Tafsir of At-Tawbah 9:113

"It is not for the Prophet" (i.e., it is not sound in the judgment of Allah the Almighty and His wisdom, nor is it fitting for the Prophet) "and those who have believed" (in Allah the Almighty in the commanded manner) "to ask forgiveness for the polytheists, even if they were" (i.e., the polytheists) "near relatives" (i.e., possessors of kinship to them). The response to "even if" is omitted because what precedes it indicates it, and the clause is conjoined to another preceding clause that has been omitted according to a consistent pattern; that is, "even if they were not near relatives, and even if they were so," "after it has become clear to them" (i.e., to the Prophet, peace be upon him, and the believers) "that they" (the polytheists) "are the companions of Hellfire" (113) (by having died in a state of disbelief, or by divine revelation having descended that their hearts are sealed and they shall not believe at all).

In this is proof of the validity of seeking forgiveness for the living among them who are not definitively known to have had their hearts sealed. The objective in their regard is to request their success toward faith. It has been said that this necessitates that by way of implication, so it cannot be said: "There is no benefit in seeking forgiveness for the disbeliever."

According to the most correct view, the verse was revealed concerning Abu Talib. Ahmad, Ibn Abi Shaybah, Al-Bukhari, Muslim, An-Nasa'i, Ibn Jarir, Ibn al-Mundhir, Al-Bayhaqi in Ad-Dala'il, and others extracted from Al-Musayyab ibn Hazn that he said: "When death approached Abu Talib, the Prophet, peace be upon him, entered upon him while Abu Jahl and Abdullah ibn Abi Umayyah were with him. The Prophet, peace be upon him, said: 'O my uncle, say: "There is no god but Allah," so that I may plead for you with it before Allah.' Abu Jahl and Abdullah ibn Abi Umayyah said: 'O Abu Talib, will you turn away from the religion of Abdul-Muttalib?' The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, kept presenting it to him, and Abu Jahl and Abdullah kept repeating that statement to him, until the last thing Abu Talib said to them was: 'He is upon the religion of Abdul-Muttalib,' and he refused to say: 'There is no god but Allah.' The Prophet, peace be upon him, said: 'I will surely seek forgiveness for you as long as I am not forbidden from doing so,' then the verse descended: 'It is not for the Prophet...'

Al-Husayn ibn al-Fadl considered this unlikely, because Abu Talib’s death occurred about three years before the Hijrah, and this Surah is among the last to be revealed in Medina. Al-Wahidi said: "This questioning of the timing is itself questionable." For what harm is there in saying that he, peace be upon him, continued to seek forgiveness for Abu Talib from that time until the revelation of the verse? For the severity against the polytheists only appeared in this Surah. The author of At-Taqrib mentioned something similar. According to this, the phrase "then it was revealed" in the report does not imply that the revelation was immediately consecutive to the statement, but rather that it was the cause of the revelation; the fa here is for causality, not for sequence. Many of the leading scholars have relied upon this interpretation, and it is a sound interpretation, except that it is challenged by what Ibn Sa'd and Ibn 'Asakir extracted from Ali, may Allah the Almighty ennoble his face, who said: "I informed the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, of the death of Abu Talib, and he wept. He said: 'Go, wash him, shroud him, and bury him; may Allah forgive him and have mercy upon him.' I did so, and the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, continued to seek forgiveness for him for days, not leaving his house, until Gabriel, peace be upon him, descended with this verse: 'It is not for the Prophet...'"

This is apparent in that the revelation was before the Hijrah, because the "not leaving the house" suggests a state of mourning. Unless, of course, one says the hadith is weak, but we have not seen anyone who has criticized it. The better answer regarding the original difficulty is to say that the fact that this Surah is among the last to be revealed is based on the majority, as previously mentioned, so it does not negate the revelation of some parts of it in Mecca. Thus, the verse serves as evidence that Abu Talib died a disbeliever, which is the well-known position of the Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama'ah.

Ibn Ishaq narrated in his Sirah from Al-Abbas ibn Abdullah ibn Ma'bad from some of his family from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both, in a long report, that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said to Abu Talib during his final illness, while he still hoped for his [conversion]: "O my uncle, you yourself, say it," meaning La ilaha illa Allah, "so that I may make intercession lawful for you on the Day of Resurrection." He, peace be upon him, urged him with that, and Abu Talib said: "By Allah, O son of my brother, were it not for the fear of shame upon you and the sons of your father after me, and that Quraish would think I said it out of fear of death, I would have said it. I do not say it except to delight you." When death drew near to Abu Talib, Al-Abbas watched him moving his lips and leaned his ear toward him, then said: "O son of my brother, my brother has indeed said the word which you commanded him to say." The Prophet, peace be upon him, said: "I did not hear it."

The Shia have used this, along with his [Abu Talib's] verses of poetry containing acknowledgment of the truthfulness of what he [the Prophet] brought, and the intensity of his affection for him and his support of him, peace be upon him, to argue that he died a believer. They said this is what is narrated from the Ahl al-Bayt (the Prophet's household), and the Ahl al-Bayt know best. You know the strength of the evidence of the collective body of scholars; therefore, relying upon what is narrated from Ibn Abbas—in contrast to what the bereaved mother laughs at—is weak. The verses, despite the broken chains of their narration, do not contain the utterance of the two testimonies of faith, which is the axis upon which the sphere of faith rotates. The intensity of affection and support is something no one denies, but it is far removed from the matter at hand. The reports of the Shia from the Ahl al-Bayt are weaker than a spider's web, and it is the weakest of houses.

Yes, it is not appropriate for a believer to dwell on this, just as one does not dwell on the rest of the polytheists of Quraish, such as Abu Jahl and his ilk. For he [Abu Talib] has a merit over them due to the good deeds he performed toward the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him. It has been narrated that this will benefit him in the Hereafter; so will it not benefit him in this world by refraining from [vile speech regarding him] and not treating him as one would treat other polytheists? It is narrated from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri that he heard the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, say, when his uncle was mentioned in his presence: "Perhaps my intercession will benefit him on the Day of Resurrection, so he will be placed in a shallow pool of fire." In another narration, it is said that it was asked of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him: "Your uncle Abu Talib used to protect you and support you, so will that benefit him?" He said: "Yes, I found him in the depths of the Fire and brought him out to a shallow pool of fire."

Abusing him is, in my view, highly reprehensible, especially if it involves harming any of the descendants of Ali, for it has been transmitted: "Do not harm the living because of the dead." It is part of the excellence of a man's Islam that he leaves that which does not concern him.

Some have claimed that the verse was revealed regarding something else. Al-Bayhaqi extracted in Ad-Dala'il and others from Ibn Mas'ud who said: "The Prophet, peace be upon him, went out one day to the graveyards, and he came until he sat by one of the graves. He communed with it at length, then he wept, and we wept because of his weeping. Then he stood and prayed two units of prayer. Umar rose and called him, then he called us and said: 'What made you weep?' We said: 'We wept because of his [the deceased's] weeping, and [he said] he did not give me permission, and there was revealed to me: It is not for the Prophet... and there took me what takes a child for a mother—tenderness—and that is what made me weep.'"

It is not hidden that the correct [opinion] regarding the cause of revelation is the first one. Yes, the report about seeking permission to ask forgiveness for his mother, peace be upon him, and not being granted permission came in a correct narration, but it does not state that this was the cause of the revelation. Muslim, Ahmad, Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah, and An-Nasa'i extracted from Abu Hurayrah who said: "The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, came to his mother's grave and wept, and he made those around him weep. He, peace be upon him, said: 'I sought permission from my Lord to ask forgiveness for her, but He did not grant me permission, and I sought permission to visit her grave, and He granted me permission. So visit the graves, for they remind you of death.'" Some have used this report and its like as evidence that his mother, peace be upon him, is among those for whom forgiveness is not to be sought, and there is a famous dispute among scholars regarding that. Perhaps the opportunity will arise to verify the truth of it, if Allah the Almighty wills.