Surah At-Tawbah, The Repentance

Surah 9 · 129 verses · revealed at Medina

At-Tawbah is the only surah in the Qur'an that does not begin with the Bismillah, and it is among the last to be revealed.

Several explanations have been offered for the missing opening line. The one most often repeated is that the surah begins with a declaration that certain treaties were at an end, and that a declaration of that kind does not open with a statement of mercy. Others held that it is a continuation of Al-Anfal before it and needs no new beginning. The early community did not settle the question and neither has anyone since.

Its subject is the closing of an era. The agreements between the Muslims and those who had repeatedly broken faith with them are set aside, with notice given and time allowed. Those who kept their agreements are explicitly excluded from this.

A long central section deals with the expedition to Tabuk and with the people who found reasons not to go. The surah is severe with them, and the severity is recorded in detail — the excuses offered, the wealth pleaded, the illness claimed.

It ends differently from how it begins. The last verses turn to three men who stayed behind, were shunned by the whole community for fifty days, and were then forgiven; and then to the Prophet himself, described as grieved by what burdens his people and full of kindness towards them. The surah is named for that turn: repentance.

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