1. Izaa jaaa'akal munaafiqoona qaaloo nashhadu innaka la rasoolul laah; wallaahu ya'lamu innaka la rasooluhoo wallaahu yashhadu innal munaafiqeena lakaaziboon إِذَا جَاءَكَ الْمُنَافِقُونَ قَالُوا نَشْهَدُ إِنَّكَ لَرَسُولُ اللَّهِ ۗ وَاللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ إِنَّكَ لَرَسُولُهُ وَاللَّهُ يَشْهَدُ إِنَّ الْمُنَافِقِينَ لَكَاذِبُونَ When the Hypocrites come to thee, they say, "We bear witness that thou art indeed the Messenger of Allah." Yea, Allah knoweth that thou art indeed His Messenger, and Allah beareth witness that the Hypocrites are indeed liars. |
2. Ittakhazoo aymaanahum junnatan fasaddoo 'an sabeelil laah; innahum saaa'a maa kaanoo ya'maloon اتَّخَذُوا أَيْمَانَهُمْ جُنَّةً فَصَدُّوا عَنْ سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ ۚ إِنَّهُمْ سَاءَ مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ They have made their oaths a screen (for their misdeeds): thus they obstruct (men) from the Path of Allah: truly evil are their deeds. |
3. Zaalika bi annahum aamanoo summa kafaroo fatubi'a 'alaa quloobihim fahum laa yafqahoon ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ آمَنُوا ثُمَّ كَفَرُوا فَطُبِعَ عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِهِمْ فَهُمْ لَا يَفْقَهُونَ That is because they believed, then they rejected Faith: So a seal was set on their hearts: therefore they understand not. |
4. Wa izaa ra aytahum tu'jibuka ajsaamuhum wa iny yaqooloo tasma' liqawlihim ka'annahum khushubum musannadah; yahsaboona kulla saihatin 'alaihim; humul 'aduwwu fahzarhum; qaatalahumul laahu annaa yu'fakoon وَإِذَا رَأَيْتَهُمْ تُعْجِبُكَ أَجْسَامُهُمْ ۖ وَإِنْ يَقُولُوا تَسْمَعْ لِقَوْلِهِمْ ۖ كَأَنَّهُمْ خُشُبٌ مُسَنَّدَةٌ ۖ يَحْسَبُونَ كُلَّ صَيْحَةٍ عَلَيْهِمْ ۚ هُمُ الْعَدُوُّ فَاحْذَرْهُمْ ۚ قَاتَلَهُمُ اللَّهُ ۖ أَنَّىٰ يُؤْفَكُونَ When thou lookest at them, their exteriors please thee; and when they speak, thou listenest to their words. They are as (worthless as hollow) pieces of timber propped up, (unable to stand on their own). They think that every cry is against them. They are the enemies; so beware of them. The curse of Allah be on them! How are they deluded (away from the Truth)! |
5. Wa izaa qeela lahum ta'aalaw yastaghfir lakum rasoolul laahi lawwaw ru'oo sahum wa ra aytahum yasuddoona wa hum mustakbiroon وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ تَعَالَوْا يَسْتَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ لَوَّوْا رُءُوسَهُمْ وَرَأَيْتَهُمْ يَصُدُّونَ وَهُمْ مُسْتَكْبِرُونَ And when it is said to them, "Come, the Messenger of Allah will pray for your forgiveness", they turn aside their heads, and thou wouldst see them turning away their faces in arrogance. |
6. Sawaaa'un 'alaihim as taghfarta lahum am lam tastaghfir lahum lany yaghfiral laahu lahum; innal laaha laa yahdil qawmal faasiqeen سَوَاءٌ عَلَيْهِمْ أَسْتَغْفَرْتَ لَهُمْ أَمْ لَمْ تَسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ لَنْ يَغْفِرَ اللَّهُ لَهُمْ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الْفَاسِقِينَ It is equal to them whether thou pray for their forgiveness or not. Allah will not forgive them. Truly Allah guides not rebellious transgressors. |
7. Humul lazeena yaqooloona laa tunfiqoo 'alaa man inda Rasoolil laahi hatta yanfaddoo; wa lillaahi khazaaa' inus samaawaati wal ardi wa laakinnal munaafiqeena la yafqahoon هُمُ الَّذِينَ يَقُولُونَ لَا تُنْفِقُوا عَلَىٰ مَنْ عِنْدَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ حَتَّىٰ يَنْفَضُّوا ۗ وَلِلَّهِ خَزَائِنُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَلَٰكِنَّ الْمُنَافِقِينَ لَا يَفْقَهُونَ They are the ones who say, "Spend nothing on those who are with Allah´s Messenger, to the end that they may disperse (and quit Medina)." But to Allah belong the treasures of the heavens and the earth; but the Hypocrites understand not. |
8. Yaqooloona la'ir raja'naaa ilal madeenati la yukhrijannal a'azzu minhal azall; wa lillaahil 'izzatu wa li Rasoolihee wa lilmu'mineena wa laakinnal munaafiqeena laa ya'lamoon يَقُولُونَ لَئِنْ رَجَعْنَا إِلَى الْمَدِينَةِ لَيُخْرِجَنَّ الْأَعَزُّ مِنْهَا الْأَذَلَّ ۚ وَلِلَّهِ الْعِزَّةُ وَلِرَسُولِهِ وَلِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَلَٰكِنَّ الْمُنَافِقِينَ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ They say, "If we return to Medina, surely the more honourable (element) will expel therefrom the meaner." But honour belongs to Allah and His Messenger, and to the Believers; but the Hypocrites know not. |
9. Yaaa ayyuhal lazeena aamanoo la tulhikum amwaalukum wa laa awlaadukum 'anzikril laah; wa mai-yaf'al zaalika fa-ulaaa'ika humul khaasiroon يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تُلْهِكُمْ أَمْوَالُكُمْ وَلَا أَوْلَادُكُمْ عَنْ ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ ۚ وَمَنْ يَفْعَلْ ذَٰلِكَ فَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْخَاسِرُونَ O ye who believe! Let not your riches or your children divert you from the remembrance of Allah. If any act thus, the loss is their own. |
10. Wa anfiqoo mim maa razaqnaakum min qabli any-ya'tiya ahadakumul mawtu fa yaqoola rabbi law laaa akhkhartaneee ilaaa ajalin qareebin fa assaddaqa wa akum minassaaliheen وَأَنْفِقُوا مِنْ مَا رَزَقْنَاكُمْ مِنْ قَبْلِ أَنْ يَأْتِيَ أَحَدَكُمُ الْمَوْتُ فَيَقُولَ رَبِّ لَوْلَا أَخَّرْتَنِي إِلَىٰ أَجَلٍ قَرِيبٍ فَأَصَّدَّقَ وَأَكُنْ مِنَ الصَّالِحِينَ and spend something (in charity) out of the substance which We have bestowed on you, before Death should come to any of you and he should say, "O my Lord! why didst Thou not give me respite for a little while? I should then have given (largely) in charity, and I should have been one of the doers of good". |
11. Wa lany yu 'akhkhiral laahu nafsan izaa jaaa'a ajaluhaa; wallaahu khabeerum bimaa ta'maloon وَلَنْ يُؤَخِّرَ اللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِذَا جَاءَ أَجَلُهَا ۚ وَاللَّهُ خَبِيرٌ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ But to no soul will Allah grant respite when the time appointed (for it) has come; and Allah is well acquainted with (all) that ye do. |
Recitation by Mishary Al-Alfasy
Name
The Surah takes its name from the sentence Idha
jaa kal-munafiquna of verse 1. This is the name of the Surah as well as the
title of its subject matter, for in it a review has been made of the conduct and
attitude of the hypocrites themselves.
Period of Revelation
As we shall explain below this Surah was sent down either during the Holy
Prophet's return journey from his campaign against Bani al- Mustaliq, or
immediately after his arrival back at Madinah, and we have established by
argument and research in the Introduction to Surah An-Nur that the campaign
against Bani al-Mustaliq had taken place in Sha'ban A. H. 6:Thus, the date of
the revelation of this Surah is determined precisely.
Historical
Background
Before we mention the particular incident about which
this Surah was sent down, it is necessary to have a look at the history of the
hypocrites of Madinah, for the incident that occurred on this occasion was not a
chance happening but had a whole series of events behind it, which ultimately
led up to it.
Before the Holy Prophet's emigration to Madinah the tribes
of the Aus and the Khazraj, fed up with their mutual rivalries and civil wars,
had almost agreed on the leadership of one man and were making preparations to
crown him their king. This was Abdullah bin Ubayy bin Salul, the chief of the
Khazraj. Muhammad bin Ishaq has stated that among the people of Khazraj his
authority was never contested and never had the Aus and the Khazraj rallied to
one man before this. (Ibn Hisham, vol. II, p. 234)
Such were the
conditions when the voice of Islam reached Madinah and the influential people of
both the tribes started becoming Muslims. When before the Emigration, invitation
was being extended to the Holy Prophet (upon whom be Allah'> peace) to come to
Madinah, Hadarat Abbas bin Ubadah bin Nadlah Ansari wanted to defer this
invitation for the reason that Abdullah bin Ubayy also might join in the
declaration of allegiance and invitation to the Holy Prophet, so that Madinah
might become the center of Islam by common consent. But the delegation that
arrived in Makkah to declare their allegiance did not give any importance to the
proposal of Abbas bin Ubadah, and a11 its members, who included 75 men from both
the tribes, became ready to invite the Holy Prophet in the face of every
danger.(lbn Hisham, vol. II, P. 89). We have given the details of this event in
the Introduction to Surah Al-Anfal.
Then, when the Holy Prophet arrived
in Madinah, Islam had so deeply penetrated every house of the Ansar that
Abdullah bin Ubayy became helpless and did not see any other way to save his
leadership than to become a Muslim himself. So, he entered Islam along with many
of his followers from among the chiefs and leaders of both the tribes although
their hearts were burning with rage from within. Ibn Ubayy in particular was
filled with grief, for the Holy Prophet (upon whom be Allah's peace) had
deprived him of his kingship. For several years his hypocritical faith and grief
of being deprived of his kingdom manifested itself in different ways. On the one
hand, when on Fridays the Holy Prophet (upon whom be Allah's peace) took his
seat to deliver the Sermon, Abdullah bin Ubayy would stand up and say "O people,
the Messenger of Allah is present among you, by whom Allah has honored you;
therefore, you should support him and listen to what he says and obey him." (Ibn
Hisham, vol. III, p. 111). On the other, his hypocrisy was being exposed day by
day and the true Muslims were realizing that he and his followers bore great
malice against Islam, the Holy Prophet and the Muslims.
Once when the
Holy Prophet was passing on the way Abdullah bin Ubayy spoke to him in harsh
words. When the Holy Prophet complained of it to Hadrat Sa'd bin Ubadah; he
said:"O Messenger of Allah, don't be hard on him, for when Allah sent you to us
we were making a diadem to crown him, and, by God, he thinks that you have
robbed him of his kingdom." (Ibn Hisham vol: II, pp. 237-238).
After the
Battle of Badr when the Holy Prophet (upon whom be Allah's peace) invaded the
Jewish tribe of Bani Qainuqa on their breaking the agreement and un provoked
revolt, this man stood up in support of them, and holding the Holy Prophet by
his armor, said:"These 700 fighters have been helping and protecting me against
every enemy; would you cut them down in one morning?By God, I will not leave you
until you pardon my clients." (Ibn Hisham, vol. III, pp. 5l- 52).
On the
occasion of the Battle of Uhud this man committed open treachery and withdrew
from the battlefield with 300 of his companions. One should note that at this
critical moment when he so acted, the Quraish had marched upon Madinah with
3,000 troops and the Holy Prophet had marched out with only 1,000 men to resist
them. Of these 1,000 this hypocrite broke away with 300 men and the Holy Prophet
was left with only 700 men to meet 3,000 troops of the enemy in the field.
After this incident the common Muslims of Madinah came to realize fully that
he was certainly a hypocrite and his those Companions also were found who were
his associates in hypocrisy. That is why when on the very first Friday, after
the Battle of Uhud, this man stood up as usual to make a speech before the Holy
Prophet's Sermon, the people pulled at his garment, saying "Sit down you are not
worthy to say such things." That was the first occasion in Madinah when this man
was publicly disgraced. Thereupon he was so filled with rage that he left the
mosque jumping over the heads of the people. At the door of the Mosque some of
the Ansar said to him, "What are you doing?Go back and ask the Holy Prophet
(upon whom be Allah's peace) to pray for your forgiveness." He retorted "I do
not, want him to pray for my forgiveness." (Ibn Hisham, vol. III, p. 111).
Then in A. H. 4 the Battle of Bani an-Nadir took place. On this occasion he
and his companions supported the enemies of Islam even more openly. On the one
side, the Holy Prophet (upon whom be Allah's peace) and his devoted Companions
were preparing for war against their enemy, the Jews, and on the other, these
hypocrites were secretly sending messages to the Jews to the effect: "Stand firm
we are with you: if you are attacked, we will help you, and if you are driven
out, we too will go out with you." The secret of this intrigue was exposed by
Allah Himself, as has been explained in Surah Al-Hashr: 11-17 above.
But
in spite of being so exposed the reason why the Holy Prophet (upon whom be
Allah's peace) was still treating him kindly was that he had a large band of the
hypocrites behind him. Many of the chiefs of both the Aus and the Khazraj were
his supporters. At least a third of the population of Madinah consisted of his
companions, as became manifest on the occasion of the Battle of Uhud. Under such
conditions it was not prudent to wage a war with these internal enemies combined
with the external enemies. On this very account, in spite of being fully aware
of their hypocrisy the Holy Prophet continued to deal with them according to
their apparent profession of faith for a long time. On the other hand, these
people too neither possessed the power nor the courage to fight the believers
openly as disbelievers, or to join hands with an invader and face them in the
battlefield. Apparently they were a strong hand but inwardly they had the
weakness which Allah has vividly portrayed in Surah Al-Hashr: 12-14. Therefore;
they thought their well being lay only in posing as Muslims. They came to the
mosque, offered the prayers gave away the zakat, and would make tall oral claims
to the faith, which the true Muslims never felt the need to do. They would offer
a thousand justifications for each of their hypocritical acts by which they
would try to deceive their compatriots, the Ansar, into believing that they were
with them. By these designs they were not only saving themselves from the
disadvantages which could naturally accrue if they separated themselves from the
Ansar brotherhood, but also taking advantage of the opportunities to make
mischief which were available to them as members of the Muslim brotherhood.
These were the causes which enabled Abdullah bin Ubayy and like minded
hypocrites to get an opportunity to accompany the Holy Prophet (upon whom be
Allah's peace) in his campaign against the Bani al-Mustaliq, and they
simultaneously engineered two great mischiefs which could shatter the Muslim
unity to pieces. However, by virtue of the wonderful training in discipline that
the Muslim; had received through the pure teaching of the Quran and the
companionship of the Holy Prophet (upon whom be peace) both mischiefs were
stopped in time, and the hypocrites themselves were disgraced instead. One of
these was the mischief that has been mentioned in Surah An-Nur above, and the
other which has been mentioned in this Surah.
This incident has been
related by Bukhari, Muslim, Ahmad, Nasai, Tirmidhi, Baihaqi, Tabari, Ibn
Marduyah, Abdur Razzaq, lbn Jarir Tabari, Ibn Sa'd and Muhammad bin Ishaq
through many reliable channels. In some traditions the expedition in which it
took place has not been named, and in others it has been connected with the
Battle of Tabuk. But the authorities on the battles fought by the Holy Prophet
and history are agreed that this incident took place on the occasion of the
campaign against the Bani al- Mustaliq. The following seems to he the real story
when all the traditions are read together.
When after crushing down the
power of Bani al- Mustaliq the Islamic army had made a halt in the settlement at
the well of al Muraisi. Suddenly a dispute arose between two men on taking water
from the well; One of them was Jehjah bin Masud Ghifari, a servant of Hadrat
Umar appointed to lead his horse. The other was Sinan bin Wabar al-Juhani, whose
tribe was an ally of a clan of the Khazraj. Harsh words between them led to
fighting and Jehjah kicked Sinan, which the Ansar, on account of their ancient
Yamanite tradition, took as a great insult and disgrace. At this Sinan called
out the men of Ansar and Jehjah the Emigrants for help. Hearing about the
quarrel Ibn Ubayy started inciting and calling the men of the Aus and the
Khazraj to come out and help their ally. From the other side some Emigrants also
came out. The dispute might have led to a fight between the Ansar and the
Muhajirin themselves at the very place where they had just fought an enemy tribe
jointly and crushing it had halted in its own territory. But hearing the noise
the Holy Prophet (upon whom be peace) emerged and said :"what is this call of
paganism? What have you to do with such a call? Leave it, it is a dirty thing."
Thereupon the leading men of the two sides met and settled the dispute; Sinan
pardoned Jehjah and peace was restored.
After this every person whose
heart was disaffected came to Abdullah bin Ubayy and they all said to him,
"Until now we had our hopes attached to you and you were protecting us, but now
it seems you have become a helper of these paupers against us. Ibn Ubayy was
already enraged: These words made him burst out, thus: "This is what you have
done to yourselves. You have given these people shelter in your country, and
have divided your property among them. So much so that they have now become our
rivals. Nothing so fits us and the paupers of Quraish(or the Companions of
Muhammad) as the ancient saying 'Feed your dog to fatten it and it will devour
you.' If you hold back your property from them, they would go elsewhere. By God,
when we return to Madinah, the honorable ones will drive out from it the mean
ones."
Zaid bin Arqam, a young boy, also happened to be present in the
assembly at that time. He heard this and mentioned it before his uncle, and his
uncle who was one of the Ansar chiefs went to the Holy Prophet (upon whom be
peace) and told him the whole story. The Holy Prophet called Zaid and asked him
what had happened and he repeated every word of what he had heard. The Holy
Prophet said, "Zaid, you are perhaps displeased with Ibn Ubayy; you might have
been mistaken in hearing; you. might have imagined Ibn Ubayy said this." But
Zaid was sure and firm. He said, "No, I swear by God I have heard him say this
and that." Thereupon the Holy Prophet called Ibn Ubayy, and he came and swore
that he had not said any such thing. The people of the Ansar also said "Sir, a
boy says this: he might have been mistaken in what he heard lbn Ubayy is a
venerable old man and our chief. Do not believe what a boy says against him."
The elderly people of the tribe reproved Zaid also, who became depressed and
held his peace. But the Holy Prophet knew Zaid as well as Abdullah bin Ubayy.
Therefore, he fully understood what had actually happened.
When Hadrat
Umar came to know of this, he came to the Holy Prophet and said:"Please allow me
to put this hypocrite to the sword. Or, if you do not think it is fit to give me
the permission you may tell Muadh bin Jabal, or Abbad bin Bishr, or Sad bin
Mu'adh, or Muhammad bin Maslamah from among the Ansar, to go and kill him."But
the Holy Prophet said: "No, the people will say Muhammad kills his own
Companions." After this he ordered the people to set off immediately, although
it was at a time when the Holy Prophet was not accustomed to travel. The forced
march continued for 30 hours at a stretch so that the people became exhausted.
Then he halted, and as soon as they touched the ground they fell asleep. This he
did to distract their minds from what had happened at the well of al-Muraisi. On
the way, Hadrat Usaid bin Hudair, an Ansar chief, met the Holy Prophet, and
said:"O Messenger of Allah, today you ordered the people to set off at a time
which was disagreeable for traveling, a thing you have never done before."The
Holy Prophet replied: "Have you. not heard of what your friend said?" When he
asked who he meant, the Holy Prophet replied:Abdullah bin Ubayy. He asked what
he had said. The Holy Prophet answered: "He has asserted that when he returns to
Madinah the honorable ones will drive out from it the mean ones. He answered :
"By God, O Messenger of Allah, you are the honorable one and he is the mean one;
you will drive him out whenever you want to."
By and by the news spread
among the Ansar soldiers and it enraged them against Ibn Ubayy. The people
advised him to go to the Holy Prophet (upon whom be Allah's peace) and request
for his forgiveness, but he retorted : "You asked me to believe in him, and I
believed in him; you asked me to pay the zakat on my property, and I paid the
zakat too; now the only thing left is that I should bow down to Muhammad."This
further enraged the believing Ansar and everyone' started reproaching and
cursing him roughly. When the caravan was about to enter Madinah, Abullah, the
son of Abdullah bin Ubayy, stood before his father with a drawn out sword, and
said: "You had said that when you reached Madinah, the honorable ones would
drive out the mean ones. Now, you will know who is honorable you or Allah and
His Messenger. By God, you cannot enter Madinah until the Messenger of Allah
(upon whom be Allah's peace) permits you to enter." At this Ibn Ubayy cried out:
"O people of Khazraj, look, my own son is preventing me from entering Madinah."
The people conveyed this news to the Holy Prophet, and he said : "Tell Abdullah
to let his father come home."Abdullah said, "If this is the Holy Prophet's
order, then you may enter."Thereupon the Holy Prophet said to Hadrat Umar: "Now
what do you think, Umar? Had you killed him on the day when you asked my
permission to kill him, many people would have trembled with rage. Today if I
order them to kill him, they will kill him immediately."Hadrat Umar replied "By
God, I realize there was greater wisdom behind what the Apostle of Allah said
than what I said."'
These were the circumstances under which this Surah
was sent down most probably after the Holy Prophet's return to Madinah.
That is, "Although the thing they. are uttering with the tongue is true by
itself, it does not reflect their belief. Therefore they lie when they say that
they bear witness that you are a Messenger of Allah." Here, one should clearly
understand that an evidence or witness is composed of two things: first, the
actual thing to which one bears the witness; second, the concerned person's own
belief about the thing to which he bears the witness, Now, if the thing by
itself is true and the belief of the bearer of witness also corresponds to what
he says, he will be truthful in every respect. And if the thing in itself is
false; but the beater of the witness believes it to be right and true, he will
be regarded as truthful in one way, for he is truthful in expressing his belief,
and liar in another way, for the thing he is bearing witness to is by itself
false. Contrary to this, if the thing by itself is true but the belief of the
bearer of the witness is opposed to it, he will be regarded as truthful because
he is testifying to the right thing, and a liar because his own belief is
contrary to what he is saying with the tongue. For instance, if a Believer
states that Islam is a taste religion, he is truthful in every respect, but if a
Jew, while he is steadfast in his Judaism, states the same thing, he would be
stating the right thing but his evidence would be regarded as false, for he is
testifying against his faith and belief. And if he calls it a false religion, he
would be uttering a false thing but he would be beating a true witness according
to his belief.
2That is, they use the oaths that they swear to convince
others of their Islam and faith as a shield to save themselves from the wrath of
the Muslims so that they do not treat them as they treat their open enemies.
These oaths may imply the oaths which they usually swear to convince others
of their faith as well as those which they swore when they were caught
committing some hypocritical act, and also those oaths which 'Abdullah bin Ubayy
had sworn to contradict the report given by Hadrat Zaid bin Arqam. Besides
these, there is another probability that Allah might have regarded this
statement of theirs as an oath: "We bear witness that you are Allah's
Messenger." This last probability has given rise to a dispute among the jurists,
namely: If a person states something with the words: "I bear witness," will it
be regarded as an oath or not? Imam Abu Hanifah and his companions (except Imam
Zufar), Imam Sufyan Thauri and Imam Auza'i regard it as an oath (Yamin in the
Shari'ah terminology). Imam Zufar says that it is not an oath. Two sayings from
Imam Malik have been reported in this connection: first" that it is an oath
absolutely, and second, that if while saying: "I bear witness," his intention
was to say: “My God, I bear witness," or "I bear witness before God," it would
he a statement on oath, otherwise not. Imam Shafe'i says: 'Even if the person
says the words: "I bear witness before God." it would not be a statement made on
oath, unless he uttered these words with the intention of swearing an oath,"
(AI-Jassas_, Ahkam al-Qur an; Ibn al'.Arabi. Ahkam al-Qur an).
3The verb
sadd in Arabic is transitive as well as intransitive. Therefore, saddu 'an sabil-Allah
means; "They turn away from the Way of Allah," as well as: 'they turn others
away from the Way of Allah." According to the first meaning the verse would
'mean: "By means of these oaths they first plant themselves firmly among the
Muslims and then invent ways to escape fulfilling demands of the faith and to
avoid obedience to Allah and His Messenger. " According to the second meaning it
would mean: "They use their false oaths as a cover for committing evil deeds.
Posing as Muslims they weaken the Muslim community from within: find out the
secrets of the Muslims and convey these to their enemies, create doubts about
Islam among the non-Muslims and use such devices for inspiring the simple
Muslims with evil suggestions which a hypocrite in the guise of a Muslim only
could do, for an open enemy of Islam cannot use them.
4In this verse
"believing" means professing the faith in order to be counted among Muslims, and
'disbelieving" means not to believe sincerely and to persist in disbelief as
usual. The verse means to say that when they, after due thought, decided to
adopt this hypocritical attitude instead of adopting either belief or disbelief
plainly, Allah caused a seal to be set on their hearts and deprived them of the
grace to adopt the attitude and conduct of a true, sincere and noble person.
Now, their power of understanding has been lost, their moral sense has become
dead, and while following this way they never even feel that their habit of
always telling lies, their deceitful behavior and the ever present
contradictions between their word and deed is a wretched state in which they
have involved themselves.
This is one of those verses in which the
meaning of ';causing a seal to be set on the heart of somebody by Allah" has
been made clear. These people did not become hypocrites because Allah .had set a
seal on their hearts; so faith did not enter them, and they became hypocrites
under compulsion. But, in fact, Allah set a seal on their hearts only when they
decided to persist in disbelief in spite of professing the faith outwardly.
Then, they were deprived of the capacity to believe sincerely and of the grace
of the moral attitude resulting from it. and were helped to persist in the
hypocrisy and hypocritical morals, which they had chosen to adopt for
themselves.
5Hadrat 'Abdullah bin 'Abbas has stated that 'Abdullah bin
Ubayy was a strongly built, healthy, handsome and smooth-tongued person, and the
same was the case with most of his companions. They were all the nobles of
Madinah. When they came to sit in the Holy Prophet's assembly, they would sit
reclining on cushions against the walls and would talk agreeably and
convincingly. From their outward appearance and manner of speech no one could
imagine that those honorable people of the city would be so wretched and
degraded in their character.
6That is, "Those who sit reclining on
cushions against the walls, are not but but pieces of timber. Comparing them to
timber is meant to imply that they are devoid of the moral sense which is the
essence of humanity Then by comparing them to blocks of timber propped up
against the wall, it has also been pointed out that they are absolutely
worthless, for the timber would be useful only when it has been utilized in
making of a ceiling, or a door frame, or a piece of furniture. A block of timber
that has just been placed against a wall serves no useful purpose at all."
7This brief sentence portrays the state of their guilty conscience. Since
they fully well knew what game of hypocrisy they were playing tinder the screen
of their superficial faith, they always remained in a state of alarm, thinking
as to when the secret of their treason might be exposed, or the believers might
feel disgusted with their evil deeds and machinations and take them co task for
them. If ever a cry was raised anywhere in the city, or a noise was heard; they
immediately grew alarmed and thought it was directed against themselves.
8In other words, these hidden enemies are more dangerous than the open
enemies.
9That is, "Do not be deceived by their outward appearances.
Beware of them, for they can deceive you at any moment. "
10This is not a
curse but a declaration of the verdict about them by Allah that they have become
worthy of His punishment and He will certainly inflict His punishment on them.
It is also possible that Allah may not have used these words in their literal
sense but in the meaning of a curse and condemnation according to Arabic idiom.
11It has not been pointed out as to who perverts them from belief to
hypocrisy. This by itself makes it clear that there is not one but many factors
responsible for their perversion. There is Satan, there are their evil friends,
and there are their own selfish motives. Someone's wife or children become his
motive, and someone is driven to perversion by the evil ones in his society, or
by jealousy, spite and pride.
12That is, they not only refuse to come to
the Messenger to seek forgiveness, but also on hearing the invitation they shake
their heads with arrogance and pride, and remain adamant, thinking that it would
be disgraceful for them to approach the Messenger to seek forgiveness. This is a
clear sign that they are not believers.
13This thing was reiterated in
Surah At-Taubah, which was sent down three years after Surah Al-Mtutafiqun, even
in stronger words. In that Surah Allah, while addressing the Holy Prophet (upon
whom be Allah's peace) said this about the hypocrites: 'O Prophet (it will be
all the same) whether you beg forgiveness for them or not, for Allah will not
forgive them even if you beg forgiveness for them seventy times. This is because
they have disbelieved in Allah and His Messenger, and Allah does not show
guidance to the wrongdoers." (At Taubah: 80). A little further on in that Surah
it was again said: 'And never perform the funeral prayer for anyone of them who
dies nor stand at his grave, for they have denied Allah and His Messenger and
died while they were transgressors. " (At-Taubah: 84)
14Two things have
been stated in this verse. First, that the prayer of forgiveness can be
beneficial only for those who are guided aright. Let alone a common man, even if
Allah's Messenger himself prays for the forgiveness of the person, who has
turned away from guidance and adopted the way of sin and transgression instead
of obedience, he cannot be forgiven. Second, that it is not Allah's way to bless
with guidance those who do not seek His guidance. If a person himself turns away
from Allah's guidance, rather shakes his head with arrogance and rejects the
invitation when he is called towards guidance, Allah has no need that He should
go after him with His guidance and implore him to come to the right path.
15Hadrat Zaid bin Arqam says: "When I reported these words of Abdullah bin
Ubayy to the Holy Prophet, and 'Abdullah bin Ubayy came and disowned them on
oath, the elderly people of the Ansar, and even my own uncle, reproved me for
this; so much so that I felt that the Holy Prophet also had mistaken me for a
liar and 'Abdullah bin Ubayy for a truthful person. This caused me great anguish
and grief. Then, when these verses were revealed, the Holy Prophet call-d me,
and taking hold of my car, said: "The boy's ear was truthful Allah has himself
testified to what it had heard." (Ibn Jarir. In Tirmidhi also there is a
tradition on the same subject).
16That is, "All honor belongs to Allah
in virtue of His essence, to the Prophet in virtue of his Prophethood, and to
the Believers in virtue of their faith. As for the disbelievers and the wicked
people and the hypocrites, they have no share whatever in the real, true honor.
"
17Now a word of admonition is being addressed to all those people, who
have entered Islam, whether they are true and sincere believers, or those who
profess the faith merely verbally. As we have explained at several places above.
the words alladhina amanu in the Qur'an are sometimes used to address the true
believers and sometimes to address the hypocrites, for they profess the faith
only with the tongue, and sometimes to address the Muslims of all kinds in
general The context itself shows which group is the audience at a particular
place.
18The mention of the possessions and the children, in particular,
has been made, for man mostly turns away from the demands of the faith for the
sake of their well-being and interests and becomes involved in hypocrisy,
weakness of faith, or wickedness and disobedience; otherwise it implies
everything of the world that allures and absorbs man so completely that he
becomes heedless of the remembrance of God. This heedlessness in respect of the
remembrance of God is indeed the root cause of all evil. If man only remembers
that he is not free but the servant of One God, and that God is fully aware of
all his actions and deeds, and he will by held accountable one day before Him
for all his actions and deeds, he would never be involved in any deviation and
wickedness, and if ever he commits an error due to a human weakness, he will
immediately rectify it as soon as he comes to realize his wrongdoing and repent.