Ala-Maududi
(9:97) The bedouin Arabs surpass all in unbelief and hypocrisy and are most likely to be unaware
of the limits prescribed by Allah in what He has revealed to His Messenger. Allah is
All-Knowing, All-Wise.[95]
95. As has already been stated earlier the “Bedouins” here refers to those rustic Arabs of the
desert who had settled in the suburbs of Al-Madinah.
The background which may help one to comprehend the meanings of the verse is this. Though these
people had outwardly embraced Islam, they had not done so from conviction. When they saw the
rising of the organized power of Islam in Al-Madinah, they were so overawed by it that they
could not ignore it. So at first they adopted the attitude of the opportunists towards the
conflict between Islam and kufr. But when the power of the Islamic government spread over the
major portions of Hijaz and Najd, and the power of its enemy clans began to decline, they
thought it expedient to enter the fold of Islam. But there were very few among them who had
sincerely accepted Islam from the conviction that it was the right way. That is why they did not
make any sincere efforts to fulfill the implications of the true faith, and observe the
obligatory duties imposed by Islam. On the contrary, the majority of them had accepted Islam
just because it was the best policy for them. They merely desired to take advantages of being
Muslims in order to gain those benefits to which they were entitled as members of the ruling
party, without performing those duties which became obligatory on them by the very acceptance of
Islam. Therefore they were utterly averse to saying the prescribed prayers, observing the
fasting, paying the Zakat dues from their date palm gardens and their herds of cattle. Moreover,
they smarted under the discipline of the Islamic state and resented being subdued by any power
for the first time in history. Above all, it was against their very nature to make sacrifices of
their lives and wealth in the Way of Allah, as was being demanded by Islam, for they were
accustomed to fight only for plunder and spoils. That is why they always invented one excuse or
the other for exemption from the restrictions and obligations that were being imposed on them.
For, they had no interest in the truth or the welfare of humanity; their only concern was their
camels and their goats, that is, the narrow world around their tents. As regards anything higher
than these, the only thing which they could believe in was irrational reverence for those who
would guarantee their worldly welfare and protect them from calamities and give them amulets to
safeguard them against haram and evil, and say prayers for them as a recompense for their
offerings to them. But they were not prepared to accept any faith or belief that would bring
under its moral and legal discipline every aspect of their cultural, social and economic life,
and demand from them the sacrifices of lives and wealth for the cause of a universal reform.
In this verse, the above mentioned mental and moral condition of the Bedouins has been described
like this: “These Bedouins are more hypocritical than the urban Arabs and are more stubborn and
obdurate in their denial of the truth. This is because the urban people make use of the
opportunities of meeting the learned and pious people and thus learn the laws and regulations of
the true way. On the other hand, in all probability, the Bedouins will learn little about the
divine way, because they get few opportunities for this. Moreover, they lead lives of economic
animals rather than of human beings having moral and spiritual values; therefore they do not
think of higher things than their animal urges.
It should also be noted that the main cause of the subsequent storm of rebellion and apostasy
during the caliphate of Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) two years after the revelation
of these verses (97-99) was the same that has been mentioned therein.
