Verses 11–17
This third section of verses addresses the state of the Bedouins who stayed behind when God’s Messenger went on his journey to Ḥudaybiyyah and who did not respond to his summons. According to what has been said in this regard, they were the Bedouins around Medina belonging to the tribes of Juhaynah, Muzaynah, Ghaffār, Ashjaʿ, Aslam, and Diʾl. They held back and did not accompany him, saying: “Muḥammad and those with him are going to a people who fought them only yesterday in their own backyard and massacred them! They will never return from this journey; they shall never see their homes or their families again.”
As a result, in these verses God tells His Prophet that they will come to you and try to excuse their staying behind by saying they were preoccupied with their possessions and their families, and they will ask you to plead to God for their forgiveness. But God denounces their claims and says that the real reason they stayed behind was because they held evil thoughts. He also tells him that they will ask to come with you but they will not be allowed, except that they will be asked to fight another people, and if they obey then they will be granted an abundant reward but if they turn away then they shall have a painful punishment.
Commentary
سَيَقُولُ لَكَ الْمُخَلَّفُونَ مِنَ الْأَعْرَابِ شَغَلَتْنَا أَمْوَالُنَا وَأَهْلُونَا فَاسْتَغْفِرْ لَنَا ۚ يَقُولُونَ بِأَلْسِنَتِهِمْ مَا لَيْسَ فِي قُلُوبِهِمْ ۚ قُلْ فَمَنْ يَمْلِكُ لَكُمْ مِنَ اللَّهِ شَيْئًا إِنْ أَرَادَ بِكُمْ ضَرًّا أَوْ أَرَادَ بِكُمْ نَفْعًا ۚ بَلْ كَانَ اللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرًا ١١
(48:11) The Bedouins who were left behind (al-mukhallafūn min al-aʿrāb) will tell you, “Our possessions and our families kept us occupied. So plead for our forgiveness!” They say with their tongues what is not in their hearts. Say, “Who can be of any avail to you against God, should He desire to cause you harm or desire to bring you benefit? Rather God is well aware of what you do.”
In Majmaʿ al-Bayān, we read:
One who is mukhallaf is left in a place behind those who are going out of a land, and it is etymologically derived from “behind” (khalf), and its opposite is “ahead” (muqaddam).
According to what scholars say, aʿrāb refers a group of Bedouin Arabs; it is not used to refer to settled Arabs. It is a plural noun which has no singular form.
The Bedouins who were left behind will tell you…: This foretells to the Prophet what they will say to him, and the wording suggests that these verses were revealed while he was returning from Ḥudaybiyyah to Medina but before he reached his destination.
Our possessions and our families kept us occupied. So plead for our forgiveness! In other words, “What prevented us from accompanying you and going forth with you were our possessions and our families; there was no one here to look after them and we feared they would be lost so we stayed with them. Ask God to forgive us for holding back from you.” The way the request is phrased indicates that they saw their holding back as a sin; so when they say that it was their possessions and families that detained them, they do not mean to use this to justify their sin. Rather, they mention it as the reason for their sinning.
They say with their tongues what is not in their hearts: God denounces everything they have just said and asked as false; so neither was it their possessions and families that held them back, nor do they seriously want him to plead with God to forgive them, rather they only asked him that in order to protect themselves from blame and reproach.
Say, “Who can be of any avail to you against God, should He desire to cause you harm or desire to bring you benefit…?” This is a very clever reply to their excuses about being preoccupied by their possessions and families. It means that God is the one to whom all creation and command belongs; He is the sovereign who governs everything; there is no Lord besides Him, so there is no harm or benefit except by His will and His decree. This means that no one has any way to compel him to forgo harming someone or to do something good for them if He wills the opposite of what the person desires. In this case, the fact you avoided going with the Prophet in order to help the religion and were preoccupied with these things with which you excused your behavior—protecting your property and families—does not avail anything against God. It will not repel harm from you if God wishes to harm you, nor will it help you obtain anything good, nor will it hasten Him in doing any good to you should He wish.
The reply Say, “Who can be of any avail…?” should be read as assuming the veracity of their excuses; that they were concerned with avoiding harm by holding fast to the worldly means at their disposal, including turning their backs on the faithful and holding back from the religious mission. However none of that will do you any good because the matter depends on God’s will alone, so the verse carries the same meaning as Nothing will befall us except what Allah has ordained for us ().
Even if making use of the worldly means at our disposal and not neglecting them is something God has commanded us to do, this is only the case insofar as it does not conflict with more important priorities, such as defending the Truth, even if this involves some potential hardships. Unless of course—God forbid!—that there is some danger we are absolutely certain about which means that our efforts will be futile!
Rather God is well aware of what you do: This is a subtle warning which alludes to the fact they were lying when they said: Our possessions and our families kept us occupied. ().
بَلْ ظَنَنْتُمْ أَنْ لَنْ يَنْقَلِبَ الرَّسُولُ وَالْمُؤْمِنُونَ إِلَىٰ أَهْلِيهِمْ أَبَدًا وَزُيِّنَ ذَٰلِكَ فِي قُلُوبِكُمْ وَظَنَنْتُمْ ظَنَّ السَّوْءِ وَكُنْتُمْ قَوْمًا بُورًا ١٢
(48:12) Rather you thought that the Messenger and the faithful would not ever return to their folk, and that was made to seem decorous to your hearts, and you entertained evil thoughts, and you were a ruined lot.
This expounds what was alluded to above when God said: rather God is well aware of what you do referring to their false excuses. It means: “You did not hold back from going with the Messenger because you were preoccupied with your possessions and families, rather you thought that the Messenger and the faithful would never return to their families, and that those going out would be killed at the hands of the Quraysh because of the latter’s numbers and power. That is the real reason you held back.”
…and that was made to seem decorous to your hearts…: In other words, Satan made those evil thoughts seem decorous to your hearts, so you acted in accordance with those decorous evil thoughts; you stayed back and did not accompany the Prophet out of fear that you would perish or be destroyed.
It is said that their evil thoughts were that the Messenger and the faithful would never return to their families, but it is equally possible that this could mean that God would not support His Messenger or make His religion triumph, as we have seen in the verse who entertain a bad opinion of God (). In fact, this interpretation is closer to the apparent meaning of the text.
وَمَنْ لَمْ يُؤْمِنْ بِاللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ فَإِنَّا أَعْتَدْنَا لِلْكَافِرِينَ سَعِيرًا ١٣
(48:13) As for those who have no faith in God and His Messenger, We have prepared a blaze for the faithless.
Here, faith in God is joined with faith in His Messenger to show that disbelieving in the Messenger by not obeying Him is tantamount to disbelief in God. This verse carries the tone of a threat.
We have prepared a blaze for the faithless—Normally, one would say “We have prepared a blaze for them” but here the word faithless has been used instead of the pronoun to clearly illustrate the reason for the rule by attaching it to the active participle. This renders the meaning: “We have prepared and readied for them a blaze because of their disbelief; a roaring inferno.” And a blaze is left indefinite to inspire awe and terror.
وَلِلَّهِ مُلْكُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ ۚ يَغْفِرُ لِمَنْ يَشَاءُ وَيُعَذِّبُ مَنْ يَشَاءُ ۚ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ غَفُورًا رَحِيمًا ١٤
(48:14) To God belongs the kingdom of the heavens and the earth: He forgives whomever He wishes, and punishes whomever He wishes, and God is all-forgiving, all-merciful.
The meaning of this verse is obvious, and it affirms what is above. By appending the Divine Names all-forgiving (ghafūr) and all-merciful (raḥīm) to God’s absolute dominion of the heavens and the earth, this verse alludes to the fact that God’s mercy precedes His wrath in order to encourage people to seek His forgiveness and mercy.
سَيَقُولُ الْمُخَلَّفُونَ إِذَا انْطَلَقْتُمْ إِلَىٰ مَغَانِمَ لِتَأْخُذُوهَا ذَرُونَا نَتَّبِعْكُمْ ۖ يُرِيدُونَ أَنْ يُبَدِّلُوا كَلَامَ اللَّهِ ۚ قُلْ لَنْ تَتَّبِعُونَا كَذَٰلِكُمْ قَالَ اللَّهُ مِنْ قَبْلُ ۖ فَسَيَقُولُونَ بَلْ تَحْسُدُونَنَا ۚ بَلْ كَانُوا لَا يَفْقَهُونَ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا ١٥
(48:15) Those who were left to stay behind will say, when you set out to capture booty: “Let us follow you.” They desire to change the word of God. Say, “You shall never follow us! Thus has God said beforehand.” Then they will say, “Rather you are envious of us.” Rather they do not understand but a little.
The verse foretells that the faithful will undertake a military expedition and be granted victory, winning booty in the process. Those who stayed behind on this occasion will be asked permission to go with them in the hopes of winning riches. This is the expedition to Khaybar which the Prophet and the faithful undertook, conquering it and winning booty. But God restricted this expedition to those who had been with the Prophet on his mission to Ḥudaybiyyah—no one else was allowed to participate.
This means: You will go on a military expedition in which you will attain booty, and those who stayed behind on this occasion will say: “Let us follow you!”
They desire to change the word of God meaning His promise to the companions at Ḥudaybiyyah that He will give them the riches of Khaybar after they capture it, when He said: God has promised you abundant spoils which you will capture. He has expedited this one for you… (). And he alludes to this in the present verse, when He says when you set out to capture booty.
Say, “You shall never follow us! Thus has God said beforehand”: Here, God commands the Prophet to forbid them from following them based on what God has said before they asked his permission to follow.
Then they will say, “Rather you are envious of us”: Meaning that those who stayed behind during Ḥudaybiyyah will say after their request to follow was refused “Rather you are envious of us” and God responds Rather they do not understand but a little. He does not even direct His words to them because of the fact that they do not understand discourse, so He directs His response to the Prophet and says: Rather they do not understand but a little.
This is because when they say “Rather you are envious of us,” this is rejecting what the Prophet said to them at God’s command: “You shall never follow us! Thus has God said beforehand.” So they mean that you have not prevented us from following you because of any command from God; rather, you and those with you at Ḥudaybiyyah don’t want us to come because you want to keep the booty for yourselves and not share any with us!
But this is not something a believer with reason or discernment would say to the Messenger of God who does not make any pronouncements without there being a command from God. Unless this is because they are so simple-minded and parochial, in which case directing such words to the Prophet while claiming to have faith and submit provides the plainest evidence of their weak minds and dearth of understanding.
This shows that by they do not understand but a little, God means they are simple-minded people who do not understand what is said—He does not mean that they understand some but not other parts, which is common, or that some of them understand but most of them do not, as other commentators have suggested.
قُلْ لِلْمُخَلَّفِينَ مِنَ الْأَعْرَابِ سَتُدْعَوْنَ إِلَىٰ قَوْمٍ أُولِي بَأْسٍ شَدِيدٍ تُقَاتِلُونَهُمْ أَوْ يُسْلِمُونَ ۖ فَإِنْ تُطِيعُوا يُؤْتِكُمُ اللَّهُ أَجْرًا حَسَنًا ۖ وَإِنْ تَتَوَلَّوْا كَمَا تَوَلَّيْتُمْ مِنْ قَبْلُ يُعَذِّبْكُمْ عَذَابًا أَلِيمًا ١٦
(48:16) Say to the Bedouins who were left to stay behind, “You will be called against a people of a great might: they will embrace Islam, or you will fight them. So if you obey, God will give you a good reward; but if you turn away like you turned away before, He will punish you with a painful punishment.”
Commentators have disagreed about who exactly these people they will be called to fight are. It is said variously: They are the Hawāzin, the Thaqīf, or both of them together. It is also said: They are the Romans at the expeditions to Muʾtah and Tabūk. It is said: They are the Apostates whom Abū Bakr fought after the Prophet passed away. And it is said: “The Bedouins of Persia and their Kurds.”
From the words You will be called… it appears that they are some of the people whom the Prophet fought against after capturing Khaybar, including the Hawāzin, Thaqīf, and the Romans at Muʾtah. Based on the context, the previous statement—Say, “You shall never follow us!”—is concerned with them following the Prophet on the expedition to Khaybar.
They will embrace Islam, or you will fight them: This indicates the opening up of possibilities; namely either that you will fight them or they will embrace Islam. This shows that they must be polytheists who are not given the option to pay jizyah as the People of the Book do. Their only options are to embrace Islam or fight.
It is not correct to read you will fight them as an adjective for a people because they are being called to fight the people, not to fight a people who are fighting them. This is what has been said.
Then He finishes His statement with a promise of reward for obedience and a threat of punishment for disobedience; so if you obey… by going forth to fight them …God will give you a good reward; but if you turn away…—by disobeying God and His Messenger and not going forth—…like you turned away before…—when you did not join him on his journey to Ḥudaybiyyah—…He will punish you with a painful punishment—meaning in this world, as is apparent from the context, or both in this world and the Hereafter.
لَيْسَ عَلَى الْأَعْمَىٰ حَرَجٌ وَلَا عَلَى الْأَعْرَجِ حَرَجٌ وَلَا عَلَى الْمَرِيضِ حَرَجٌۗ وَمَنْ يُطِعِ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ يُدْخِلْهُ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِنْ تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ ۖ وَمَنْ يَتَوَلَّ يُعَذِّبْهُ عَذَابًا أَلِيمًا ١٧
(48:17) There is no toil for the blind, nor is there any toil for the lame, nor is there toil for the sick and whoever obeys God and His Messenger, He will admit him into gardens with streams running in them, and whoever refuses to comply, He will punish him with a painful punishment.
This exempts those afflicted by a condition which makes going on jihād difficult for them from the general rule of the obligation to participate in jihād. It signifies this by removing the corollary of going on jihād, namely toil (ḥaraj).
Then He completes the verse by repeating the like of what He mentioned in the previous verse: …and whoever obeys God and His Messenger, He will admit him into gardens with streams running in them, and whoever refuses to comply, He will punish him with a painful punishment.
However, it can be made into an artificial singular by turning it into the form of a nisbah adjective; “aʿrābī” lit. “of the aʿrāb.” This is common in traditions where a Bedouin (described in these traditions as an aʿrābī) comes to ask a question from the Prophet. [Trans.] ↩︎