33:19 Al-Ahzaab (The Clans)

{ أَشِحَّةً عَلَيْكُمْ } بأبدانهم عند القتال، وبأموالهم عند النفقة فيه، فلا يجاهدون بأموالهم وأنفسهم. { فَإِذَا جَاءَ الْخَوْفُ رَأَيْتَهُمْ يَنْظُرُونَ إِلَيْكَ } نظر المغشى عليه { مِنَ الْمَوْتِ } من شدة الجبن، الذي خلع قلوبهم، والقلق الذي أذهلهم، وخوفًا من إجبارهم على ما يكرهون، من القتال.{ فَإِذَا ذَهَبَ الْخَوْفُ } وصاروا في حال الأمن والطمأنينة، { سَلَقُوكُمْ بِأَلْسِنَة } أي: خاطبوكم، وتكلموا معكم، بكلام حديد، ودعاوى غير صحيحة.وحين تسمعهم، تظنهم أهل الشجاعة والإقدام، { أَشِحَّةً عَلَى الْخَيْرِ } الذي يراد منهم، وهذا شر ما في الإنسان، أن يكون شحيحًا بما أمر به، شحيحًا بماله أن ينفقه في وجهه، شحيحًا في بدنه أن يجاهد أعداء اللّه، أو يدعو إلى سبيل اللّه، شحيحًا بجاهه، شحيحًا بعلمه، ونصيحته ورأيه.{ أُولَئِكَ } الذين بتلك الحالة { لَمْ يُؤْمِنُوا } بسبب عدم إيمانهم، أحبط الله أعمالهم، { وَكَانَ ذَلِكَ عَلَى اللَّهِ يَسِيرًا } وأما المؤمنون، فقد وقاهم اللّه، شح أنفسهم، ووفقهم لبذل ما أمروا به، من بذل لأبدانهم في القتال في سبيله، وإعلاء كلمته، وأموالهم، للنفقة في طرق الخير، وجاههم وعلمهم.

وقال السدي "أشحة عليكم" أي في الغنائم "فإذا جاء الخوف رأيتهم ينظرون إليك تدور أعينهم كالذي يغشى عليه من الموت" أي من شدة خوفه وجزعه وهكذا خوف هؤلاء الجبناء من القتال "فإذا ذهب الخوف سلقوكم بألسنة حداد" أي فإذا كان الأمن تكلموا كلاما بليغا فصيحا عاليا وادعوا لأنفسهم المقامات العالية في الشجاعة والنجدة وهم يكذبون في ذل وقال ابن عباس رضي الله عنهما "سلقوكم" أي استقبلوكم وقال قتادة أما عند الغنيمة فأشح قوم وأسوأه مقاسمة أعطونا أعطونا قد شهدنا معكم وأما عند البأس فأجبن قوم وأخذله للحق وهم مع ذلك أشحة على الخير أي ليس فيهم خير قد جمعوا الجبن والكذب وقلة الخير فهم كما قال في أمثالهم الشاعر: (أفي السلم أعيار جفاء وغلظة وفي الحرب أمثال النساء العوارك) أي في حال المسالمة كأنهم الحمر والأعيار جمع عير وهو الحمار وفي الحرب كأنهم النساء الحيض ولهذا قال تعالى "أولئك لم يؤمنوا فأحبط الله أعمالهم وكان ذلك على الله يسيرا" أي سهلا هينا عنده.

هَلُمَّ إِلَيْنَا

(Come here towards us,) meaning, come to where we are in the shade and enjoying fruits. But in spite of that,

وَلاَ يَأْتُونَ الْبَأْسَ إِلاَّ قَلِيلاً

أَشِحَّةً عَلَيْكُمْ

(they come not to the battle except a little, being miserly towards you.) i.e., `they are mean and have no love or

mercy towards you.' As-Suddi said:

أَشِحَّةً عَلَيْكُمْ

(Being miserly towards you.) means, with the booty.

فَإِذَا جَآءَ الْخَوْفُ رَأَيْتَهُمْ يَنظُرُونَ إِلَيْكَ تَدورُ أَعْيُنُهُمْ كَالَّذِى

يُغْشَى عَلَيْهِ مِنَ الْمَوْتِ

(Then when fear comes, you will see them looking to you, their eyes revolving like one over whom hovers death;)

means, because of the intensity of their fear and terror; this is how afraid these cowards are of fighting.

فَإِذَا ذَهَبَ الْخَوْفُ سَلَقُوكُم بِأَلْسِنَةٍ حِدَادٍ

(but when the fear departs, they will smite you with sharp tongues,) means, when security is restored, they will

speak eloquently and nicely, claiming that they were the bravest and most chivalrous of men, but they are lying. Ibn

`Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said:

سَلَقُوكُم

(they will smite you) means, 'they will start to talk about you.\” Qatadah said: 'But when it comes to the booty, the

most miserly of people and the worst to have to share the booty with are those who say, `Give us, give us, we were

there with you,' but during battle they were the most cowardly and the most likely to fail to support the truth.\”

They are miserly towards good, meaning that there is no goodness in them, for they have combined cowardice with lies

and little good. Allah says:

أوْلَـئِكَ لَمْ يُؤْمِنُواْ فَأَحْبَطَ اللَّهُ أَعْمَـلَهُمْ وَكَانَ ذَلِكَ عَلَى اللَّهِ

يَسِيراً

(Such have not believed. Therefore Allah makes their deeds fruitless and that is ever easy for Allah.)

grudging to you in their help ashihha ‘grudging’ is the plural of shahīh and is a circumstantial qualifier referring to the subject of the verb ya’tūna ‘they engage’. And when there is a panic you see them looking at you their eyes rolling like one that is like the look of one or the rolling of one fainting at death in other words one in the throes thereof; but when the panic subsides and the spoils have been secured they scald you they hurt you or they smite you with their sharp tongues in their greed for the riches in other words for the spoils which they demand greedily. Those they never believed really. Therefore God has invalidated their works and that invalidation is easy for God by His will.

The second state mentioned here is that of the hypocrites for they had started saying that the promises of Allah and His Rasul ﷺ were a web of deception: إِذْ يَقُولُ الْمُنَافِقُونَ وَالَّذِينَ فِي قُلُوبِهِم مَّرَ‌ضٌ مَّا وَعَدَنَا اللَّـهُ وَرَ‌سُولُهُ إِلَّا غُرُ‌ورً‌ا (And (remember) when the hypocrites and those having malady in their hearts were saying, "Allah and His messenger did not promise us but deceitfully; -12). This was an externalized demonstration of their inner disbelief. Onward from here, mention has been made of two groups of hypocrites who were practically a part of the Jihad effort along with Muslims, though outwardly only. One of the two groups started running without any permission saying: وَإِذْ قَالَت طَّائِفَةٌ مِّنْهُمْ يَا أَهْلَ يَثْرِ‌بَ لَا مُقَامَ لَكُمْ فَارْ‌جِعُوا (and when a group of them said, "0 people of Yathrib (Madinah), there is no place for you to stay; so go back. - 13" And the other group requested the permission of the Holy Prophet ﷺ to go back on the basis of false excuses. Their conduct has been mentioned as: وَيَسْتَأْذِنُ فَرِ‌يقٌ مِّنْهُمُ النَّبِيَّ يَقُولُونَ إِنَّ بُيُوتَنَا عَوْرَ‌ةٌ (And a group of them was seeking permission (to leave) from the prophet, saying, "In fact our homes are vulnerable," while they were not vulnerable - 13). Thus, the Qur'an exposed the hollowness of their excuses as a pack of lies. The truth of the matter was no more than that they intended to run from the battlefront:إِن يُرِ‌يدُونَ إِلَّا فِرَ‌ارً‌ا (They wanted nothing but to escape - 13). Taken up in the next several verses is their mischief-making and enmity with Muslims following which their sad end has been pointed out.

After that, the text mentions sincere believers and praises their firmness and fortitude. In the same connection, there comes a strong assertion of the need to obey and follow the Holy Prophet ﷺ almost in the form of a legal rule of conduct: لَّقَدْ كَانَ لَكُمْ فِي رَ‌سُولِ اللَّـهِ أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ (There is indeed a good model for you in the Messenger of Allah - 21). From here it stands proved that all sayings and doings of the Holy Prophet ﷺ have to be followed. But, the Shari'ah authorities have explained the rule about the different degrees of following required from a Muslim. The rule is that any act or omission of the Holy Prophet ﷺ proved to have been done as an obligation would have to be obeyed and followed as wajib (obligatory, necessary). And any act or omission on his part that is proved to have been done as a preferable conduct (istihbab) and not as an obligatory one, should be followed by us too as a commendable (mustahab) conduct and not as a necessary obligation This, in other words, means that its contravention will not be declared to be a sin. (For a detailed discussion, see al-Jassas in Ahkam ul-Qur'an)

The last three (25-27) of the cited verses refer to the event relating to Banu Quraizah. In verse 26: وَأَنزَلَ الَّذِينَ ظَاهَرُ‌وهُم مِّنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ مِن صَيَاصِيهِمْ it was said that Allah Ta’ ala had, by putting the awe of the Holy Prophet ﷺ and his Muslim followers into the hearts of the people of the Book who had helped the Confederate forces, made them come down from their strong fortresses and had thus made Muslims the inheritors of their properties, homes and areas of concentration.

In the last verse (27), good news of future victories has been given. Gone is the time when disbelievers attacked. Now the cycle of Muslim victories will begin and they will come to be on lands their feet have not touched yet. And this prophecy unfolded itself during the tenure of the noble Sahabah and everyone witnessed the spectacle of great empires ruled by Cyrus and Caesar come under them. And Allah does what He wills.