9. At-Tawba

O Messenger, tell these hypocrites: 'Nothing will afflict us except what Allah has written for us, He is our Protector, the one whom we take refuge in, and we put our trust in Him in all our affairs. Let the believers place their trust in Him for He is sufficient for them and the best of guardians.

O Messenger, say to them: 'Are you waiting for anything other than victory or martyrdom to befall us – which are both good outcomes – while we expect Allah to send down a misfortune upon you: a punishment from Allah which would destroy you, or that you are punished at our hands with either death or being captured, if Allah permits us to fight against you? Wait to see then what our outcome will be, for we are also waiting to see your outcome.'

What the hypocrites spend in charity will not be accepted from them due to three matters: their disbelief in Allah and His Messenger; their reluctance and lack of interest in praying; and not spending their wealth willingly, but only unwillingly – because they do not expect to get any benefit from their prayer, or from what they spend.

So do not be impressed by the wealth and children of these hypocrites, or think it to be something good. The end result of their wealth and children will be grievous: Allah will make them a form of punishment for the hypocrites, causing them difficulty and hardship, and send misfortune through them until Allah takes their souls while they still disbelieve; and are given an eternal punishment in the lowest depths of the fire of Hell.

The hypocrites swear to the believers, lying to them, that they are with them, when they are secretly not, although they make it look as if they were. But they are a scared people, cowards in fighting, and fear that what happened to the idolaters who were killed and captured will happen to them, so they pretend to be Muslim.

If these hypocrites find a shelter, such as a fort, to protect themselves in, or caves in the mountains to hide in, or an underground tunnel they could go into to shelter in, they would rush away immediately.

Among the hypocrites are those who criticise the Messenger for how he distributes charity. If they are given what they want from it, they are happy with the Messenger; but if he does not give them what they want from it, they start to complain.

If only these hypocrites who criticize you in the distribution of charity had been pleased with their portion that Allah had assigned for them and with what the Messenger gave them, saying: 'Allah is sufficient for us and He will grant us more from His Grace, and the Messenger will also give us from what Allah has given him, and we ask Allah alone to enrich us!'-had they said this it would have been better for them then criticising the Messenger.

Obligatory charity should be distributed to: 1) the poor, those who hardly own anything and this is not hidden from people, either because of the obvious distress of their situation or because of what they tell people about their problems 2) the needy who have some money from working, but not enough for them to live well, whose situation is not drawn attention to; 3) those employed and sent by the Imam to collect it 4) disbelievers, as a sign of friendship, in order to bring them closer to Islam, and those of weak faith, so as to strengthen their faith and prevent evil 5) freeing captives 6) people in debt – who find themselves in debt due to reasonable conditions and not because of extravagance – if they cannot find a way of repaying their debts 7) those striving for the sake of Allah and 8) the traveller who has run out of money. Limiting the distribution of zakat to these people is a duty established by Allah. Allah knows what is in the best interests of His servants, Wise in His planning and law-making.