The Madinan Period, Part 13: The Last Lessons of Uḥud, al-Rajīʿ and Biʾr Maʿūnah
Section 11 of 14 · The Life of the Prophet Muhammad: The Madinan Period
What the Hypocrites Said of the Ten
As for the hypocrites, what they said, and this is according to Ibn ʿAbbās, as Ibn Isḥāq relates it, was, "How sad for those misguided people who died that way. They neither stayed with their families, nor did they carry out their master's mission." What the hypocrites are saying is that these ten men are a failure. They ended up dying for nothing; the mission wasn't accomplished, and they ended up losing their lives for nothing. If they had stayed home, it would have been better for them. Allah (swt) revealed the ayah, saying:
وَمِنَ ٱلنَّاسِ مَن يُعْجِبُكَ قَوْلُهُۥ فِى ٱلْحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنْيَا وَيُشْهِدُ ٱللَّهَ عَلَىٰ مَا فِى قَلْبِهِۦ وَهُوَ أَلَدُّ ٱلْخِصَامِ
“Among men there is one whose speech, in this life, attracts you; he even makes Allah his witness on what is in his heart, while he is extremely quarrelsome.” (2:204)
Of the people is he whose speech pleases one in worldly life, and he calls Allah to witness as to what is in his heart, yet he is the fiercest of opponents. This ayah is talking about the hypocrites. And Allah says:
وَمِنَ ٱلنَّاسِ مَن يَشْرِى نَفْسَهُ ٱبْتِغَآءَ مَرْضَاتِ ٱللَّهِ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ رَءُوفٌۢ بِٱلْعِبَادِ
“And among men there is one who sells his very soul to seek the pleasure of Allah, and Allah is Very-Kind to His servants.” (2:207)
And of the people is he who sells himself, seeking the approval of Allah; and Allah is kind to His servants. This is the ayah talking about these ten men: that they sold themselves to Allah. It doesn't make a difference if they achieved the mission or not. These men have given their lives for Allah (swt), so they will be credited for that, and they will be rewarded by Allah (swt) greatly.
What the hypocrites are saying could come in different forms. They could have presented it in the form of, "These men don't have ḥikmah. If they had ḥikmah, they wouldn't have killed themselves in such a way. These men were rash, and they shouldn't have gone out and taken this unnecessary risk." But all of these ways of saying it are missing the important point here, and that is: what was the niyyah? The niyyah of these men was right; therefore they died fī sabīlillāh. Whether the mission was accomplished or not doesn't affect the validity of that niyyah. The niyyah was appropriate, the niyyah was right, and that is how Allah (swt) accepts the deed from a person, deeds being judged by their intentions (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 1; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 1907). Not every mission will be successful, not every battle will be won, but Allah (swt) holds a person accountable to his niyyah. What was the niyyah?