Surah Al-Ahzab 33:11

How the Believers were tested, and the Position of the Hypocrites during the Battle of Al-Khandaq

Allah tells us what happened when the Confederates surrounded Al-Madinah and the Muslims were besieged and found themselves in straitened circumstances, with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in their midst. They were tried and tested, and were shaken with a mighty shaking. At this time hypocrisy emerged, and those in whose hearts was a disease spoke about what they really felt.

وَإِذْ يَقُولُ الْمُنَـفِقُونَ وَالَّذِينَ فِى قُلُوبِهِم مَّرَضٌ مَّا وَعَدَنَا اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ إِلاَّ غُرُوراً

(And when the hypocrites and those in whose hearts is a disease said: "Allah and His Messenger promised us nothing but delusion!") Their hypocrisy became apparent, while the one in whose heart was doubt became weak, and he expressed the ideas that were in his heart because of the weakness of his faith and the difficulty of the situation. And other people said, as Allah tells us:

وَإِذْ قَالَت طَّآئِفَةٌ مِّنْهُمْ يأَهْلَ .يَثْرِبَ

(And when a party of them said: "O people of Yathrib...") meaning Al-Madinah, as it was reported in the Sahih:

«أُرِيتُ فِي الْمَنَامِ دَارَ هِجْرَتِكُمْ، أَرْضٌ بَيْنَ حَرَّتَيْنِ، فَذَهَبَ وَهَلِي أَنَّهَا هَجَرُ فَإِذَا هِيَ يَثْرِب»

(I was shown in a dream the place to which you will migrate, a land between two lava fields. At first I thought it was Hajar, but it turned out to be Yathrib.) According to another narration:

«الْمَدِينَة»

(Al-Madinah. ) It was said that the origin of its name Yathrib was that a man settled there from (the people of) Al-`Amaliq whose name was Yathrib bin `Ubayd bin Mahlayil bin `Aws bin `Amlaq bin Lawudh bin Iram bin Sam bin Nuh. This was the view of As-Suhayli. He said: "And it was narrated from some of them that he said, `It is given eleven names in the Tawrah: Al-Madinah, Tabah, Tayyibah, Al-Miskinah, Al-Jabirah, Al-Muhibbah, Al-Mahbubah, Al-Qasimah, Al-Majburah, Al-`Adhra' and Al-Marhumah."' r

لاَ مُقَامَ لَكُمْ

(There is no position for you.) means, `here, with the Prophet , you cannot stand guard,'

فَارْجِعُواْ

(Therefore go back) means, `to your houses and dwellings'.

وَيَسْتَأْذِنُ فَرِيقٌ مِّنْهُمُ النَّبِىَّ

(And a band of them ask for permission of the Prophet) Al-`Awfi reported that Ibn `Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him said, "These were Banu Harithah, who said, `We fear for our homes, that they may be robbed."' This was also stated by others. Ibn Ishaq mentioned that the one who said this was `Aws bin Qayzi. They were using as an excuse to go back to their houses the claim that they were lying open and had nothing to protect them from the enemy, so they were afraid for their homes. But Allah said:

وَمَا هِىَ بِعَوْرَةٍ

(And they lay not open.) meaning, it is not as they claim.

إِن يُرِيدُونَ إِلاَّ فِرَاراً

(They but wished to flee.) means, they wanted to run away from the battlefield.

Dalam keadaan yang demikian mencekam, Allah menguji kekuatan iman orang-orang yang beriman, sehingga nyata mana yang benar-benar beriman, yang memurnikan ketaatan hanya kepada Allah saja, percaya bahwa Muhammad saw adalah rasul Allah, dan percaya pula akan kemenangan Islam dan kaum Muslimin, serta mana yang goyah dan rapuh imannya, yang mengikuti Rasulullah hanya semata-mata hendak mencari keuntungan diri mereka saja. Seakan-akan Perang Ahzab ini merupakan suatu seleksi bagi kaum Muslimin, tentang siapa yang benar-benar kawan dan siapa yang sungguh-sungguh lawan.

(12) Menurut riwayat, thu'mah bin Ubairiq dan tujuh puluh orang yang lain mengatakan, "Bagaimana pula yang dijanjikan kepada kita penaklukan kerajaan Persia dan Romawi, padahal pada saat ini untuk buang air besar saja tidak seorang pun di antara kita yang sanggup." Ucapan ini sengaja mereka lontarkan tatkala mereka mendengar berita tentang peristiwa yang terjadi di waktu Rasulullah menggali parit dan mencangkuli batu yang memancarkan cahaya sebagaimana yang telah diterangkan. Maka Allah menurunkan ayat ini.

Dalam ayat ini diterangkan hasil ujian Allah kepada kaum Muslimin, yaitu dengan tercetusnya perkataan orang-orang munafik seperti Mu'attib bin Qusyair dan orang-orang yang lain yang masih lemah imannya, "Semua yang dijanjikan Allah dan Rasul-Nya kepada kita, seperti akan mendapat kemenangan, memperoleh kebahagiaan hidup, dan sebagainya, tidak lain hanyalah tipu daya dan janji-janji kosong saja, bahkan janji itu menimbulkan kesengsaraan dan malapetaka bagi kita semuanya. Muhammad mengatakan bahwa kerajaan Persia dan Romawi akan takluk ke bawah kekuasaan kaum Muslimin, tetapi kenyataannya sekarang, kaum Muslimin yang akan menaklukkan itu sedang dikepung rapat oleh tentara yang bersekutu dan akan mengalami kehancuran dan kemusnahan."