Surah As-Saff (61) — Ayah 5

(Ayah 5) ➊ {وَ اِذْ قَالَ مُوْسٰى لِقَوْمِهٖ يٰقَوْمِ لِمَ تُؤْذُوْنَنِيْ … :} After mentioning the virtue of fighting in the way of Allah and reproaching those who avoid it, Allah Almighty mentioned the address of Musa (peace be upon him) to his people, in which he complained about and reproached them for the harm they caused him. When they knew and accepted him as Allah’s Messenger for themselves, it was obligatory upon them to honor him, obey him, and join him in striving against the enemies of Islam. But they caused him distress in their general behavior, in obeying his commands, and in the matter of going out for jihad—in short, in every way. Here, the particular harm being referred to, and for which they were given the title {’’ الْقَوْمَ الْفٰسِقِيْنَ ‘‘} from Musa (peace be upon him) and Allah Almighty, is their outright refusal to go out for jihad. The purpose is to instruct Muslims to avoid adopting their way. For details of their harm in the matter of honor and obedience, see the commentary of Surah Al-Ahzab (69), and for details of their outright refusal to go out for jihad, see the commentary of Surah Al-Ma’idah (20 to 26).

➋ {فَلَمَّا زَاغُوْۤا اَزَاغَ اللّٰهُ قُلُوْبَهُمْ: ’’ زَاغُوْا‘‘ ’’زَاغَ يَزِيْغُ زَيْغًا‘‘} (ض) To be crooked. {’’ اَزَاغَ ‘‘} is from the form “af‘ala,” meaning “He made crooked.” That is, when they persisted in crookedness instead of obedience, Allah Almighty set them upon that path, because He does not forcibly guide those who choose the crooked path to the straight path, as that would nullify the purpose of the test, as He said: « نُوَلِّهٖ مَا تَوَلّٰى » [ النساء : ۱۱۵ ] “We will turn him to the direction he turns to.”

➌ { وَ اللّٰهُ لَا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الْفٰسِقِيْنَ:} Because of their refusal of jihad, in Surah Al-Ma’idah verse (25), Musa (peace be upon him) addressed his people as {’’ الْقَوْمَ الْفٰسِقِيْنَ ‘‘}, and in verse (26) of the same Surah, Allah Almighty addressed the people of Musa likewise.

➍ The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) also suffered much harm from the hypocrites who claimed faith, in addition to the disbelievers. Besides verbal harm, they betrayed several times at the occasions of jihad. At the battle of Uhud, Abdullah bin Ubayy took away three hundred (300) men, about a third of the army, right from the battlefield. In the battle of Khandaq, they left no stone unturned in conspiring with the disbelievers and discouraging the Muslims. Allah Almighty has mentioned this in detail in Surah Al-Imran (154 to 168) and Surah Al-Ahzab (9 to 20). For verbal harm, see Surah At-Tawbah (74, 61, 58), Al-Ahzab (57), and Al-Munafiqun (8). Although the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) suffered continuous and immense harm from the disbelievers since the declaration of prophethood, the pain from those included in his own group is felt more, so Allah Almighty comforted him in these verses that if some hypocrite-type people cause you harm and hesitate to go out for jihad, do not grieve, for you still have a great group of those who strive and sacrifice their lives and wealth with you. Musa (peace be upon him) was harmed even more by his own people; his people outright refused to go out for jihad. Abdullah bin Mas‘ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said that once the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) distributed some things, and a man said: “This is a distribution in which the Face of Allah was not intended.” I informed the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) of this, and he became angry until I saw the signs of anger on his blessed face. He said: [ يَرْحَمُ اللّٰهُ مُوْسٰی لَقَدْ أُوْذِيَ بِأَكْثَرَ مِنْ هٰذَا فَصَبَرَ ] [ بخاري، الدعوات، باب قول اللّٰہ تبارک و تعالٰی : «وصل علیھم » … : ۶۳۳۶ ] “May Allah have mercy on Musa (peace be upon him); he was harmed even more than this, but he was patient.” Here, Allah Almighty also mentioned Isa (peace be upon him) along with Musa (peace be upon him), because the Children of Israel treated him similarly, except for a few people.