Tafseer of The Repentance · At-Tawba · 9:46
And if they had intended to go forth, they would have prepared for it [some] preparation. But Allah disliked their being sent, so He kept them back, and they were told, "Remain [behind] with those who remain."
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.
Explanation of the meaning of His word: وَلَوْ أَرَادُوا الْخُرُوجَ لأَعَدُّوا لَهُ عُدَّةً وَلَكِنْ كَرِهَ اللَّهُ انْبِعَاثَهُمْ فَثَبَّطَهُمْ وَقِيلَ اقْعُدُوا مَعَ الْقَاعِدِينَ (46) (And if they had wished to march out, they would have prepared for it some equipment; but Allah was averse to their being sent forth [to battle], so He held them back, and it was said: sit with those who sit.) (46)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is mentioned, says: And if these people who ask you for permission, O Muḥammad, not to march out with you for the battle against your enemy, had wished to march out with you — (then they would have prepared for it some equipment), He says: then they would have prepared equipment for the marching out, and would have equipped themselves for the journey and the enemy with the provision for both — (but Allah was averse to their being sent forth [to battle]), that is to say: their marching out for that — (so He held them back), He says: so He made the marching out burdensome for them, until they found sitting in their dwellings, in defiance of you, easy, and deemed the journeying and marching out with you burdensome, and therefore abandoned the marching out — (and it was said: sit with those who sit), that is to say: sit with the sick and the weak who have nothing to spend, and with the women and the children, and leave off marching out with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and the warriors in the path of Allah.
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And Allah's holding them back from marching out with His Messenger ﷺ and the believers in him was because of His knowledge of their hypocrisy (nifāq) and their treachery toward Islam and its adherents, and because, had they marched out with them, they would have caused them harm and would have been of no benefit to them. And it has been mentioned that those who asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ for permission to remain seated were: "ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy ibn Salūl," and "al-Jadd ibn Qays," and whoever was like the two of them. As:
16770 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, who said: Those who asked him for permission were, according to what has been reported to me, people of distinction, among them: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy ibn Salūl and al-Jadd ibn Qays, and they were nobles among their people. Allah held them back, because of His knowledge concerning them, that, had they marched out with them, they would have corrupted his army for him.
