A common claim from ignorant Christians, when they argue for the Islamic dilemma is that The Prophet ﷺ was called the ear because he took stories from the Jews and Christians and accepted them. It is of no surprise that the Christians, have started to take the arguments of the polytheists of Quraysh and use it against Islam just like they would since they relate when it comes to being polytheists.
This argument is as equally terrible as, using the verses Matthew 11:19 where people called Jesus a drunkard, and in Mark 3:21 where Jesus’ own family supposedly said he was “out of his mind”, to prove that that Isa عليه السلام is a drunkard and out of his mind.
Now I will be summarising from the tafaseer what it meant when the polytheists accused the prophet ﷺ of being “the ear”, and how Allah ﷻ refuted them himself. The full translation of each tafsir, will be presented below the summary.
Meaning of the description “He is an ear”
Allah mentions that among the hypocrites are those who harm the Messenger of Allah ﷺ with their speech and say about him, as insult and blame, “He is an ear”
In Arabic, “a man is an ear” is said of someone who listens to what every person says, with the same wording used for one or many, and it is an exaggerated way of describing someone by the organ that is the tool of hearing, as if his whole self were a listening ear (Tafsir At Tabari 11/534; Fath al Qadir 2/535).
The verb أَذِنَ لَهُ يَأْذَنُ means “he listened to him and paid attention”, and from this root comes the report that “Allah has not listened to anything as He listened to a Prophet who recites the Qur’an with a beautiful voice” (Tafsir At Tabari 11/534–535).
Intention of the hypocrites when calling him “an ear”
The hypocrites meant, may Allah humiliate them, that if they harmed the Prophet ﷺ, spread slander about him and it reached him, they could then come, swear oaths, present excuses and he would accept them, because, in their claim, whoever spoke to him, he believed him, and whoever spoke to him about them, he believed it as well (Tafsir Ibn Kathir 4/170; Tafsir At Tabari 11/534–535; Fath al Qadir 2/535).
They described him as “an ear” to suggest that he confirms everything said to him and does not distinguish between what is true and what is false, taking advantage of his patience, forbearance, pardoning their offences and overlooking their crimes out of generosity and mercy.
The Arabs used this expression for one who hears what is said to him and then believes it, just as they call the lookout who watches for the enemy “an eye”, naming the person by the organ used for that function (Fath al Qadir 2/535).
So it’s clear that their accusation has nothing to do with taking from the Christians and Jews, rather it was an accusation that the prophet ﷺ would accept their false oaths and fake excuses. Not only that but how can the prophet ﷺ be “the ear” when it comes to the Jews & Christians when he said “Do not believe the people of the Book, nor disbelieve them” when the Jews would translate the Torah into Arabic and explain it to the Sahabah. (Bukhari 7362)
How Allah refuted and corrected this description
Allah refuted their insult by saying, “Say, an ear of good for you” at Tawbah 61, that is, he is an ear of good, not an ear of evil (Tafsir Ibn Kathir 4/170; Tafsir At Tabari 11/535; Fath al Qadir 2/535).
The majority of reciters read it with addition, “ear of good for you”, meaning he hears good and does not hear evil, and he listens to what benefits and is upright, not to what is false (Tafsir At Tabari 11/535; Fath al Qadir 2/535).
Some recited it with tanwin, “an ear, good for you”, as if it is said: yes, he is an ear, but an excellent ear, because he is an ear of good for you and not an ear in anything else, like their saying “a man of truth” for a man of excellence and righteousness (Fath al Qadir 2/535).
Ibn Kathir explains that this “ear of good” is one who knows the truthful from the liar, “he believes in Allah and believes the believers”, meaning he accepts and confirms the believers, and he is “a mercy for those among you who believe”, while being a proof and argument against the disbelievers and those who harm him, for whom there is a painful punishment (Tafsir Ibn Kathir 4/170).
In this way the same word they used as an insult is turned into praise and honour for the Prophet ﷺ, showing that his attentive listening is guidance, mercy and justice, not weakness or lack of judgement (Tafsir At Tabari 11/535–536; Fath al Qadir 2/535).
Full Tafaseer
Ibn Kathir says: Allah says that among the hypocrites are people who harm the Messenger of Allah ﷺ with their speech and say, “He is an ear.”
This means that whoever says something to him, he believes it, and whoever speaks to him about us, he believes it.
When we come to him and swear, he accepts what we say. This meaning has been reported from Ibn Abbas, Mujahid, and Qatadah.
Allah then says, “Say, ‘An ear of good for you’” (at Tawbah 61), meaning that he is an ear of goodness.
He knows the truthful from the liar. “He believes in Allah and believes the believers” (at Tawbah 61), meaning that he accepts and confirms the believers.
“And he is a mercy for those among you who believe” (at Tawbah 61), meaning that he is also a proof against the disbelievers. For this reason, Allah says, “And those who harm the Messenger of Allah will have a painful punishment” (at Tawbah 61).
Tafsir Ibn Kathir (4/170)
Allah says that among these hypocrites are a group who harm the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and find fault with him, and they say, “He is an ear,” meaning one who listens, who hears what everyone says and then accepts it and believes it. This comes from their expression “a man is an udhun (one who listens readily),” on the pattern of faʿlah (a descriptive form), used for someone who readily listens and accepts. It is like their saying, “He is yaqīn (certainty) and yaqīn (certainty),” when someone has certainty in everything that is said to him. Its origin is from the phrase أَذِنَ لَهُ يَأْذَنُ (he listened to him and paid attention). From this is the report from the Prophet ﷺ: “Allah has not listened to anything as He listened to a Prophet who recites the Qur’an with a beautiful voice.” From this also is the saying of ʿAdiyy ibn Zayd:
أيها القلبُ تَعَلَّلْ بِدَدَنْ إِنَّ هَمِّي فِي سَمَاعٍ وَأَذَنْ
O heart, seek comfort, for my concern is in listening and attention.
It is mentioned that this verse was revealed about Rabiʿ ibn al Harith.
It was narrated by Ibn Humayd, who said that Salamah narrated from Ibn Ishaq, who said that Allah mentioned their deception, meaning the hypocrites, and their harming of the Prophet ﷺ, saying, “And among them are those who harm the Prophet and say, ‘He is an ear’” (at Tawbah 61). The one who said this statement, as has reached me, was Tabtal ibn al Harith, the brother of Banu ʿAmr ibn ʿAwf, and concerning him this verse was revealed. That was because he said, “Muhammad is only an ear. Whoever tells him something, he believes him.” Allah says, “Say, ‘An ear of good for you’” (at Tawbah 61), meaning that he listens to good and believes it.
The reciters differed regarding the recitation of His saying, “Say, ‘An ear of good for you.’” The majority of the reciters of the regions recited it as “Say, an ear of good for you,” with the word ear connected to good, meaning: say to them, O Muhammad, he is an ear of good, not an ear of evil.
It is reported from al Hasan al Basri that he recited it with tanwin, “Say, an ear, good for you,” making good a description of it. The meaning would then be: say, the one who listens to what you hypocrites say and believes you, if Muhammad were as you describe him, when you come to him and deny what was conveyed to him about your harming him and insulting him, and he listens to you and believes you, that would be better for you than if he were to reject you and not accept what you say. Then Allah refuted them by saying that he only accepts from the believers: “He believes in Allah and believes the believers” (at Tawbah 61).
Abu Jaʿfar said: the correct recitation in my view is the recitation of those who read it as “Say, an ear of good for you,” connecting ear to good and reading good in the genitive, with the meaning: say, he is an ear of good for you, not an ear of evil.
Tafsir At Tabari (11/534–536)
Ash Shawkani said: His saying, “And among them,” is another type of what Allah has related of the scandals of the hypocrites and their ugly actions. That is because they used to say to the Prophet ﷺ, as a way of attacking and insulting, “He is an ear.”
Al Jawhari said: it is said, “a man is an ear,” when he listens to what everyone says, and in this expression the singular and the plural are the same.
What they meant, may Allah humiliate them, is that if they harmed the Prophet ﷺ and let their tongues loose against him, and that reached him, they would make excuses to him, and he would accept it from them, because he listens to everything said to him and believes it.
The Arabs only called someone who hears what is said to him and believes it “an ear” as an exaggeration, because they named him by the body part which is the instrument of hearing, until it was as if his whole being was a listening ear. Something similar is their saying about a scout, “an eye.”
Their harming of him was their saying, “He is an ear,” because they claimed that he believes everything said to him and does not distinguish between what is true and what is false, taking advantage of his forbearance with them and his overlooking their offences, out of generosity, patience, and overlooking.
Then Allah answered their statement and said, “Say, an ear of good for you,” with addition, according to the recitation of the majority.
Al Hasan recited it with tanwin, and likewise ʿAsim recited it in the narration of Abu Bakr from him, as if it were said: yes, he is an ear, but what an excellent ear he is, because he is an ear of good for you, and he is not an ear for anything else.
This is like their saying, “a man of truth,” by which they mean excellence and righteousness. The meaning is that he hears good and does not hear evil.
Fath al Qadir by Muḥammad ibn ʿAli al Shawkani (2/535)
