Tafseer of The Clans · Al-Ahzaab · 33:19
Indisposed toward you. And when fear comes, you see them looking at you, their eyes revolving like one being overcome by death. But when fear departs, they lash you with sharp tongues, indisposed toward [any] good. Those have not believed, so Allah has rendered their deeds worthless, and ever is that, for Allah, easy.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
And His word: ashiḥḥatan ʿalaykum (gierig jegens jullie, "niggardly toward you") — the people of interpretation differed over the meaning by which Allah described these hypocrites (munāfiqīn) in this place with niggardliness. Some of them said: He described them with niggardliness toward you concerning the spoils of war (ghanīma).
* Mention of who said that:
Bishr related to me, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: niggardly toward you — concerning the spoils of war.
And others said: No, He described them with niggardliness toward you concerning the good.
* Mention of who said that:
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to me; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us; both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: niggardly toward you — he said: toward the good, [namely] the hypocrites. Another said: its meaning is: niggardly toward you with the expenditure upon the weak among the believers among you.
And the correct judgment concerning this, in my view, is that one says: Allah described these hypocrites with cowardice and niggardliness, and He did not specify their description among the meanings of niggardliness with one meaning over another. They are therefore as Allah described them: niggardly toward the believers concerning the spoils of war, the good, and the expenditure in the path of Allah for the benefit of the needy among the Muslims. The accusative in His word niggardly toward you (ashiḥḥatan ʿalaykum) is as a ḥāl (circumstantial qualifier) upon the mention of the noun in His word and they do not come to the fighting (al-baʾs), as though it were said: they are cowards at the fighting, niggardly at the division of the spoils concerning the spoils. And it is possible that it is a separated construction (qaṭʿ) from His word Allah already knows those among you who hold [others] back, so that its interpretation is: Allah already knows those who restrain the people of the fighting and who, at the victory, are niggardly concerning the spoils. And it is also possible that it is a separated construction from [the implied statement]: come to us, niggardly; and thus are they: niggardly. And the Exalted, whose praise is exalted, described them with the niggardliness toward the believers which He described, on account of the enmity and the rancor toward them that was present in their souls.
As Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, saying: Yazīd ibn Rūmān related to me: niggardly toward you — that is to say: on account of the rancor that was in their souls.
And His word: And when the fear comes ... up to His word: from death — the Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: and when the fighting breaks out and the combat comes, they fear destruction and death. You see them, O Muḥammad, looking at you, while they seek protection with you; their eyes roll about out of fear of death and out of fleeing from it. like one who swoons at death — He says: like the rolling about of the eye of one who swoons at death which overtakes him. And when the fear has departed — He says: and when the war has ended and they are reassured they smite you with sharp tongues.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the people of interpretation have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: And when the fear comes, you see them looking at you, while their eyes roll about — from fear.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, saying: Yazīd ibn Rūmān related to me: And when the fear comes, you see them looking at you, while their eyes roll about like one who swoons at death — that is to say: out of awe and dread of it. And as for His word they smite you with sharp tongues, this says: they bite you with sharp tongues. And it is said of the eloquent man with the sharp tongue: a mislaq- and miṣlaq-orator, and a salāq- and ṣalāq-orator.
And the people of interpretation differed over the meaning by which the Exalted, whose praise is exalted, described these hypocrites as smiting the believers with it. Some of them said: that is their smiting of them at the spoils, with their request that a share be allotted to them.
* Mention of who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: And when the fear has departed, they smite you with sharp tongues — as for at the spoils, [then they are] the most niggardly of people and the worst in division: give us, give us, for we took part with you [in the fighting]. And as for at the fighting, [then they are] the most cowardly of people and the most inclined to abandon the truth.
And others said: No, that is their smiting of them with injury.
* Mention of this on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās:
ʿAlī related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: they smite you with sharp tongues — he said: they turn against you.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said: they smite you with sharp tongues — he said: they address you.
And others said: No, the meaning of that is: that they work upon them with words with what pleases you, out of hypocrisy on their part.
* Mention of who said that:
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, saying: Yazīd ibn Rūmān related to me: And when the fear has departed, they smite you with sharp tongues — in speech, with what pleases you, because they do not hope for a Hereafter and no [thought of] reward drives them; they therefore fear death with the fear of one who does not hope for what comes after it.
And the most resembling of these statements to what the outward meaning of the revelation indicates is the statement of the one who says: they smite you with sharp tongues, niggardly toward the good — He reported that their smiting of the Muslims [proceeded] from niggardliness on their part concerning the spoils and the good. It is therefore known, if that is so, that this was out of coveting the spoils. And since that was on their part out of coveting the spoils, there also falls under it the statement of the one who says: its meaning is: they smite you with injury, for their acting in that manner is without doubt an injury to the believers.
And His word: niggardly toward the good (ashiḥḥatan ʿalā al-khayr) — He says: niggardly concerning the spoils when the believers are victorious.
And His word: they did not believe, so Allah rendered their works void — the Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: these, whose description I have described to you in these verses, did not believe Allah and His Messenger, but they are people of unbelief (kufr) and hypocrisy (nifāq). so Allah rendered their works void — He says: Allah made the rewards of their works disappear and nullified them. It has been mentioned that the one who was described with this description was a Badr-fighter, and Allah rendered his work void.
* Mention of who said that:
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word: so Allah rendered their works void, and that was easy for Allah — he said: my father related to me that he was a Badr-fighter, and that His word so Allah rendered their works void means: Allah rendered void his work of the day of Badr.
And His word: and that was easy for Allah — the Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: and the rendering void of their work which they had performed before their apostasy (irtidād) and their hypocrisy was easy for Allah.
