Tafsir of At-Tawbah 9:100

(And the foremost, the first of the Emigrants): This is an explanation of the virtues of the noble ones among the Muslims. A group among them is meant here. As reported from Sa'id, Qatadah, Ibn Sirin, and a group [of scholars], they are those who prayed towards the two qiblahs. 'Ata' ibn Rabah said: They are the people of Badr. Al-Sha'bi said: They are the people of the Pledge of Ridwan, which took place at al-Hudaybiyyah. It is also said: They are those who embraced Islam before the migration.

(And the Helpers [al-Ansar]): They are the people of the First Pledge of al-'Aqabah, which took place in the eleventh year of the mission, and they were—according to some reports—seven men; and the people of the Second Pledge of al-'Aqabah, which took place in the twelfth year, and they were seventy men and two women; and those who embraced Islam when Abu Zurarah, Mus'ab ibn 'Umayr ibn Hashim ibn 'Abd Manaf, came to them from the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), as he (peace be upon him) had sent him with the people of the Second 'Aqabah to recite the Qur'an to them and instruct them in the religion.

(And those who followed them with goodness): That is, while being characterized by it, and what is meant is every good quality. They are those who caught up with the "foremost" from both groups, provided that "min" (from) indicates partitive (i.e., a portion of them), or [it refers to] those who followed them in faith and obedience until the Day of Resurrection. Thus, the "foremost" refers to all the Emigrants and the Helpers—may Allah the Exalted be pleased with them. The meaning of them being "foremost" is that they are the first in relation to all other Muslims.

Many people have adopted this view. It is reported from Humayd ibn Ziyad that he said: I said one day to Muhammad ibn Ka'b al-Qurazi, "Will you not tell me about the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) regarding the strife that occurred between them?" He replied: "Allah the Exalted has forgiven all of them and has obligated Paradise for them in His Book—their righteous ones and their sinful ones." I said to him, "In which place did He obligate Paradise for them?" He said, "Subhan Allah! Do you not read His saying—the Exalted—: (And the foremost, the first...) [until the end of the verse]? You will know that He—the Exalted—obligated Paradise and approval for all the Companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him)." I asked, "And what is that condition [for the followers]?" He replied: "He made it a condition upon those who follow them that they follow them 'with goodness,' which is that they imitate them in their good deeds and do not imitate them in anything else." Or it may be said: It is that they follow them with goodness in speech, and that they do not speak ill of them, and that they do not direct criticism at what they initiated. Humayd ibn Ziyad said: "It is as if I had never read this verse before." According to this, the verse contains a level of virtue for the Companions—may Allah be pleased with them—that it did not contain under the first interpretation.

Al-Qutb objected to the previous interpretations of the "foremost of the Emigrants" by noting that praying towards the two qiblahs, witnessing Badr, and the Pledge of Ridwan are shared between the Emigrants and the Helpers. It was answered that those who interpreted it thus intended to specify their "precedence" due to their companionship and their migration for him (peace be upon him) over others from that category.

The Imam chose that the meaning of the "foremost of the Emigrants" is those who were foremost in migration, and of the "foremost of the Helpers" are those who were foremost in providing assistance (Nusrah). He claimed that this is the correct view according to him, and he argued for it by saying that the Exalted mentioned that they were "foremost" without specifying in what they were foremost, so the expression remained general. However, since He—the Exalted—described them as being Emigrants and Helpers, it is known that the intended meaning of "precedence" is precedence in migration and assistance, to remove the ambiguity from the expression. Furthermore, each of migration and assistance, being a burdensome act upon the soul, is a great act of obedience. Whoever initiated it first became a model for others in this obedience, and this was a source of strength for the heart of the Messenger (peace be upon him) and a cause for the removal of loneliness from his noble mind (peace be upon him and blessings). Therefore, Allah the Exalted praised everyone who was foremost in them and established for them what He established. And how could He not, when they believed while the number of Muslims in Mecca and Medina was small and weak? Thus, Islam was strengthened because of them, the number of Muslims increased through their conversion, and his heart (peace be upon him) was strengthened due to their entry into Islam and the imitation of others of them. Their state in that was like the state of one who establishes a good precedent (Sunnah), and in the Tradition: "Whoever establishes a good precedent has its reward and the reward of those who act upon it until the Day of Resurrection," and it is not hidden that this is good.

It is permissible in my view that "the foremost" refers to those who were foremost in believing in Allah and the Last Day and in taking what they spend as means of approach [to Allah], and the indicator for that is apparent. In any case, "the foremost" is the subject (Mubtada'), and its predicate is His saying—the Exalted—: (Allah is pleased with them), meaning by accepting their obedience and approving their deeds, (and they are pleased with Him) due to what they attained of blessings of high standing. Abu al-Baqa' permitted that the predicate be "the first" or "from the Emigrants," and that "the foremost" be a conjunction to "whoever believes," meaning: "And among them are the foremost." What we have mentioned is the most apparent of the aspects.

It is reported from 'Umar—may Allah the Exalted be pleased with him—that he recited "(and the Helpers)" in the nominative case (al-Ansar), as being conjoined to "the foremost."

Abu 'Ubaydah, Ibn Jarir, Ibn al-Mundhir, and others narrated from 'Amr ibn 'Amir al-Ansari that 'Umar—may Allah the Exalted be pleased with him—used to recite it by omitting the 'waw' in (and those who followed them), so that the relative pronoun would be an adjective for the Helpers. Zayd even said to him, "It is with a 'waw'." He said, "Bring me Ubayy ibn Ka'b." So he was brought to him, and he asked him about that. He said, "It is with a 'waw'," so he followed him.

Abu al-Shaykh narrated from Abu Usamah and Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Taymi that they said: 'Umar ibn al-Khattab passed by a man reading "(and those)" with the 'waw', and said, "Who taught you this?" He said, "Ubayy." He took him to him and said, "O Abu al-Mundhir, this man informs me that you taught him this way." Ubayy said, "He speaks the truth; I learned it exactly like that from the mouth of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)." 'Umar said, "You learned it exactly like that from the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)?" He said, "Yes." He repeated it to him, and the third time—being angry—he said, "Yes, by Allah! Allah revealed it to Gabriel (peace be upon him), and Gabriel revealed it to the heart of Muhammad (peace be upon him), and He did not ask al-Khattab nor his son for counsel regarding it." 'Umar went out raising his hands and saying, "Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar!"

In a report also extracted by Abu al-Shaykh from Muhammad ibn Ka'b, Ubayy—may Allah be pleased with him—said to 'Umar—may Allah be pleased with him—: "The confirmation of this verse is at the beginning of [Surah] al-Jumu'ah: (And others of them...), and in the middle of [Surah] al-Hashr: (And those who came after them...), and at the end of [Surah] al-Anfal: (And those who believed afterwards...)," etc. His intention—may he be pleased with him—was that these verses indicate that the "followers" are other than the Helpers.

It is contained therein that 'Umar—may Allah be pleased with him—said: "I used to think that we had attained a loftiness that no one would reach after us." He intended the exclusiveness of precedence for the Emigrants. The apparent precedence of the Emigrants over the Helpers suggests that they are superior to them, which is what the story of the Saqifah indicates. Yet, there have come regarding the virtue of the Helpers [reports] that are uncountable. Among them is what the Two Sheikhs (Bukhari and Muslim) and others extracted from Anas, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "The sign of faith is love for the Helpers, and the sign of hypocrisy is hatred for the Helpers."

Al-Tabarani extracted from al-Sa'ib ibn Yazid that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) distributed the spoils that Allah the Exalted bestowed at Hunayn among the people of Mecca from Quraish and others, and the Helpers became angry. He came to them and said: "O assembly of Helpers, word has reached me regarding your talk about these spoils with which I favored some people to reconcile them to Islam, in hope that they might testify after today, and Allah the Exalted has already placed Islam in their hearts." Then he said: "O assembly of Islam, did Allah the Exalted not favor you with faith, distinguish you with honor, and name you with the best of names: Helpers of Allah the Exalted and Helpers of His Messenger (peace be upon him)? Were it not for the migration, I would be a man of the Helpers. If the people walked in a valley and you walked in a valley, I would walk in your valley. Are you not pleased that the people go away with these spoils—camels and sheep—and you go away with the Messenger of Allah?" They said, "We are pleased." The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "Answer me regarding what I said." They said, "O Messenger of Allah, you found us in darkness, and Allah brought us out to the light through you. You found us on the edge of a pit of fire, and Allah saved us through you. You found us astray, and Allah the Exalted guided us through you. So we are pleased with Allah the Exalted as a Lord, with Islam as a religion, and with Muhammad (peace be upon him) as a Prophet." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "If you had answered me with other than this statement, I would have said: 'You speak the truth.' If you had said, 'Did you not come to us as a fugitive, and we sheltered you? And as a denier, and we believed in you? And as abandoned, and we helped you? And we accepted what the people rejected of you,' you would have spoken the truth." They said, "Rather, to Allah the Exalted and His Messenger belong the favor and the grace upon us and upon others." Look at how the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) spoke to them, and how they answered him—may Allah be pleased with them.

(And He has prepared for them gardens underneath which rivers flow), meaning He has readied that for them in the Hereafter. Ibn Kathir recited "(underneath it)" (singular pronoun), and most of what came in the Qur'an corresponds to this recitation. (Abiding therein forever) without end. (That is the great success), meaning there is no success beyond it. The "that" (Dhalika)—the meaning of distance in it—is said to be to clarify their station in virtue and their greatness of degree.

[Regarding the phrase] "from the believing Bedouins": It is not hidden that this is barely correct except with effort, if it is intended that those who followed them are a category other than the Companions. For the manifest meaning is that the believing Bedouins are Companions, and no non-Companion surpasses a Companion, as indicated by his saying (peace be upon him): "Do not revile my Companions, for if one of you were to spend the equivalent of Mount Uhud in gold, it would not reach a mudd of one of them, nor even half of it," and his saying (peace be upon him): "My nation is like rain; it is not known whether its beginning is better or its end," [which is meant] as a form of hyperbole.