Volume 8 Surah 9 - Enjoy Islam

Al-Tawbah (The Repentance) | PROLOGUEBut the Madinah society did not maintain this level of purity despite the spread ofIslam. Many people, especially those who were in positions of influence, felt theyhad to take a similar stand to their people in order to maintain their positions. Whenthe Battle of Badr took place, the leading figure among these, `Abdullāh ibn Ubayyibn Salūl, thought that Islam had established firm roots and could not be easilydislodged. Hence, he pretended to be a Muslim. It was perhaps inevitable that manyaccepted Islam in order to keep abreast of their people. They were not hypocrites, butthey had not fully understood Islam or moulded themselves according to it. Thismeant that the community in Madinah had different levels of commitment to thenew faith.At this point, the unique Islamic method of education began its work under theProphet’s supervision in order to mould these new elements. It aimed to achievecoherence within the Muslim community at the ideological, moral and behaviourallevels.When we read the sūrahs revealed in Madinah, in the approximate order of theirrevelation, we note the great effort that aimed to absorb and remould the newelements in the Muslim community, particularly because there were alwaysnewcomers. This was the case despite the determined opposition of the Quraysh andits attempts to win other Arabian tribes to its side, and despite the wicked designs ofthe Jews and their efforts to marshal hostile forces to the new faith and its advocates.Hence, the effort to bring newcomers to the same level as the elite, for this wasneeded if they were to continue with determination.Nonetheless, weaknesses continued to surface, particularly in times of difficulty.There were indications of hypocrisy, reluctance, unwillingness to make physical orfinancial sacrifices, and a general turning away from danger. There were also signs ofconfusion concerning the relationship between a Muslim and his non-Muslimrelatives. Qur’ānic texts in different sūrahs provide a clear idea of these phenomenaand the method the Qur’ān employed to deal with them. Examples of these texts aregiven below:Just as your Lord brought you forth from your home for the truth, even though someof the believers were averse to it. They would argue with you about the truth even afterit had become manifest, just as if they were being driven to certain death and saw itwith their very eyes. God promised you that one of the two hosts would fall to you. Itwas your wish that the one which was not powerful to be yours, but it was God’s willto establish the truth in accordance with His words and to wipe out the unbelievers.Thus He would certainly establish the truth firmly and show falsehood to be false,however hateful this might be to the evildoers. (8: 5-8)8