Who is being attacked in ibn Kathir's tafsir for Sura 100?

Question

Here's the excerpt from the tafsir that I'm asking about:

(And scouring to the raid at dawn.) meaning, the raid that is carried out in the early morning time. This is just as the Messenger of Allah used to perform raids in the early morning. He would wait to see if he heard the Adhan (call to prayer) from the people. If he heard it he would leave them alone, and if he didn't hear it he would attack. Then Allah says,

Tafsir ibn Kathir, Sura 100

It sounds like Muhammad is attacking Muslims. That doesn't make any sense. What does it mean? Whom is Muhammad attacking?

Answer 1

Ibn Kathir is alluding to the narration about surprise attacks carried out by the Prophet ﷺ in enemy territory, as related for example here and here.

The Prophet would observe whether the adhan for Fajr was called or not. If it was called he would not attack as there were Muslims among the inhabitants.