بَرَآءَةٌ مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِۦٓ إِلَى ٱلَّذِينَ عَـٰهَدتُّم مِّنَ ٱلْمُشْرِكِينَ 1
Translations
[This is a declaration of] disassociation, from Allāh and His Messenger, to those with whom you had made a treaty among the polytheists.
Transliteration
Barā'atun min-Allāhi wa rasūlihī ilā alladhīna 'āhattum min-al-mushrikīn
Tafsir (Explanation)
This opening ayah of Surah At-Tawbah announces a declaration of disavowal (barā'ah) from Allah and His Messenger to the polytheists with whom the Muslims had made treaties. According to classical scholars like Ibn Kathir and Al-Qurtubi, this verse marks the abrogation of treaties with idolaters who had violated their covenants, signifying a break in diplomatic relations and the end of the peace agreements. The verse establishes that both Allah and His Prophet take responsibility for this formal rejection, emphasizing the seriousness and divine backing of this pronouncement.
Revelation Context
This surah was revealed in the 9th year of Hijrah during the period of Prophet Muhammad's military campaigns. The verse specifically refers to the polytheists of Mecca and their allies who had repeatedly broken their treaties with the Muslims, particularly the Quraysh's violations of the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah. The context involves the Prophet's expedition to Tabuk and the subsequent declaration that polytheists would no longer be granted the security (dhimmah) previously afforded to them under treaty agreements.
Related Hadiths
The historical narrations in Sirah sources (such as Ibn Ishaq's accounts) detail how the polytheists violated their treaties by supporting the tribes that attacked the Muslims. Also relevant is the hadith in Sahih Muslim regarding the declaration that 'after this year, polytheists shall not enter Al-Masjid Al-Haram,' which implements the consequences of this barā'ah.
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah teaches that agreements made in good faith must be honored, but when one party repeatedly violates covenants, just action requires their termination. For believers today, it emphasizes the importance of integrity in contracts while recognizing that justice sometimes demands ending relationships that have become fundamentally dishonest.
Related Ayahs
لَّقَد تَّابَ ٱللَّهُ عَلَى ٱلنَّبِىِّ وَٱلْمُهَـٰجِرِينَ وَٱلْأَنصَارِ ٱلَّذِينَ ٱتَّبَعُوهُ فِى سَاعَةِ ٱلْعُسْرَةِ مِنۢ بَعْدِ مَا كَادَ يَزِيغُ قُلُوبُ فَرِيقٍ مِّنْهُمْ ثُمَّ تَابَ عَلَيْهِمْ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ بِهِمْ رَءُوفٌ رَّحِيمٌ
Allāh has already forgiven the Prophet and the Muhājireen and the Anṣār who followed him in the hour of difficulty after the hearts of a party of them had almost inclined [to doubt], and then He forgave them. Indeed, He was to them Kind and Merciful.
كَيْفَ وَإِن يَظْهَرُوا۟ عَلَيْكُمْ لَا يَرْقُبُوا۟ فِيكُمْ إِلًّا وَلَا ذِمَّةً ۚ يُرْضُونَكُم بِأَفْوَٰهِهِمْ وَتَأْبَىٰ قُلُوبُهُمْ وَأَكْثَرُهُمْ فَـٰسِقُونَ
How [can there be a treaty] while, if they gain dominance over you, they do not observe concerning you any pact of kinship or covenant of protection? They satisfy you with their mouths, but their hearts refuse [compliance], and most of them are defiantly disobedient.
وَلَوْ أَنَّهُمْ رَضُوا۟ مَآ ءَاتَىٰهُمُ ٱللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُۥ وَقَالُوا۟ حَسْبُنَا ٱللَّهُ سَيُؤْتِينَا ٱللَّهُ مِن فَضْلِهِۦ وَرَسُولُهُۥٓ إِنَّآ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ رَٰغِبُونَ
If only they had been satisfied with what Allāh and His Messenger gave them and said, "Sufficient for us is Allāh; Allāh will give us of His bounty, and [so will] His Messenger; indeed, we are desirous toward Allāh," [it would have been better for them].
وَأَمَّا ٱلَّذِينَ فِى قُلُوبِهِم مَّرَضٌ فَزَادَتْهُمْ رِجْسًا إِلَىٰ رِجْسِهِمْ وَمَاتُوا۟ وَهُمْ كَـٰفِرُونَ
But as for those in whose hearts is disease, it has [only] increased them in evil [in addition] to their evil. And they will have died while they are disbelievers.