Tafseer of The Repentance · At-Tawba · 9:54
And what prevents their expenditures from being accepted from them but that they have disbelieved in Allah and in His Messenger and that they come not to prayer except while they are lazy and that they do not spend except while they are unwilling.
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 explanation of His statement: وَمَا مَنَعَهُمْ أَنْ تُقْبَلَ مِنْهُمْ نَفَقَاتُهُمْ إِلا أَنَّهُمْ كَفَرُوا بِاللَّهِ وَبِرَسُولِهِ وَلا يَأْتُونَ الصَّلاةَ إِلا وَهُمْ كُسَالَى وَلا يُنْفِقُونَ إِلا وَهُمْ كَارِهُونَ (9:54) (And nothing prevented their contributions from being accepted from them except that they disbelieved in Allah and in His Messenger, and that they perform the prayer only sluggishly, and that they spend only with reluctance.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: And nothing prevented, O Muḥammad, that from these hypocrites (munāfiqūn) their contributions should be accepted—those which they spend on their journey with you and on other paths—except that they were disbelievers (kāfir) in Allah and in His Messenger. Thus the first "an" stands in the accusative case of naṣb, and the second in the position of rafʿ, for the meaning of the statement is: nothing prevented the acceptance of their contributions except their disbelief (kufr) in Allah. "And that they perform the prayer (ṣalāh) only sluggishly," that is to say: they come to it only with reluctance and listlessness, because by performing it they hope for no reward and by neglecting it they fear no punishment. They perform it only out of fear for themselves from the believers, should they neglect it; and when they feel themselves safe from them, they do not perform it. "And that they do not spend," that is to say: they spend nothing of their possessions, "except with reluctance," because they spend this on that to which they devote it, namely that in which there is a strengthening for Islam and its adherents.