Surah At-Tawbah

التوبة

Surah 9 · Madani · 129 ayahs · Juz 10–11 · pages 187–207 · 16 rukus

Revealed: Madani
Ayahs: 129
Juz: 10–11
Mushaf pages: 187–207
Words: 2,498
Order revealed: 113th (according to Ibn Abbas)
Year: 22nd year of Prophethood (9th Year Hijri)
Prophets named: Nuh, Ibrahim

About Surah At-Tawbah (009)

The basic subjects of the Surah are: The non-believers who broke their treaties, Muslims have no obligation to honour treaties with them. Muslims…

The basic subjects of the Surah are: The non-believers who broke their treaties, Muslims have no obligation to honour treaties with them. Muslims must protect themselves from hypocrisy, weak faith and negligence. Love of this world compared to the love of Jihad. Battle of Tabuk and its lessons.

The name of the Surah, at-Tawbah is derived from ت و بand it occurs 87 times in the Quran. Interestingly, this Surah has the highest usage of the words derived from ت و بcompared to all other Surahs – it is used 17 times.

In Ayat 118, occurs the case of the three companions whom Allah turned to and accepted their tawbah (repentance) to Him – those who had abstained from joining the Jihad at the Battle of Tabuk.

This is the only Surah of the Qur’an to which “In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious Most Merciful” is not prefixed. Though the commentators have given different reasons for this; namely this is because the Prophet ﷺhimself did not dictate it at the beginning of the Surah. Therefore, the Companions did not prefix it and their successors followed them. This is a further proof of the fact that utmost care has been taken to keep the Qur’an intact so that it should remain in its complete and original form.

Sections

Proclamation that the Treaty of Hudaibiyah is cancelled.
Honour the treaties with those who honour them. Fight with those who have broken the treaty.
Mushrikin are forbidden to be the caretakers of the Masjid al-Haram.
Muslims should trust Allah, not just their numbers.
Jews and Christians also committed Shirk. Command to spend in the path of Allah. The correct number of months.
The Tabuk expedition.
Those who stayed behind and did not participate in the Battle of Tabuk, hypocrites and weak in faith.
The proper distribution of charity. Those who speak ill of the Prophet ﷺor make fun of Allah and His Book.
The hypocrite men and women.

This surah is published a ruku at a time — the Quran's own reading portion — so each page stays short enough to study properly. Pick where you want to begin.

The 16 rukus of Surah At-Tawbah

Each ruku is a reading portion. This is what each one covers — click any line to open it.

Ruku	What it covers	Ayahs
1	Proclamation to dissolve the "Treaty of Hudaibiyah."	1–6
2	Commandment of Allah to honor the treaty so long as the unbelievers honor it If the unbelievers violate the treaty, then fight against their ringleaders	7–16
3	Mushrikeen are forbidden to be the caretakers of Masâjid Service to pilgrims is not equal to true belief in Allah, the Last Day, and Jihâd Do not take your fathers and brothers as your friends if they prefer Kufr (unbelief) over Imân (belief)	17–24
4	Allah's help is with the quality and not the quantity of the believers Prohibition of Mushrikeen from entering Masjid-al-Harâm	25–29
5	The mushrikeen are the Jews and Christians who call Ezra and Jesus the sons of God Do not be like Rabbis and Priests who misappropriate the wealth of people The number of months in the book of Allah is 12, of which 4 are sacred	30–37
6	Allah's order to bear arms against the unbelievers, if necessary	38–42
7	Those who do not participate in Jihâd are hypocrites Excuses of the hypocrites for not bearing arms against the unbelievers	43–59
8	Categories for the distribution of Zakah The order of Allah not to molest the Prophet End of those who oppose Allah and the Prophet Punishment for those who make fun of the religion	60–66
9	Hypocritical actions and their punishment Believers' actions and their rewards	67–72
10	Allah's order to make Jihâd against hypocrites and unbelievers Behavior of the hypocrites	73–80
11	The hypocrites did not join the war against the unbelievers Prohibition of offering Funeral prayer for the hypocrites	81–89
12	Genuine exemptions from the battlefront Those who make excuses to avoid serving in armed struggle for the cause of Allah when needed, are hypocrites	90–99
13	Categories of hypocrites Commandment for the collection of Zakah The hypocrites built a Masjid , called "Masjid-e-Zirâr," for mischievous motives	100–110
14	Allah has purchased the persons and wealth of the Believers in lieu of granting them the Do not seek forgiveness for the Mushrikeen Allah forgave those three who lagged behind but were sincere	111–118
15	Believers are those who prefer the life of the Rasool over their own Requirement of obtaining understanding of religion	119–122
16	Fight the disbelievers and be aware that Allah is with pious Qur'anic verses do increase the faith of the believers Character of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) A prayer taught by Allah	123–129

Key words of Surah At-Tawbah

Arabic builds its words from a three-letter root; change the pattern around the root and the meaning changes with it. These are the roots this surah keeps returning to, and the words built on each — every word links to the ayah it sits in. More in the Grammar Guide.

Root	Times	Words in this surah
اله	172	اللَّهِAllah فَاللَّهُBut Allah
امن	45	مَأْمَنَهُTo his place of safety مُؤْمِنٍA believer مُؤْمِنِينَBelievers
كون	36	يَكُونُCan there be كَانُواThey used to كُنْتُمْYou are
رسل	35	وَرَسُولِهِAnd his messenger رَسُولِهِHis messenger الرَّسُولِThe messenger
علم	32	وَاعْلَمُواBut know فَاعْلَمُواThen know يَعْلَمُونَWho do not know
كفر	31	الْكَافِرِينَThe disbelievers كَفَرُواDisbelieve الْكُفْرِOf [the] disbelief
قوم	30	وَأَقَامُواAnd establish قَوْمٌAre a people اسْتَقَامُواThey are upright
قول	30	قُلْSay وَقَالَتِAnd said قَوْلُهُمْIs their saying
اسس	3	أُسِّسَFounded
الل	2	إِلًّاOf kinship
هور	2	هَارٍAbout to collapse فَانْهَارَSo it collapsed
كسد	1	كَسَادَهَاA decline in it

Introduction and themes from The Qur’an Companion (Qur’an Wiki), Institute of Qur’anic Studies, reproduced unchanged. Key roots are their selection; every word, meaning and count shown here is from ILMHUB’s own Quran database.

Published 21 August 2026