Abu Tahir Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Tawbah al-Zarrad informed us; Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Idris ibn Muhammad al-Jurjani and Abu Ahmad Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Muallim al-Harawi informed us. They said: Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Isa al-Malini informed us; Abu al-Abbas al-Hasan ibn Sufyan al-Nasawi informed us; Hayyan ibn Musa and Abdullah ibn Asma—the nephew of Juwayriyah ibn Asma—informed us. He said: Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak informed us, from Yahya ibn Sa'id, from Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Taymi, from Alqamah ibn Waqqas al-Laythi, from Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: “Actions are judged only by intentions, and each person will have only what he intended. Thus, whoever emigrated for Allah and His Messenger, his emigration was for Allah and His Messenger; but whoever emigrated for some worldly gain he sought to acquire, or for a woman he wished to marry, his emigration was for that for which he emigrated.” (1)
“And how many a prophet fought, alongside whom were many godly men. Yet they did not lose heart over what befell them in the way of Allah, nor did they weaken or humble themselves. And Allah loves those who are patient.” (146)
Regarding His saying, “And how many a prophet fought, alongside whom were many godly men”: Ibn Kathir recited it as “was killed,” with a lengthened vowel and a hamzah, in the pattern of an active participle; Abu Ja'far recited the hamzah lightly. The others recited it as “and how many,” with a hamzah and doubled consonant, in a pattern like “many.” Its meaning is: “how many.” It consists of the particle of comparison joined to the interrogative word “which.” Tanwin has no written form in the script except in this particular word. Some reciters pause at “and how many” without pronouncing the final n, while the majority pause with the n.
Regarding His saying, “fought”: Ibn Kathir, Nafi, and the people of Basra recited it as “was killed,” with the qaf vowelled with dammah, while the others recited it as “fought.” Those who recited “fought” did so because of His saying, “Yet they did not lose heart.” It would be impossible to describe them as not having lost heart after they had been killed. This is also supported by the statement of Sa'id ibn Jubayr: “We have not heard of any prophet being killed in battle.” Moreover, “fought” is broader in meaning.
Abu Ubayd said: When Allah Most High praises those who fought, those who were killed are included among them; but when He praises those who killed, no one other than them is included. Thus, “fought” is broader in meaning.
Those who recited “was killed” have three possible interpretations. The first is that the killing refers to the prophet alone. Thus, the statement ends with “was killed,” while the verse contains an implied phrase, meaning: “and with him were many godly men,” just as one says, “So-and-so was killed, while a great army was with him”—that is, an army was with him.
The second is that the killing befell both the prophet and the godly men who were with him, though what is meant is only some of those who were with him. The Arabs say, “We killed the sons of such-and-such a man,” even though they killed only some of them. His saying, “Yet they did not lose heart,” then refers to those who remained.