[Al-Ahzab: 13].
At that time the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—had encamped with the Muslims by Salʿ, placing the trench between himself and the enemy. A faction among them said, “You have no position to hold here, the enemy are too many; go back to Medina.”
Others said, “You have no standing upon Muhammad’s religion, so turn back [to idolatry; and it was also said: ‘You have no standing in fighting’] (1); rather, seek amān and protection (2) from them.”
In exactly the same way, once the enemy drew near, some of the hypocrites said, “The Islamic state can no longer endure; we ought to enter the Tatar state.” Certain notables added, “Syria (3) is no longer a land fit for habitation; we should migrate (4) from it—either to the Hijaz and Yemen, or to Egypt (5).” Others remarked, “The prudent course is to surrender to these people, just as the people of Iraq have done, and place ourselves under their rule.”
Thus these three statements [ق 60] were voiced in the present crisis just as they were in that earlier one. Likewise, a group of hypocrites and those whose hearts are diseased said to the people of Damascus in particular, and to the people of Syria in general: “You have no place to remain in this land.”