Tafseer of The Repentance · At-Tawba · 9:86
And when a surah was revealed [enjoining them] to believe in Allah and to fight with His Messenger, those of wealth among them asked your permission [to stay back] and said, "Leave us to be with them who sit [at home]."
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 word: وَإِذَا أُنْزِلَتْ سُورَةٌ أَنْ آمِنُوا بِاللَّهِ وَجَاهِدُوا مَعَ رَسُولِهِ اسْتَأْذَنَكَ أُولُو الطَّوْلِ مِنْهُمْ وَقَالُوا ذَرْنَا نَكُنْ مَعَ الْقَاعِدِينَ (86) (And whenever a sūra is sent down to the effect: believe in Allah and wage jihād together with His messenger, then the well-to-do among them ask you for leave and say: "Leave us; let us be among those who stay behind." (86))
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted — may His remembrance be praised — says: And whenever there is sent down to you, O Muḥammad, a sūra of the Qurʾān in which it is said to these hypocrites (munāfiqīn): "believe in Allah," that is to say: profess faith in Allah, "and wage jihād together with His messenger," that is to say: fight against the polytheists (mushrikīn) together with the messenger of Allah ﷺ. "Then the well-to-do among them ask you for leave," that is to say: the possessors of wealth and means among them ask you for leave to stay behind and not go out with you, and to remain seated at home with their families. "And they say: Leave us," that is to say: and they say to you: leave us alone, so that we may be among those who stay at home in their dwelling together with the weak among the people and their sick, and with whoever is unable to go out with you on the journey.
* * *
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the scholars of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
17061 — ʿAlī ibn Dāwūd related to us, he said: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, he said: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning his word: "the well-to-do ask you for leave," he said: by that the possessors of wealth are meant.
17062 — Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, he said: my father related to me, he said: my uncle related to me, he said: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "the well-to-do among them," by that are meant: the rich.
17063 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: "And whenever a sūra is sent down to the effect: believe in Allah and wage jihād together with His messenger, then the well-to-do among them ask you for leave" — among them were ʿAbdallāh ibn Ubayy and al-Jadd ibn Qays. And Allah censured them for that.
