(All that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth glorifieth Allah, and He is the Mighty, the Wise) [61:1-4].
Muhammad ibn Ja‘far informed us> Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn Zakariyya> Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Daghuli> Muhammad ibn Yahya> Muhammad ibn Kathir al-San‘ani> al-Awza‘i> Yahya ibn Abi Kathir> Abu Salamah> ‘Abd Allah ibn Salam who said: “We sat — a group of Companions of the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace — and reminded each other. We said: ‘If only we knew the most beloved works to Allah, glorified and exalted is He, for we would then perform them’. Allah, exalted is He, therefore, revealed (Lo! Allah loveth them who battle for His cause in ranks, as if they were a solid structure) [61:4] up to the end of the Surah. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, read it to us”.
(O ye who believe! Why say ye that which ye do not?) [61:2-4].
The commentators of the Qur’an said: “Some Muslims used to say: ‘If we knew the most beloved works to Allah, exalted is He, we would spend our wealth and persons in their sake’. And so Allah, exalted is He, directed them to the most beloved works to Him, saying (Lo! Allah loveth them who battle for His cause in ranks, as if they were a solid structure…) But when Muslims were tested at the Battle of Uhud, they retreated, and so Allah, exalted is He, revealed (O ye who believe! Why say ye that which ye do not?)”.
Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi , trans. Mokrane Guezzou