His saying, exalted is He:

"The sitting ones among the believers are not equal to the fighters in the way of Allah with their wealth and their lives. Allah has preferred the fighters with their wealth and their lives over the sitting ones by a degree. And to all, Allah has promised the best reward. And Allah has preferred the fighters over the sitting ones with a great reward." (Quran 4:95-96)

In His saying: "The sitting ones are not equal," there is an ambiguity for the listener that is more eloquent than specifying the rank between the fighter and the sitter. The one who reflects walks with his thought and continues to imagine the degrees between them.

And "the sitting ones" is a phrase referring to those who are negligent, as sitting is the state of one who does not move towards the matter he is sitting out of, in most cases.

Ibn Kathir, Abu Amr, and Hamzah read: "not those who are excused" with the raising of the letter 'ra' in "not," while Nafi, Ibn Amer, and Al-Kisai read "not" with the accusative. There is a difference reported from Asim, as it was narrated from him with both raising and accusative. Al-Amash and Abu Haywah read "not" with the letter 'ra' being broken. So, whoever raised it made "not" an attribute of the sitting ones according to Sibawayh, just as it is an attribute in His saying, exalted is He: "not of those who have earned anger" (Quran 1:7) by making "not" an attribute, and similar is the saying of Labid:

"And if you are repaid a loan, then repay it, for indeed a man is repaid not with a camel."

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

Thus Abu Ali mentioned it, and it is narrated: "not the camel." And whoever read with the accusative made it an exception from the sitting ones. Abu Al-Hasan said: And this is strengthened by the fact that it was revealed after it in the manner of exception and correction.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And it may be that the correction is achieved by specifying the sitting ones with the attribute. Al-Zajjaj said: It is also permissible in the reading of the raising that it may be in the manner of exception, as if he said: The sitting ones and the fighters are not equal except for those who are excused, for they are equal to the fighters.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And this is rejected, because those who are excused are not equal to the fighters. Their utmost is that they have exited from the reproach and blame that has befallen the sitting ones without excuse. He said: And it is permissible in the reading of the accusative that it may be in the state, and as for the broken 'ra', it is in the attribute of "the believers."

And it has been narrated from another source that the verse was revealed: ﴿The disabled among the believers are not equal to those who strive in the cause of Allah﴾. When Ibn Umm Maktum heard it, he said: O Messenger of Allah, is there a concession for me, for I am blind? Then the verse was revealed at that time: ﴿Except for those who are disabled﴾. Al-Filqan ibn Asim said: We were sitting with the Prophet ﷺ when it was revealed to him. When revelation came to him, his eyes were open and his hearing and sight were focused on what was coming to him from Allah. We recognized that on his face. When he finished, he said to the scribe: Write: ﴿The disabled among the believers are not equal to those who strive in the cause of Allah﴾ until the end of the verse. He said: Then the blind man stood up and said: O Messenger of Allah, what is our sin? He said: Then Allah revealed to His Messenger, and we said to the blind man: Indeed, it is being revealed to him. He feared that something would be revealed about him, so he remained standing in his place saying: 'I repent to the Messenger of Allah' until the Messenger of Allah finished. Then he said to the scribe: Write ﴿Except for those who are disabled﴾; and those who are disabled are the people of excuses, for they have been harmed to the extent that they are prevented from striving. This was said by Ibn Abbas and others.

And His saying, the Exalted: ﴿With their wealth and their lives﴾ is the ultimate in the perfection of striving. And since the people of the diwan are owners of that bounty, they spend it in times of hardship, and they are alarmed by the missions and commands, some scholars said: They have a greater reward than the volunteer, due to their calmness and the blessing of their wealth in the great summer and similar times.

And this verse has been used as evidence by those who demonstrate the virtue of wealth, saying that wealth is better than poverty, and its connection to it is clear. The people interpreted the verse to mean that the completion of the preference in it is by degree, then by degrees, and that it is merely an exaggeration, emphasis, and clarification. Ibn Jurayj said: The preference by degree is over those who are sitting among the people of excuse.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: Because they are with the believers by their intentions, as the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said in the Battle of Tabuk: 'Indeed, in Medina there are men whom we have not crossed a valley or climbed a mountain or taken a path except that they are with us; they have been held back by an excuse.' Ibn Jurayj said: And the preference in the great reward and degrees is over those who are sitting without being people of excuse. And 'the best' refers to Paradise, which has been promised to the believers, and this was also said by Al-Suddi and others.

And Ibn Muhayriz said: The degrees are degrees in Paradise, and between the two degrees is the distance of a swift horse for seventy years. Al-Tabari also mentioned this saying and favored it. Ibn Zayd said: The degrees in the verse are the seven mentioned in Surah [At-Tawbah], which is His saying, the Exalted: ﴿That is because they will not suffer thirst or fatigue or hunger in the cause of Allah﴾ [At-Tawbah: 120] the verses, which mention the place of humiliation for the disbelievers, and the attainment from the enemy, and the small and large expenditures, and crossing the valleys and distances.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

The degrees of jihad, if they were to be limited, would be more than this. However, they are gathered in the giving of oneself and wealth, and the exertion of body and wealth in order for the word of Allah to be the highest. There is no doubt that according to the ranks of deeds and their degrees, there will be the ranks of Paradise and its degrees. All the sayings are close together, and the rest of the verse is a noble promise and reassurance.

The case of "degrees" is either as a substitute for the reward, or it is based on an implied action to serve as an affirmation of the reward, as you would say: "You owe me a thousand dirhams as a custom," as if you said: I acknowledge it as a custom.