وَلَا يُنْفِقُونَ نَفَقَةً صَغِيرَةً وَلَا كَبِيرَةً وَلَا يَقْطَعُونَ وَادِيًا إِلَّا كُتِبَ لَهُمْ لِيَجْزِيَهُمُ اللَّهُ أَحْسَنَ مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ ﴿۱۲۱﴾ وَمَا كَانَ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ لِيَنْفِرُوا كَافَّةً فَلَوْلَا نَفَرَ مِنْ كُلِّ فِرْقَةٍ مِنْهُمْ طَائِفَةٌ لِيَتَفَقَّهُوا فِي الدِّينِ وَلِيُنْذِرُوا قَوْمَهُمْ إِذَا رَجَعُوا إِلَيْهِمْ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَحْذَرُونَ ﴿۱۲۲﴾ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا قَاتِلُوا الَّذِينَ يَلُونَكُمْ مِنَ الْكُفَّارِ وَلْيَجِدُوا فِيكُمْ غِلْظَةً وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَ الْمُتَّقِينَ ﴿۱۲۳﴾

﴾121﴿ Wa laa yunfiqoona nafa qatan sagheeratanw wa laa kabeeratanw wa laa yaqta'oona waadiyan illaa kutiba lahum liyajziyahumul laahu ahsana maa kaanoo ya'maloon
﴾122﴿ Wa maa kaanal mu'minoona liyanfiroo kaaaffah; falaw laa nafara min kulli firqatim minhum taaa'ifatul liyatafaqqahoo fiddeeni wa liyunziroo qawmahum izaa raja'ooo ilaihim la'allahum yahzaroon
﴾123﴿ Yaaa aiyuhal lazeena aamanoo qaatilul lazeena yaloonakum minal kuffaari walyajidoo feekum ghilzah; wa'lamooo annal laaha ma'al muttaqeen

﴾121﴿ And they spend nothing, whether small or great, nor do they travel through any valley, but it is written for them so that Allah may reward them with the best of what they used to do
﴾122﴿ It is not proper for the believers to go forth all together. Why then does not a group from every faction of them go forth to gain understanding in religion and to warn their people when they return to them, so that they may beware
﴾123﴿ O believers, fight those disbelievers who are near to you, and let them find firmness in you. And know that Allah is with the righteous

[121] This verse continues to describe the actions of the mujahidīn that earn divine reward, even if those actions—on their own—aren’t typically seen as formal acts of worship.
Key point: These actions become acts of worship and earn reward because they are done with the intention of jihad. Hence, the verse does not add the phrase "عَمَلًا صَالِحًا" (righteous deed)—because the context of jihad automatically sanctifies these acts.
In earlier verses, certain actions weren’t inherently good, but due to the jihad-related intention, they were counted as righteous—thus "محسنين" (doers of good) was mentioned to emphasize this transformation.
But in this verse, (أَحْسَنَ) is mentioned directly to show that these actions, in their very essence, are beautiful and praiseworthy.
(وَلَا يَقْطَعُونَ وَادِيًا) – Refers to traveling through valleys in the path of jihad.
Wādī originally refers to a wide space between mountains or hills, But over time, it came to refer generally to open fields or valleys used in travel.
So, even passing through a valley or a stretch of land—if done with sincere intention for jihad—becomes a meritorious deed in the sight of Allah.
This verse shows that intention elevates even the ordinary movements of the mujahid into acts of worship, with eternal reward.
[122] In this verse, there is encouragement for learning religious knowledge as a completion of jihad—meaning, before engaging in jihad, knowledge of religion is necessary.
The outcome of the verse is that not everyone should go out for jihad (when jihad is a collective obligation); rather, some people should go for jihad and others should dedicate themselves to learning religious knowledge.
So this verse proves that knowledge of religion is a collective obligation, and knowledge of those rulings that are individual obligations is also individually obligatory.
Benefit: There are interpretations in the verse. The first is that the meaning of "liyanshiru" is to go out for jihad, due to the encouragement of jihad mentioned in the previous verses.
"Taifah" refers to the group of mujahideen, and the pronoun in "liyatafaqqahu" refers to this group on the condition that the Prophet (May Allah bless him and give him peace) is with them—so learn religion from them.
And this is not exclusive to the time of the Prophet (May Allah bless him and give him peace).
The second interpretation is that "liyanshiru" means to go out in search of knowledge, and the "taifah" refers to seekers of knowledge.
"Liyatafaqqahu fid-din"—the word "din" refers to the Book of Allah and the Sunnah, and "tafaqquh" refers to that type of knowledge through which wisdoms and rulings are derived.
It is mentioned in a hadith: “Whomever Allah wishes good for, He grants him deep understanding of religion.”
"Waliyundhiru" means to warn by conveying the Qur’an and Sunnah. Therefore, accepting it and acting upon it does not require blind following—because this knowledge is based on evidences, and taqlid (blind following) is to accept someone's statement without evidence.
[123] In this verse as well, the ruling of fighting is mentioned, along with teaching the method of jihad, which should begin from those who are near.
"Ghildah" means severity and zeal.