Al-Fath · Madani · ayah 15 of 29

Al-Fath 48:15

سَيَقُولُ ٱلْمُخَلَّفُونَ إِذَا ٱنطَلَقْتُمْ إِلَىٰ مَغَانِمَ لِتَأْخُذُوهَا ذَرُونَا نَتَّبِعْكُمْ ۖ يُرِيدُونَ أَن يُبَدِّلُوا۟ كَلَـٰمَ ٱللَّهِ ۚ قُل لَّن تَتَّبِعُونَا كَذَٰلِكُمْ قَالَ ٱللَّهُ مِن قَبْلُ ۖ فَسَيَقُولُونَ بَلْ تَحْسُدُونَنَا ۚ بَلْ كَانُوا۟ لَا يَفْقَهُونَ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا

“Those who remained[1511] behind will say when you set out toward the war booty to take it, "Let us follow you." They wish to change the words of Allāh. Say, "Never will you follow us. Thus did Allāh say before." So they will say, "Rather, you envy us." But [in fact] they were not understanding except a little.[1512]”

Saheeh International

Essence

When the road leads to spoils the stayers ask to come, and the ayah foretells their request, their charge of envy and their thin understanding.

A reflection

Who carried the risk receives the yield

The commentaries agree on the setting. The believers came home from Hudaybiyah without entering Makkah, under a treaty that looked to many like a retreat. Allah promised those who had been there the spoils of Khaybar, as a recompense for what they gave up. Soon after, they set out for Khaybar. And the stayers, who had sat out the hard journey, asked to come along.

They want to change the word of Allah. Most commentators read this as the promise itself. The stayers wanted to slip their names onto a pledge that had been made to others. One early view tied it instead to a later ayah about Tabuk; others set that view aside, because Tabuk came later.

Think of a lifeboat crew who launched into a gale to reach a stricken cargo ship. They brought it to harbour at dawn, soaked and exhausted. When the salvage award comes through months later, a few men who stayed by the fire in the harbour pub ask for a share. They are, after all, from the same village.

No fair harbour would agree. Not out of spite, but because the award exists to honour the risk. Paying the fireside men would quietly tell the next crew that launching into the storm is optional.

There is strategy in this for anyone who leads. A hard decision often asks the most loyal people to carry its cost first. Hudaybiyah asked the believers to turn back from the Sacred House, swallowing their disappointment. Protecting what was promised to them is how a leader keeps faith with those who trusted him on the hard day.

The door was not shut forever. The very next ayah offers the stayers a harder call, with a real reward if they answer (48:16). But the yield of this journey belonged to those who made it.

The full entry has 6 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.