Maariful Quran - Mufti Shafi Usmani RA - Vol - 4 - Page

Siirah Al-Taubah : 9 : 117 - 119 479tawwzb, those who turn to Allah. This indicates that no one is freefrom the need to make Taubah, not even the Holy Prophet ~ jc 91+, and his closest Companions - as it appears in another verse: Le$;C+ $1 (and turn towards Allah in repentance, all of you - 24:31). Thereason is that the degrees and ranks of nearness to Allah are endless.Whoever has reached a certain station should realize that there is ahigher station ahead and, as compared to that high station, thepresent one is a shortcoming. The quest must go on. Let one seek forgivenessfor any shortcoming he may have at his present station sothat he could move on to the next, the higher.Coming to words: :*'I +L (translated as 'the hour of hardship') appearingin verse 117, the Holy Qur'an has employed this expression toportray the condition of the Muslims on the occasion of this very Jihadbecause they were poor and straitened on many counts. Hasan al-BasrTsays, 'they had one mount for every ten men. They had to take turns toride. The wherewithal required for such a trip was very short and ordinary.On the other hand, the heat was intense and scorching. Water inen route was scarce and at distances.* ,yJ~,/, /As for the next sentence: .$2$? ,& C,,l( L: $& (after the hearts ofa group of them were about to turn crooked), the &, (zaigh: crookedness)of the hearts of some people referred to here does not mean somedeviation from faith. In fact, it means to lose heart and wish to avoidaction in Jihad because of the hardship of hot weather and the dearthof necessary supplies. Hadith narratives prove that. It was in view ofthese hardships they faced that their repentance was accepted.Verse 118 begins with the words: I@&I 31 &;(And [He relented]towards the three whose matter was deferred). Here, the word: 1g(khullifi) literally means 'those left behind.' It carries the sense of'those the matter of whose repentance was deferred' - as opted for inthe translation of the text. These three gentlemen: Sayyidna Ka'b ibnMalik, Murarah ibn Rabi' and Hila1 ibn Umayyah ,,+ 91p, werefrom the Ansir of Madinah and had a distinguished record in the serviceof Islam. Earlier, they had participated in the Bai'atu al-'Aqabahand in many battles with the Holy Prophet +, + JJI &. But, it wasonly by chance that they slipped in this manner. Then, there werethose hypocrites who did not take part in this Jihad because of theirhypocrisy, they gave them the kind of advises that dampened their