9. At-Tawba

March forth O believers, striving for the cause of Allah in hardship and in ease, whether you are young or old, striving with your wealth and selves, because going out and striving with your wealth and your selves is of more benefit in the life of this world and in the Afterlife than sitting at home and becoming attached to your wealth and persons. If you truly know this, then be eager to obey.

If the Prophet had called the hypocrites who asked for permission to stay behind to an easy reward and a journey that was not difficult, they would have followed him; but the distance he called them to cover to get to the enemy was too great for them, so they stayed behind. These hypocrites who asked for permission to stay behind would swear by Allah when the Prophet returned to them, saying that if they could have gone out to fight with them they would have done so. They destroy themselves by exposing themselves to Allah’s punishment, because they stayed behind and then swore a lie. Of course, Allah knew they were lying in what they claimed and in what they swore.

May Allah forgive the Messenger for his decision to permit them to stay behind! Why did he do so before it became apparent to him who had real excuses and who was lying? Then he could have excused those who were telling the truth, not those who were lying.

It is not the characteristic of those who truly have faith in Allah and the Day of Judgement to ask the Messenger (peace be upon him)for permission to stay behind from striving for Allah’s sake with their wealth and their selves. Rather, it is their characteristic to rally when they are called to fight, and to strive with their wealth and their persons. Allah knows those among His servants who are Mindful, who do not ask to be excused except for genuine reasons that really prevent them from going with the Messenger.

Those who ask the Messenger (peace be upon him)for permission to stay behind from striving for the sake of Allah are the hypocrites who do not believe in Allah and the Day of Judgement, and whose hearts are full of doubt about the sacred path of Allah. In their doubt they waver, confused, and they are not guided to the truth.

If they had been telling the truth in their claim that they wanted to go out with the Messenger (peace be upon him), striving for the sake of Allah, they would have made preparations for it; but Allah did not want them to go with the Prophet, and stopped them from doing so. They were disgraced because they were told to stay behind with those who were ordered to stay behind, such as the women, children and the sick.

These hypocrites had already tried to cause trouble by creating division amongst the believers before the Battle of Tabūk, by making things difficult for the Messenger (peace be upon him) through their schemes and plots, so that they might affect the Prophet’s determination to fight. This was until the help and support of Allah arrived, and He strengthened His path and overcame His enemies, although they hated this, because they wanted what was false to overcome the truth.

Among the hypocrites were those who used various excuses, asking the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to permit them to stay behind from fighting, for fear of being tested by the women of the Roman enemy and hence falling into sin. But they fell into a greater sin than the one they claimed they feared: the sin of hypocrisy, and staying behind. On the Day of Judgement, Hell will surround the disbelievers, none of them escaping it or getting away from it.

If the Messenger of Allah receives a blessing from Allah that pleases him, such as victory or some gains, they dislike this, and it grieves them. If a misfortune befalls him in the form of some hardship or loss in battle, these hypocrites say that they had taken precautions for themselves, making the right decision when they did not go out to fight as the believers did, which led to them being killed or captured. They, then, turn away to their people, rejoicing in their own safety.