or by both. And if they are somewhere else, they send messages to them ⦗1⦘ and write, telling them to leave the land of the combatants so that they may stay with them behind fortifications or at a safe distance—exactly what took place in this campaign.

Thus, some men in the army, in Madinah, and in other places ⦗2⦘ began to hold back anyone who wished to fight, while others dispatched letters from their strongholds, fortresses, or elsewhere to their brothers: “Come over to us.”

Concerning such people Allah the Exalted said: “They do not join the fighting except for a little while, being stingy toward you” (33:18).

That is, they are tight-fisted toward you with their participation in combat and with spending in the path of Allah. Others said: they begrudge you goodness, victory, and spoils ⦗4⦘.

This is the condition of one who withholds himself and his wealth from the believers, or begrudges them Allah’s bounty—His help and provision that He brings about through the actions of others. Some people are miserly with their own kindness, while others are miserly with Allah’s kindness and favor; these are the enviers.

“Then, when fear comes, you see them looking at you, their eyes rolling like someone overtaken by death” (Al-Ahzab 33:19). Because of the intense terror in their hearts, they resemble a person who has fainted at the moment of death: he is afraid, his mind bewildered, his gaze fixed and unblinking. Such are these men, for they fear being killed.

“But when the fear is gone, they assail you with sharp tongues” (Al-Ahzab 33:19).