God and His Messenger
declare the abrogation of the peace
treaty that existed between them and
the pagans.
However, during the
four sacred months, they (pagans) may travel
peacefully through the land. Know (pagans)
that you cannot make God helpless, but it is
God who has the power to disgrace the
unbelievers.
This Announcement from
God and His Messenger is to be made to the
people on the day of the great Pilgrimage;
God and His Messenger have declared no
amnesty for the pagans. If you
(pagans) repent, it would be better for you,
but if you turn away (from God), know that
you cannot make God helpless.
(Muhammad) tell the
unbelievers that a painful punishment
has been prepared for them.
When the sacred months
are over, slay the pagans wherever you
find them. Capture, besiege, and ambush
them. If they repent, perform prayers and
pay the religious tax, set them
free. God is All-forgiving and All-merciful.
How could God
and His Messenger grant them (pagans) peace
when if they were to acquire superiority
over you, they would respect
none of the peace treaties nor their kindred
relations with you! They only try to please
you by paying lip-service to you but their
hearts are against you and most of them are
evil-doers.
They have sold God's
revelations for a paltry price and have
created obstacles in the way of God.
What they have done is evil. They do not
respect their promises nor their family ties
with the believers. They are transgressors.
If they repent,
perform their prayers, pay religious
tax, they would be your brothers in
the religion. We explain Our revelations to
people of knowledge.
Fight against
the leaders of the unbelievers if
they violate their established peace treaty
with you and revile your faith, to
force them to stop their aggression against
you. You do not have to bind
yourselves to such a treaty.
Why will you not
fight against a people who have broken their
peace treaty with you, have decided to expel
the Messenger (from his home town),
and who were the first to disregard the
peace treaty? If you are true believers, you
should only have fear of God.
Fight them. May
God punish them by your hands, humiliate
them, give you victory over them, delight
the hearts of the believers and appease
their anger.
Do you think that God
will not make any distinction between those
of you who have fought for His cause
and have relied on no one other than God,
His Messenger, and the faithful ones, and
other people? God is Well Aware of what you
do.
The pagans do not have
any right to establish (and patronize) the
mosque of God while they testify against
their souls to its disbelief.
Their deeds are devoid of all virtue and
they will live forever in hell fire.
Only those who believe
in God, the Day of Judgment,
perform their prayers, pay the religious
tax, and have fear of God alone have the
right to establish and patronize the mosque
of God so that perhaps they will have the
right guidance.
Do you (pagans),
because you served water to the pilgrims and
constructed the Sacred Mosque, consider
yourselves equal to those who have believed
in God, the Day of Judgment, and have fought
for the cause of God? In the sight of God
you (pagans) are not equal to the believers.
God does not guide the unjust.
To those who
have believed in God, left their homes, and
fought for His cause with their possessions
and in person, God will grant high ranks and
success.
Their Lord will give
the glad news of His granting mercy to them,
His pleasure, and His admitting them to a
Paradise full of everlasting bounties
wherein they will live forever.
The reward that God
will bestow on His servants is the greatest.
Believers, do
not accept your fathers and brothers as your
guardians if they prefer disbelief to faith,
lest you be unjust. (Muhammad), tell
them, "If your fathers, children, brothers,
spouses, relatives, the property that you
possess, the trade you fear may have no
profit and the homely life are more beloved
to you than God, His Messenger and
fighting for His cause, wait until
God fulfills His decree (of making the right
distinct from the wrong). God does not
guide the evil-doers."
When you were happy
with the number of your men who proved to be
of no help to you and the whole vast earth
seemed to have no place to hide you (from
your enemies) and you turned back in
retreat. God gave confidence to His
Messenger and the believers and helped them
with an army which you could not see. God
punished the unbelievers; this is the only
recompense that the unbelievers deserve.
After that occasion
God forgave those whom He wanted.
God is All-knowing and All-merciful.
Believers, the
pagans are filthy. Do not let them
come near to the Sacred Mosque after this
year. If you are afraid of poverty, He will
make you rich if He wishes, by His favor.
God is All-knowing and All-wise.
Fight against
those People of the Book who have no faith
in God or the Day of Judgment, who do not
consider unlawful what God and His Messenger
have made unlawful, and who do not believe
in the true religion, until they humbly pay
tax with their own hands.
Some of the Jews have
said that Ezra is the son of God and
Christians have said the same of Jesus. This
is only what they say and it is similar to
what the unbelievers who lived before them
had said. May God destroy them
wherever they exist!.
They (unconditionally)
obeyed the rabbis and the monks and
worshipped the Messiah, son of Mary, as they
should have obeyed God. They were commanded
to worship no one besides God who is the
only God and who is too exalted to be
considered equal to any idols.
They would like to
extinguish the light of God with a blow from
their mouths, but even though the
unbelievers may dislike it, God has decided
to let His light shine forever.
It is God Who
sent His Messenger with guidance and a true
religion that will prevail over all other
religions, even though the pagans may
dislike it.
Believers, many rabbis
and monks consume other people's property by
false means and create obstacles in the way
of God. Those who horde gold and silver and
do not spend (anything out of it) for the
cause of God, should know that their
recompense will be a painful torment on the
Day of Judgment and that their
treasures will be heated by the fire of hell
and pressed against their foreheads, sides
and back with this remark, "These are your
own treasures which you hoarded for
yourselves. See for yourselves what they
feel like."
According to the Book
of God, from the day He created the heavens
and the earth, the number of months are
twelve, four of which are sacred. (This is
part of the law) of the religion. Do
not commit injustice against your souls
during the sacred months but fight all the
pagans just as they fight against all of you.
Know that God is with the pious ones.
To disregard the
observation of the sacred months and to
observe it during the non-sacred months is
to add more to one's disbelief. This causes
the unbelievers to go further astray. One
year they (the pagans) consider a sacred
month not sacred, (and observe it during a
non-sacred month) but the next year they
consider it sacred at the right time. By
dealing with the sacred months in such a
manner, they think that they have observed
the laws of God, but, in fact, they have
changed them. Their evil deeds seem
attractive to them but God does not guide
the unbelieving people.
Believers, why
is it that when you are told to march for
the cause of God, you seem to linger at home.
Have you given preference to the worldly
life over the life hereafter? The worldly
gains compared to those of the next life are
but very little.
If you do not
march for His cause, He will afflict you
with a painful punishment and replace you by
another nation and your
(destruction) will not harm Him at all. God
has power over all things.
If you do not help
him, (Muhammad), God has already helped him.
When the unbelievers expelled him and he was
one of the two people in the cave telling
his friend, "Do not worry; God is with us,"
then God gave him confidence and supported
him with an army which you did not see and
He defeated the cause of the disbelievers
and made His own cause stand supreme. God is
Majestic and All-wise.
Whether unarmed
or well equipped, march and fight for the
cause of God with your possessions and in
person. This would be better for you, if
only you knew it.
Had the gain been
immediate or the journey shorter, they
(hypocrites) would certainly have followed
you, (Muhammad), but it was too far for
them. They will swear by God, "Had we
had the ability, we would certainly have
marched with you." They destroy only
themselves and God knows that they are lying.
May God forgive you!
(Muhammad), why did you not let them
join the army so that you could discern the
liars from the truthful ones?
Those who
believe in God and the Day of Judgment do
not ask you whether they should fight for
the cause of God with their property and in
person, or not. God knows all about the
pious ones.
Only those who do not
believe in God and the Day of Judgment ask
you such questions because their hearts are
full of doubts and they cannot make any
final decisions.
Had they (the
hypocrites) wanted to join your army, they
would have prepared themselves, but God did
not wish to motivate them, so He caused them
to linger behind with those whose joining
you in battle would be of no use.
Had they joined you,
they would have been of no help to you but
would have just caused confusion and trouble
among you by sneaking through the ranks
where some of you would be ready to listen
to them. God knows best the unjust.
Some of them ask you,
"Make us exempt from taking part in
the battle and do not try to tempt us by
telling us what we may gain from the battle;
many people have died in the battle." Hell
certainly encompasses the unbelievers.
If you gain success,
it grieves them but if you suffer hardship,
they turn away from you saying, "It's
good that we took our affairs into our own
hands". (Muhammad), say, "Nothing
will happen to us besides what God has
decreed for us. He is our Guardian. In God
alone do the believers trust."
For us, you can
anticipate nothing other than Paradise if we
are killed or success if we triumph.
However, what we can anticipate for you is
either punishment by the hands of God or by
ours. Wait and we, too, are waiting with
you.
Say, "Whether
you spend your wealth for the cause of God,
willingly or reluctantly, it will never be
accepted from you; you are an evil doing
people."
What prevents their
offerings from being accepted is their
disbelief in God and His Messenger, their
lack of interest in prayer and
spending for the cause of God reluctantly.
Let not their property
and children tempt you; God wants to
punish them through their things in this
life so that their souls will depart while
they are unbelievers.
They swear by
God that they are believers like you but
they are not believers. They are a people
who only cause differences.
They are so
afraid of you that had there been a place
for them to seek refuge, a cave or some
entrance in which to hide themselves from
you, they would have madly rushed therein.
They blame you about
the distribution of the welfare funds. They
are pleased when you give them something
from it, but if they receive nothing,
they become angry with you.
Would that they had
been pleased with what God and His Messenger
had given them and had said, "God is
All-Sufficient for us. God and His
Messenger will soon do us more favors
and we have hope in God's mercy."
Welfare funds (zakat)
are only for the poor, the destitute, the
tax collectors, those whose hearts are
inclined (towards Islam), the slaves, those
who cannot pay their debts, for the cause of
God, and for those who have become needy on
a journey. Paying zakat is an
obligation that God has decreed. God is
All-knowing and All-wise.
Some of them speak ill
of the Prophet, saying, "He listens to
everything and believes what he hears."
(Muhammad), tell them, "He only listens to
what is good for you, believes in God, and
has trust in the believers. He is a mercy
for the believers among you. Those who
speak ill of the Messenger of God will face
a painful punishment."
They (hypocrites)
swear by God in their effort to please you,
but if they were true believers (they
would know) that God and His Messenger
deserve more to be pleased than anyone else.
Do they not know
that for displeasing God and His Messenger,
one would be admitted to Hell wherein he
would live forever. This indeed is a
great humiliation.
The hypocrites
are afraid that some revelation will be
revealed, thus, making public what is in
their hearts. (Muhammad), tell them,
"Continue in your mockery; God will
certainly let whatever causes you worry to
take place".
If you question them
about their manners, they say, "We were only
arguing for the sake of amusement." Ask
them, "Were you mocking God, His
revelations, and His Messenger?".
Make no excuses. You
have certainly turned back to disbelief.
If We forgive one group of you, We must
punish the other for they are guilty.
Be they male or female
hypocrites, they are the same. They
make others commit sins, prevent them from
doing good deeds, and restrain their hands
(from spending for the cause of God).
They have forgotten
all about God who also has ignored them.
The hypocrites indeed are evil-doers.
For the
hypocrites and the unbelievers, God has
prepared hell wherein they will live
forever. Hell is their proper punishment.
God has condemned them and they will suffer
a permanent torment like that of those who
lived before you, whose power, wealth, and
children were much greater than yours.
They enjoyed their
share of the worldly gains and you, also,
like them, have enjoyed yours. You
have been sneaking among the people to cause
trouble, just as they had been doing
before you. Such people's deeds are devoid
of all virtue both in this life and in the
life hereafter. They indeed are lost.
Have they not heard
the stories of the people of Noah, the tribe
of Ad, Thamud, the people of Abraham, the
dwellers of the city of Midian, and those of
the Subverted Cities? God's Messengers came
to each of them with miracles. God did not
do any injustice to them, but they wronged
themselves.
The believers, both
male and female, are each other's guardians.
They try to make others do good,
prevent them from committing sins, perform
their prayers, pay the religious tax, and
obey God and His Messenger. God will
have mercy on them; He is Majestic and
All-wise.
God has promised
the believers gardens wherein streams flow
and wherein they will live forever in the
excellent mansions of the garden of Eden.
What is more important than all this for
them is that God is pleased with them. Such
is the supreme triumph.
Prophet, fight
the unbelievers and hypocrites vehemently
for the cause of God. Their dwelling is
hell, a terrible destination!
They (the
hypocrites) swear by the Name of God (to
make others believe in what they are saying).
They have spoken
the testimony of disbelief and have then
turned back to disbelief. They have made
unsuccessful attempts to cause trouble.
There is no other reason for their
ungratefulness except that God and His
Messenger enriched them through their favors.
If they repent, it will be better for them,
but if they turn away (from the faith), God
will make them suffer a painful punishment
both in this life and in the life hereafter.
They will find no guardian nor any helper in
the land.
Some of them
have promised God that if He will favor
them, they will certainly spend for His
cause and be righteous ones.
But when His
favors were bestowed on them, they became
niggardly and in disregard broke
their promise.
God will, for
their disregard of their promise and their
telling lies, place hypocrisy in their
hearts which will not leave them until they
face the consequences of their deeds.
Were they not aware
that God knows all that they hide or whisper
and that He has absolute knowledge of the
unseen?
God mocks those
(hypocrites) who blame and mock the rich or
poor believers who donate to the welfare
funds, and He has prepared a painful torment
for them. (Muhammad), whether you ask
God to forgive them or not, He will never do
so, even if you were to beg seventy times;
they have disbelieved in God and His
Messenger and God does not guide the
evil-doers.
Those who did not take
part in the battle (of Tabuk), were glad
about their staying home against the
order of the Messenger of God. They
did not want to fight for the cause of God
with their property and in person and said,
"Do not march (to the battle) on the hot
days." (Muhammad), tell them, "The
heat of hell fire is much more severe, if
only you would understand."
They should laugh less
and weep more as a recompense for what they
have gained.
When God brings
you back safely and a group of hypocrites
ask you to make them exempt from taking part
in the battle, tell them, "Never march with
me and never fight with us against any of
the enemies (of God).
You chose to
linger behind the first time, so this time
stay behind with those who are of no help in
the battle.
Should any of
them die, never pray for him or stand on his
grave. They have disbelieved in God and His
Messenger and have died while committing
evil.
Their wealth or
children should not tempt you; God
wants to punish them through these things in
this life so that they will die as
disbelievers.
When a chapter
of the Quran is revealed telling them to
believe in God and fight along with His
Messenger for His cause against His enemies,
the healthy and rich ones of them ask you to
exempt them from taking part in the battle
for the cause of God and to let them stay
home with the people who are of no help in
the battle.
They are happy
to stay home with those who are of no help
in the battle, thus, their hearts were
sealed and they were left with no
understanding.
But the
Messenger of God and the believers with him
fought for the cause of God with their
possessions and in person and their reward
will be all good things and everlasting
happiness.
God has established
gardens for them wherein streams flow and
wherein they will live forever. This indeed
is the greatest triumph.
Some of the
dwellers of the desert (who were not able to
join the army) came to the Prophet seeking
exemption from taking part in the battle.
Those who called God and His Messengers
liars also stayed home (with those who were
truly exempt).
The disbelievers
will soon receive a painful punishment.
People who are
weak or sick and those who do not have the
means to take part in the fighting are
exempt from this duty if their
intention remains sincere about God and His
Messenger. Righteous people shall not be
blamed. God is All-forgiving and
All-merciful.
Those who come
to you, (Muhammad), asking to be taken to
the battle, but you cannot find the
necessary means for them, are exempt from
the duty of fighting for the cause of God,
even though they leave you with their eyes
flooded with tears because of not being able
to help the cause of God.
The blameworthy
ones are those who ask for exemption despite
their ability and who preferred to stay at
home with those who are truly exempt. God
has placed a seal on their hearts but they
do not know.
They will
apologize to you on your return. Tell them,
"Do not ask for pardon. We will never
believe you. God has already told us
everything about you. God and His
Messenger will soon make your deeds public,
then you will return to Him who has absolute
knowledge of the unseen and the seen and He
will inform you of what you have done.
When you return
they will appeal to you in the Name of God
to leave them alone. So leave them alone.
They are filthy and their dwelling will be
hell as a recompense for what they had
gained.
They swear in
the Name of God to please you. Even if you
were to be pleased with them, God is not
pleased with evil-doing people.
The desert
dwelling Arabs are far worse than the others
in their disbelief and hypocrisy and have
more reason to be ignorant of the
revelations that God revealed to His
Messenger. God is All-knowing and
All-wise.
Whatever some of
the desert dwelling Arabs spend for the
cause of God, they consider it a loss to
themselves. They wish to see you in trouble.
Trouble has struck them already. God
is All-hearing and All-knowing.
Some of the
desert dwelling Arabs believe in God and the
Day of Judgment. Whatever they spend for the
cause of God they consider it as a means of
getting nearer to God and have the prayers
of the Messenger in their favor. This,
certainly is a means to get nearer to God.
God will admit them into His mercy.
God is All-forgiving and All-merciful.
God is well
pleased with the foremost ones of those who
left their homes for the cause of God, those
who helped them after their arrival in
Medina and those who nobly followed these
two groups. He has prepared gardens for them
wherein streams flow and wherein they will
live forever. This, certainly is the
supreme triumph.
Some of the
desert dwelling Arabs around you are
hypocrites as are some of the inhabitants of
Medina. They are persisting in their
hypocrisies. You do not know them but We
know them well and will punish them twice
over. Then they will be brought to the great
torment (on the Day of Judgment).
Some of them have
already confessed their sins and have mixed
virtuous deeds with sinful ones. Perhaps God
will forgive them. God is All-forgiving and
All-merciful.
Collect
religious tax (zakat) from them to purify
and cleanse them and pray for them; your
prayers give them comfort. God is
All-hearing and All-knowing.
Do they not know
that it is God who accepts the repentance of
His servants and receives the welfare funds
and that it is God who is All-forgiving and
All-merciful? (Muhammad), tell them,
"Act as you wish. God, His Messenger and the
believers will see your deeds. You will be
brought before the One who has absolute
knowledge of the unseen and the seen. He
will let you know about all that you have
done.
Besides those
who have confessed their sins, there are
others who have no good deeds for which they
may receive any reward or sins for which
they may be punished. Their fate
will be in the hands of God." God is
All-knowing and All-wise.
The mosque which
some of the hypocrites have established is
only to harm people, to spread disbelief, to
create discord among the believers, to wait
for the one who fought against God and His
Messenger, and to make others believe that
it has been established with their good
intentions. But God testifies that they are
liars. (Muhammad), never stay in that
mosque. The mosque which was
established for a pious purpose and before
all other mosques is more virtuous for your
prayer. In this mosque, there are people who
love to be purified. God loves those who
purify themselves.
Which is better,
the mosque that is founded for pious
purposes and for achieving God's pleasure or
that which is based on the brink of a
crumbling bank and which may crumble into
hell at any moment? God does not
guide the unjust.
The building
(mosque) which they have built always
motivates mischief in their hearts until
their hearts are cut into pieces.
God is All-knowing and All-wise.
God has
purchased the souls and property of the
believers in exchange for Paradise. They
fight for the cause of God to destroy His
enemies and to sacrifice themselves. This is
a true promise which He has revealed in the
Torah, the Gospel, and the Quran. No
one is more true to His promise than God.
Let this bargain be glad news for them. This
is indeed the supreme triumph. (The
believers) who repent for their sins,
worship God, praise Him, travel through the
land (for pious purposes), kneel down and
prostrate themselves in obedience to God,
make others do good and prevent them from
sins and abide by the laws of God, will
receive a great reward. Let this be glad
news for the believer.
After it was
made clear that the pagans are to be the
dwellers of hell, the Prophet and the
believers should not have sought forgiveness
from God for them even though they may have
been relatives.
There was no other
reason for Abraham to seek forgiveness from
God for his father except the promise that
he had made with him. When Abraham
knew that his father was an enemy of God, he
disowned his father. Abraham was
very tender-hearted and forbearing.
God does not
misguide a nation after having given them
guidance until the means of piety are made
known to them. God knows all things.
To God belongs the
Kingdom of the heavens and the earth. He
grants life and causes death. God is your
only Guardian and Helper.
God pardoned the
Prophet, the Emigrants, the Helpers, and
those who followed them, when the hearts of
some of them almost deviated (from the
truth) in their hour of difficulty. God
forgave them because of His Compassion and
Mercy.
God also forgave the
three people who lagged behind. Grief made
them feel as though there was no place in
the whole vast earth to hide them or in
their souls to conceal their sorrow. They
began to believe that no one could save them
from (the wrath of God) except He Himself.
God pardoned them so that they would also
repent for their sins. God is All-forgiving
and All-merciful.
Believers, have fear
of God and always be friends with the
truthful ones.
The inhabitants
of the city of Medina and the desert Arabs
dwelling around it were not supposed to
disobey the Messenger of God or to give
priority to their own lives above that of
the Prophet. For if they had given priority
to the life of the Messenger of God, they
would not have experienced the hardships of
thirst, fatigue, or hunger in their struggle
for the cause of God, nor would their
travelling have enraged the disbelievers and
they would not have received any injury from
enemies that God would not record for them
as a virtuous deed. God does not ignore the
reward of those who do good.
Also, they would not
have spent anything, great or small, for the
cause of God or travel through a valley
without God decreeing a reward for them far
better than whatever they had done.
Not all
believers have to become specialists in
religious learning. Why do not some people
from each group of believers seek to become
specialists in religious learning and, after
completing their studies, guide their group
so that they will have fear of God.
Believers, fight
the unbelievers near you for the cause of
God so that they realize your strength and
know that God is with the pious ones.
When a chapter (of the
Quran) is revealed, some people ask others,
"Whose faith among you people has received
strength from this (revelation)?" It (the
revelation) certainly strengthens the faith
of the believers and they consider it to be
a glad news.
But to those whose
hearts are sick, it adds more filth to their
hearts and they die as disbelievers.
Do they not
realize that God tests them once or twice a
year but, nevertheless, they do not repent
and give it proper thought?
When a chapter (of the
Quran) is revealed, (it upsets them).
They look at one
another and their eyes silently ask this
question, "Has any one noticed the
disappointment on our faces?" Then they walk
away. In fact, God has turned their hearts
away (from the truth); they are a people who
have no understanding.
A Messenger from
your own people has come to you. Your
destruction and suffering is extremely
grievous to him. He really cares about you
and is very compassionate and merciful to
the believers. (Muhammad), if they
turn away from you, say, "God is Sufficient
(support) for me. There is no God
but He. In Him do I trust and He is the
Owner of the Great Throne."