Surah At-Tawba (9) — Ayah 1

This entire surah is Madinan, which was revealed after the conquest of Makkah in 9 AH. Since the events mentioned in Surah Tawbah and Anfal are similar to each other, these two surahs have been treated as one surah, and "Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Raheem" is not written between them. This is the seventh surah among the Sab‘ Tiwal (the seven long surahs), about which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: [ مَنْ أَخَذَ السَّبْعَ الْأَوَلَ مِنَ الْقُرْآنِ فَهُوَ حَبْرٌ ] "Whoever has acquired these first seven surahs of the Qur’an has become a great scholar." [ أحمد : 82/6، ح : ۲۴۵۸۵، عن عائشۃ رضی اللہ عنہا]

It has several names, among which one is "Tawbah" and another is "Bara’ah." It is called "Tawbah" because at one place in it, the repentance of some believers is mentioned as being accepted, and "Bara’ah" because at its beginning, a declaration of disassociation from the polytheists is made. Besides this, it is also called "Surah al-Fadihah," meaning the surah that exposes (the hypocrites). "Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Raheem" is not written at the beginning of this surah; the commentators have mentioned several reasons for this, such as that in it there is the command to sever ties with the polytheists and, if they do not become Muslim, to kill them, and in the case of the People of the Book, to continue fighting them if they do not become Muslim or do not pay jizyah, etc. However, the most reasonable and straightforward explanation is that since the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not have "Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Raheem" written at its beginning, the noble Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) did not write it either.

(Ayah 1){ بَرَآءَةٌ مِّنَ اللّٰهِ وَ رَسُوْلِهٖۤ …:} In this verse, Allah Almighty announced the abrogation of all those treaties that the Muslims had made with the polytheists. The reason for abrogation was that the polytheists repeatedly broke these agreements and did not fulfill their conditions, especially when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) went to Tabuk after the conquest of Makkah. The disbelievers thought that the Muslims would be destroyed in the face of the power of the Romans, so they did not honor any agreement made with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and the Muslims, nor any mutual kinship. Allah said: «لَا يَرْقُبُوْنَ فِيْ مُؤْمِنٍ اِلًّا وَّ لَا ذِمَّةً» [ التوبۃ : ۱۰ ] "They do not respect any kinship or covenant concerning a believer." And He said: «اَلَا تُقَاتِلُوْنَ قَوْمًا نَّكَثُوْۤا اَيْمَانَهُمْ » [ التوبۃ : ۱۳ ] "Will you not fight a people who broke their oaths?" But look at the special grace of Allah Almighty, that instead of suddenly attacking and destroying these polytheists, first the abrogation of all treaties was announced in the largest gathering in the world. In 9 AH, under the leadership of Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him), on the day of Hajj, the tenth of Dhul-Hijjah, the Day of Sacrifice, in the plain of Mina, in the presence of people from all over the world, this announcement was made, and several people were appointed who reached every place in this gathering and made this announcement in a loud voice. The reason why the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not go for Hajj himself that year was that only after this announcement was the entry of polytheists into Makkah prohibited and their shameless customs ended.