About the Surah
Surah Title : التوبة
English Title : At-Taubah
Order in Al-Mushaf : 9
Number of Verses : 129
Type : madinah
Page Number in Al-Mushaf : From Page 187 To Page 207
At-Taubah
وَعَلَى ٱلثَّلَٰثَةِ ٱلَّذِينَ خُلِّفُواْ حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَا ضَاقَتۡ عَلَيۡهِمُ ٱلۡأَرۡضُ بِمَا رَحُبَتۡ وَضَاقَتۡ عَلَيۡهِمۡ أَنفُسُهُمۡ وَظَنُّوٓاْ أَن لَّا مَلۡجَأَ مِنَ ٱللَّهِ إِلَّآ إِلَيۡهِ ثُمَّ تَابَ عَلَيۡهِمۡ لِيَتُوبُوٓاْۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ هُوَ ٱلتَّوَّابُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ
118And (Allah also forgave) those three who did not join (Tabuk expedition and their case was differed for Allah’s decision), till the earth, with all its vastness, shrank on them, and great stress was built on them, and they realized that there is no other refuge except Allah’s refuge, then Allah forgave them (i.e. accepted their repentance after fifty days). Indeed, Allah accepts the repentance, the Most Merciful.
118The reason for descending the verse
Ka’b bin Malik (r.a) said that when he did not go along with the Messenger of Allah on the Battle of Tabuk, he began to think of false excuses, so the Prophet (s.a.w) received his excuses for his absence in the Battle of Tabuk. However, his faith was stronger; so he and two other believers admitted directly that they did not have any excuse which prevented them for the Battle of Tabuk. Then the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w) punished them by silencing them for forty days. During the punishment, the enemies of Allah tried to tempt him to embrace their religion, but Ka’b did not budge. After Allah forgave them by surah At-Taubah [9: 118], Ka’b stated that he had never felt the sweetness of truth before this. (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)
