'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful'

Tafsir of Surah Muhammad

This surah is Medinan by consensus. However, some people said regarding His saying, the Exalted: ﴿And how many a city that was stronger than your city which expelled you﴾ [Muhammad: 13] that the verse was revealed in Mecca at the time of the Prophet's ﷺ entry into it during the year of the conquest or the year of Hudaybiyyah. Anything like this is counted among the Medinan, because what is considered in that is what was before the Hijrah or after it.

His saying, the Exalted:

﴿Those who disbelieved and hindered [others] from the way of Allah - He has wasted their deeds﴾ ﴿And those who believed and did righteous deeds and believed in what was revealed to Muhammad, which is the truth from their Lord - He will remove from them their misdeeds and improve their condition﴾ ﴿That is because those who disbelieved followed falsehood, and that those who believed followed the truth from their Lord. Thus Allah presents to the people their examples﴾.

His saying, the Exalted: ﴿Those who disbelieved﴾ refers to the people of Mecca who expelled the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. And His saying: ﴿And those who believed﴾ refers to the Ansar, the people of Medina who sheltered him. The verse was revealed concerning both groups, as said by Ibn Abbas and Mujahid. Then it encompasses all who fall under its words.

And His saying, the Exalted: ﴿And hindered [others] from the way of Allah﴾ it is possible that He means the action that is transitive, so the meaning would be: and they hindered others. It is also possible that the action is intransitive, so the meaning would be: and they hindered themselves. And 'the way of Allah' is His Sharia and the path to which He called. And His saying, the Exalted: ﴿He has wasted their deeds﴾ means: He has destroyed them, and He did not make for them a goal of good or benefit. It has been narrated that this verse was revealed after Badr, and that the reference in His saying: ﴿He has wasted their deeds﴾ is to the spending they did in their expedition to Badr. It is said that what is meant by deeds are their good deeds in the days of ignorance, such as maintaining family ties and similar actions, and the wording encompasses all of that.

And the people read: 'Nuzzila' with a dammah on the noon and a shaddah on the zay. Al-Amash read: 'Anzala' with a hamzah. And His saying, the Exalted: ﴿And He improved their condition﴾, Qatadah said: Its meaning is: their state. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, read: He commanded them. Mujahid said: Their affair. The clarification of the interpretation in the wording is that it means the thought and the place where a person reflects, which is the heart. So if that is rectified, his state is rectified. It is as if the wording refers to the rectification of their belief, and other matters of the state are secondary. So your saying: 'It occurred to me such and such' and your saying: 'May Allah improve your condition', the intended meaning in both is one. Al-Mubarrid mentioned this. And 'the condition' is a source like state and affair, and no verb is used from it, and it is also customary that it is not dualized or pluralized. It has come in a plural form, but it is rare; for they said: with tools.

And His saying, exalted is He: "Thus" is an indication to the followers mentioned from the two groups. That is, just as they followed these two paths, so the matter of each group becomes clear. He makes for them a type of saying and a category. The example is taken from [the word] darib and the darab which means type.