Translation
O People of Faith, when you are asked to struggle in God’s way (for truth and justice), what causes you to disincline and cling heavily to the comfort of living on this earth? Are you more inclined to the life of this earth in preference to the life to come whereas the life of this earth is miniscule compared to the life to come? If you persist in such refusal, God will make you face its grave consequences and replace you with another people. You can do no harm to God. God overpowers everything and everyone! 432
If you do not support him [the prophet], you should know that God supported him when he was driven away by the deniers of truth, he being the second of the two souls who hid in that cave and said to his companion: “Don’t be anxious, God is with us!” God sent down to them tranquility and confidence and strengthened them with spirits whom you cannot see. God made lowly the assertions of those who denied the truth while God’s guidance [word] is always triumphant (in the long run). God is Supreme; God is Wise!
Go forth well prepared, as best as you can and afford [light and heavy],and strive hard in God’s way with your person and with your resources. This is a better way, if you want to know. Had they been assured of a sure gain and a shorter journey, they would have certainly gone with you, but the hard and long journey was too much for them (in their estimation). They swear by God: “if we are able, we would have gone forth.” Such falsity only despair their soul and God knows that they were lying. God forgives you for granting them permission to stay while (it would have been better) had you waited until it was clear to you who were truthful, and you came to know who were lying. It is only those who do not believe in God and the Last Day and their hearts are in doubt that ask your permission to stay as they become ambivalent in their doubt (about the truth). If they were sincere, they would have made necessary preparations, but God disliked their being part of this effort. So, God held them back, when it was said: “You may stay back with those who wish to stay back.” Had they gone forth with you, they would have caused trouble and go back and forth amongst you causing discord and doubts, especially those who were prone to such conversations. God know well who the troublemakers are! 433
Interpretation
432 This questioning was by God to those who were not inclined to join the Prophet in the Tabuk expedition during 9/631, shortly after the conquest of Makkah, as there were reports that an imperial army of the Byzantine ruler was moving toward Arabia from Syria. This was a long journey, in the hot season and in the middle of the fruit harvest, and the enemy was vast in number and superior to what the Prophet and his people could gather. This caused some to make excuses to stay back and make no preparations to join the struggle against truth and justice, which had been the sole purpose of the Prophet’s life over the last twenty-two years of his prophethood. Success was finally at the doorstep but now being faced by larger forces from outside. He was undaunted, and so were his followers, with some exceptions, who were mostly new followers and had not had time to fully acclimate to the nature of his call and his mission. God questioned their attitude and lack of commitment and reminded them He was committed to support the Prophet and his followers who are aligned with him in a manner similar to when God supported the Prophet and his one companion (Abu Bakr) as they hid in a cave from the enemy who expelled him from his hometown of Makkah.
433 God reminded the Prophet that he should not have been easy and was too quickly forthcoming with those who made excuses to participate and should have explored the real reasons for their lack of interest in the journey and the purposeful struggle that such exertions call for. God understood their real motivations and had kept them behind, as they would have caused doubts and confusion among the people, which is the case with people who are not convinced in the cause. They lack motivation as a result and can demotivate others.
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REFLECTION
Every episode in the Prophet’s life and his followers was full of insights and lessons learned for them and for others. The Qur’an details such lessons and insights in the moments that such things happened to never lose an opportunity to continue to teach the Prophet and his followers till the last struggle and the last breath of the Prophet. Such lessons continue even to this date, in our lives and in our struggles to continue to sustain truth and justice in the world. The current discord in our country (the United States) and around the world as we see the rise of racism and nationalism, dictatorial corruptions and tendencies, democracies being stolen from people by corrupt political and military leaders, corporate greed breaking all moral and ethical norms, and the natural order of our environment being disrupted by global warming—all of these are reminders for us to act and not be complacent; otherwise, we will face the grave consequences that are also the natural order of things.
ACTION
Acting at the right moment and with full deliberation to protect, preserve, and advance truth and justice is a constant testimony to God about our will and commitment to serve God and to serve humanity. Such is the purpose of life, aside from the enjoyment of this life, which is too small compared to the life to come after death. Yet many of our priorities and preoccupations are defined by the mundane things of this life while sacrificing the longer-term consequences in this life and the afterlife, which are inevitable if we fail to focus on the belief, values, and principles that define our real success here and forever.