61.4. Inna Allaha yuhibbu alladhiinayuqatiluuna fii sabiilihi saffan kaannahum bunyanunmarsuusun
61.4. Lo! Allah loveth those who battle for His cause in ranks, as if they were a solid structure. (Pickthall)
61.4. Allah liebt ja diejenigen, die auf Seinem Weg kämpfen, in Reihe, als wären sie ein festgefügtes Bauwerk. (Ahmad v. Denffer)
61.4. Gewiß, Allah liebt diejenigen, die auf Seinem Weg kämpfen in Reihe, als wären sie ein zusammengefügter Bau. (Bubenheim)
61.4. Gott liebt die Gläubigen, die für Seine Sache kämpfen und in einer geschlossenen Reihe stehen, als seien sie ein festgefügtes Gebäude. (Azhar)
61.4. Gewiß, ALLAH liebt diejenigen, die auf Seinem Weg in Reihe kämpfen, als wären sie ein kompakter Bau. (Zaidan)
61.4. Allah liebt diejenigen, die um seinetwillen in Reih und Glied kämpfen (und) fest (stehen) wie eine Mauer. (Paret)
61.4. Wahrlich, Allah liebt diejenigen, die für Seine Sache kämpfen, (in eine Schlachtordnung) gereiht, als wären sie ein festgefügtes Mauerwerk. (Rasul)
61.4. Wahrlich, Allah liebt diejenigen, die auf Seinem Pfad in (engen) Reihen kämpfen, als wären sie ein gefestigter Bau. (Périsset)
Tafsir von Maududi für die Ayaat 2 bis 4
O you who have believed, why do you say that which you do not do? Most hateful it is in the sight of Allah that you should say that which you do not do. ( 2 ) Allah indeed loves those who fight in His Way in ranks as though they were a solid wall. ( 3 )
Desc No: 2 One meaning of this passage is general as is apparent from its words. It has a special meaning also, which becomes evident when this verse is read along with the verse that follows. The first meaning is that there should be complete agreement between a true Muslim's word and deed: he should carry into effect whatever he says, and when he has no intention of doing it, or has no power for it, he should not say it. To say one thing and do another is one of the most hideous characteristics of man, in the sight of Allah. The Holy Prophet (upon whom be Allah's peace) has explained that a person's being characterised by this quality is a sign that he is not a believer but a hypocrite. According to a .Hadith he said;
"The hypocrite has three signs even if he offered the Prayer and observed the Fast, and professed to be a Muslim: That then he spoke he lied; when he made a promise, he broke it; and when he was entrusted with something, he proved dishonest. " (Bukhari, Muslim) .
In another Hadith he said:
"Four characteristics are such that the one who has all the four, is a hypocrite through and through, and the one who has one of these, has one characteristic of hypocrisy in him until he gives it up: that when he is entrusted with something, he proves dishonest; when he speaks, he lies; when he makes a promise, he breaks it; and when he quarrels he crosses all limits of morality and decency." (Bukhari, Muslim).
The jurists of Islam have almost unanimously held the view that if a person makes a pledge to Allah (e.g.. vows to do some thing), or enters an agreement with others, or promised somebody to do something, it is obligatory for him to fulfil it, unless the thing he has promised is by itself sinful. If it is sinful, he should not observe or carry out the agreement or promise, but should expiate its violation as mentioned in Surah AI-Ma'idah: 89 above. (AI-Jassas and Ibn al'Arabi, Ahkam al-Qur-an an).
This much for the general meaning of these verses. As for their special meaning, it becomes obvious when these are read along with the verse that follows. The object is to reprove those people who talked much and made tall promises to fight and lay down their lives in the cause of Islam, but when the time came of their test and trial, they fled the battlefield. The people of weak faith have been taken to task for this weakness at several places in the Qur'an. For instance, in Surah An-Nisa': 77, it has been said: "Have you also marked those to whom if was said, 'Withhold your hands (a while from war) and establish the salat and pay the zakat. Now that they have been commanded to fight, some of them fear the people as they should fear Allah, or even more than that. They say: 'Our Lord, why have You prescribed fighting for us? Why have You not given us further respite?" And in Surah Muhammad: 20: "Those who have believed, were saying, 'Why is not a Surah sent down (to enjoin fighting)?' But when a decisive Surah was sent down in which fighting had been mentioned, you saw those in whose hearts was a disease, looking towards you like the one under the shadow of death.' On the occasion of the Battle of Uhud in particular, the weaknesses to which allusions have been made continuously from verse 121 to verse 171 of Surah Al-'Imran became all the more conspicuous and visible.
The commentators while explaining the background of the revelation of these verses have mentioned the different forms of the weaknesses to which exception has been taken here. Ibn 'Abbas says that before the fighting was proscribed, there were some people among the Muslims who said: "Would that we could know the act that is most lovable in the sight of Allah, so that we would perform the same." But when they were told that it was fighting in the cause of Allah, it became most difficult for them to carry out their promise. Muqatil bin Hayyan has stated that in the Battle of Uhud these very people were put to the test, and they abandoned the Holy Prophet (upon whom be Allah's peace) and fled Ibn Zaid says that many of the people made the Holy Prophet (upon whom be peace) believe that they would go out with him to fact the enemy whenever it was so required, but whcn the time of the test came their promises proved false. Qatadah and Dahhak say that if some people did take pan in the battle, they accomplished nothing. but on their return from the battlefield they boasted and bragged, saying. "We put up a brave fight and we achieved such and such a victory." It is such people who have been rebuked by Allah in these verses.
Desc No: 3 First, it shows that only those believers are blessed with Allah's good pleasure and approval, who are prepared to fight in His way, disregarding every kind of danger. Secondly, that Allah likes an army which has three characteristics: (1) It fights in Allah's way with full understanding, and does not fight for a cause disapproved by Allah; (2) it is not indisciplincd, but is well-organized and well-arrayed for battle; and (3) it offers stiff resistance to the enemy as though it were "a solid cemented structure" . Then, this last quality is by itself highly meaningful. No army can stand in the battle array like a "solid structure unless it has the following characteristics. (1) Complete agreement in the faith and the objective, which should smite soldiers and officers in a well-knit body. (2) Confidence in one another sincerity, which cannot be created unless everybody is genuinely sincere in his aim and free from impure motives; otherwise the severe test of war will not allow anyone's insincerity to remain hidden, and whcn confidence is lost, the members of the army start suspecting instead of trusting one another. (3) A high standard of morality without which neither can the officers and soldiers of the army have love and respect for each other, nor can they remain immune foam mutual clashes and conflicts. (4) Love of the common objective and a firm resolve to achieve it, which should inspire, the whole army with an invincible spirit of gallantry, devotion and self sacrifice, so that it may actually face the enemy like a solid cemented structure in the battle field.
Such were the foundations on which a powerful military organization was raised under the leadership of the Holy Prophet upon whom be Allah's peace and blessings). Mighty power of the day clashed with it and were annihilatcd; no power of the world then could dare face it for centuries. "