(97–99) “The Bedouins are more entrenched in disbelief and hypocrisy and more likely to be ignorant of the limits of what Allah has revealed to His Messenger. Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise. * Among the Bedouins are those who regard what they spend as a burdensome loss and await reversals of fortune for you. The evil turn of fortune shall be theirs. Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing. * And among the Bedouins are those who believe in Allah and the Last Day and regard what they spend as a means of drawing near to Allah and obtaining the Messenger’s prayers. Indeed, it is a means of nearness for them. Allah will admit them into His mercy. Allah is truly Most Forgiving, Most Merciful.”
Allah, the Exalted, says that “the Bedouins”—the inhabitants of the desert and wilderness—are “more entrenched in disbelief and hypocrisy” than those settled people among whom disbelief and hypocrisy exist. This is due to many causes. One is that they are far removed from knowledge of religious laws, practices, and rulings. They are therefore more likely and more apt “to be ignorant of the limits of what Allah has revealed to His Messenger,” including the foundations of faith and the rulings governing commands and prohibitions.
Settled people, by contrast, are more likely to know the limits of what Allah has revealed to His Messenger. Through this knowledge, sound conceptions and a desire for the good they know arise within them in a manner not found among desert dwellers. They also possess a refinement of character and a readiness to heed those who call them to good that is not found among desert dwellers. Moreover, they sit with believers and mingle with them more often than desert dwellers do. They are therefore more disposed toward good than the people of the desert.
Although disbelievers and hypocrites exist both in the desert and in settled communities, those in the desert are more severe and coarse. Another reason is that the Bedouins are more avid for wealth and more miserly with it.
(98) Among them, therefore, are those “who regard what they spend”—in zakat, expenditure in Allah’s cause, and other such obligations—“as a burdensome loss.” That is, they view it as a loss and a reduction of their wealth. They neither seek reward through it nor intend Allah’s pleasure, and they scarcely pay it except unwillingly.
They also “await reversals of fortune for you.” That is, because of their enmity and hatred toward the believers, they wish and wait for the vicissitudes of time and its calamities to befall them. Yet this will rebound upon the Bedouins themselves: the evil turn of fortune shall be theirs.
The believers, by contrast, will enjoy a favorable turn against their enemies and a good final outcome. “Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing”: He knows His servants’ intentions and whether their deeds proceed from sincerity or otherwise.
Not all the Bedouins, however, are blameworthy. Among them are those “who believe in Allah and the Last Day,” thereby remaining free of disbelief and hypocrisy and acting as faith requires.
They “regard what they spend as a means of drawing near to Allah.” That is, they seek reward for their expenditure and intend thereby Allah’s pleasure and nearness to Him. They also make it a means of obtaining “the Messenger’s prayers”—his supplications for them and his invocation of blessings upon them. Explaining the benefit of the Messenger’s prayers, Allah says: “Indeed, it is a means of nearness for them.” It draws them nearer to Allah, causes their wealth to grow, and brings blessing into it.
“Allah will admit them into His mercy” among His righteous servants. Indeed, He is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful: He forgives even grave sins for those who repent to Him, encompasses His servants in His mercy—which embraces all things—and grants His believing servants a special mercy through which He guides them to good deeds, protects them from acts of disobedience, and bestows upon them abundant forms of reward.
This verse proves that the Bedouins are like settled people: some are praiseworthy and others blameworthy. Allah did not blame them merely for being Bedouins or living in the desert; He blamed them for neglecting His commands and because their circumstances make them more susceptible to doing so.
It also shows that disbelief and hypocrisy may increase or decrease and may become more or less severe according to circumstances.
It further demonstrates the virtue of knowledge and that one who lacks it is closer to evil than one who possesses it. Allah censured the Bedouins, stated that they were more entrenched in disbelief and hypocrisy, and then mentioned the cause: they were more likely to be ignorant of the limits of what Allah had revealed to His Messenger.
It also shows that beneficial knowledge—the most beneficial of all knowledge—is knowledge of the limits of what Allah has revealed to His Messenger, encompassing both the foundations and the subsidiary matters of religion. This includes knowing the defining limits of faith, Islam, spiritual excellence, piety, true success, obedience, righteousness, maintaining family ties, beneficence, disbelief, hypocrisy, defiant disobedience, sin, fornication, intoxicants, usury, and similar matters. Knowing these enables a person to perform what is commanded, refrain from what is prohibited, enjoin what should be enjoined, and forbid what should be forbidden.
It also shows that a believer should discharge the rights he owes with an open heart and a tranquil soul, striving to regard them as a gain rather than a burdensome loss.