Al-W¥^idÏ's Asb¥b al-Nuz‰l - The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies ...

Chapter 9: Surah al-Anfal
Abraham prayed for the forgiveness of his father, and here is Muhammad, Allah bless him and give him
peace, praying for the forgiveness of his uncle’. And so they prayed for the forgiveness of the idolaters
until the verse (It is not for the Prophet, and those who believe, to pray for the forgiveness of idolaters)”.
Abu’l-Qasim ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Ahmad al-Harrani informed us> Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn
Nu‘aym> Muhammad ibn Ya‘qub al-Umawi> Bahr ibn Nasr> Ibn Wahb> Ibn Jurayj> Ayyub ibn Hani’>
Masruq ibn al-Ajda‘> ‘Abd Allah ibn Mas‘ud> who said: “The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and
give him peace, went out one day to look at the graveyards and we went out with him. He ordered us
to sit and then proceeded across until he stopped at one particular grave. He spoke to it for a long time
and then the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, wept loudly and we wept for his
weeping. After a while, he came toward us and was met by ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab who asked him: ‘O Messenger
of Allah, what has made you cry, for we also cried and we were also scared’ He came toward us,
sat with us and then said: ‘My weeping made you scared’ We said: ‘Yes, O Messenger of Allah!’ He said:
‘The grave you saw me talking to is the grave of Aminah bint Wahb. I sought permission from my Lord
to visit her and He allowed me to do so. Then, I asked His permission to pray for her forgiveness and He
did not grant it. The words of Allah, exalted is He (It is not for the Prophet, and those who believe, to
pray for the forgiveness of idolaters even though they may be near of kin (to them) after it hath become
clear that they are people of hell-fire. The prayer of Abraham for the forgiveness of his father was only
because of a promise he had promised him…) were revealed and I was seized by the tenderness which a
son has toward his mother. This is the reason why I wept”. 42
(And the believers should not all go out to fight…) [9:122].
Al-Kalbi reported that Ibn ‘Abbas said: “When Allah, exalted is He, revealed the defects of the hypocrites
due to their failure to join Jihad, the believers said: ‘By Allah, we will never fail to join any military
conquest or expedition undertaken by the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace’. So
when the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, ordered the march of military expeditions
to fight the enemy, all the Muslims went out to fight and left the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him
and give him peace, alone in Medina. Allah, exalted is He, then revealed this verse”. 43
42
Durr, : 302-303.
43
Cf. Durr, :322-323; Tabari, :69.
131