No Share in Ḥamrāʾ al-Asad for Those Who Had Turned Back

Another of the lessons: one can see one of the characteristics of the munāfiqīn, the hypocrites, in this battle. They refused to fight at Uḥud because of fear of death. When the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) came back, and he wanted to pursue Abū Sufyān in what is referred to as Ghazwat Ḥamrāʾ al-Asad, the hypocrites this time wanted to join. But the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) refused to allow them to join. He said, "Only the ones who joined me at Uḥud can join me now." Why did they want to join in Ḥamrāʾ al-Asad? Because they thought there was a good possibility of winning, so there could be some booty of war, and they could get some of those spoils.

This is a characteristic of the hypocrites. They want to take the worldly benefits from Islam, but they refuse to pay the demands of Islam. They want the gains, but they don't want the pains. They want ghanīmah, but they don't want to fight. This mindset of being a Muslim when it is convenient, and giving it up when one is demanded to sacrifice, is a sign of hypocrisy, and it applies to many situations. It is very dangerous, and one should try to check up on oneself and see if that is the case: do I become enthusiastic to join in Islamic activities when it seems that there is a worldly benefit for me in it, but when it becomes demanding, then I give it up?