إِنَّمَا الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا لَعِبٌ وَلَهْوٌ وَإِنْ تُؤْمِنُوا وَتَتَّقُوا يُؤْتِكُمْ أُجُورَكُمْ وَلَا يَسْأَلْكُمْ أَمْوَالَكُمْ ﴿۳۶﴾ إِنْ يَسْأَلْكُمُوهَا فَيُحْفِكُمْ تَبْخَلُوا وَيُخْرِجْ أَضْغَانَكُمْ ﴿۳۷﴾ هَا أَنْتُمْ هَؤُلَاءِ تُدْعَوْنَ لِتُنْفِقُوا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ فَمِنْكُمْ مَنْ يَبْخَلُ وَمَنْ يَبْخَلْ فَإِنَّمَا يَبْخَلُ عَنْ نَفْسِهِ وَاللَّهُ الْغَنِيُّ وَأَنْتُمُ الْفُقَرَاءُ وَإِنْ تَتَوَلَّوْا يَسْتَبْدِلْ قَوْمًا غَيْرَكُمْ ثُمَّ لَا يَكُونُوا أَمْثَالَكُمْ ﴿۳۸﴾

﴾36﴿ Innamal hayaatud dunyaa la'ibunw wa lahw; wa in tu'minoo wa tattaqoo yu'tikum ujoorakum wa laa yas'alkum amwaalakum
﴾37﴿ Iny yas'alkumoohaa fa yuhfikum tabkhaloo wa yukhrij adghaanakum
﴾38﴿ Haaa antum haaa'ulaaa'i tud'awna litunfiqoo fee sabeelillaahi faminkum many yabkhalu wa many yabkhal fa innamaa yabkhalu 'an nafsih; wallaahu Ghaniyyu wa antumul fuqaraaa'; wa in tatawallaw yastabdil qawman ghairakum summa laa yakoonooo amsaalakum

﴾36﴿ The life of this world is nothing but play and distraction. But if you believe and have Taqwa (consciousness of Allah), He will grant you your rewards and will not demand your wealth from you
﴾37﴿ If He were to ask you for your wealth and press you for it, you would withhold it, and your hidden resentment would become apparent
﴾38﴿ Be aware, O people! You are invited to spend in the way of Allah, but some of you withhold in miserliness. And whoever is miserly is only being miserly against his own soul. And Allah is self-sufficient, while you are the needy. If you turn away, He will replace you with another people who will not be like you

[36] In this verse, the world is being disheartened (discredited) — because love for the world leads to weakness — and at the same time, encouragement is given for spending in the path of Allah.
(إِنَّمَا الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا) — this refers to the life and possessions that are not spent for the sake of religion.
(لَعِبٌ وَلَهْوٌ) — both terms share the meaning of being occupied with something futile. However, la‘ib (play) involves self-amusement and is mostly associated with children, while lahw (entertainment) is mere occupation without the aim of joy, and it is the practice of youths and adults.
(وَإِنْ تُؤْمِنُوا وَتَتَّقُوا) — this indicates that when worldly life is combined with faith and piety, then it can bring many benefits. In this verse, taqwa (piety) refers to staying away from cowardice, weakness, and miserliness — through jihad and spending.
(وَلَا يَسْأَلْكُمْ أَمْوَالَكُمْ) — this has several interpretations:
First, Allah does not ask for all your wealth, but only a portion — like one-twentieth or one-fortieth.
Second, Allah does not need your wealth for Himself — rather, your spending is for your own benefit.
[37] In this verse, the wisdom is mentioned — that Allah the Exalted does not ask you for all of your wealth, so that your miserliness is not exposed and you are not shamed by revealing your inner grudges.
This is because Allah the Exalted is Merciful and He conceals the faults of His servants.
[38] In the previous verse, miserliness was mentioned when the idea of being asked for all of one’s wealth was raised. Now, the rebuke is intensified — that even if only a small portion of wealth is requested, they still act miserly.
(وَإِنْ تَتَوَلَّوْا يَسْتَبْدِلْ قَوْمًا) — the meaning here is: the audience being addressed were the noble Companions, who had not turned away; therefore, during their lifetime, Allah did not replace them with others for the protection of the religion.
Yes — after the era of the righteous predecessors passed, the Arabs gradually turned away, so Allah entrusted the responsibility of religion to the non-Arabs.
Or, this address could be to the hypocrites of Madinah, who from time to time would turn away from jihad and spending. So Allah gradually destroyed them and raised up the Ansar in their place to protect the religion.