سورة التوبة

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): لَیْسَ عَلَی الضُّعَفاءِ [There is no blame upon the weak], it was revealed concerning Abd Allah ibn Za'idah, the blind son of Umm Maktum, who came to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) and said: 'O Prophet of Allah! I am an old, blind man, of weak condition, feeble and thin in body, and I have no guide. Is there permission for me to stay behind from jihad and be excused?' The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) remained silent. And Allah revealed this verse. It has also been said: this verse was revealed concerning A'idh ibn Amr and his companions, and the weak are those who have been rendered incapable due to illness, helplessness and weakness.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): In the narration of Abu al-Jarud from the Imam (peace be upon him), it is reported that he said: ... When the troops gathered before the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), his eminence set out from Thaniyyat al-Wada' and left Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) as his successor in Madinah... In this way, Ali (peace be upon him) returned to Madinah. And the Bakka'un (the weepers) came to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), and they were seven persons: from Banu Amr ibn Awf, Salim ibn Umayr, who was present at Badr — there is no disagreement about this. And from Banu Waqif, Harami ibn Umayr; from Banu Haritha, Ulayya ibn Zayd, who made his own honour the substance of his charity. The account of this is that when the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) commanded charity to be given, the people began bringing it. At this point Ulayya also came forward and said: "O Messenger of Allah! By Allah, I have nothing with which to give charity, so I make my honour lawful [as charity] and offer it." The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said to him: "Indeed the Lord has accepted your charity." And from Banu Mazin ibn al-Najjar, Abu Layla Abd al-Rahman ibn Ka'b; and from Banu Salama, Umar ibn Ghanama; and from Banu Zurayq, Salama ibn Sakhr; and from Banu al-Ghurr, Nasir ibn Sariya al-Sulami. These persons came weeping to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) and said: "O Messenger of Allah! We have no strength to accompany you in setting out." So Allah revealed concerning them this verse: لَیْسَ عَلَی الضُّعَفاءِ وَ لا عَلَی الْمَرْضی وَ لا عَلَی الَّذِینَ لا یَجِدُونَ ما یُنْفِقُونَ حَرَجٌ إِذا نَصَحُوا لِلهِ وَ رَسُولِهِ ما عَلَی الْمُحْسِنِینَ مِنْ سَبِیلٍ وَ اللهُ غَفُورٌ رَحِیمٌ [It shall be no crime in the weak, nor in the sick, nor in those who do not find what they should spend (to stay behind), so long as they are sincere to Allah and His Apostle; there is no way (to blame) against the doers of good; and Allah is Forgiving, Merciful], ... أَلَّا یَجِدُوا ما یُنْفِقُونَ [that they could not find what to spend]; these Bakka'un were asking only for a single pair of sandals to wear [so that they could accompany the Prophet]."

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Abd al-Rahman ibn Jundab said: When the people came with the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) from Siffin ... suddenly we came upon an old man sitting in the shade of a house, with the marks of illness visible on his face. Ali (peace be upon him) went towards him and greeted him, and we too greeted him. He returned our greeting so graciously that we thought he had recognized the Imam. Ali (peace be upon him) said to him: "Why do I see the color of your face so changed? Is it from illness?" He said: "Yes." The Imam said: "Surely you dislike it?" He said: "I would not wish another to be afflicted with it." The Imam said: "Do you not count your affliction with this illness as good for yourself?" He said: "Yes." He said: "Glad tidings to you of the mercy of your Lord and the forgiveness of your sins. O servant of Allah, who are you?" He said: "I am Salih ibn Sulaym." He said: "From which household are you?" He said: "My origin is from Salaman ibn Tayy, but I was raised as an adopted son under the protection of the tribe of Banu Sulaym ibn Mansur." He said: "Glory be to Allah, how excellent is your name, and the name of your father, and the names of your protectors and adoptive fathers. Did you take part with us in this battle?" He said: "No, by Allah, I did not take part in it. I wanted to take part, but this illness and fever which you see in me befell me and kept me from the battle." Ali (peace be upon him) said: "لَیْسَ عَلَی الضُّعَفَاء وَلاَ عَلَی الْمرْضَی وَلاَ عَلَی الَّذِینَ لاَ یَجِدُونَ ما یُنْفِقُونَ حَرَجٌ إِذا نَصَحُوا لِلهِ وَ رَسُولِهِ ما عَلَی الْمحْسِنینَ مِنْ سَبیلٍ وَ اللهُ غَفُورٌ رَحیمٌ [It shall be no crime in the weak, nor in the sick, nor in those who do not find what they should spend, so long as they are sincere to Allah and His Messenger; there is no way (to blame) against the doers of good; and Allah is Forgiving, Merciful]."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Hamza ibn Tayyar narrated from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) who said: "... If you look into all beings, you will not find anyone except that Allah has a proof against him and has a will concerning him. I do not say that they can do whatever they wish." Then he said: "Allah guides and leads astray." And he said: "They are not commanded to do anything beyond their capacity, and everything that people are commanded to do, they have the capacity to do; and everything that they do not have the capacity for is lifted from them — but there is no good in people." Then he recited this verse: لَیْسَ عَلَی الضُّعَفاءِ وَ لا عَلَی المَرْضی وَ لا عَلَی الَّذِینَ لا یَجِدُونَ ما یُنْفِقُونَ حَرَج [It shall be no crime in the weak, nor in the sick, nor in those who do not find what they should spend] — Allah lifted [the obligation] from them. ما عَلَی المُحْسِنِینَ مِنْ سَبِیلٍ وَ اللهُ غَفُورٌ رَحِیمٌ. وَ لا عَلَی الَّذِینَ إِذا ما أَتَوْکَ لِتَحْمِلَهُمْ [There is no way (to blame) against the doers of good; and Allah is Forgiving, Merciful. Nor upon those who, when they come to you to provide them with mounts]; Allah lifted [the obligation] from them, because they did not find anything to spend.

Imam al-Hadi (peace be upon him): As for His words: "provisions"; its meaning is affluence and having the means by which the servant seeks help in carrying out Allah's command, and this is Allah's saying: ما عَلَی المُحْسِنِینَ مِنْ سَبِیلٍ [there is no way (to blame) against the doers of good]. Do you not see that Allah accepted the excuse of those who did not have the expenses for the journey of jihad, and completed the proof against those who had the means and had the travel expenses and a mount for performing Hajj and jihad and the like [and made performing these obligations binding upon them]?

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Tamim al-Dari said: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: "Whoever guarantees me five things, I guarantee for him Paradise." It was said: "O Messenger of Allah! What are they?" He said: "Sincere counsel for Allah, sincere counsel for the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), sincere counsel for the Quran of Allah, sincere counsel for the religion of Allah, and sincere counsel for the community of Muslims."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Our intercession is for those of our Shia who have committed major sins, and as for those who repent, Allah the Mighty and Majestic has said concerning them: ما عَلَی الْمحْسِنینَ مِنْ سَبیلٍ [there is no way (to blame) against the doers of good].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Abd al-Rahman ibn Kathir said: Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: "O Abd al-Rahman! [By Allah!] Our Shia do not commit sins and disobedience; they are the chosen ones of Allah, those whom He has chosen for His religion, and this is the very saying of Allah who said: مَا عَلَی المُحْسِنِینَ مِن سَبِیلٍ [there is no way (to blame) against the doers of good]."

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): As for your enemies from among the jinn, they are Iblis and his armies. So if [Iblis] comes to you and says: "The people wrong you and you do not wrong them," say: "Blame and punishment on the Day of Resurrection are only upon those who wrong the people. (Ash-Shura/42), and there is no way (to blame) against the doers of good."