Tafseer of The Repentance · At-Tawba · 9:41
Go forth, whether light or heavy, and strive with your wealth and your lives in the cause of Allah. That is better for you, if you only knew.
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.
The word concerning the explanation of His statement: انْفِرُوا خِفَافًا وَثِقَالا ("March forth, light and heavy").
Abū Jaʿfar said: The people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) differed concerning the meaning of "the lightness" (al-khiffa) and "the heaviness" (al-thiql), with which Allah commanded everyone characterized by either of the two to march forth with Him.
Some of them said: The meaning of "the lightness" which Allah intended in this place is youth; and the meaning of "the heaviness" is old age.
* Mention of who said that:
16734 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of ʿAnbasa, on the authority of a man, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning His statement: انفروا خفافًا وثقالا ("March forth, light and heavy"), he said: old and young.
16735 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Ḥafṣ related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, he said: old men and youths.
16736 — ...... he said: Ibn ʿUyayna related to us, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Zayd, on the authority of Anas, on the authority of Abū Ṭalḥa: انفروا خفافا وثقالا ("March forth, light and heavy"), he said: men of mature age and youths — I do not hear that Allah has excused even a single person! Then he marched forth to Syria (al-Shām) and waged jihād until he died.
16737 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of ʿAnbasa, on the authority of al-Mughīra ibn al-Nuʿmān, he said: There was a man of the tribe of Nakhaʿ, and he was an old, corpulent man. He wished to go on a military expedition (al-ghazw), but Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ prevented him from it. He said: "Indeed, Allah says: انفروا خفافًا وثقالا ("March forth, light and heavy")." Thereupon Saʿd gave him permission, and the old man was killed. Afterwards ʿUmar asked about him and said: "What has become of the old man who seemed as though he were from the Banū Hāshim?" They said: "He has been killed, O Commander of the Believers!"
16738 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Hārūn related to us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ, he said: the youth and the old man.
16739 — ...... he said: Abū Usāma related to us, on the authority of Mālik ibn Mighwal, on the authority of Ismāʿīl, on the authority of ʿIkrima, he said: the youth and the old man.
16740 — ...... he said: al-Muḥāribī related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk: men of mature age and youths.
16741 — ...... he said: Ḥabbawayh Abū Yazīd related to us, on the authority of Yaʿqūb al-Qummī, on the authority of Jaʿfar ibn Ḥumayd, on the authority of Bishr ibn ʿAṭiyya: men of mature age and youths.
16742 — al-Walīd related to us, saying: ʿAlī ibn Sahl related to us, saying: al-Walīd ibn Muslim related to us, on the authority of Bukayr ibn Maʿrūf, on the authority of Muqātil ibn Ḥayyān, concerning His statement: انفروا خفافًا وثقالا ("March forth, light and heavy"), he said: youths and men of mature age.
16743 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: انفروا خفافًا وثقالا ("March forth, light and heavy"), he said: youths and old men, and the rich and the needy.
16744 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, he said: al-Ḥasan said: old men and youths.
16745 — Saʿīd ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Baqiyya related to us, saying: Ḥarīz related to us, saying: Ḥabbān ibn Zayd al-Sharʿabī related to me, saying: We marched forth with Ṣafwān ibn ʿAmr — who was governor over Ḥimṣ, in the direction of al-Afsūs — toward the Jarājima. There I met a very advanced-in-years, decrepit old man from Damascus, whose eyebrows had already sagged over his eyes, upon his mount, amid those who went forth raiding. I turned to him and said: "O uncle, surely Allah has excused you!" He raised his eyebrows and said: "O son of my brother, Allah has summoned us to march forth, light and heavy. Whomever Allah loves, He tries, and then He brings him back and tries him again. Indeed, Allah tries from among His servants only the one who is grateful, patient, remembering, and worships none but Allah."
16746 — Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Ismāʿīl related to us, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ: انفروا خفافًا وثقالا ("March forth, light and heavy"), he said: every old man and every youth.
* * *
And others said: The meaning of it is: people with obligations and people without obligations (mashāghīl wa-ghayr mashāghīl).
* Mention of who said that:
16747 — Ibn Bashshār and Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, both of them saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of al-Ḥakam, concerning His statement: انفروا خفافًا وثقالا ("March forth, light and heavy"), he said: people with obligations and people without obligations.
* * *
And others said: The meaning of it is: march forth, rich and poor.
* Mention of who said that:
16748 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of ʿAnbasa, on the authority of someone he mentioned, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ: انفروا خفافًا وثقالا ("March forth, light and heavy"), he said: the rich and the poor.
* * *
And others said: The meaning of it is: with eagerness and without eagerness (nishāṭan wa-ghayr nishāṭ).
* Mention of who said that:
16749 — Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His statement: انفروا خفافًا وثقالا ("March forth, light and heavy"), he says: march forth with eagerness and without eagerness.
* * *
16750 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: خفافًا وثقالا ("light and heavy"), he said: with eagerness and without eagerness.
* * *
And others said: The meaning of it is: mounted and on foot (rukbānan wa-mushātan).
* Mention of who said that:
16751 — ʿAlī ibn Sahl related to us, saying: al-Walīd related to us, saying: Abū ʿAmr said: When the march (al-nafr) was to the mountain passes of Syria (al-Shām), the people marched there "light," mounted. And when the march was to these coastal regions, they marched there "light and heavy," mounted and on foot.
* * *
And others said: The meaning of it is: he who has an estate (ḍayʿa), and he who has no estate.
* Mention of who said that:
16752 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His statement: انفروا خفافًا وثقالا ("March forth, light and heavy"), he said: "The heavy" is he who has an estate, for he is heavy and is averse to neglecting his estate and marching forth; and "the light" is he who has no estate. Then Allah said: انفروا خفافًا وثقالا ("March forth, light and heavy").
16753 — Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: al-Muʿtamir related to us, on the authority of his father, he said: Ḥaḍramī claimed that it was related to him that there were people among whom it could happen that a man was sick or old, and then he would say: "If I refrain from marching forth out of reluctance, then I am sinful!" Thereupon Allah revealed: انفروا خفافًا وثقالا ("March forth, light and heavy").
16754 — Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, saying: Ayyūb related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad, he said: Abū Ayyūb was present with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ at Badr, and thereafter he did not stay behind from any military expedition of the Muslims without also taking part in another, except for one year. And Abū Ayyūb used to say: "انفروا خفافًا وثقالا ("March forth, light and heavy") — so I find myself in no other state than either light or heavy."
16755 — ʿAlī ibn Sahl related to us, saying: al-Walīd ibn Muslim related to us, saying: Ḥarīz ibn ʿUthmān related to us, on the authority of Rāshid ibn Saʿd, on the authority of someone who had seen al-Miqdād ibn al-Aswad — the horseman of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ — seated upon one of the money-changers' chests at Ḥimṣ, where, on account of his bulk, he overhung its sides. I said to him: "Surely Allah has excused you!" He said: "The 'Sūrat al-Buʿūth' (the sūra of the dispatched armies) gives us no rest: انفروا خفافًا وثقالا ("March forth, light and heavy")."
16756 — Saʿīd ibn ʿAmr al-Sakūnī related to us, saying: Baqiyya ibn al-Walīd related to us, saying: Ḥarīz related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Maysara related to me, saying: Abū Rāshid al-Ḥubrānī related to me, saying: I came upon al-Miqdād ibn al-Aswad — the horseman of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ — seated upon one of the money-changers' chests at Ḥimṣ, where, on account of his bulk, he overhung its sides, intending to go on a military expedition. I said to him: "Surely Allah has excused you!" He said: "The 'Sūrat al-Buḥūth' (the sūra of the searching out) gives us no rest: انفروا خفافًا وثقالا ("March forth, light and heavy")."
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: The correct of the statements concerning this, according to us, is that one says: Allah, exalted is His mention, commanded the believers to march forth to jihād against His enemies in His path, light and heavy. Among "the light" is everyone for whom marching forth is easy on account of the strength of his body for it, the soundness of his frame, and his youth; and everyone who is well-off in property and free of preoccupations, and able to procure mounts and beasts of burden.
And among "the heavy" is everyone who is the opposite of that: he who is weak of body, or sick, or ailing; and he who is needy with respect to property; and he who is occupied with an estate and livelihood; and he who has neither mount nor beast of burden; and the old man, and the aged, and he who has a family to maintain.
Since, then, among "the light" and "the heavy" fall those whom we have described — the people with the characteristics we mentioned —, and Allah, mighty is His praise, did not single out any particular group above another in the Book, nor by the tongue of the Messenger ﷺ, nor gave any proof that it intends a specific group, it is obligatory to say: Allah, mighty is His praise, commanded the believers among the companions of His Messenger to march forth to jihād in His path, light and heavy, with His Messenger ﷺ, in every state of lightness and heaviness.
* * *
16757 — Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Isrāʾīl related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Masrūq, on the authority of Muslim ibn Ṣubayḥ, he said: The very first of "Barāʾa" (Sūra 9, al-Tawba) that was revealed was: انفروا خفافًا وثقالا ("March forth, light and heavy").
16758 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Abū al-Ḍuḥā, the same.
16759 — al-Ḥārith related to us, saying: al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid, he said: The very first of "Barāʾa" that was revealed is: لَقَدْ نَصَرَكُمُ اللَّهُ فِي مَوَاطِنَ كَثِيرَةٍ ("Allah has already helped you on many battlefields"). He said: He makes known to them His help, and prepares them for the expedition of Tabūk.
* * *
The word concerning the explanation of His statement, exalted is He: وَجَاهِدُوا بِأَمْوَالِكُمْ وَأَنْفُسِكُمْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ ذَلِكُمْ خَيْرٌ لَكُمْ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ ("And wage jihād with your wealth and your selves in the path of Allah; that is better for you, if you only knew") (9:41).
Abū Jaʿfar said: Allah, exalted is His mention, says to the believers in Him and in His Messenger, among the companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: (Wage jihād), O believers, against the unbelievers (al-kuffār) — (with your wealth): so spend it in the struggle against them for the religion of Allah which He has prescribed for you, until they submit to you and enter into it, willingly or unwillingly, or pay you the jizyah (poll-tax for non-Muslims) by hand and in submission, if they are People of the Book, or you kill them — (and your selves), he says: and with your selves, so fight against them with your own hands; Allah will humiliate them and help you against them — (that is better for you), he says: this which I command you, namely the marching forth in the path of Allah, exalted is He, light and heavy, and the jihād against His enemies with your wealth and your selves, is better for you than clinging heavily to the earth when you are summoned to march forth, and anchoring yourselves to it, and contentment with the little of the enjoyment of the worldly life as an exchange for the Hereafter — if you are among the people who know the reality of what has been set forth to you concerning the superiority of jihād in the path of Allah over staying behind from it.
