Surat at-Tawba ("the Repentance") is the 9th sura of the Qur'an, with 129 ayat. It is one of the latest Madinan suras. It is the only sura of the Qur'an that does not begin with the basmala. Instead, it begins:

9:1,2 A (declaration) of immunity from Allah and His Messenger, to those of the Pagans with whom ye have contracted mutual alliances: Go ye, then, for four months, backwards and forwards, (as ye will), throughout the land, but know ye that ye cannot frustrate Allah (by your falsehood) but that Allah will cover with shame those who reject Him. (Yusuf Ali's translation)

The context of the sura is the battle of Tabuk.

The sura treats the relation of Muslims with non-Muslims: pagans, but also "People of the Book:

9:30 The Jews call 'Uzair a son of Allah, and the Christians call Christ the son of Allah. That is a saying from their mouth; (in this) they but imitate what the unbelievers of old used to say. Allah's curse be on them: how they are deluded away from the Truth!

External links

• Tafsir Ibn Kathir