The Situation of the True Believer and the Sick-Hearted when the Command for Jihad was revealed

Allah mentions that the believers were hoping that Jihad would be legislated. But when Allah ordained it, many of the people turned back, as Allah says,

أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى الَّذِينَ قِيلَ لَهُمْ كُفُّواْ أَيْدِيَكُمْ وَأَقِيمُواْ الصَّلَوةَ وَءَاتُواْ الزَّكَوةَ فَلَمَّا كُتِبَ عَلَيْهِمُ الْقِتَالُ إِذَا فَرِيقٌ مِّنْهُمْ يَخْشَوْنَ النَّاسَ كَخَشْيَةِ اللَّهِ أَوْ أَشَدَّ خَشْيَةً وَقَالُواْ رَبَّنَا لِمَ كَتَبْتَ عَلَيْنَا الْقِتَالَ لَوْلا أَخَّرْتَنَا إِلَى أَجَلٍ قَرِيبٍ قُلْ مَتَـعُ الدُّنْيَا قَلِيلٌ وَالاٌّخِرَةُ خَيْرٌ لِّمَنِ اتَّقَى وَلاَ تُظْلَمُونَ فَتِيلاً

فَهَلْ عَسَيْتُمْ إِن تَوَلَّيْتُمْ أَن تُفْسِدُوا فِي الْأَرْ‌ضِ وَتُقَطِّعُوا أَرْ‌حَامَكُمْ (So, [ O hypocrites,] do you not apprehend that, in case you turn away (from Jihad), you will spread disorder in the land, and will sever your ties of kinship? 47:22). The word تَوَلّیٰ 'tawalla' used in the text lexically has two senses: it could mean I'rad that is, "turning away" and it could also mean to be placed in authority over the people. Some of the commentators of the Qur'an assigned the first meaning to this word in the context of this verse, and Abu Hayyan in his Al-Bahr-ul-Muhit prefers this interpretation, (and the translation given above is based on it.) From this point of view the meaning of the verse would be: If you turned away from Jihad [ struggling in the cause of Allah ] and other injunctions of Shari` ah, you would return to the ancient system of ignorance which Islam has abolished. In the Pre-Islamic Days, according to the practices of jahiliyyah, corruption and severed ties of kinship. For example, they practised injustice; they cut each other's throat; one tribe attacked another tribe; they committed carnage and massacre; and they buried alive their daughters with their own hands. Islam abolished and wiped out all these and other heinous practices of the Days of ignorance. In these heinous crimes of those days, Islam enjoined Jihad which apparently seems to be bloodshed, but in reality it is analogous to amputation of the diseased limb of a body, so that the rest of the body may remain healthy. Jihad establishes justice and equity and maintains ties of kinship and relationship.

Ruh-ul-Ma’ ani, Qurtubi and others take the second meaning of the word tawalli in this context, that is, to be placed in authority over people. From this point of view, the meaning of the verse would be: if your ambitions of being placed in authority over people and the affairs of the world are entrusted to you whilst you are morally unhealthy, you would cause corruption in the land and cut off ties of kinship and relationship.