may Allah bless him and grant him peace, saying, ‘We have come to you with our belongings and dependants.’ This verse was then revealed concerning them.”

Regarding His words:

“They consider it a favor to you that they have accepted Islam. Say, ‘Do not consider your acceptance of Islam a favor to me. Rather, Allah has conferred a favor upon you by guiding you to faith, if you are truthful.’”

Qatādah said: “They claimed credit before the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, when they came, saying, ‘We have accepted Islam without fighting. We did not fight you as such-and-such tribes did.’ So Allah said to His Prophet:

‘They consider it a favor to you that they have accepted Islam. Say, “Do not consider your acceptance of Islam a favor to me. Rather, Allah has conferred a favor upon you by guiding you to faith.”’”

Muqātil ibn Hayyān said:

“They were the Bedouins of Banū Asad ibn Khuzaymah. They said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, we have come to you without fighting and have left our clans and possessions behind. Every Arab tribe fought you before reluctantly entering Islam. This therefore gives us a claim upon you.’ So Allah Most High revealed:

‘They consider it a favor to you that they have accepted Islam. Say, “Do not consider your acceptance of Islam a favor to me. Rather, Allah has conferred a favor upon you by guiding you to faith, if you are truthful.”’”

Thus it is He who has bestowed this favor upon you. Concerning them Allah revealed:

“And do not render your deeds worthless.”

It is also said concerning the major sins to which a threat of the Fire is attached: each incurs that punishment for whoever commits it and dies persisting in it without repenting.

All of this makes clear that they were not inwardly disbelievers, yet neither had they attained the faith required of them. Sūrat al-Hujurāt mentions these categories of people. He said:

“Indeed, most of those who call out to you from behind the chambers do not understand.”

He did not describe them as disbelievers or hypocrites. Nevertheless, there is reason to fear that such people may fall into disbelief and hypocrisy. This is why some of them apostatized: their hearts had not been suffused with the sweetness of faith. After that, He said: “O you who believe, if there comes to you