The benefits of the saying of Allah the Exalted: “And when a faction of them said, ‘O people of Yathrib, there is no place for you, so return.’”

We have finished with the one before this in this noble verse, which explains the sowing of fear by the hypocrites among the believers. Sowing fear is when a person mentions what causes fear and anxiety. This is sowing fear. In the chapter of fighting, there is the one who sows fear and the one who discourages. The difference between them is that the one who sows fear instills fear, while the one who discourages diminishes the desire for good. This is the difference between them. The one who sows fear terrifies him, whereas the one who discourages weakens his resolve, saying, “What is the benefit? And what is such and such?” So there is a difference between them. Are these people sowing fear or discouraging? They are sowing fear. There is no standing here because danger has befallen you. For this reason, they said: It is derived from this that it is the nature of the hypocrites to sow fear among the believers.
And among the benefits of this noble verse is that pride in one’s homeland is a characteristic of the hypocrites, due to their saying: Their intention with that was to stir up their national fervor. As for the hadith that is narrated, it is a lie attributed to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him); it is not authentic.
And among the benefits of this noble verse is the permissibility of naming the city Yathrib. Some of the scholars used this as evidence for that.
The student: ...

The Shaykh : What is derived is the perspective of this speaker, that Allah the Exalted related it from them and approved it. However, some of the scholars of knowledge said that it does not indicate that; rather, it indicates the opposite. As for naming it Yathrib, that is only from the hypocrites, because Allah the Exalted relates disbelief from the disbelievers. He relates everything these disbelievers, the hypocrites and others, say. Is what He related from them regarding disbelief an approval of it? No. So it is derived from the verse that naming the city Yathrib is the practice of the hypocrites. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: This makes it clear that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not approve of this name. Branching from this benefit is the clarification of what those historians were doing. We do not say the Arabs; we say the Muslims who were followers. The Orientalists came, and they spoke about the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) by the name Muhammad only. They said “Muhammad,” just as the disbelievers did in the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). And they spoke about the city as Yathrib. So these poor people imitated those, imitating those Orientalists, so they came to refer to the Messenger with the word “Muhammad” and refer to the city with the word “Yathrib,” as if this were pride and refinement.
And among the benefits of this noble verse is that those who sowed fear did not limit themselves to sowing fear, but they misguiding the people by their saying: It is derived from this, and branching from this, that everyone who calls for returning to the truth has a resemblance to whom? To the hypocrites, due to the saying: These people first sowed fear, then they called for abandoning .