They said, ‘There are tyrants in it, Moses. We will not enter it until they leave. If they leave it, then we will go in.’ (Surat al-Ma’ida, 22)
They said, ‘We will never enter it, Moses, as long as they are there. So you and your Lord go and fight. We will stay sitting here.’ (Surat al-Ma’ida, 24)
Those who were left behind were glad to stay behind the Messenger of Allah. They did not want to do struggle with their wealth and themselves in the Way of Allah. They said, ‘Do not go out to fight in the heat.’ Say: ‘The Fire of Hell is much hotter, if they only understood.’ (Surat at-Tawba, 81)
When a sura is sent down saying: ‘Believe in Allah and struggle together with His Messenger,’ those among them with wealth will ask you to excuse them, saying, ‘Let us remain with those who stay behind.’ They are pleased to be with those who stay behind. Their hearts have been stamped so they do not understand. (Surat at-Tawba, 86-87)
You who believe! what is the matter with you that when you are told, ‘Go out and fight in the way of Allah,’ you sink down heavily to the earth? Are you happier with this world than the Hereafter? Yet the enjoyment of this world is very small compared to that of the Hereafter. (Surat at-Tawba, 38)
Among you there are people who hang back and if you encounter a setback then they say, ‘Allah has blessed me in that I was not there with them.’ (Surat an-Nisa’, 72)
Do you not see those who were told: ‘Hold back from fighting but establish prayer and pay alms’? Then when fighting is prescribed for them, a group of them fear people as Allah should be feared, or even more than that. They say, ‘Our Lord, why have you prescribed fighting for us? If only You would give us just a little more time!’ Say, ‘The enjoyment of this world is very brief. The Hereafter is better for those who have taqwa. You will not be wronged by so much as the smallest speck.’ (Surat an-Nisa’, 77)
Those who believe say, ‘If only a sura could be sent down.’ But when a straightforward sura is sent down and fighting is mentioned in it, you see those with sickness in their hearts looking at you with the look of someone about to faint from fear of death... (Surah Muhammad, 20)
There are only grounds against those who ask you for permission to stay when they are rich. They were pleased to be among those who were left behind. Allah has sealed up their hearts so they do not know. (Surat at-Tawba, 93)
If it had been a case of easy gains and a short journey, they would have followed you, but the distance was too great for them. They will swear by Allah: ‘Had we been able to, we would have gone out with you.’ They are destroying their own selves. Allah knows that they are lying. (Surat at-Tawba, 42)
They have sworn by Allah with their most earnest oaths that if you give them the command, they will go out. Say: ‘Do not swear. Honorable obedience is enough. Allah is aware of what you do.’ (Surat an-Nur, 53)
