Verses 38-72 were, for the most part, delivered by Muhammad to his troops during the expedition to Tabuk. The progression of Muhammads attitude can be discerned and summed up like this:
(1) Come join the jihad! If you go on jihad, you will go to heaven. If you are able to join the jihad and refuse, you will go to hell. (Although the text here does not mention it, I think an exception was made for Muhammads close family-member Ali.) (9:38-39)
(2) Youre not coming? We didnt need your help anyway. You would be a hinderance. (9:40)
(3) Lets go, troops. Those who refused to join us are not real Muslims. Allah only wants true believers to engage in jihad. Those who stayed behind would have only caused trouble. (9:41-47)
(4) Those who stay behind, enjoying tranquil times with their families, getting rich -- their time will come! Allah is lulling them into complacency before he takes their unbelieving souls. They should accept the judgment that Allahs Prophet gives regarding the distribution of alms and everything else. (9:48-66)
(5) Those who refused to engage in jihad are hypocrites. Women who discourage men to join the jihad are likewise opposing Allah. Allah has promised to send them to hell. They will be overthrown like those who did not believe Noah and other prophets. (9:67-70)
(6) All Muslims have a role to play in jihad: some invite people to accept Islam; others enforce regulations against what Islamic law forbids; others pray; others donate money; others obey special orders. Allah promises to give Paradise to all true believers -- male and female jihadists. (9:71-72)
Some features in this section are notable for one reason or another:
Verse 40 contains a phrase that is rather out-of-place and seems to have been retained simply because it was lyrically convenient. When recollecting an event that happened as Muhammad and Abu Bakr had been fleeing from Mecca, Muhammad states that Then Allah sent down His Sakinah upon him [i.e., on Muhammad] and strengthened him with forces which you saw not. Its those last four words that seem out-of-place; nobody would imagine that they had seen any angels or anything else at the time, since only Muhammad and Abu Bakr had been on the scene. It looks like Muhammad re-used the same material that he uses in v. 26 where he describes angelic forces that he claimed to have seen during the Battle of Hunain, and transferred this detail in the process.
Verse 41 is traditionally referred to as the oldest verse in the surah; this may be how the initial call to arms was stated. The reference to light or heavy is capable of a wide range of nuances: it can refer to ones own weight, or the weight of ones weapons and armor, or the weight of ones social responsibilities.
Verse 42 begins with the words May Allah forgive you, and the you is directed at Muhammad. Yet most Muslim interpreters insist that this does not imply that Muhammad sinned. It may help to think of the Arabic word for forgiveness as connoting improvement rather than being limited to a judicial sense of debt-release. Still, it is hard to avoid concluding that after the trip to Tabuk was underway, Muhammad was full or regret that he had not waited a bit longer, until he had a good idea about who, among those who declined to join the war-campaign, had a valid excuse, and who was insincere.
Verse 49 mentions someones excuse for not going on jihad: it would involve too much temptation. Muhammad was not persuaded by this line. An old report states that this verse was about a man names Jadd ibn Qais who asked to pay money rather than go on the Tabuk campaign because he did not think he would be able to resist the temptation to engage in unlawful sexual relations with the Byzantine/Greek women he might capture.
Verse 60, in the course of explaining the proper use of zakat-money, states that one proper use of the funds is to attract the hearts of those who have been inclined (toward Islam) -- in other words, its okay to use zakat-money to attract converts, and to remove financial obstacles which might otherwise discourage some people from becoming Muslims. (This is a nice verse to keep in mind whenever Muslims whine about Christian missionaries who attempt to attract people to Christianity by giving them food and shelter and medical care.) Its also okay to use the zakat-money for Allahs cause, which refers (according to a parenthesized phrase in the Hilali-Khan translation) to Mujahidun - those fighting in a holy battle.
Verse 61 contains an idiom which might seem opaque at first reading: the text refers to people who say that Muhammad is an ear. The idea here seems to be that some inhabitants of Medina suspected that Muhammads scouts had given him inaccurate information about the intentions of the Byzantine forces -- that is, Muhammads call for jihad against the Byzantine army was not based on some divine guidance, but on some rumor he had heard.
Yours in Christ,
Waterrock
(1) Come join the jihad! If you go on jihad, you will go to heaven. If you are able to join the jihad and refuse, you will go to hell. (Although the text here does not mention it, I think an exception was made for Muhammads close family-member Ali.) (9:38-39)
(2) Youre not coming? We didnt need your help anyway. You would be a hinderance. (9:40)
(3) Lets go, troops. Those who refused to join us are not real Muslims. Allah only wants true believers to engage in jihad. Those who stayed behind would have only caused trouble. (9:41-47)
(4) Those who stay behind, enjoying tranquil times with their families, getting rich -- their time will come! Allah is lulling them into complacency before he takes their unbelieving souls. They should accept the judgment that Allahs Prophet gives regarding the distribution of alms and everything else. (9:48-66)
(5) Those who refused to engage in jihad are hypocrites. Women who discourage men to join the jihad are likewise opposing Allah. Allah has promised to send them to hell. They will be overthrown like those who did not believe Noah and other prophets. (9:67-70)
(6) All Muslims have a role to play in jihad: some invite people to accept Islam; others enforce regulations against what Islamic law forbids; others pray; others donate money; others obey special orders. Allah promises to give Paradise to all true believers -- male and female jihadists. (9:71-72)
Some features in this section are notable for one reason or another:
Verse 40 contains a phrase that is rather out-of-place and seems to have been retained simply because it was lyrically convenient. When recollecting an event that happened as Muhammad and Abu Bakr had been fleeing from Mecca, Muhammad states that Then Allah sent down His Sakinah upon him [i.e., on Muhammad] and strengthened him with forces which you saw not. Its those last four words that seem out-of-place; nobody would imagine that they had seen any angels or anything else at the time, since only Muhammad and Abu Bakr had been on the scene. It looks like Muhammad re-used the same material that he uses in v. 26 where he describes angelic forces that he claimed to have seen during the Battle of Hunain, and transferred this detail in the process.
Verse 41 is traditionally referred to as the oldest verse in the surah; this may be how the initial call to arms was stated. The reference to light or heavy is capable of a wide range of nuances: it can refer to ones own weight, or the weight of ones weapons and armor, or the weight of ones social responsibilities.
Verse 42 begins with the words May Allah forgive you, and the you is directed at Muhammad. Yet most Muslim interpreters insist that this does not imply that Muhammad sinned. It may help to think of the Arabic word for forgiveness as connoting improvement rather than being limited to a judicial sense of debt-release. Still, it is hard to avoid concluding that after the trip to Tabuk was underway, Muhammad was full or regret that he had not waited a bit longer, until he had a good idea about who, among those who declined to join the war-campaign, had a valid excuse, and who was insincere.
Verse 49 mentions someones excuse for not going on jihad: it would involve too much temptation. Muhammad was not persuaded by this line. An old report states that this verse was about a man names Jadd ibn Qais who asked to pay money rather than go on the Tabuk campaign because he did not think he would be able to resist the temptation to engage in unlawful sexual relations with the Byzantine/Greek women he might capture.
Verse 60, in the course of explaining the proper use of zakat-money, states that one proper use of the funds is to attract the hearts of those who have been inclined (toward Islam) -- in other words, its okay to use zakat-money to attract converts, and to remove financial obstacles which might otherwise discourage some people from becoming Muslims. (This is a nice verse to keep in mind whenever Muslims whine about Christian missionaries who attempt to attract people to Christianity by giving them food and shelter and medical care.) Its also okay to use the zakat-money for Allahs cause, which refers (according to a parenthesized phrase in the Hilali-Khan translation) to Mujahidun - those fighting in a holy battle.
Verse 61 contains an idiom which might seem opaque at first reading: the text refers to people who say that Muhammad is an ear. The idea here seems to be that some inhabitants of Medina suspected that Muhammads scouts had given him inaccurate information about the intentions of the Byzantine forces -- that is, Muhammads call for jihad against the Byzantine army was not based on some divine guidance, but on some rumor he had heard.
Yours in Christ,
Waterrock
