Al-Ahzaab (The Clans)

13. “And when a party of them said: ‘O’ you the people of Yathrib! There is no place for you to stand (here) so go back,’ and a group of them asked permission of the Prophet, saying: ‘Verily our houses are exposed’; and they were not exposed. They only intended to flee away (from battle field).”

The hypocrites usually try to separate the believers from the religious culture, even in nominating of things and names.

(They say: “O’ you the people of Yathrib!”)

We must not be neglectful of the hypocrites’ propagations for discouraging the strivers.

Divine revelation makes the evil thoughts of hypocrites manifest and disgraces them publicly.

This verse explains the state of a dangerous group of these very diseased-hearted hypocrites who were more treacherous and polluted unto others.

It says:

“And when a party of them said: ‘O’ you the people of Yathrib! There is no place for you to stand (here) so go back,’

Briefly speaking, they mean that you can not do anything against this mass of enemy so you may go out of the battle and do not send yourself to death and that your wife and your children to be captives.

Thus, they wanted to separate the group of the Helpers from the army of Islam. This was from one side. On the other side, a group of the same hypocrites, who had houses in Medina, asked permission of the Prophet (S) to return home, and they sought pretexts for it.

Among their pretexts they said that their houses had no wall, while it was not true. They only desired to leave the scene and run away.

The Arabic word /‘aurat/ is originally derived from /‘ar/ and it is used for something that its making manifest causes shame. Also, the word /‘aurah/ is used for the gaps appeared in clothes and the walls of a house; and for the damageable points of boundaries; and for whatever man is afraid of.

Here, the purpose is the houses which have not a certain door and wall and at which the enemy may attack.

By offering these pretexts, the hypocrites intended to leave the battle field and refuge to their own houses.

An Islamic narration indicates that the members of the tribe of ‘Bani Harithah’ sent a person to the Prophet (S) and said that their houses were without any guard, and none of the houses of the Helpers as well as their own houses had a protector, and there was not any barrier between them and the tribe of Qatfan who attacked from the east of Medina.

They asked the Prophet (S) to let them return to their own houses and defend their wives and children.

At this time, Sa‘d-ibn-Ma‘ath, the chief of Ansar (the Helpers) arrived and heard them. He told the Prophet (S) not to give them leave. He added:

“By Allah! Whenever we were confronted a difficulty, they sought the like of this pretext. They tell a lie.”

The Prophet (S) ordered them to stay and defend Islam, too.

Before the time the Prophet’s emigration to that city, the ancient name of Medina, had been Yathrib. After that it was gradually called ‘Madinat-ur-Rassul’ (the city of the Prophet) the shortened form of which was Madinah.

This city has had various names. Besides these two names (Yathrib and Madinah), the Late Sayyid Murtada has mentioned eleven names for it, including: Tayyibah, Tabah, Sakinah, Mahbubah, Marhumah, and Qasimah. (Some commentators call the name of the land of this city Yathrib.)

Some narrations denote that the Prophet (S) said:

“Do not call this city as Yathrib”.

Perhaps, it was for the reason that /yaθrib/ is originally derived from /θarb/ in the sense of ‘to blame’ and the Prophet (S) did not like that name for this blessed city. However, it was not without reason that the hypocrites addressed the people of Medina as ‘The people of Yathrib’.

Perhaps it was for this reason that the Prophet (S) hated this name; or they wanted to announce the lack of formality of Islam and the title of ‘Madinat-ur-Rassul’ or to attract their attention to the Age of Ignorance.