(86–87) “Whenever a surah is revealed, saying, ‘Believe in Allah and strive alongside His Messenger,’ the affluent among them ask your permission and say, ‘Leave us to remain with those who stay behind.’ They are content to be with those who remain behind, and their hearts have been sealed, so they do not understand.”

Allah states, explaining how the hypocrites persist in dragging their feet when it comes to acts of obedience, and how the surahs and verses make no impression upon them: “Whenever a surah is revealed” in which they are commanded to believe in Allah and strive in His cause,

“the affluent among them ask your permission”—that is, those possessing wealth and riches, who have no excuse. Allah has supplied them with wealth and children, so will they not thank and praise Him, fulfill what He has made obligatory upon them, and undertake the duty He has made easy for them? Yet they insist on being idle and seeking permission to stay behind,

“and say, ‘Leave us to remain with those who stay behind.’”