“Al-khilāfāt”—pronounced with an open khāʾ and a kasrah on the lām—is the plural of khalifah and refers to a pregnant she-camel.

Explanation
This ḥadith that the author relates contains tremendous signs. The Prophet—may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him—told of a prophet from among the prophets, blessings and peace be upon them all, who went out to fight a people he had been commanded to wage jihād against. Yet that prophet forbade any man who had contracted marriage with a woman but had not yet consummated it, anyone who had built a house but had not yet roofed it, and anyone who had bought sheep or al-khilāfāt while waiting for them to give birth, from joining the expedition.

The reason is that such people are preoccupied with what most concerns them. The newly-wed is absorbed by the wife he has not yet entered upon, longing for her; the man who has erected a house but not roofed it is likewise occupied with the dwelling he hopes will shelter him and his family; and the owner of pregnant camels or sheep is taken up with them, awaiting their young.

In jihād a person must be completely free of other concerns, with no aim except the struggle itself. For this reason Allah the Exalted says, “So when you have finished, then stand up [for worship]” (Surah al-Sharḥ 94:7)—that is, when you have put aside worldly matters so they no longer distract you, devote yourself to acts of worship.

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, also said: “There is no prayer in the presence of food, nor while one is resisting the call of the two reliefs.”