Say to them: “O hypocrites! You too are living two-faced lives, just like those before you. And they were stronger than you and far richer than you in wealth, property, and children. They too, in their brief worldly lives, preferred petty, passing interests and pleasures to holding fast to Allah’s call, and passed away without taking the Hereafter into account at all. Now you too, like them, are squandering and using up for nothing the blessings that fall to your share.”

Yet all they did in the world came to nothing, and in the Hereafter they will become losers and be punished with the punishment they deserve. Yet the news of what befell the peoples of Noah, Ad, Thamud, and Abraham who lived before them, the people of Midian, and communities like them had reached them too. Their prophets too had warned them with Allah’s verses—just as you have been warned—and invited them to live by the order of life that accords with the reason for their creation. But they too paid no heed to the warnings, and so they themselves brought about what befell them in the world and the punishment they will face in the Hereafter. Allah did not wrong them; by rebelling against Allah they wronged themselves.

The believing men and believing women, on the other hand, are walis, helpers, and protectors of one another. They protect one another from sin, invite one another to goodness and to the morality that will please Allah, perform their prayers, give their zakat, try to keep people from evil, and obey Allah and His Messenger.

These are the ones whom Allah will treat with His mercy and compassion and forgive. No one can prevent Allah from rewarding these believers and punishing those who associate partners with Him, deny the truth, and play the hypocrite.

It is Allah alone who knows who is worthy of what and who is wise in His every ruling.

Allah has promised the believing men and believing women Gardens through which rivers flow. There they will live forever in mansions that are Allah’s gift, amid peace, security, and blessings. More important than these is the joy and happiness of knowing that Allah is pleased with them; this is the greatest reward and bliss.

O Prophet! Struggle against those who associate partners with Allah, deny the truth, and play the hypocrite, and be stern with them; never compromise your faith or step back. In the end their destination will be Hell, and what an evil final stop that is!

The hypocrites swear by Allah that they did not make disparaging or mocking remarks about Allah, the Quran, and the Prophet. Yet they did say those words that made them deniers of the truth, and this is in fact proof that they have denied the Islam they had outwardly accepted. And as if this were not enough, they collaborated with the enemies of Islam and set about things they could not achieve.

The reason these hypocrites bear a grudge against the Prophet and the believers and set out to act with hostility and take revenge is that by Allah’s grace the Prophet and the believers have been made strong and rich. Despite these negative attitudes of theirs, it would be better for the hypocrites to repent and return to living with their hearts turned to Allah. But if they do not repent and go on acting two-faced, Allah will make them suffer a severe punishment in this world and the Hereafter. And there is no one who can save them from Allah’s punishment.

Some of the hypocrites also make a promise to Allah, saying, “If Allah grants us too wealth and property in plenty, we too will spend it on good works and so join the ranks of the virtuous and excellent.” But when Allah grants them wealth and property, they at once go back on their word and reveal their fickleness by being stingy. Because they lie and have made a habit of not keeping their word, Allah will not open their hearts to Islam until the Day of Resurrection.

Do the hypocrites suppose that Allah does not know the secret talks they hold among themselves about the Prophet and the believers? Allah knows what is in hearts and everything you think you do in secret, down to the finest detail.

These hypocrites mock and speak against the believers who gladly give what must be given in Allah’s way, and even more, and those who, though their means are scant, spend wholeheartedly to win Allah’s good pleasure. Allah will make them pay the price of their mockery with the punishment they deserve.

O Prophet! Do not, for your part, ask Allah to forgive the hypocrites! Whether you make such a request or not, and even if you ask again and again for them to be forgiven, Allah will not forgive them. For they have betrayed Allah and His messenger. Allah does not guide such people.

When the hypocrites were called to fight those who associate partners with Allah and deny the truth who attack Islam, they invented baseless excuses and preferred to sit at home with the women and children. They had no liking at all for fighting in Allah’s way with their wealth and their lives, and they also kept trying to dissuade others, saying, “Does anyone go out to battle in this heat? Stay where you are.”

Say to them: “The heat of the fire of Hell is far fiercer.” If only they could grasp this truth. Because of what they have done, they will now laugh little and, full of regret, weep much.

O Prophet! The hypocrites you meet on your return from the battle will say that they too want to join the battles to come. Say to them: “From now on you will never go out on any campaign with me; go on sitting at home with your women and children as you did before.”

O Prophet! Never perform the funeral prayer for any of them who dies, nor stand at his grave and pray. For they betrayed Allah and His Messenger and died in this sin.

Do not let the abundance of the hypocrites’ wealth, property, and children make you envious either. Because they use the blessings Allah gave them in their worldly lives in ways outside His good pleasure, Allah will punish them with a severe punishment.

Whenever a verse comes saying, “Fight shoulder to shoulder with the Prophet against those who associate partners with Allah and deny the truth, in the way of Allah’s call,” and they are called to battle, those of the hypocrites who are fit and strong, who have wealth and property, and for whom nothing stands in the way of joining the battle and giving material support, look for ways, through the excuses they invent, to stay out of the battle along with those who stay at home.

Allah seals the hearts of such people, who prefer to sit at home with the women and children, and so they cannot taste the joy of true faith or grasp the worth of living as a believer and dying as a believer.

For the Prophet and those who fight with him in the cause of the Islamic order and morality that are the reason for their creation, Allah has prepared Gardens beneath which rivers flow, the home of happiness and blessings, where they will remain forever. This is the reward truly worth winning and longing for.

Some of the Bedouin came from where they lived, put forward their valid excuses, and asked the Prophet’s leave, telling him they could not join the battle; while other Bedouin, though they were Muslims and had no excuse at all to keep them from joining the battle, shamelessly sat at home and did not join it. A very severe punishment awaits such two-faced, ignorant ingrates.

There is no responsibility, because of their excuse, on those who, though devoted to Allah and His Messenger with all their hearts, are too old or too sick to join the battle, or too poor to afford the equipment needed for it. Allah is most merciful, compassionate, and forgiving toward those who believe wholeheartedly. Nor is there any responsibility on those people in need who came running to you to join the battle, saying, “Give me a mount and weapons so that I can join the battle,” and whom you sent back, their eyes filled with tears of sorrow, because you could not meet these needs of theirs.

The real responsibility lies on those who, though they have every means and condition needed to join the battle, try to slip away with baseless excuses. They have made their peace with sitting at home; it is they who are to be blamed and held at fault. And because their hearts are sealed for this reason, they keep floundering in their swamp.

O Prophet! When you return from the battle, say to those who come out of their homes to you, reel off their lies about why they did not join the battle with you, make their excuses, and try to apologize: “Allah has made known to us the truth about you; do not try in vain to clear yourselves. From now on Allah and His Messenger will watch what you do. Allah knows both what you hide in your hearts and what you do openly. When the day comes, everyone will be gathered before Him, confronted with what they did, and given what they deserve.”

Do not believe the lies these people invent and the oaths they swear to draw close to you and win back your friendship. Leave them to their repugnant two-facedness and turn your backs on them. The place these dissemblers deserve is Hell. Though they may try to convince you with their oaths, they can never deceive Allah. Allah does not pardon the hypocrites and the deniers, nor will He ever be pleased with them.

Some of the Bedouin are more prone to shirk and hypocrisy than city-dwellers. That is why they are also more inclined to defy and rebel against Allah and the Prophet. Allah knows His servants best and is absolutely right in His every ruling.

And some of the Bedouin, though they say they have believed and become Muslims, count what they spend in Allah’s way as a loss and begrudge what they give. These Bedouin wait for hardship, distress, and calamity to befall the believers so that they may be rid of these expenses. Yet the worst of calamities will befall them themselves. Allah hears and knows everything and has power over everything.

But some of the Bedouin believe wholeheartedly in Allah and the Last Day and regard what they spend for this cause as a means of drawing close to Allah and receiving the Prophet’s prayers. What they do is true nearness to Allah and His Messenger. Allah will bring those who do righteous deeds to His mercy. Surely Allah is most forgiving, most merciful.

Allah is pleased with the forerunners: the believing Emigrants (Muhajirun) who, suffering the oppression of those who associate partners with Allah and deny the truth because of their efforts in the cause of living and keeping alive the order of life that is Allah’s call, emigrated from their homeland and their homes; those of the Ansar who welcomed them with open arms; and those who follow their path. And they are pleased with Allah. Allah will settle them in Gardens through which rivers flow, and they will remain there forever. This is the greatest bliss and gain to be attained.

Among the Bedouin, as among you in the cities, there are two-faced hypocrites who conceal themselves skillfully, and you do not know them! But We know them; We will make them suffer punishment upon punishment in this world. In the Hereafter We will punish them with a far more severe punishment.

And among you there are others who, though at first they mixed up what is right with what is wrong, later realized their wrongs, repented, and held fast to the order of life that is Allah’s call; Allah will accept their repentance. Allah is most merciful and forgiving toward those who repent, hold fast to what is right, and fulfill what it requires.

O Prophet! Take the charity and zakat they give from their wealth as an expression of their repentance to Allah and their loyalty to Allah’s call. In this way you will purify them and their wealth, and your salat (support) will give them peace of mind.

Allah knows best everyone’s true intention and sincerity, and who is worthy of what. Let them also know that Allah accepts the repentance of those who turn to Him sincerely in repentance, and what they spend in Allah’s way.

Allah is most merciful, compassionate, and forgiving toward those who repent and turn to what is right.

O Prophet! Say to such people: “Allah sees what you do. You too put forth your utmost effort, with your wealth and your lives, for His call to be lived. Do not forget that in the end we will all be brought before Allah, what we did will be made known to us, and we will be given what we deserve.”

And there are others who, though they say they are believers, were swept along by the discord and mischief of the hypocrites and did not join the battle when called to fight the aggressors who associate partners with Allah and deny the truth, and who later regretted what they had done, repented, and turned to what is right. It is Allah who will pass judgment concerning them. If Allah wills, He will accept their repentance, and if He wills, He will punish them. Allah alone knows the inner truth of everything.

O believers! Some of the hypocrites built a mosque in order to harm the believers, spread shirk and disbelief, stir up mischief among the Muslims, and spy on behalf of those who associate partners with Allah and deny the truth. To hide their real aim, they swear, “We built this place so that the prayer may be performed more easily and people may be invited to Islam here,” but Allah bears witness that they are lying.

O Prophet! Never set foot in that mosque built as a trap! The mosque founded from its first day on the foundation of the fear of Allah is a place more worthy for prayer. In it are people who wish to be cleansed of sins. Allah loves those who cleanse themselves of sins.

Such mosques are built by those who wish to cleanse people of shirk and disbelief. Allah loves those who turn to Him wholeheartedly and wish to be cleansed.

Surely the mosques built to teach people the reason for their creation and to invite them to live by the order of life and morality that accords with it are never the same as the mosques the hypocrites build to set traps for the believers.

The mosques the hypocrites build are like the building of one who builds on the edge of a cliff and is to tumble with it into Hell. Allah does not let such ingrates and wrongdoers attain their aims.

This betrayal and ingratitude of theirs will serve no purpose but to gnaw at them within, as a constant source of unrest and distress in their hearts, until the time they die. There are lessons to be taken from these truths Allah has made plain.

Allah knows the inner truth and the essence of everything and is absolutely right in His every ruling.

From the believers who die and kill while fighting with their lives and their wealth in the cause of living the order of life that is Allah’s call, Allah has bought their lives and their wealth in return for Paradise. This is the word Allah has promised to fulfill in the Torah, the Gospel, and the Quran too. Who could be truer than Allah in fulfilling His promise and keeping His word?

O believers! Rejoice in this bargain you have made with Allah; this is the real gain, the great success and happiness.

These believers do not go back to the sins they have repented of; they submit to Allah wholeheartedly and take no one but Him as Lord and God. They do not accept living by any way of life other than the one that is the reason for their creation; in this cause they strive (jihad) with their wealth and their lives, and they pursue enjoining good and forbidding evil. They glorify and praise Allah alone, perform their prayers, keep their fasts, and do their utmost to live within the limits Allah has set. For all these fine qualities Allah has given them the good news of Paradise.

It is not fitting for the Prophet or for the believers to ask Allah’s forgiveness for those who lived associating partners with Allah, denying the truth, or as hypocrites, and who are clearly known to have died without repenting and giving it up, even if they are the believers’ relatives.

As for Abraham’s prayer that Allah forgive his father, who associated partners with Allah... Abraham made this prayer, before Allah had yet made this ruling clear, because of a promise he had made to his father on his own initiative; but when this ruling was made known to him, he at once repented of that promise and gave up his prayer. Abraham was most tender-hearted and gentle of soul.

Allah does not accuse a people of associating partners with Him, denying the truth, or hypocrisy, and punish them, without first making the right path clear and making known their responsibilities in this matter.

Allah knows best for what to hold whom responsible and of what to accuse him.

Allah alone is the Creator of all that is between and within the heavens and the earth, the Founder of their orders, the Maker of their laws, and the One who decrees life and death, and there is no true god but Him.

Allah made known to the Prophet that it was not right for him to give leave to those who pleaded excuses for not joining the battle without looking into their true situation. Thereupon the Prophet repented, and Allah accepted his repentance.

Allah also accepted the repentance of those among the wavering who were swept along by the discord and mischief of the hypocrites and did not join the campaign set out on for battle, but then repented and turned to what is right. Allah accepts the repentance of those who sincerely turn from their wrongs to what is right. For Allah is most merciful, compassionate, and forgiving toward His believing servants.

And He also accepted the repentance of those three who, though they said they believed and had no excuse to keep them from joining the battle in this cause, did not join it because of the weakness of their faith, for whom, in their regret over it, the earth seemed to close in, and who repented wholeheartedly and asked for forgiveness. Allah accepts the repentance of those who turn to Him wholeheartedly.

O you who believe! Fulfill your responsibilities toward Allah consciously. Stay true to the word you gave Allah and His Messenger, and be with those who are truthful.

It is not fitting for the believers in the city where the Prophet lived, or for the believing Bedouin living around it, to hold back from joining the Prophet when he sets out on a campaign for battle, or to hold their own lives dearer than the Prophet’s life. For every step they take in Allah’s way, the weariness, hunger, and thirst they endure in this cause, their resistance against those who associate partners with Allah and deny the truth, the victories they win, and whatever they suffer at the enemy’s hands, will be recorded to the believers’ credit. Allah will bring those who fulfill what their faith requires to the finest of rewards.

Whatever they spend in Allah’s way, little or much, the hardships they endure crossing valleys and hills, and all the troubles they suffer, are recorded as gain in their record of deeds. Allah will reward them many times over for what they did and let them live amid the finest of blessings.

In time of war it is not right for the believers to set out on campaign all together. Some people, chosen from every tribe, must stay in the city and teach the fundamentals of Allah’s call to those who will return from the campaign and those who will come from the surrounding area. In this way the conveying of Islam to people will also continue.

O you who believe! Fight first those enemies near you who associate partners with Allah and deny the truth, the aggressors who pose a danger to you, so that they may see and understand your devotion to your faith and the strength of your belief.

Do not forget that Allah is with those who consciously fulfill their responsibilities toward the rulings He has made known.

Whenever a verse is sent down from Allah, some of those who associate partners with Allah, deny the truth, and play the hypocrite, on hearing it, at once say to the believers mockingly: “Now, whose faith among you has this increased!?”

Without doubt every verse sent down from Allah increases and strengthens still further the faith of the believers who have believed in Allah wholeheartedly, and gladdens them. But these verses increase still further the faithlessness of the hypocrites, in whose hearts is the sickness of doubt, suspicion, and hypocrisy, and of those who associate partners with Allah and deny the truth, and they die off in the filth of their swamp. These people cannot even consider that they are warned and tested by the calamities that befall them several times every year, and despite this they do not take a lesson and turn to repentance.

When the hypocrites are in the Prophet’s assembly and a surah concerning the hypocrites is recited, they look at one another and exchange glances and winks as if to say, “Has someone told about our true nature, and is that why things about us are being made known?” and slink away from there, asking one another, “Could one of us have told them what we talked about?”

Allah knows what everyone hides and what they disclose. Because they stubbornly persist in hypocrisy, Allah has sealed their hearts against the truth.

There has come to you from among yourselves a prophet who conveys to you how you must live the life that is the reason for your creation. The hardship that will befall you because you turn away from his call weighs very heavily on the Prophet. He is deeply anxious for you; toward the believers he is most compassionate and merciful.

O Prophet! If, despite all your effort, striving, and longing, those who associate partners with Allah, deny the truth, and play the hypocrite stubbornly go on turning away from the Islamic order of life to which they are invited, say to them: “Allah is enough for me; there is no true god but Him. I trust in Him alone and take refuge in Him alone. He is the Lord (Owner) of the worlds and of the exalted seat of sovereignty; the right to establish order and make laws for His creation belongs to Him alone.”