(Lo! those who disbelieve spend their wealth in order that they may debar (men) from the way of Allah…) [8:36].
Said Muqatil and al-Kalbi: “This was revealed, on the Day of Badr, about those who customarily fed the pilgrims in the season of Hajj. They were twelve men: Abu Jahl ibn Hisham, 'Utbah and Shaybah the sons of Rabi'ah, Nubayh and Munabbih the sons of Hajjaj, Abu'l-Bukhturi ibn Hisham, al-Nadr ibn al-Harith, Hakim ibn Hizam, Ubayy ibn Khalaf, Zam'ah ibn al-Aswad, al-Harith ibn 'Amir ibn Nawfal, al-'Abbas ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib. All these men were from Quraysh and each one of them gave ten containers of food daily”.
Sa'id ibn Jubayr and Ibn Abza said: “This verse was revealed about Abu Sufyan ibn Harb who had hired, on the day of Uhud, two thousand Abyssinian men to fight against the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, without counting those Arabs who answered his call to fight with him. About them, Ka'b ibn Malik says:
We came to sea waves in the middle of which
Were Abyssinians, some of whom were veiled and some with their heads uncovered.
There were three thousand of them whereas we were a group of nobles:
three hundred of us or four hundred at most.
Al-Hakam ibn 'Utaybah said: “Abu Sufyan spent 40 Uqiyyah of gold on the idolaters at the Battle of Uhud, and so this verse was revealed about him”.
Reporting from his sources, Muhammad ibn Ishaq said: “When the Quraysh returned to Mecca after their defeat at Badr and Abu Sufyan returned unharmed with their caravan, a group of men from the Quraysh whose fathers, sons and brothers were killed at this battle, including 'Abd Allah ibn Abi Rabi'ah, 'Ikrimah ibn Abi Jahl, Safwan ibn Umayyah, went to see Abu Sufyan and those who had a share in that caravan and said to them: 'O men of Quraysh, Muhammad has harmed you and killed the best among you, so help us with this property which escaped unscathed that haply we may take revenge on him for what was inflicted on us'. They did and Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse”.
Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi , trans. Mokrane Guezzou