Surah Al-Hashr (59) — Ayah 14

(Ayah 14) ➊ The meaning of { لَا يُقَاتِلُوْنَكُمْ جَمِيْعًا اِلَّا فِيْ قُرًى مُّحَصَّنَةٍ … : ’’حِصْنٌ‘‘} is fortress. {’’ مُحَصَّنَةٍ ‘‘} are fortified, protected settlements. {’’ جُدُرٍ ‘‘ ’’جِدَارٌ ‘‘} is the plural, meaning walls. That is, these Jews are so cowardly and timid that they will never face you together in the open field, but will only fight while staying in fortified settlements or behind walls. Those who fight in this way are always humiliated, because one who does not have the courage to come out into the field cannot be saved by fortresses and walls either. History bears witness that the Companions of the Messenger (peace be upon him) preferred to fight in the open field, and since they fought in search of martyrdom, the enemy would turn and flee at the very first blow. Since the Jews tried to avoid death, instead of coming into the field, they would try to save their lives by taking refuge in fortresses and walls. It is another matter that even their fortified settlements could not save them from humiliation and death.

➋ { بَاْسُهُمْ بَيْنَهُمْ شَدِيْدٌ :} means that these Jews and hypocrites could only confront you if they were united among themselves, whereas their condition is that they are only united in enmity against Islam, otherwise their internal fighting is very severe. This is the case among the hypocrites, Jews, and polytheists with each other. Then, even within each group, the individuals are not united but have intense enmity among themselves; such people do not have the courage to unite and come out into the field against you.

➌ {تَحْسَبُهُمْ جَمِيْعًا وَّ قُلُوْبُهُمْ شَتّٰى:’’ شَتّٰى ‘‘ ’’شَتِيْتٌ‘‘} is the plural, just as {’’ قَتِيْلٌ‘‘} is the plural of {’’ قَتْلٰي‘‘}, meaning you would think they are united, but their hearts are divided.

➍ {ذٰلِكَ بِاَنَّهُمْ قَوْمٌ لَّا يَعْقِلُوْنَ :} The reason for this is that they are people who do not consider the consequences of their actions and do not use their intellect, but rather follow their desires, the result of which is mutual discord and enmity. The word {’’ قَوْمٌ ‘‘} indicates that this is not the matter of just one or two individuals among them, but the temperament of the entire nation.

➎ In these verses, there is training for the Muslims that they should avoid mutual opposition, malice, and enmity as much as possible, and understand well that no nation can prevail over its enemy unless their hearts are free from malice and enmity towards each other, and they are united, giving preference to national and collective interests over personal interests, being of one tongue and one soul.

➏ Mufassir Sanaullah Amritsari writes: "If you look at the wise content of this verse and the internal state of the Muslims, both generally and specifically, then it spontaneously comes to mind that this verse was revealed about us. Khwaja Hali has depicted this state as follows:
Let there be no unity between Sunni and Jafari,
Let there be no affection in Naumani and Shafi'i,
Let the hatred of Wahhabi for Sufi not be less,
Let the follower curse the non-follower,
Let there be such fighting among the people of the Qiblah,
That the whole world laughs at the religion of God.
They cannot gather in one place for any common purpose; if they do at the beginning, they fall apart in the end. There is no doubt that these traits are found in those who are unaware of national common interests, so for them this divine decision is absolutely true and just: «ذٰلِكَ بِاَنَّهُمْ قَوْمٌ لَّا يَعْقِلُوْنَ » "This is because they are people who do not use their intellect." (Sanai)