Hizb 20

O you who have faith! Indeed many of the scribes and monks wrongfully eat up the people’s wealth, and bar [them] from the way of Allah. Those who treasure up gold and silver, and do not spend it in the way of Allah, inform them of a painful punishment

on the day when these shall be heated in hellfire and therewith branded on their foreheads, their sides, and their backs [and told]: ‘This is what you treasured up for yourselves! So taste what you have treasured!’

Indeed the number of months with Allah is twelve months in Allah’s Book, the day when He created the heavens and the earth. Of these, four are sacred. That is the upright religion. So do not wrong yourselves during them. Fight all the polytheists, just as they fight you all, and know that Allah is with the Godwary.

Indeed nasee is an increase in unfaith, whereby the faithless are led [further] astray. They allow it in one year and forbid it another year, so as to fit in with the number, which Allah has made inviolable, thus permitting what Allah has forbidden. Their evil deeds appear to them as decorous, and Allah does not guide the faithless lot.

O you who have faith! What is the matter with you that when you are told: ‘Go forth in the way of Allah,’ you sink heavily to the ground? Are you pleased with the life of this world instead of the Hereafter? But the wares of the life of this world compared with the Hereafter are but insignificant.

If you do not go forth, He will punish you with a painful punishment, and replace you with another people, and you will not hurt Him in the least, and Allah has power over all things.

If you do not help him, then Allah certainly helped him when the faithless expelled him, as one of two [refugees], when the two of them were in the cave, he said to his companion, ‘Do not grieve; Allah is indeed with us.’ Then Allah sent down His composure upon him, and strengthened him with hosts you did not see, and He made the word of the faithless the lowest; and the word of Allah is the highest; and Allah is all-mighty, all-wise.

Go forth, whether [armed] lightly or heavily, and wage jihad with your possessions and persons in the way of Allah. That is better for you, should you know.

Were it an accessible gain or a short journey, they would have surely followed you; but the distance seemed too far to them. Yet they will swear by Allah: ‘If we could, we would have surely gone forth with you.’ They [merely] destroy themselves. Allah knows that they are indeed liars.

May Allah excuse you! Why did you grant them leave [to stay behind] before those who told the truth were evident to you and you had ascertained the liars?

Those who believe in Allah and the Last Day do not ask you for leave [exempting them] from waging jihad with their possessions and their persons, and Allah knows best the Godwary.

Only those seek a leave [of exemption] from you who do not believe in Allah and the Last Day, and whose hearts are in doubt, so they waver in their doubt.

Had they desired to go forth, they would have surely made some preparations for it; but Allah was averse to arouse them, so He held them back, and it was said [to them], ‘Be seated with those who sit back.’

Had they gone forth with you, they would have only added to your troubles, and they would have surely spread rumours in your midst, seeking to cause sedition among you. They have some spies among you, and Allah knows best the wrongdoers.

They certainly sought to cause sedition earlier, and upset the matters for you, until the truth came and Allah’s command prevailed, much as they were averse.

Among them there are some who say, ‘Give me leave, and do not put me to temptation.’ Look! They have already fallen into temptation and indeed hell besieges the faithless.

If some good should befall you, it upsets them; but if an adversity befalls you, they say, ‘We had already taken our precautions in advance,’ and they go away boasting.

Say, ‘Nothing will befall us except what Allah has ordained for us. He is our master, and in Allah let all the faithful put their trust.’

Say, ‘Do you not await one of the two excellent things to happen to us? But we await that Allah shall visit on you a punishment, from Him, or by our hands. So wait! We too are waiting along with you.’

Say, ‘Spend willingly or unwillingly, it shall never be accepted from you; for you are indeed a transgressing lot.’

Nothing stops their charities from being accepted except that they have no faith in Allah and His Apostle and do not perform the prayer but lazily, and do not spend but reluctantly.

So let not their wealth and children impress you: Allah only desires to punish them with these in the life of this world, and that their souls may depart while they are faithless.

They swear by Allah that they belong to you, but they do not belong to you. Rather, they are a frightened lot.

If they could find a refuge, or a hideout, or a hole [to creep into], they would turn to it in frantic haste.

There are some of them who blame you regarding [the distribution of] the charities: if they are given from them, they are pleased, but if they are not given from them, behold, they are displeased.

[It would have been better] if they had been pleased with what Allah and His Apostle gave them, and had said, ‘Allah is sufficient for us; Allah and His Apostle will give to us out of His grace. Indeed to Allah do we eagerly turn.’

The charities are only for the poor and the needy, and those employed to collect them, and those whose hearts are to be reconciled, and for [the freedom of] the slaves and the debtors, and in the way of Allah, and for the traveller. [This is] an ordinance from Allah, and Allah is all-knowing, all-wise.

Among them are those who torment the Prophet, and say, ‘He is an ear.’ Say, ‘An ear that is good for you. He has faith in Allah and trusts the faithful, and is a mercy for those of you who have faith.’ As for those who torment the Apostle of Allah, there is a painful punishment for them.

They swear to you by Allah, to please you; but Allah and His Apostle are worthier that they should please Him, should they be faithful.

Do they not know that whoever opposes Allah and His Apostle, there awaits him the Fire of hell, to remain in it [forever]? That is the great disgrace.

The hypocrites are apprehensive lest a surah should be sent down against them, informing them about what is in their hearts. Say, ‘Go on deriding. Allah will indeed bring out what you are apprehensive of.’

If you question them [regarding their conduct], they will surely say, ‘We were just gossiping and amusing ourselves.’ Say, ‘Were you deriding Allah, His signs, and His apostles?

Do not make excuses. You have disbelieved after your faith.’ If We forgive a group among you, We will punish another group, for they have been guilty.

The hypocrites, men and women, are all alike: they bid what is wrong and forbid what is right; and are tight-fisted. They have forgotten Allah, so He has forgotten them. The hypocrites are indeed the transgressors.

Allah has promised the hypocrites, men and women, and the faithless, the Fire of hell, to remain in it [forever]. That suffices them. Allah has cursed them, and there is a lasting punishment for them.

[Hypocrites! Your case is] similar to those who were before you, who were more powerful than you and more abounding in wealth and children: they enjoyed their share [of worldly existence]; you too enjoy your share, just like those who were before you enjoyed their share, and you have gossiped [impiously] as they gossiped. They are the ones whose works have failed in this world and the Hereafter; and it is they who are the losers.

Has there not come to them the account of those who were before them—the people of Noah, ‘Ad, and Tham£d, and the people of Abraham, the inhabitants of Midian, and the towns that were overturned? Their apostles brought them manifest proofs. So it was not Allah who wronged them, but it was they who used to wrong themselves.

But the faithful, men and women, are comrades of one another: they bid what is right and forbid what is wrong and maintain the prayer, give the zakat, and obey Allah and His Apostle. It is they to whom Allah will soon grant His mercy. Indeed Allah is all-mighty, all-wise.

Allah has promised the faithful, men and women, gardens with streams running in them, to remain in them [forever], and good dwellings in the Gardens of Eden. Yet Allah’s pleasure is greater [than all these]; that is the great success.

O Prophet! Wage jihad against the faithless and the hypocrites, and be severe with them. Their refuge shall be hell, and it is an evil destination.

They swear by Allah that they did not say it. But they certainly did utter the word of unfaith and renounced faith after their Islam. They contemplated what they could not achieve, and they were vindictive only because Allah and His Apostle had enriched them out of His grace. Yet if they repent, it will be better for them; but if they turn away, Allah shall punish them with a painful punishment in this world and the Hereafter, and they shall not find on the earth any guardian or helper.

Among them are those who made a pledge with Allah: ‘If He gives us out of His grace, we will surely give the zakat and we will surely be among the righteous.’

But when He gave them out of His grace, they begrudged it and turned away, being disregardful.

So He caused hypocrisy to ensue in their hearts until the day they will encounter Him, because of their going back on what they had promised Allah and because of the lies they used to tell.

Do they not know that Allah knows their secret [thoughts] and [hears] their secret talks, and that Allah is knower of all that is Unseen?

Those who blame the voluntary donors from among the faithful concerning the charities—and as for those who do not find [anything] except [what] their means [permit], they ridicule them—Allah shall put them to ridicule, and there is a painful punishment for them.

Whether you plead forgiveness for them or do not plead forgiveness for them, even if you plead forgiveness for them seventy times, Allah shall never forgive them because they defied Allah and His Apostle; and Allah does not guide the transgressing lot.

Those who were left behind boasted for sitting back against [the command of] the Apostle of Allah, and were reluctant to wage jihad with their possessions and persons in the way of Allah, and they said, ‘Do not go forth in this heat.’ Say, The fire of hell is severer in heat, should they understand.

So let them laugh a little; much will they weep as a requital for what they used to earn.

If Allah brings you back [from the battlefront] to a group of them and they seek your permission to go forth, say, ‘You shall never go forth with me, and you shall not fight with me against any enemy. You were indeed pleased to sit back the first time, so sit back with those who stay behind.’

And never pray over any of them when he dies, nor stand at his graveside. They indeed defied Allah and His Apostle and died as transgressors.

Let not their possessions or their children impress you. Allah only desires to punish them with these in this world, and that their souls may depart while they are faithless.

When a surah is sent down [declaring]: ‘Have faith in Allah, and wage jihad along with His Apostle, the affluent among them ask you for leave, and say, ‘Let us remain with those who sit back.’

They are pleased to be with those who stay back, and their hearts have been sealed. So they do not understand.

But the Apostle and the faithful who are with him wage jihad with their possessions and persons, and to such belong all the blessings, and it is they who are the felicitous.

Allah has prepared for them gardens with streams running in them, to remain in them [forever]. That is the great success.

Some of the Bedouins who sought to be excused came, so that they may be granted leave [to stay back]; while those who lied to Allah and His Apostle sat back. Soon there shall visit the faithless among them a painful punishment.

There is no blame on the weak, nor on the sick, nor on those who do not find anything to spend, so long as they are sincere to Allah and His Apostle. There is no [cause for] blaming the virtuous, and Allah is all-forgiving, all-merciful.

Nor [is there any blame] on those to whom, when they came to you to provide them with a mount, you said, ‘I do not find any mount for you,’ and they turned back, their eyes flowing with tears, grieved because they did not find any means to spend.