Surah Al-Ahzab 33:13

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.

Di antara mereka, seperti 'Abdullah bin Ubay dan kawan-kawannya, ada pula yang mengatakan, "Hai penduduk kota Medinah, tempat ini bukanlah tempat yang harus kita tempati, maka kembalilah ke rumahmu masing-masing, agar kamu tidak ditimpa malapetaka dan kesengsaraan serta tidak mati terbunuh oleh musuh-musuh yang sedang mengepung kita."

Sebagian ahli tafsir ada yang menafsirkan, "Hai penduduk Medinah, tidak ada tempat bagi kamu sekalian untuk tetap menganut agama Muhammad. Kembalilah kamu kepada agamamu dahulu, dan serahkanlah Muhammad dan pengikut-pengikutnya kepada musuh-musuhnya yang sedang mengepung itu, sehingga keselamatan kamu semua terjamin."

Karena perkataan dan ajakan pemimpin-pemimpin munafik dan Yahudi itu, maka sebagian dari mereka ada yang terpengaruh dan meminta kepada Nabi saw agar dapat meninggalkan medan perang dan kembali ke rumah mereka. Di antara yang meminta itu ialah Bani harisah. Alasan yang mereka kemukakan ialah rumah-rumah mereka berada di tempat yang berdekatan dengan pangkalan-pangkalan pasukan musuh sedang dindingnya tidak kuat, mereka khawatir musuh akan mengambil harta benda mereka.

Pada akhir ayat ini, Allah menerangkan bahwa semua alasan yang dikemukakan oleh orang-orang munafik dan Yahudi adalah alasan-alasan yang dibuat-buat saja. Alasan-alasan itu mereka kemukakan semata-mata untuk menghindarkan diri dari ikut berperang beserta Nabi dan kaum Muslimin, karena mereka tidak melihat suatu keuntungan yang akan mereka peroleh.