۞ يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِنَّ كَثِيرًۭا مِّنَ ٱلْأَحْبَارِ وَٱلرُّهْبَانِ لَيَأْكُلُونَ أَمْوَٰلَ ٱلنَّاسِ بِٱلْبَٰطِلِ وَيَصُدُّونَ عَن سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ ۗ وَٱلَّذِينَ يَكْنِزُونَ ٱلذَّهَبَ وَٱلْفِضَّةَ وَلَا يُنفِقُونَهَا فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ فَبَشِّرْهُم بِعَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍۢ
O you who have believed, indeed many of the scholars and the monks devour the wealth of people unjustly and avert [them] from the way of Allah. And those who hoard gold and silver and spend it not in the way of Allah - give them tidings of a painful punishment.
Introduction
This is āyah 34 of Sūrat At-Tawba (The Repentance), the 113th sūrah in the traditional order of revelation. It was revealed in the Medinan period and sits within Juzʾ 10. Medinan verses often address community life, law, and the building of society.
This introduction is a starting point — the community and Bilal will enrich it over time.
Revelation & occasion
- Period
- Medinan
- Order revealed
- 113 of 114
- Surah
- At-Tawba (9)
(O ye who believe! Lo! many of the (Jewish) rabbis and the (Christian) monks devour the wealth of mankind wantonly) [9:34]. This was revealed about the scholars and doctors of the people of the Book. They used to accept bribes from the communality of people; these are the gains they used to obtain from the common people. (They who hoard up gold and silver and spend it not in the way of Allah�) [9:34]. Abu Ishaq al-Muqri� informed us> �Abd Allah ibn Hamid> Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ibrahim> Muhammad ibn Nusayr> �Amr ibn Zurarah> Hushaym> Husayn> Zayd ibn Wahb who said: �I passed by al-Rabadhah where I came across Abu Dharr. I asked him: �What brought you here?� He said: �I was in Syria and I had a disagreement with Mu�awiyah regarding the verse (They who hoard up gold and silver and spend it not in the way of Allah�). Mu�awiyah was of the opinion that it was revealed about the people of the Book, while I said to him that it was revealed about them as well as about us. We had an altercation after which he wrote to �Uthman to complain about me. �Uthman wrote to me asking me to go to Medina. When I went to Medina, a lot of people came to see me, as if they had never seen me before. I mentioned this to �Uthman and he said: �If you wish you can move somewhere else and stay close�. This is what has brought me to this place. Had they appointed an Abyssinian slave as my leader, I would have heard and obeyed him� �. This was narrated by Bukhari from Qutaybah from Jarir from Husayn; he also narrated it from �Ali from Hushaym. The Commentators of the Qur�an also disagree about the occasion of this verse. Some are of the opinion that it was specifically revealed about the people of the Book. Al-Suddi thought it was revealed about the people of the Qiblah while al-Dahhak was of the opinion that it was about both the people of the Book and the Muslims. �Ata� also reported that Ibn �Abbas said regarding the words of Allah (They who hoard up gold and silver and spend it not in the way of Allah�): �He means of the believers�. Abu�l-Hasan Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Najjar informed us> Sulayman ibn Ayyub al-Tabarani> Muhammad ibn Dawud ibn Sadaqah> �Abd Allah ibn Mu�afa> Sharik> Muhammad ibn �Abd Allah al-Muradi> �Amr ibn Murrah> Salim ibn Abi al-Ja�d> Thawban who said: �When the verse (They who hoard up gold and silver�) was revealed, the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: �May gold and silver perish!� He was asked: �O Messenger of Allah, which of the riches should we hoard?� He said: �A heart which is grateful, a tongue which remembers Allah and a righteous wife� �.
Tafsir
Hafiz Ibn Kathir
Chains of transmission
Oral — isnād
- ~610–632 CERevelation & memorisation
Received by the Prophet ﷺ and preserved by the ḥuffāẓ (memorisers) among the Companions.
- 1st century AHMutawātir transmissionawaiting curation
Carried by mass-transmission through the generations of qurrāʾ.
- TodayLiving chainsawaiting curation
Continuous ijāzah chains link reciters today back to the Prophet ﷺ.
Verified isnād chains for this āyah will be added by curators.
Written — the manuscript record
- ~650 CEʿUthmānic codicesawaiting curation
The standardised muṣḥaf sent to the great cities (e.g. the Topkapı and Samarqand codices).
- 8th–10th c.Early Ḥijāzī & Kūfic foliosawaiting curation
Surviving leaves in Birmingham, Sanaa, Paris (BnF) and beyond.
- Modern printModern printawaiting curation
The 1924 Cairo edition → today: the standard printed muṣḥaf used worldwide.
A curated chain of manuscript images for this exact āyah — roughly one per century — is coming. Help us source and verify them.
And now — what do you think?
The text, its history and the classical commentary are laid out above. Share your own understanding, ask a question, or reason with others.
Community resources
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