ﲩ ﲪ ﲫ ﲬ ﲭ ﲮ ﲯ ﲰ ﲱ ﲲ ﲳ ﲴ ﲵ ﲶ ﲷ ﲸ ﲹ ﲺ
Had they gone forth with you, they would not have increased you except in confusion, and they would have been active among you, seeking [to cause] you fitnah. And among you are avid listeners to them. And Allah is Knowing of the wrongdoers.
Tafsir
Verse range: 9:47
{لَوْ خَرَجُوا فِيكُمْ مَا زَادُوكُمْ إِلَّا خَبَالًا} (If they had marched out with you, they would have only increased disorder among you.)
Know that the Almighty has clarified in this verse the types of corruption (mafāsid) resulting from their departure (marching out to battle). These are three:
The First: His saying: {مَا زَادُوكُمْ إِلَّا خَبَالًا} (they would have only increased disorder among you). This involves several issues:
Khabāl means evil, corruption, and ruin in everything. From this root, mental derangement is called khabal, and a mentally afflicted person is called makhbūl.
The commentators have various expressions:
Some grammarians state that {إِلَّا خَبَالًا} is an Interrupted Exception (Istithnā’ Munqaṭiʿ), meaning the exception is not of the same genus as the excepted thing. This is like saying: "They brought you no good except disorder."
Here, the excepted thing (the thing from which the exception is made) is not explicitly mentioned. When it is not mentioned, the exception reverts to the most general term, which is "thing" (shay’). Therefore, the exception becomes Connected (Muttasil), with the meaning: "They would not have increased you by anything except disorder."
The Muʿtazilites argue that the Almighty first indicated in the preceding verse that He disliked their setting out, and in this verse, He clarified that He disliked that departure because it was characterized by this khabāl (disorder), evil, and sedition (fitnah). This proves that the Almighty dislikes evil, sedition, and corruption absolutely, and is pleased only with good and wills only obedience.
The Second Type of corruption arising from their departure is His saying: {وَلَأَوْضَعُوا خِلَالَكُمْ يَبْغُونَكُمُ الْفِتْنَةَ} (and they would have spread sedition among you, seeking to cause you trouble).
Regarding the word {أَوْضَعُوا} (they would have spread/ridden swiftly), Al-Wāḥidī mentions two views:
The First View: Held by most linguists, awḍaʿa means urging a camel to run swiftly. It is not permissible to say a man awḍaʿa unless it is meant that he urged his mount. They say: Waḍaʿat al-nāqah (the she-camel ran), and awḍaʿahā al-rākib (the rider urged her on). Al-Farrā’ said: The Arabs say waḍaʿat al-nāqah, and the rider says awḍaʿa, though sometimes they attribute waḍaʿa to the rider.
The Second View: Held by Al-Akhfash and Abū ʿUbayd, it is permissible to say awḍaʿa when a man travels swiftly by himself, without intending that he urged his mount. Abū ʿUbayd narrated that the Prophet (peace be upon him) proceeded swiftly (awḍaʿa) in the valley of Muzdalifah after Ifāḍah from ʿArafah, while maintaining tranquility.
Poets used it to mean swiftness:
They showed us those who are swift in the judgment of the unseen, And they copied (or erased) food and drink. (He meant they were swift, not that they were urging camels, as he did not intend travel on the road.)
They challenge with aggression when they recognize me, And they say: 'A man who has eaten and gone swiftly (awḍaʿa).'
Al-Wāḥidī stated that the verse supports the view of Al-Akhfash and Abū ʿUbayd.
Regardless of the two views, the meaning of the verse is spreading slander and tale-bearing among the Muslims. If we adopt the first view, the meaning is: "They would have urged their mounts among you," meaning they would hasten with slander, as a rider is faster than a walker. If we adopt the second view, it means they would hasten in spreading this slander.
The author of Al-Kashshāf narrated from Ibn al-Zubayr that he recited it as {وَلَأَوْقَصُوا} (wa-la-awqaṣū), from waqaṣat al-nāqah waqaṣan (the she-camel sped up). It was also read as {وَلَأَرَفَضُوا} (wa-la-arafḍū).
If it is asked: Why is the word written in the Musḥaf with an added alif in {وَلَا} (wa-lā)?
The answer from the author of Al-Kashshāf is: The vowel sign (fatḥah) was originally an alif before the Arabic script was standardized. Since the Arabic script was invented close to the time of the Quran's revelation, the trace of that alif remained in the writing style. Thus, they wrote the form of the hamzah as an alif, and its vowel sign as another alif. The word {أَوْلًا} (awwalan) is similar in this regard.
{خِلَالَكُمْ} means "among you" or "between you." This is derived from khalal (a gap or space between two things). Plural is khilāl. Examples include: {وَفَجَّرْنَا خِلَالَهُمَا نَهَرًا} (And We caused a river to flow between them) [Al-Kahf: 33], and {فَجَاسُوا خِلَالَ الدِّيَارِ} (and they roamed through the houses) [Al-Isrā’: 5]. It is also related to {فَتَرَى الْوَدْقَ يَخْرُجُ مِنْ خِلَالِهِ} (And you see the rain emerging from between them) [An-Nūr: 43]. It was also read as {مِنْ خَلَلِهِ} (from its gaps/openings). Al-Aṣmaʿī said: Takhallalta al-qawm means "I entered between their gaps and spaces." They also say: "We sat khilāl buyūt al-ḥayy (among the houses of the tribe)," meaning between the houses and in the middle of the dwellings.
Knowing this, we say: {خَبَالًا وَلَأَوْضَعُوا خِلَالَكُمْ} means they would spread slander and corruption among you.
{يَبْغُونَكُمُ الْفِتْنَةَ} means they seek sedition for you (i.e., cause it to happen to you). Al-Aṣmaʿī said: Ibghinī kadhā means "Seek that for me." The meaning of ibghinī and ibghī lī is the same. If one says ibghinī, it means: "Help me achieve what I seek."
The meaning of {الْفِتْنَةَ} here is the division of the word (disunity) and the emergence of confusion.
The summary of the speech is that if they had marched out with the believers, they would have only increased disorder (khabāl), which is the corruption that necessitates difference of opinion—one of the greatest things to guard against in warfare, as disagreement in opinion easily leads to defeat and collapse. The Almighty then clarified that they would not stop there, but would walk among the leaders spreading slander, thus increasing corruption, which is what is meant by {وَلَأَوْضَعُوا خِلَالَكُمْ}.
As for His saying: {وَفِيكُمْ سَمَّاعُونَ لَهُمْ} (And among you are those who listen to them), there are two views:
The First View: It means there are spies among you who report back to them what they hear from you. This is the view of Mujāhid and Ibn Zayd.
The Second View: Qatādah said: It means there are those among you who listen to their speech and accept their words. When they cast types of words that weaken the heart upon them, they accept them and become lethargic in fulfilling the duty of Jihad as they should.
If it is asked: How is this permissible for the believers, given the strength of their faith and their intention for Jihad?
We reply: It is not impossible for those whose conversion to Islam is recent that the words of the hypocrites affect them. It is also not impossible that some people are inherently cowardly, weak-hearted, and faint-spirited, so their words affect them. It is also not impossible that some Muslims are relatives of the hypocritical leaders, looking upon them with reverence and respect; for this reason, the words of these prominent hypocrites affect them. Furthermore, it is possible that the hypocrites are of two types: some limit themselves to hypocrisy and do not strive to spread corruption on earth. The second group of hypocrites is incited to spread corruption by the first group through casting doubts and spreading rumors.
Finally, the Almighty concluded the verse with: {وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ بِالظَّالِمِينَ} (And Allah is All-Knowing of the wrongdoers), those who wronged themselves due to their disbelief and hypocrisy, and wronged others by striving to lead others into calamities and opposition.
{لَقَدِ ابْتَغَوُا الْفِتْنَةَ مِنْ قَبْلُ وَقَلَّبُوا لَكَ الْأُمُورَ حَتَّى جَاءَ الْحَقُّ وَظَهَرَ أَمْرُ اللَّهِ وَهُمْ كَارِهُونَ * وَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ يَقُولُ ائْذَنْ لِي وَلَا تَفْتِنِّي أَلَا فِي الْفِتْنَةِ سَقَطُوا وَإِنَّ جَهَنَّمَ لَمُحِيطَةٌ بِالْكَافِرِينَ}
(They sought sedition before, and they turned matters upside down for you, until the truth came and the command of Allah prevailed, while they were averse. And among them is one who says, "Permit me and do not expose me to trial [fitnah]." Beware! They have already fallen into trial. And indeed, Hell surrounds the disbelievers.)
