9-119 O you who believe, keep your duty to Allah and be with the truthful.a
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَكُونُوا۟ مَعَ ٱلصَّـٰدِقِينَ (۱۱۹)
9-119a: The command to be with the truthful: This verse is a testament to the eloquent composition and decisive nature of Quranic verses. The last verse mentions three men who after having regularly participated in previous holy wars stayed back from the Tabuk expedition and Allah was so displeased with them for this that for fifty days the Muslims were not permitted to speak to them even though these three said their prayers, performed all the duties of Muslims and were from the party of Muslims. This verse impresses that those Muslims who realize the needs of their religion but do not resolve to fulfill those needs disqualify themselves from being part of the Muslim body.
By truthful is meant righteous servants of religion like a mujaddid: Prophethood had to come to an end but the needs of the religion were to continue. Accordingly, immediately after this the Muslims are advised that when a truthful and righteous person arises among them and calls the Muslims to fulfil the needs of the faith, their most important duty is to join him. By صَّـٰدِقِينَ or truthful are meant those people who are true in the service of faith and not just those who speak the truth. For this meaning of صادق see 3:17a, and the Quran itself has stated: إِنَّمَا ٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ بِٱللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِۦ ثُمَّ لَمْ يَرْتَابُوا۟ وَجَـٰهَدُوا۟ بِأَمْوَٰلِهِمْ وَأَنفُسِهِمْ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ ۚ أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلصَّـٰدِقُونَ (The believers are those only who believe in Allah and His Messenger, then they doubt not, and struggle hard with their wealth and their lives in the way of Allah. Such are the truthful ones) (49:15). This is the meaning here as is evident from the mention of bearing tribulations in the next verse which indicates that only those are deserving of being called صادق who work and face hardships in the way of Allah. In the present times, Muslims are so far removed from the understanding of the Quran that most of them state that if so and so is a Mujaddid of the era, so be it, it is sufficient for us that we pray. It is a pity that they do not reflect on the Quran even a little for if they did, they would realize the importance that the Quran lays on being with the truthful by bringing this command at this juncture of the Quran.
9-120 It was not proper for the people of Madinah and those round about them of the desert Arabs to remain behind the Messenger of Allah, nor to prefer their own lives to his life. That is because there afflicts them neither thirst nor fatigue nor hunger in Allah’s way, nor tread they a path which enrages the disbelievers, nor cause they any harm to an enemy, but a good work is written down for them on account of it. Surely Allah wastes not the reward of the doers of good;a
مَا كَانَ لِأَهْلِ ٱلْمَدِينَةِ وَمَنْ حَوْلَهُم مِّنَ ٱلْأَعْرَابِ أَن يَتَخَلَّفُوا۟ عَن رَّسُولِ ٱللَّهِ وَلَا يَرْغَبُوا۟ بِأَنفُسِهِمْ عَن نَّفْسِهِۦ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ لَا يُصِيبُهُمْ ظَمَأٌۭ وَلَا نَصَبٌۭ وَلَا مَخْمَصَةٌۭ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ وَلَا يَطَـُٔونَ مَوْطِئًۭا يَغِيظُ ٱلْكُفَّارَ وَلَا يَنَالُونَ مِنْ عَدُوٍّۢ نَّيْلًا إِلَّا كُتِبَ لَهُم بِهِۦ عَمَلٌۭ صَـٰلِحٌ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يُضِيعُ أَجْرَ ٱلْمُحْسِنِينَ (۱۲۰)
9-120a: يَرْغَبُوا۟ – For the meaning of رغب see 2-130a. Having رغبة with a thing means being greedy for it with an element of enviousness attached. A hadith has the statement کیف انتم اذا مَرِج الدینُ و ظَھرتِ الرغبة (What will be your condition when the religion will be in a state of decline and رغبة will be manifest) where the meaning of رغبة is stated to be greed for accumulating wealth (LA). The meaning here is being greedy for life.
ظَمَأٌۭ – ظِمۡٔ is the interval between two gulps of water and accordingly ظَمَأٌۭ is thirst and ظَمٰۡان is thirsty, as in: لَا تَظْمَؤُا۟ فِيهَا (thou art not thirsty therein) (20:119); يَحْسَبُهُ ٱلظَّمْـَٔانُ مَآءً (the thirsty man deems it to be water) (24:39) (R).
نَصَبٌۭ – The literal meaning of نَصۡب is to drive a thing in the ground, plant it or erect it and نُصۡب and نَصَب means fatigue, tiredness, as in: مَسَّنِىَ ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنُ بِنُصْبٍۢ (the devil has afflicted me) (38:41) لَا يَمَسُّهُمْ فِيهَا نَصَبٌۭ (Toil afflicts them not therein) (15:48).
مَخْمَصَةٌۭ – خَمۡص البطن is leanness of the stomach and so مَخْمَصَةٌۭ is hunger which creates the leanness of the stomach (R).
يَطَـُٔونَ – موطئا and وَطِیٔ means trample, trodden. Hence trampling the earth is going about in the earth, as is the meaning here, and مَوۡطئ means موضع which is place, spot, site (LA). The purport in اللّھم اشۡدُد وَطأتَكَ علی مُضَر is to humiliate them or to make them obedient. The meaning of مُواطأُۃ is conformity or accordance, that is putting the second step where the first step was placed. It is used in this sense in لِّيُوَاطِـُٔوا۟ عِدَّةَ مَا حَرَّمَ ٱللَّهُ (that they may agree in the number of months Allah has made sacred (9:37). The meaning here is that they walk in places which enrage the disbelievers or in other words, the enemy is overawed.
يَنَالُونَ – نیلا – نَیۡل is something that one takes with his hand, and نَوۡل (نَال ینال ) and تَنَاوُل means to take or acquire (R). يَنَالُونَ مِنْ عَدُوٍّۢ (They take from the enemy) means they are victorious or obtain some benefit from the enemy.
This verse informs that all actions taken to counter the enemies of faith are classed as worship and are counted as a person’s good deeds. It is obvious that there can be nothing greater in goodness than a deed that gives life to the religion of Islam. Good actions are the actions which are the basis for a person’s immortality, but the continued existence of truth and justice is even more important than a person’s life. Hence those actions that are undertaken to continue the existence of truth and justice are among the best acts of goodness on which depends a person’s eternal life. Some people labor under the misconception that remembering Allah while sitting in their houses is an act of goodness and their striving takes the form of undertaking ritualistic practices, but the striving to which Allah guided the Companions took the form of confronting the enemies of Islam, and this is therefore the best form of striving. When the enemies of Islam pick up the sword, they must be challenged by the sword but in the present times, the contest is based on knowledge and reasoned arguments. Just as he who strives to confront the enemies of religion with the sword counts in his good deeds enduring hunger and thirst, bearing sufferings, harming an enemy, traversing long distances, one who strives with knowledge, or with his speech can also count these same things in his acts of goodness when he has to bear hardships in pitting his knowledge and speech against the enemies of Islam. The actions of these knowledge warriors not only purify their own hearts but also assist in the continuance of truth and justice. Thus, this is the best striving of all the strivings. The words adopted here are such that they embrace both striving with the sword and striving with knowledge. In fact, the real purpose here seems to be striving with knowledge as is clearly communicated in the last verse of this section where striving with the sword is omitted and only striving with knowledge is mentioned.
9-121 Nor spend they anything, small or great, nor do they traverse a valley but it is written down for them, that Allah may reward them for the best of what they did.a
وَلَا يُنفِقُونَ نَفَقَةًۭ صَغِيرَةًۭ وَلَا كَبِيرَةًۭ وَلَا يَقْطَعُونَ وَادِيًا إِلَّا كُتِبَ لَهُمْ لِيَجْزِيَهُمُ ٱللَّهُ أَحْسَنَ مَا كَانُوا۟ يَعْمَلُونَ (۱۲۱)
9-121a: يَقْطَعُونَ وَادِيًا – قطع is to sever a thing, and قطع الطریق means a stroll or walking. Here يَقْطَعُونَ وَادِيًا means traversing a valley. Its meaning can also be snatching goods from travelers as in وَتَقْطَعُونَ ٱلسَّبِيلَ وَتَأْتُونَ (and commit robbery on the highway) (29:29) (R).
The last verse mentions bearing difficulties, hunger, thirst etcetera in confronting and overpowering an enemy. This verse informs that even if a person does not have to bear such difficulties and no domination over an enemy is involved, the mere act of spending in the way of Allah or doing anything in the service of religion is by itself an act of goodness.
9-122 And the believers should not go forth all together. Why, then, does not a company from every party from among them go forth that they may apply themselves to obtain understanding in religion, and that they may warn their people, when they come back to them, that they may be cautious?a
وَمَا كَانَ ٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ لِيَنفِرُوا۟ كَآفَّةًۭ ۚ فَلَوْلَا نَفَرَ مِن كُلِّ فِرْقَةٍۢ مِّنْهُمْ طَآئِفَةٌۭ لِّيَتَفَقَّهُوا۟ فِى ٱلدِّينِ وَلِيُنذِرُوا۟ قَوْمَهُمْ إِذَا رَجَعُوٓا۟ إِلَيْهِمْ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَحْذَرُونَ (۱۲۲)
9-122a: يَتَفَقَّهُوا۟ فِقۡه -is to go from the knowledge of what is seen to the knowledge of what is unseen. علم or knowledge is a generic term while this is a term with specific meaning, as in لَا يَكَادُونَ يَفْقَهُونَ حَدِيثًۭا (they make no effort to understand anything) (4-78). This word is particularly used for understanding the knowledge of sharia and the meaning of تفَقَّه is he gained this knowledge and created a distinguishing quality in it (R).
It is strange that with the revelation of this surah, which is so full of the subject of fighting, the wars in reality came to an end and the Holy Prophet started receiving delegations from the various nations of Arabia. These nations which had been bent on destroying Islam now realized that they would be unable to break the strength of Islam and began to cool headedly consider the truth of Islam. They had seen how the Holy Prophet was all alone at the start and the whole of Arabia was not only opposed to him but was his mortal enemy. They tried to take his life, planned against him, tried their best, waged wars but could not harm Islam in any way. Now after the expedition to Tabuk, they saw that the Muslims were strong enough even to take on the Kaiser of Rome and this convinced them to give up the idea of challenging the Muslims. Inwardly, their hearts had already been impacted by Islam and so nation after nation started coming to Madinah to learn about Islam and to join its fold. One of the ways to educate these new converts could have been that those Muslims who had stayed in the company of the Holy Prophet and had been educated about Islam should go out to these nations to teach them about Islam. The natural consequence of this would have been that Madinah would have become bereft of the Companions. So, the alternative way suggested is that some representatives from each nation should come to Madinah, educate themselves in the tenets of Islam and then go back and teach Islam to such of their compatriots who had already converted and to call to Islam those who had not yet converted. It appears from وَلِيُنذِرُوا۟ قَوْمَهُمْ (and that they may warn their people) that a significant proportion of these nations were still disbelievers although some had converted and accepted Islam. In addition, this is the best way to propagate faith and knowledge to all the nations. If the people of Madinah had monopolized this work, an impression would have been created that other nations are incapable of this work and that knowledge was just the birthright of the people of Madinah and this would have been antithetical to equality which exists in the pursuance of religious education for all. Hence, it is commanded that all nations should get educated and the way in which this is to be done is that some people from each nation should come to Madinah and get educated and then return to their nation and educate others. The end of wars and laying the foundation of peace and reproachment was the start of the real victory of Islam. By bringing this verse at the end of the discussion of wars, the real purpose of Islam is also revealed. Even today, Islam needs such persons who are educated in Islamic jurisprudence and are willing to go out to different nations and when some people from that nation convert and get educated then the converts can take over the work of guiding their nation. This is the blueprint that Allah has given for the spread of Islam. It is now for the Muslims to take an initiative in this regard, otherwise the spread of Islam in the world will be impeded.
Bayan-ul-Quran 