An Analysis of Allah Forgiving the Prophet (S.A.W.) Based on the verse 43 of Sūrat al-Tawba

From the viewpoints of the Muslims, the Prophet of Islam is Infallible and this view is rooted in the Qur’ānic teachings. Despite this, there are verses in this Revealed Scripture that apparently cast doubts on this view. One of these verses is the noble verse 43 of Sūrat al-Tawba. There are different viewpoints among the interpreters concerning the Exalted Allah’s forgiveness of the Prophet (S.A.W.), of which a total sum of five viewpoints are presented and examined in the present article. Then, by providing a socio-literary analysis of the noble verse based on the Revelation ambience, and while rejecting all five viewpoints, it is proved that Allah’s reprimand and forgiveness in this noble verse has by no means been related to the Apostle of Allah (S.A.W.) and at the same time it has not been concerned to the hypocrites, either; rather, it has been directed at a group of weak-in-the-faith Muslims who had made the Prophet’s permission to the hypocrites of Madīna for not participating in the battle of Tabūk a pretext for their own permissibility for shunning the battle. Also, it is proved that the Apostle of Allah’s (S.A.W.) permission to the hypocrites of Madīna to shun the battle has been a quite advisable measure and out of expediency and had been approved by the Almighty Allah. This impression of the noble verse completely conforms to the ḥadīth related from Imam al-Riḍā (A.S.), who viewed the verse in question in terms of “addressing someone while the real intention is to get across to a third person”, of course with a different analysis of this tradition.