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laysa ʿalā ḍ-ḍuʿafāʾi wa-lā ʿalā l-marḍā wa-lā ʿalā lladhīna lā yajidūna mā yunfiqūna ḥarajun ʾidhā naṣaḥū li-llāhi wa-rasūlihī mā ʿalā l-muḥsinīna min sabīlin wa-llāhu ghafūrun raḥīmun
There is no blame on the weak, nor on the sick, nor on those who do not find anything to spend, so long as they are sincere to Allah and His Apostle. There is no [cause for] blaming the virtuous, and Allah is all-forgiving, all-merciful.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah At-Tawbah – Verse 91
91. “There is no fault in the weak and the sick and those who find nothing to spend, so long as they are true to Allah and to His Messenger. There is no way (to blame) against the good-doers and Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.”
A blind old man came to the Prophet (S) and said:
“I have nobody to take my hand and to lead me to the battle-field. I am old and feable. Is my excuse accepted?”
The Prophet (S) kept silence for a while until the abovementioned verse was revealed. In these recent couple of verses, and the following one, in order to make clear the situation of all groups from the point of being exempted or not in regard to participation in Holy Struggle, there have been defined some proper degrees. At first, it says:
These three groups are excused in any law, and intellect and logic also prove their being exempted. It is certain that in no instance Islamic laws are separate from intellect and logic. After that, the Qur’ān has stated an important condition for the commandment of their being excused. It implies that this is in the condition that they refrain no sincere benediction unto Allah and His Messenger.
They should encourage the strivers through their own words and behaviour toward Holy Struggle, and to weaken the enemies’ spirit so that they prepare the elementary factors of their failure. Later, in order to state the reason of this subject, it says that such people are some benevolent men, and there is no way for blaming, scorning, punishing and taking to task the good-doers. The verse says:
At the end of the verse, as another reason for these three groups being exempted, the Qur’ān points to Allah’s two great attributes by saying: