Verse 90 focuses on some Bedouins (or Arabs of the desert") who did not join the army to Tabuk. There is some disagreement about the back-story here; these may have been the family of Amar ibn al-Tufail, who excused themselves by saying that they could not go with Muhammad because if they left their wives and children behind, the wives and children and herds would be attacked by their enemies in the Tay tribe. Or they may have been the tribes of Asad and Ghatfan, who had a different excuse.
Verses 91-92 mention valid exemptions from jihad, using the incident of The Weepers (Al Bakkaim) as an example. Some men responded to Muhammads call but they were not equipped for the journey, and since no riding-animals for them could be found, they were left behind. That occasion is the centerpiece-example of a valid exemption. Two others are mentioned: a man is excused from fighting if he is weak (due to old age, for example) or ill, and a man is excused from contributing if he has no resources. The wealthy are therefore not exempt.
A highly imaginative hadith is used along with this verse: it states that Muhammad once began an expedition by announcing that men who were betrothed, but had not had their honeymoon, were exempt, and if a man had begun building a house, but had not yet finished the roof, he was exempt, and if a man had ewes or she-camels about to give birth, he was exempt. The first exception resembles the exemption in Deuteronomy 24:5 ~ "When a man has taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war, neither shall he be charged with any business, but he shall be free at home one year, and shall cheer up his wife which he hath taken."
(The imaginative part of the hadith-story comes later, when some of the acts attributed in the Old Testament to Joshua are pasted onto Muhammad: he causes the sun to stand still (as Joshua did at the battle of Aijalon), and discovers the identity of someone who has pilfered some of the sacred booty (roughly similar to what Joshua did after the battle of Jericho regarding Achan). The dependency of this Hadith upon the Biblical stories in Joshua 10:12-14 and 7:10-26 is rather obvious, and it goes to show that even Hadith in the earliest written sources -- this one is in Al-Bukhari, Vol. 4, #353 -- are not necessarily reliable.)
Then the text returns to the subject of those who stayed behind: Muhammad expected that they would offer excuses when the expedition returned, just as they had when it had left. But Muhammad insisted (at least, as the expedition was returning) on a policy of regarding them as Rijs -- that is, of a quality of impureness comparable to the polytheists who were prohibited from approaching Islamic mosques. It should be noted, though, that for all this surahs talk about regarding the Hypocrites as unbelievers, the actual punishments that Muhammad carried out after he returned to Medina were mostly non-violent, consisting mainly of shunning those who had ignored or mocked his call to jihad.
The text then compares the Bedouin to the people who were closest to Muhammad, and the Bedouin, as a whole, get the worse of it: The Bedouin are the worst in disbelief and hypocrisy according to 9:97. But although some regard their contributions to the cause of Islam as a fine (what a concept!), others consider it a means of nearness, that is, their proximity of closeness to the right way of life is proportionate to the amount of money they sincerely donate. But while such Bedouin people will receive Allahs mercy, Allah is well-pleased with the Muhajirun (Muhammads companions from Mecca) and the Ansar (the people of Medina who welcomed and assisted the Muhajirun) and those who followed them. The Bedouins, though, are a mixed bag. Muhammad was not sure, though, about which Bedouins had been sincere and which had been disingenuous.
Yours in Christ,
Waterrock
Verses 91-92 mention valid exemptions from jihad, using the incident of The Weepers (Al Bakkaim) as an example. Some men responded to Muhammads call but they were not equipped for the journey, and since no riding-animals for them could be found, they were left behind. That occasion is the centerpiece-example of a valid exemption. Two others are mentioned: a man is excused from fighting if he is weak (due to old age, for example) or ill, and a man is excused from contributing if he has no resources. The wealthy are therefore not exempt.
A highly imaginative hadith is used along with this verse: it states that Muhammad once began an expedition by announcing that men who were betrothed, but had not had their honeymoon, were exempt, and if a man had begun building a house, but had not yet finished the roof, he was exempt, and if a man had ewes or she-camels about to give birth, he was exempt. The first exception resembles the exemption in Deuteronomy 24:5 ~ "When a man has taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war, neither shall he be charged with any business, but he shall be free at home one year, and shall cheer up his wife which he hath taken."
(The imaginative part of the hadith-story comes later, when some of the acts attributed in the Old Testament to Joshua are pasted onto Muhammad: he causes the sun to stand still (as Joshua did at the battle of Aijalon), and discovers the identity of someone who has pilfered some of the sacred booty (roughly similar to what Joshua did after the battle of Jericho regarding Achan). The dependency of this Hadith upon the Biblical stories in Joshua 10:12-14 and 7:10-26 is rather obvious, and it goes to show that even Hadith in the earliest written sources -- this one is in Al-Bukhari, Vol. 4, #353 -- are not necessarily reliable.)
Then the text returns to the subject of those who stayed behind: Muhammad expected that they would offer excuses when the expedition returned, just as they had when it had left. But Muhammad insisted (at least, as the expedition was returning) on a policy of regarding them as Rijs -- that is, of a quality of impureness comparable to the polytheists who were prohibited from approaching Islamic mosques. It should be noted, though, that for all this surahs talk about regarding the Hypocrites as unbelievers, the actual punishments that Muhammad carried out after he returned to Medina were mostly non-violent, consisting mainly of shunning those who had ignored or mocked his call to jihad.
The text then compares the Bedouin to the people who were closest to Muhammad, and the Bedouin, as a whole, get the worse of it: The Bedouin are the worst in disbelief and hypocrisy according to 9:97. But although some regard their contributions to the cause of Islam as a fine (what a concept!), others consider it a means of nearness, that is, their proximity of closeness to the right way of life is proportionate to the amount of money they sincerely donate. But while such Bedouin people will receive Allahs mercy, Allah is well-pleased with the Muhajirun (Muhammads companions from Mecca) and the Ansar (the people of Medina who welcomed and assisted the Muhajirun) and those who followed them. The Bedouins, though, are a mixed bag. Muhammad was not sure, though, about which Bedouins had been sincere and which had been disingenuous.
Yours in Christ,
Waterrock
