Tafsir of Al-Munafiqun 63:8

"They say: 'If we return to Al-Madinah, the more honorable [al-a'azz] among them will surely expel the more abject [al-adhall] from it.'"

The speaker of this is as you have heard: Ibn Ubayy. He intended by "the more honorable" himself or those who follow him, and by "the more abject" those whom Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, has honored—namely the Messenger (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), or he intended the Messenger (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and the believers. Attributing this statement to all of them is due to their satisfaction with it, as was the case in the preceding verse.

Al-Hasan, Ibn Abi 'Ablah, and al-Sabti in his selection read la-nukhrijanna (we will surely expel) with an nun, and they read al-a'azza and al-adhalla in the accusative case (nasb). In this reading, al-a'azz is the object (maf'ul bihi). Al-adhall is either a state (hal)—based on the permissibility of a state being definite (or the addition of al to it, such as in the phrase "he sent her as al-'irak [the struggling one]"), and "enter the first [one] then the first [one]"—which is the most famous way of explaining this—or it is a state with the estimation of the word "like," meaning "like the abject one," and it does not become definite by the genitive construction. Alternatively, it is a direct object for a deleted state (i.e., "resembling the abject one"), or an absolute object (maf'ul mutlaq) on the basis that the original was "the expulsion of the abject one," then the added noun (the masdar) was deleted and the genitive noun took its place, thus acquiring its accusative case.

Al-Kisa'i and al-Farra' related that a group read la-yukhrijanna with an open ya and a damma on the ra, making al-a'azz nominative (rafa') as the subject (fa'iliyyah), and al-adhall accusative as stated previously. However, you may also estimate the accusative as being for the verbal noun (masdariyyah), meaning "the expulsion." It was also read as la-yukhrajanna with an open ya in the passive voice, with al-a'azz in the nominative as the deputy of the subject, and al-adhall in the accusative as previously mentioned.

Al-Hasan read—as Abu 'Amr al-Dani mentioned—la-nukhrijanna with an open nun of plurality and a damma on the ra, with al-a'azza and al-adhalla in the accusative. Abu Hatim related this reading and explained it by saying that the accusative al-a'azza is for specification (ikhtisas), as in their saying: "We, the Arabs, are the closest of people to the guest." The accusative al-adhalla is explained by one of the ways mentioned regarding what al-Kisa'i and al-Farra' related. The intent is to manifest annoyance with the believers and that they cannot reside with them in one dwelling. This is what you see. Perhaps this reading is not established from al-Hasan.

"But honor belongs to Allah, and to His Messenger, and to the believers."

This is a refutation of what they implicitly claimed regarding their own honor and the abasement of those to whom they attributed abasement (may He be far removed from such). It means: Victory and power belong to Allah, and to whomever Allah has honored from among His Messenger (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and the believers—not to others. From what we have indicated, the direction of the exclusivity derived from placing the predicate first (taqdim al-khabar) is known. It is said that the consideration of weakness is before the attribution, so it does not contradict it. Repeating the preposition (li) does not harm, as it is not for the sake of establishing independence in the attribution, but rather to show the variation in the stability of honor. For its stability in Allah, the Exalted, is essential; for the Messenger (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) it is through the medium of the Message; and for the believers, it is through the medium of faith.

It has come through several chains that 'Abd Allah ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Ubayy, who was a sincere believer, drew his sword against his father when they approached Al-Madinah and said: "By Allah, I will not sheath it until you say: 'Muhammad is the more honorable, and I am the more abject.'" He did not budge until he said it. In another narration, may Allah be pleased with him, he stood while people were entering until his father came. He said: "Stay back." His father said: "What is the matter with you, woe to you?" He said: "By Allah, you shall never enter it unless the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) grants you permission; and you will know this day who is the more honorable and who is the more abject." His father returned until he met the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and complained to him of what his son had done. The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) sent word to him to let him go and enter, and he did. It is established from the narration of the two Sheikhs (al-Bukhari and Muslim), al-Tirmidhi, and others, on the authority of Jabir ibn 'Abd Allah, that when the words of Ibn Ubayy reached the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) stood up and said: "O Messenger of Allah, let me strike the neck of this hypocrite." The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: "Leave him, lest people say that Muhammad kills his companions." In a narration from Qatadah, he said to the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace): "O Prophet of Allah, command Mu'adh to strike the neck of the hypocrite," and the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said that.

The verse contains all the evidence regarding the nobility of the believers. From this, some pious women said, while she was in ragged clothes: "Am I not upon Islam, which is the honor that has no abasement with it, and the richness that has no poverty with it?"

It is related from al-Hasan ibn 'Ali—upon the Messenger and them be peace—that a man said to him: "The people claim that there is haughtiness (tih) in you." He replied: "It is not haughtiness, but rather honor (izzah)," and he recited this verse. By "haughtiness" is meant pride (kibr). Honor points to the fact that honor is different from pride. Abu Hafs al-Suhrawardi (may his secret be sanctified) stipulated this, saying: "Honor is different from pride, for honor is a person’s knowledge of the truth of his own soul and honoring it so as not to place it before fleeting portions [of the world], just as pride is a person’s ignorance of his own soul and placing it above its proper station. Thus, honor is the opposite of abasement, just as pride is the opposite of humility." Al-Raghib explained 'izzah as a state that prevents a person from being overcome, taken from their saying, "Hard ground (ard 'azaz)," meaning firm, and "the meat became firm (ta'azzaza al-lahm)," as if it reached a hard place difficult to access. It is sometimes used metaphorically for blameworthy zeal and arrogance; in this sense, it is established for the disbelievers. Explaining it as power and victory, as you have heard, is common. You may intend by it here the state that prevents one from being overcome, for it is also established for Allah, for His Messenger (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), and for the believers, in the manner befitting each.

"But the hypocrites do not know."

This is due to the extremity of their ignorance and arrogance, so they babble what they babble. The verb here is placed in the position of an intransitive verb, which is why no object was estimated for it, unlike the verb in the preceding [verse]. This is what more than one of the great scholars has chosen. It is said regarding its rationale: The fact that honor belongs to Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, entails that provisions are in His hand, not the reverse. Thus, it was appropriate to consider the morals in the concluding sentence of what conveys the fact that honor belongs to Him, the Almighty, as an intent for emphasis and restriction for the concluding sentence of what conveys that provisions are in His hand, the Exalted. It was then said: The first sentence was specified with "they do not understand (la yafqahun)" and the second with "they do not know (la ya'lamun)," because establishing understanding (fiqh) for a person is more eloquent than establishing knowledge ('ilm) for him, so the negation of knowledge is more eloquent than the negation of understanding, and the more eloquent was chosen for what is more demanding.

According to al-Raghib, the meaning of His saying (the Almighty): "They are the ones who say, 'Do not spend...'"—is that they command harming the believers and withholding expenditures from them, and they do not perceive that if they do that, they harm themselves. Thus, they do not understand that and do not perceive it. The meaning of the second is their threatening to expel the more honorable for the more abject. In their view, the more honorable is the one who has power and victory, according to what they were upon in the days of ignorance. Thus, they do not know that this power, by which a person favors another, is only from Allah; so it belongs to Him, the Almighty, and to those of His servants whom He singles out with it. And they do not know that abasement is for those in whom they estimate honor, and that Allah, the Exalted, honors His allies by their obedience to Him, and abases His enemies by their disobedience to His command, the Almighty. Each verse has been specified by what its meaning necessitates, so ponder upon this. Explicit mention in place of the pronoun is for the sake of increasing the censure, while indicating the cause of the judgment in both places.