Sūra 9 is unique in being the only sūra among the Quran’s 114 that lacks the basmala (“In the name of God, the merciful, the compassionate”). Muslim tradition suggested that the reason for the missing basmala was that the contents of the sūra are also unique. For example, Sūra 9 associates “the messenger” with Allah more frequently than any other sūra. “Allah and His messenger” are joined together for a truly remarkable variety of actions and reactions: renunciation of idolaters (vv. 1, 3), proclaiming (v. 3), making treaties (v. 7), being taken as allies (v. 16), being “dearer” (v. 24), forbidding (v. 29), being believed in or disbelieved in (vv. 54, 80, 84), giving (v. 59), being pleased (v. 62), being opposed or obeyed (vv. 63, 71), being mocked (v. 65), enriching (v. 74), being lied to (v. 90), being shown sincerity (v. 91), seeing the conduct of people (vv. 94, 105), and being fought against (v. 107). Sūra 9 also contains more commands to fight and kill than any other sūra. The commands are peppered throughout the first part of the sūra. Amid these commands comes one of the strongest denials of the deity of the Messiah in the entire Quran. This theological denial seems to take on a dangerous military edge from the surrounding emphasis on fighting and conquest. According to the Muslim story of Islamic origins, the first part of this sūra was initially recited after the Muslim conquest of Mecca in the eighth year after the Muslims’ migration to Medina. Verses 38–99, however, are associated with a military campaign to Tabūk ( Raids , 519–27; cf. Sīra 602–9). A command to fight the disbelievers near the end of the sūra further instructs the “believers” to “let them find sternness in you” (v. 123). According to one Muslim tradition, ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib suggested that it was for this harshness toward non-Muslims that Sūra 9 gained no basmala .

Throughout this sūra, the Quran pairs Allah with “His messenger” in a variety of actions and reactions. In this first part of the sūra, for example, Allah and the messenger renounce the idolaters (vv. 1, 3), proclaim (v. 3), and make treaties together (v. 7).