Al-W¥^idÏ's Asb¥b al-Nuz‰l - The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies ...

Chapter 63: Surah al-Munafiqun
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
(They it is who say: Spend not on behalf of those (who dwell) with Allah’s messenger…) [63:7].
‘Abd al-Rahman ibn ‘Abdan informed us> Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn Muhammad al-Hafiz> Abu’l-
‘Abbas Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Mahbubi> Sa‘id ibn Mas‘ud> ‘Ubayd Allah ibn Musa> Isra’il> Abu
Sa‘id al-Azdi> Zayd ibn Arqam who said: “We went out in a military expedition with the Messenger
of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and some desert Arabs came along with us. We used to
hasten for water but the desert Arabs always preceded us to it. Once a desert Arab got to the water first,
he would fill the pond, circle it with stones and place a leather mat on it until his friends would arrive.
One man from the Helpers came along wanting to let his camel drink from one such pond, but a desert
Arab refused to let him use the pond. The Helper removed one of the stones encircling the water which
caused the water to spill. The desert Arab grabbed a piece of wood and struck him on the head, fracturing
his skull in the process. The Helper went to ‘Abd Allah ibn Ubayy, the leader of the hypocrites, and
informed him of the incident. This Helper was one of the followers of Ibn Ubayy. ‘Abd Allah ibn Ubayy
got very angry and said: ‘Do not spend on those who are with the Messenger of Allah, until they [i.e. the
desert Arabs] disperse’. He also said to his followers: ‘When you go back to Medina, let the most powerful
drive the weakest out of Medina’. Zayd ibn Arqam said: ‘I was riding behind my uncle and I heard what
‘Abd Allah said. I told my uncle of what I heard and he informed the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him
and give him peace. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, then summoned ‘Abd
Allah ibn Ubayy. But the latter denied that he ever said what he was accused of and swore that he never
said it. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, believed him and disbelieved me.
My uncle came to me and said: ‘All you have done is that you caused the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless
him and give him peace, to loath you and the Muslims to give you the lie’. Nobody had suffered the same
distress which I did as a result of this. However, as I was walking one day with the Messenger of Allah,
Allah bless him and give him peace, he approached me, rubbed my ear and smiled at me. I would not
have exchanged this for the whole world. The following morning, the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless
him and give him peace, read Surah al-Munafiqun (When the hypocrites come unto thee (O Muhammad)
they say: We bear witness that thou art indeed His messenger… They it is who say: Spend not on behalf of
those (who dwell) with Allah’s messenger that they may disperse) [63:1-7] until he reached (… the mightier
will soon drive out the weaker) [63:8]’ ”. 1
The commentators of the Qur’an and authors of the biography of the Prophet, Allah bless him and give
him peace, said: “The Messenger of Allah prepared a military expedition against Banu’l-Mustaliq, and on
his way to them he camped at a source of water, called al-Muraysi‘, which belonged to them. People came
forward to get water. ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab had with him a hireling from Banu Ghifar by the name of
Jahjah ibn Sa‘id. The latter led ‘Umar’s horse to drink. A jostle about the water ensued between Jahjah and
Sinan al-Juhani, the ally of Banu ‘Awf from the Khazraj and the two of them had a fight. Al-Juhani cried:
‘O Helpers [help!]’ and the Ghifari shouted: ‘O Emigrants [help!]’ A poor man from the Emigrants by the
name of Ju‘al came to the rescue of Jahjah. ‘Abd Allah ibn Ubayy said to him: ‘You, out of all people!’ Ju‘al
said: ‘And what stops me from getting involved’ And he let his tongue loose on ‘Abd Allah ibn Ubayy.
‘Abd Allah ibn Ubayy then said: ‘By Him through Whom one swears, I will leave you now, but you will
see what will happen to you’. ‘Abd Allah was furious. He commented further: ‘By Allah, our situation
with these people is as one poet has once said: Fatten your dog, it will devour you. Verily, by Allah, if we
do return to Medina, the mighty amongst us shall drive out the weak from it’. By the mighty he was referring
to himself and by the weak to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace. He then
addressed those who were present from among his own people, saying: ‘You have brought this on
1
Tabari, :111-112; Qurtubi, :121.