the believers. The Bedouins mentioned in it are of the same kind as the hypocrites.
Those guilty of reviling others and sinful disobedience, those who called out from behind the chambers, and others like them are not hypocrites. Hence the exegetes said that they were those summoned to join the expedition in the year of al-Hudaybiyah. Although they were guilty of major sins, they were not inwardly disbelievers and hypocrites.
Ibn Ishāq said:
“When the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, intended to perform ‘umrah—the ‘umrah of al-Hudaybiyah—he summoned the desert dwellers and Bedouins around Medina to accompany him, fearing that his people might engage him in battle or bar his way. Many of them, however, were reluctant to join him.”
They are those whom Allah meant by His words:
“Those Bedouins who remained behind will say to you, ‘Our possessions and families kept us occupied, so ask forgiveness for us.’”
That is: ask Allah to forgive us for staying behind rather than accompanying you.
“They say with their tongues what is not in their hearts.”
That is, they do not care whether you ask forgiveness for them or not. This is the condition of a sinful person who is unconcerned about his sin. Concerning the hypocrites, however, He said:
“And when it is said to them, ‘Come, the Messenger of Allah will ask forgiveness for you,’ they turn their heads aside, and you see them turning away in arrogance.”
“It is all the same for them whether you ask forgiveness for them or do not ask forgiveness for them: Allah will never forgive them.”
He did not say anything like this about these Bedouins. Rather, the verse indicates that, had they been sincere in requesting forgiveness, the Messenger’s asking forgiveness for them would have benefited them. He then said:
“You will be called to face a people of great military might; you will fight them, or they will submit. If you obey, Allah will grant you a good reward; but if you turn away as you turned away before, He will punish you with a painful punishment.”
Thus Allah promised them a reward for obeying the one calling them to jihad and threatened them with punishment for turning away from obedience to him. This is like the way others guilty of sins and major offenses are addressed, unlike someone who is a disbeliever