Volume 8 Surah 9 - Enjoy Islam

Al-Tawbah (The Repentance) | THE EARTH’S SUFFOCATING EXPANSEhonour of conveying this message, earn God’s pleasure and admittance into heaven.The sūrah then addresses the Prophet, showing him what attitude to take whenpeople turn away from him and his message. It points to the source of power whichgives him all the protection he needs: “Should they turn away, then say to them: ‘God isenough for me! There is no deity other than Him. In Him have I placed my trust. He is theLord of the Mighty Throne.’” (Verse 129) To Him belong all power, dominion,greatness and honour. His support is sufficient for everyone who seeks Hispatronage.The sūrah which concentrates mainly on fighting and striving for God’s cause isthus concluded with the directive to rely on God alone, trust Him and seek Hispowerful support. After all “He is the Lord of the Mighty Throne.” (Verse 129)ConclusionThis sūrah outlines the final rulings on the permanent relations between theMuslim community and the outside world, as explained in our commentary on itsvarious passages. Hence we have to refer to its latest statements since these representthe final say on these relations. These statements must not be restricted or narroweddown in their applicability on the basis of earlier statements and rulings, which wedescribed as provisional. In doing so, we have relied on the chronological order ofthe revelation of these verses and statements, and on the progress of the Islamicmovement at the time of the Prophet, as well as the events marking that progress.We have also been guided by our understanding of the nature of the Islamicmessage and its method of action which we have explained in our presentation of thesūrah and our commentary on its verses. This method of action is only understood bythose who deal with this faith of Islam as a movement striving to establish itself inhuman life. As we have explained, the goal of that striving is to liberate mankindfrom submission to others so that they submit to God alone.There is a wide gap between an understanding based on active striving and onebased on academic study which is bound to ignore action. The first type ofunderstanding looks at Islam as it conducts its direct confrontation with the system ofjāhiliyyah, taking one step after another and moving from one stage to the next. It alsolooks at it as it proclaims its legislation to deal with the changing situation in itsconfrontation.Moreover, these final laws and verdicts outlined in this last sūrah were actuallyrevealed when the general situation of the Muslim community and the world aroundit required such legislation. Prior to that, when the situation required differentrulings, these were given in earlier sūrahs to serve as provisional rulings.251