There are some among them who talk ill of the Prophet by saying: "He listens to everyone." Tell them: "He listens for your good, and trusts in God and trusts the faithful, and he is a blessing for those who believe. For those who offend the Apostle of God there is painful punishment."
61
Tafseer
'Abdullāh Ibn 'Abbās / Muḥammad al-Fīrūzabādī
تفسير : (and of them) of the hypocrites: judham ibn khalid, iyyas ibn qays, sammak ibn yazid and 'ubayd ibn malik (are those who vex the prophet) by slandering and vilifying him (and say) to one another: (he is only a hearer) he listens to us and believes us when we tell him we have not said anything against you. (say) to them, o muhammad: (a hearer of good) and not evil (for you) i.e. he listens to you and believes what is good rather than believes that you are lying; it is also said that this means: if he is a hearer, then it is good for you, (who believeth in allah) he believes in the word of allah (and is true to the believers) and he believes the word of sincere believers, (and a mercy) preventing from torment (for such of you as believe) both inwardly and outwardly. (those who vex the messenger of allah) by not joining him at the battle of tabuk. the reference here is to jallas ibn suwayd, sammak ibn 'amr, mikhsha' ibn humayr and their host, (for them there is a painful doom) in the life of this world and in the hereafter.
Jalāl al-Dīn al-Maḥallī
تفسير : and of them, the hypocrites, are those who injure the prophet, by casting aspersions on him and communicating [to others] what he says [in confidence], saying, when they are forbidden from [doing] this, lest it should reach him: ‘he is only a listener!’, that is, he listens to anything that is said, and accepts it, so that when we swear to him that we have not communicated [to others] a particular thing, he believes us. say, he is, ‘a listener, who listens, to good for you, and not one who listens to evil, one who believes in god and has faith, he trusts, in the believers, in what they inform him, and not in others (the lām [of li’l-mu’minīna, ‘in the believers’] has been added to distinguish between belief in the sense of ‘submitting [to god]’ (islām), and in other senses [such as ‘trusting’]) and who is a mercy (read rahmatun, in the nominative, as a supplement to udhunun, ‘a listener’, or rahmatin, in the genitive, as a supplement to khayrin, ‘to good’) to those of you who believe. those who injure god’s messenger, for them there is a painful chastisement’.
Ali ibn Ahmad al-Wahidi
تفسير : (and of them are those who vex the prophet and say: he is only a hearer…) [9:61-62].
this was revealed about a group of hypocrites who used to harm the messenger of allah, allah bless him and give him peace, by saying about him things that should not be said. one of them said: “do not do this, for we fear that what we say might reach him and he will punish us”. al-julas ibn suwayd said: “we will say whatever we wish to say and when we go to him he will believe whatever we tell him, for muhammad is nothing but a hearer”, and so allah, exalted is he, revealed this verse.
muhammad ibn ishaq ibn yasar and others said: “this verse was revealed about one hypocrite whose name is nabtal ibn al-harith. this man was dark-skinned, red-eyed, burned in the cheeks and deformed. it is this man about whom the prophet, allah bless him and give him peace, said: ‘whoever wants to look at the devil, let him look at nabtal ibn al-harith’. this man was a tale-bearer; he related the words of the prophet, allah bless him and give him peace, to the hypocrites. and when he was told to stop doing this, he said: ‘indeed, muhammad is but a hearer, he believes everything that people tell him. we say whatever we like and then we go to him and swear that we never said it and he believes us’. and so allah, exalted is he, revealed this verse”.
al-suddi said: “a group of hypocrites, including julas ibn suwayd ibn al-samit and wadi‘ah ibn thabit, gathered and wanted to speak ill of the prophet, allah bless him and give him peace. they had with them a boy from the helpers by the name of ‘amir ibn qays. these hypocrites mocked the prophet and then spoke and said ‘by allah, if what muhammad says is true, then we are worse than asses’. the boy got angry and said: ‘by allah, what muhammad says is true and you are worse than asses’. the boy then went to the prophet, allah bless him and give him peace, and informed him about what they said. the prophet summoned them and when he asked them they swore that ‘amir was a liar. ‘amir also swore that they were liars. ‘amir then prayed: ‘o allah, do not make us disperse until you show who is lying and who s telling the truth’. and so this verse was revealed about them (and of them are those who vex the prophet and say: he is only a hearer) and he also revealed (they swear by allah to you (muslims) to please you…) [9:62]”.
