Surat At-Taubah Verse No. 61: Reading and listening
Translation of the verse 61 from Surah At-Taubah : Number of verses 129 - - page 196 - Part 10.
﴾وَمِنۡهُمُ ٱلَّذِينَ يُؤۡذُونَ ٱلنَّبِيَّ وَيَقُولُونَ هُوَ أُذُنٞۚ قُلۡ أُذُنُ خَيۡرٖ لَّكُمۡ يُؤۡمِنُ بِٱللَّهِ وَيُؤۡمِنُ لِلۡمُؤۡمِنِينَ وَرَحۡمَةٞ لِّلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ مِنكُمۡۚ وَٱلَّذِينَ يُؤۡذُونَ رَسُولَ ٱللَّهِ لَهُمۡ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٞ ﴿
[ التوبة: 61]
And among them are men who hurt the Prophet (Muhammad SAW) and say: "He is (lending his) ear (to every news)." Say: "He listens to what is best for you; he believes in Allah; has faith in the believers; and is a mercy to those of you who believe." But those who hurt Allah's Messenger (Muhammad SAW) will have a painful torment.
English - Sahih International
And among them are those who abuse the Prophet and say, "He is an ear." Say, "[It is] an ear of goodness for you that believes in Allah and believes the believers and [is] a mercy to those who believe among you." And those who abuse the Messenger of Allah - for them is a painful punishment.
Tafheem-ul-Quran by Syed Abu-al-A'la Maududi
(9:61) There are some among them who injure the Prophet and say, "This man readily believes whatever he hears.', *69 Say, "It is good for you that he is so: *70 He believes in Allah and puts his trust in the believers *71 and is a blessing for those who are true believers among you. As regards those who injure the Messenger of Allah, there is a painful chastisement for them."
Tafheem-ul-Quran by Syed Abu-al-A'la Maududi
*69) This was one of the charges which the hypocrites levelled against the Holy Prophet. As he used to listen to everyone and Iet him say freely whatever he had to say, they would find fault with him, saying, "He is a credulous person. Everyone can approach him freely and may say whatever he pleases, and he readily believes whatever he hears!" Though it was a good thing that he heard everyone, the hypocrites intentionally spread it as a vice, so that the poor and humble Muslims should be kept away from coming near the Holy Prophet. The hypocrites did not like that these true Believers should inform the Holy Prophet about their plots, mischiefs and hostile talks. They resented it very much that the Holy Prophet listened to and believed in the talk of these humble people against such "respectable" people as they.
*70) The answer to this charge implies two things. First, "Though the Prophet listens to everything, he attends only to that which is good and is for the welfare of the Community, for he is not the one who would listen to or encourage mischievous things." Secondly, "It is good for yourselves that he listens patently to everyone; otherwise he would not have allowed you to put forward lame excuses for your negligence from the struggle in the Way of Allah. Had he not been forbearing, he would not have paid attention to your false professions of faith and hypocritical expressions of good wishes for Islam, but would have taken you to task for your mischiefs and made it difficult for you to live at AI-Madinah. It is thus obvious that it is good for you that he listens to everyone."
*71) That is, "You are wrong that he listens to everyone. He puts his trust only in the true Believers. Accordingly, he believed only in those things about you that were conveyed to him by good and trustworthy people, who were neither liars nor tale-bearers. Therefore, whatever they said about you was true and should leave been taken as true."