Quran Quote  :  Believers! Obey Allah and His Messenger and do not turn away from him after you hear his command. - 8:20

Quran-48:11 Surah Al-fath English Translation,Transliteration and Tafsir(Tafseer).

سَيَقُولُ لَكَ ٱلۡمُخَلَّفُونَ مِنَ ٱلۡأَعۡرَابِ شَغَلَتۡنَآ أَمۡوَٰلُنَا وَأَهۡلُونَا فَٱسۡتَغۡفِرۡ لَنَاۚ يَقُولُونَ بِأَلۡسِنَتِهِم مَّا لَيۡسَ فِي قُلُوبِهِمۡۚ قُلۡ فَمَن يَمۡلِكُ لَكُم مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ شَيۡـًٔا إِنۡ أَرَادَ بِكُمۡ ضَرًّا أَوۡ أَرَادَ بِكُمۡ نَفۡعَۢاۚ بَلۡ كَانَ ٱللَّهُ بِمَا تَعۡمَلُونَ خَبِيرَۢا

Transliteration:( Sa yaqoolu lakal mukhal lafoona minal-A'raabi shaighalatnaaa amwaalunaa wa ahloonaa fastaghfir lanaa; yaqooloona bi alsinatihim maa laisa fee quloobihim; qul famany yamliku lakum minal laahi shai'an in araada bikum darran aw araada bikum naf'aa; bal kaanal laahu bimaa ta'maloona Khabeeraa )

11. The desert Arabs (Bedouins) who were left bebind (26) will say to you: "Our properties and our families (27) kept us busy. Therefore you ask forgiveness(28) for us." They say with their tongues that which is not in their hearts (29). Please declare! "Who has any prevailing power for you against Allah, if He desires (30) to harm you or if He intends good for you." In fact. Allah is aware of your doings. (Kanzul Imaan Translation)

(11) Those who remained behind[1510] of the bedouins will say to you, "Our properties and our families occupied us, so ask forgiveness for us." They say with their tongues what is not within their hearts. Say, "Then who could prevent Allāh at all if He intended for you harm or intended for you benefit? Rather, ever is Allāh, of what you do, Aware. (Saheen International Translation)

Surah Al-Fath Ayat 11 Tafsir (Commentry)



  • Tafseer-e-Naeemi (Ahmad Yaar Khan)
  • Ibn Kathir
  • Ala-Madudi
  • Shaheen International

26. Reason for its revelation:

When the Holy Prophet departed in the year of Hudaibiyya for Makkah with the intention of performing Umrah, the neighboring tribes in Madina Ghaffar. Muzayyinah. Jaheena. Ashj's Adam tc. did not accompany the Holy Prophet to Makkah due to fear of the Quraish of Makkah. They stayed behind under the pretext. They thought that a battle would definitely ensue in which no believer would be saved. This verse was revealed regarding these people. It should be remembered that Allah Almighty did not allow the hypocrites and people with weak faith to participate in the Bai'atur Ridwaan. Only sincere and faithful Companions took part in it.

27. This means our women and children were left alone without anyone to care for them. For this reason, we did not go with you.

28. From this, we understand that offering a prayer is different to showing kindness to someone. By taking someone's dua is to render such good service to a person who would automatically utter words of prayer for you. An example of this is when the sons of Yaqub (On whom be peace) made their father happy and then said: "Oh our father, beg forgiveness for our sins" (S12:V97).

Allah Almighty is informing him about them beforehand. It should be remembered that in this verse mention is made to pray for the hypocrites and the weak, but not of rendering any service to them. It is no great thing to make dua for someone.

Wherever the Holy QURAN shows negation of acceptance of the Holy Prophet's those duas, which he was made to offer.

29. This means that the outer action of these people is different from what they harbor in their hearts. They're not going with the Messenger of Allah (Peace be with him) not due to fear of their families, but out of fear for the infidels of Makkah.

They had no trust in the dream This tells us that not trusting the information and dreams is the Holy Prophet is a practice of the hypocrites.

30. What it means is that if your wealth and children were to be to calamity, then you would not have been able to overcome these by staying in Madina Munawwarah, but if the calamity was not meant to come, by you going they would not have been destroyed. Then why did you deprive yourselves of such a lofty blessing i.e not participating in Bai'atur Ridwaan?

11. The desert Arabs (Bedouins) who were left bebind (26) will say to you: "Our properties and our families (27) kept us busy. Therefore you ask forgiveness(28) for us." They say with their tongues that which is not in their hearts (29). Please declare! "Who has any prevailing power for you against Allah, if He desires (30) to harm you or if He intends good for you." In fact. Allah is aware of your doings.

Ibn-Kathir

11. Those of the bedouins who lagged behind will say to you: “Our possessions and our families occupied us, so ask forgiveness for us.” They say with their tongues what is not in their hearts. Say: “Who then has any power at all (to intervene) on your behalf with Allah, if He intends you hurt or intends you benefit Nay, but Allah is Aware of what you do. 12. Nay, but you thought that the Messenger and the believers would never return to their families, and that was made fair seeming in your hearts, and you did think an evil thought and you became a Bura.” 13. And whosoever does not believe in Allah and His Messenger, then verily, We have prepared for the disbelievers a blazing Fire. 14. And to Allah belongs the sovereignty of the heavens and the earth. He forgives whom He wills, and punishes whom He wills. And Allah is Forgiving, Most Merciful.


The Fabricated Excuse offered by Those Who lagged behind and did not participate in Al-Hudaybiyyah

Allah informs His Messenger of the excuses that the bedouins who lagged behind would offer him, those bedouins who preferred to remain in their homes and possessions and did not join the Messenger of Allah . They offered an excuse for lagging behind, as that of being busy — in their homes and with their wealth! They asked the Messenger of Allah to invoke Allah to forgive them, not because they had faith in the Prophet and his invocation, but to show off and pretend. This is why Allah the Exalted said about them,

﴿يَقُولُونَ بِأَلْسِنَتِهِمْ مَّا لَيْسَ فِى قُلُوبِهِمْ قُلْ فَمَن يَمْلِكُ لَكُمْ مِّنَ اللَّهِ شَيْئاً إِنْ أَرَادَ بِكُمْ ضَرّاً أَوْ أَرَادَ بِكُمْ نَفْعاً﴾

(They say with their tongues what is not in their hearts. Say: “Who then has any power at all (to intervene) on your behalf with Allah, if He intends you hurt or intends you benefit”) Allah says, none can resist what Allah has decided in your case, all praise and honor belong to Him. Allah is the Knower of your secrets and what your hearts conceal, even if you pretend and choose to be hypocritical with us. This is why Allah the Exalted said,

﴿بَلْ كَانَ اللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيراً﴾

(Nay, but Allah is Ever All-Aware of what you do.) then He said,

﴿بَلْ ظَنَنْتُمْ أَن لَّن يَنقَلِبَ الرَّسُولُ وَالْمُؤْمِنُونَ إِلَى أَهْلِيهِمْ أَبَداً﴾

(Nay, but you thought that the Messenger and the believers would never return to their families,) `for your lagging behind was not an excusable act or just a sin. Rather, your lagging behind was because of hypocrisy and because you thought that the Muslims would be killed to the extent of extermination, their lives would be extinguished and none of them will ever come back,’

﴿وَظَنَنتُمْ ظَنَّ السَّوْءِ وَكُنتُمْ قَوْماً بُوراً﴾

(and you did think an evil thought and you became a people Bur) going for destruction, according to `Abdullah bin `Abbas, Mujahid and several others. Qatadah explained Bur to mean, corrupt and some said that it is a word used in the Arabic dialect of the area of Oman. Allah the Exalted then said,

﴿وَمَن لَّمْ يُؤْمِن بِاللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ﴾

(And whosoever does not believe in Allah and His Messenger,) Allah states here that whoever does not purify his actions outwardly and inwardly for Allah’s sake, then Allah the Exalted will punish him in the Blazing Fire, even if he pretends to show people that he follows the faith, contradicting his true creed. Allah the Exalted then states that He is the Only Authority, King and Owner Who has full control over the residents of the heavens and earth,

﴿يَغْفِرُ لِمَن يَشَآءُ وَيُعَذِّبُ مَن يَشَآءُ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ غَفُوراً رَّحِيماً﴾

(He forgives whom He wills, and punishes whom He wills. And Allah is Forgiving, Most Merciful.) with those who repent, return and submit to Him with humiliation.

(48:11) (O Prophet), the bedouins who were left behind say to you:[20] “We were occupied with our goods and families. So ask forgiveness for us.” They say with their tongues what is not in their hearts.[21] Say to them: “Who can be of any avail to you against Allah if He should intend to cause you any harm or confer upon you any benefit?” Allah is well aware of all that you do.[22]

Ala-Maududi

(48:11) (O Prophet), the bedouins who were left behind say to you:[20] “We were occupied with our goods and families. So ask forgiveness for us.” They say with their tongues what is not in their hearts.[21] Say to them: “Who can be of any avail to you against Allah if He should intend to cause you any harm or confer upon you any benefit?” Allah is well aware of all that you do.[22]


20. This refers to the people living in the suburbs of Al- Madinah whom the Prophet (peace be upon him) had invited to accompany him in his march out for Umrah, but they had not left their homes in spite of their claim to faith just because they were afraid of death. Traditions show that these were the people of the tribes of Aslam, Muzainah, Juhainah, Ghifar, Ashja, Dil and others.

21. This has two meanings:

(1) That after your returning to Madinah the excuse that these people will present for not going out with you, would only be a lame excuse, because they know in their hearts why they had stayed behind.

(2) That their imploring the Messenger (peace be upon him) of Allah for a prayer of forgiveness would only be an empty word of mouth, for in fact, they are neither feeling remorse for their failure to accompany you, nor have they any feeling that they committed a sin by not going out with the Messenger (peace be upon him), nor are they seeking forgiveness sincerely.

As for themselves they think that they did a wise thing by not going on the dangerous journey; had they any desire for Allah and His forgiveness, they would not have stayed behind at home.

22. That is, Allah’s decision will be on the basis of the knowledge that He has about the reality of your actions. If your actions deserve the punishment and I pray for your forgiveness, my prayer will not save you from Allah’s punishment. And if your actions do not deserve the punishment, and I do not pray for your forgiveness, my failure to pray will not do any harm to you. Everything is in Allah’s control, not mine, and no one’s empty words can deceive Him. Therefore, even if I accept as true what you say and then also pray for your forgiveness on its basis, it will be vain and without result.

(11) Those who remained behind[1510] of the bedouins will say to you, "Our properties and our families occupied us, so ask forgiveness for us." They say with their tongues what is not within their hearts. Say, "Then who could prevent Allāh at all if He intended for you harm or intended for you benefit? Rather, ever is Allāh, of what you do, Aware.

[1510]- See footnote to 9:81.

Surah Al-Fath All Ayat (Verses)

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