Surah Al Taubah , 9

Recitation of  Surah Al Taubah by Shaykh Abdul Rahman al-Sudais
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAqRhlvFPWU&feature=related



Commentary, Prof Quraish Shihab, ayat 36 to ayat 48:


1. [  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwDY3nN4Rgw  ]

2. [  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVa4yrdu4bo&list=LLHkoX4alI3oyjKBscbJfOYA&index=2682  ]

3. [  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnZMOZFE7Og   ]

4.  [   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7_3Dl8P-Ro   ]




asma al husna, as salam....kiai muhammad  bhakiet,

[  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkddQySFmnU  ]



Excerpt from " A Thermatic Commentary On The Qur'an "
Shaykh Muhammad Al- Ghazali
[ 1917 - 1996 ]

Abu Bakr, a senior Companion of Muhammad, led the Muslims during the pilgrimage to Makkah in the ninth year AH, 631 AC, in which non-Arab Muslims were also allowed to participate. the pilgrimage organized a year later was led by the Prophet himself and was restricted to Muslims only, since God had declared in the Qur'an that "...The idolaters only are unclean. So let them not come near the Inviolable Place of Worship after this their year. If ye fear poverty (from the loss of their merchandise) Allah shall preserve you of His bounty if He will. Lo! Allah is Knower, Wise." (28) Non- Muslim resistance to Islam in Arabia all but collapsed. All treatise and agreements hitherto in force came to an end, and the Prophet assumed total religious, political, and administrative soverignty over the whole region. Idol worship was wiped out. And as a  result of a series of confrontation with the Muslims, the last one which took place during the sixth year after Hijrah, 628 AC, at which took place in north central Arabia, Jewish power and influence had also been shaken. Certainly Jews continued to live and thrive as farmers and tradesmen in Madinah and various parts of Arabia, although they no longer had any organized presence. Their religious  and personal freedom was nonetheless fully guaranteed and protected. When the Prophet died, a shield of his was found in trust with a Jewish citizen of Madinah.  Christian delegations were arriving at Madinah in droves, as they had done at Makkah previously , from various parts of Arabia and the surrounding regions to learn of the new religion, debate with the Prophet, and compare what they heard with their own beliefs and scriptures. Some of them of course converted to Islam. The Muslims saw no threat in any one of that. The one major threat that was seen of the Byzantine empire who were in control of Syria and Palestine in the north. The Byzantines were growing weary of Islam and began to take measures to curb its spread into their territories.

Here we must highlight the two following important facts:
1. Islam showed a great deal of amicability and warmth towards the Christians. When the Muslims of Makkah first thought of escaping the persecution of the Arabs, Prophet Muhammad instructed them, in 615 AC, to take refuge with the Negus, the Christian king of Abbyssinia, whom he described as a "just and benevolent king."
The Qur'an, in surah entitled ar-Rum, or The Romans, expressed strong sympathy with the Christians in their war against the Persians in 615 AC in Syria and predicted that they would triumph in the following round of fighting.
2. In spite of this amity and sympathy, Islam was very clear in its rejection of the doctrine of the Trinity and divinity of Jesus or the Holy Spirit. The Qur'an, first at Makkah, and later on at Madinah continued to emphasised these views and called upon Christians to review their doctrines and correct their beliefs. The last statement to to be revealed in this connection appears in this surah condemning misguided Jews and Christians for taking:

They have taken as lords beside Allah their rabbis and their monks and the Messiah son of Mary, when they were bidden to worship only One God. There is no god save Him. Be He glorified from all that they ascribe as partner (unto Him)! (31)

In Islam God is one, without ancestry and offspring, supreme in His control over all creations. For religious leaders and clerics to set out laws and enforce religious practices and edicts of their own is nothing but heresy according to the Qur'an. Churches in America and Europe have blessed colonial wars and, more recently, sanctioned depraved practices such as homosexuality, without proper reference to authentic revelation.

The Byzantines had entrenched  their power in regions north of the Arabian peninsula, and were known to resort to the use of force to prevent Islam making inroads into their territory. Byzantine armies began to move southward to enforce Byzantine authorities over the region, clashing with the Muslims twice, at Mu'tah in 629, and at Tabuk in 630 AC.
There is no doubt however that The Muslims wanted  access to the populations of Byzantine territories to introduce them to Islam, a task they perceived to be their right. However, those early Muslims were also mindful of the fact they could not use force or coercion to impose their their religion on others. The Byzantines resisted that effort and appeared determined to advance their version of Christianity and impose it on their subjects. Their emperors had long rejected the Arius doctrine that Jesus was human and not divine. They had barred the eastern churches who differed with them radically over the nature of Christ, detained the Patriarch of Egypt, and killed his brother. However, the Muslims were fighting for religious freedom. They entered Egypt and Syria, offering security and immunity from persecution and guaranteeing freedom of worship.

In anticipation of Byzantine resistance, the Prophet devoted much attention to removing the barriers in the way of Islam in north Arabia. He embarked on the mobilization of Muslim forces to deal with Byzantine intimidation. When the moment of confrontation arrived the Byzantine were the most powerful nation on earth. They had defeated the Persians and become the dominant superpower in the area. No wonder, then, that some faint-hearted Muslims were shaken when war with the Byzantine became imminent. Yet another sinister danger was also in evident-the hypocrites or fifth-columnists working from within the Muslim community. 

Thus the second half of the surah is devoted to exposing these hypocrites and waverers, while at the same time mobilizing loyal , sincere, Muslims and spurring them to action. These are addressed in no uncertain terms:

O ye who believe! What aileth you that when it is said unto you: Go forth in the way of Allah, ye are bowed down to the ground with heaviness. Take ye pleasure in the life of the world rather than in the Hereafter? The comfort of the life of the world is but little in the Hereafter. (38) If ye go not forth He will afflict you with a painful doom, and will choose instead of you a folk other than you. Ye cannot harm Him at all. Allah is Able to do all things. (39) 

The time had come to free the Muslims community and Muslim lands from hypocrites, just as they had been emancipated from idolaters and traitors. The realm of Islam had to be defended and consolidated.

The surah comes as a series of intensive drills, a rich and powerful mixture of instructions and confidence boosters to prepare the Muslims to face the world without the divinely inspired leadership of Prophet Muhammad. The first drill was to be the confrontation with the Byzantines. It was to expose the strength as well as many of the weaknesses of the Muslims on both the individual and collective levels.



Reflection and commentary on Surah Al Taubah by Imam Zia:-
Session 6.1 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1-EmfU2v18&feature=relmfu
Session 6.2 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-8JAKY6Nww&feature=relmfu
Session 6.3 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sz4ZMl_XM_k&feature=relmfu
Session 7.2 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3m70lo_xfA&NR=1&feature=endscreen
Session 8.1 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Jh9c0foWxA&feature=relmfu
Session 8.2 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jy-1w4UCbps&feature=relmfu
Session 9.1:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GA7NZ1fZMLw&feature=relmfu