مُنَٰفِقِينَ

3:142; 47:32.

Commentary:

As mentioned in the preceding verse it is God’s practice that in order to try the mettle of believers and to distinguish them from hypocrites He makes them pass through the crucible of fire and blood.

63:6.

Important Words:

ارکسھم (has overthrown them). See 4:92.

Commentary:

Believers disagreed among themselves as to how the hypocrites living in the suburbs of Medina, i.e. the Bedouin tribes of the countryside, were to be treated. Some sympathized with them and recommended leniency towards them, hoping that in this way they might gradually reform themselves, while others looked upon them as a serious menace to Islam and Muslims and advocated severity towards them. As this disagreement was likely to cause a split among Muslims and divide them into two parties, the Quran here expresses its disapproval of such a course. Muslims, it says, should beware of becoming divided among themselves due to the hypocrites. They should remember that a split in their own ranks was a much more serious affair than a danger from outside. The hypocrites were the enemies of God, and believers should not allow themselves to be divided on their account.

9:3.

6:69.

Commentary:

The reference in the words, has already revealed to you, is to 6:69 where we read, And when thou seest those who engage in vain discourse concerning Our Signs, then turn thou away from them until they enter into a discourse other than that; and if Satan cause thee to forget, then sit not, after recollection, with the unjust people.

The Surah in which the above-quoted verse occurs was revealed at Mecca, i.e. before the present Surah which is a Medinite one. This clearly shows that the present order of the verses and the Surahs of the Quran is not the same as that in which they were revealed. The reference in the words, He has already revealed to you in the Book, is, as stated above, to 6:69 which was revealed prior to the verse under comment; yet the former has been placed after the latter in the existing arrangement of the Quran.

It is also worthy of note here that while referring to a verse already revealed, the verse under comment uses the words نزل علیکم (has revealed to you) and not یتلی علیکم (is recited to you). The latter expression, i.e. "is recited to you" has been used in 4:128 with reference to 4:4 which had not only been already revealed but has also been placed before the former, i.e. 4:128, in the existing order of the Quran. Again 6:146 makes an allusion to 16:116 in the words اوحی الی (has been revealed to me). Thus, the fact that the Quran uses the words نزل and اوحی for alluding to verses that were revealed earlier but were to be placed later and the word یتلی for alluding to those verses that were not only revealed earlier but were also to be placed earlier, clearly shows that the present order was not devised by the Holy Prophet but was devised and revealed by God Himself.

Another noteworthy point that emerges from this verse is that when an address is made to the Holy Prophet, it is not always meant for him personally but is often meant for his followers, i.e. Muslims in general. In 6:69, the commandment appears to have been addressed to the Holy Prophet, because in that verse all the pronouns and verbs have been used in the second person singular number; but the verse under comment, while referring to the commandment contained in 6:69, clearly addresses Muslims generally, for the words used are, He has already revealed to you in the Book that, when you hear the Signs of God being denied and mocked at, sit not with them, which establishes the fact that the addressees in the commandment embodied in both these verses are the same, i.e. Muslims. If the pronoun "thou" in 6:69 was meant for the Holy Prophet himself, the present verse, while referring to the selfsame commandment, could not address Muslims generally by using the pronoun "you", particularly when besides 6:69 there is no verse in the Quran to which the verse under comment can possibly refer.

The substitution in the present verse of the words لا تقعدوا (sit not with them) for the words اعرض (turn away from them), occurring in 6:69, indicates that the latter expression as used at some places in the Quran is meant to convey the sense of "severing connection with".

The underlying principle in the injunction contained in the present verse is threefold: (1) to emphasize the seriousness and importance of religious matters; (2) to protect the Faithful against the demoralizing influences of disbelievers; and (3) to engender and promote feelings of pious jealousy for religion in the hearts of Muslims.

2:10.

9:54.

Important Words:

For the meaning of the word یخادعون and خادعھم see 2:10. The latter expression, though similar in root and construction, means "will punish them for their deception" and not "will deceive them". See also 2:16.

Commentary:

It is not the Holy Prophet but God Himself Whom in reality the hypocrites seek to deceive because the Prophet is only an agent of God and all plots hatched against him are really so many plots hatched to frustrate the purpose of God. Therefore, He Himself will punish them for their deceitful conduct.

Laziness and slowness are the characteristics of a hypocrite. The Holy Prophet is reported to have said, "The most burdensome of Prayers for the hypocrites are the late-evening and morning Prayers"; and "A hypocrite waits until the sun is about to set; then he gets up and hurriedly performs four Rak‘at of late-afternoon Prayer, and remembers God but little" (Muslim). It is only true faith and certainty that can engender in man the spirit of eagerness to live up to one’s conviction.

Important Words:

درك (depth). They say, درك المطر i.e. the rain fell in close consecutiveness. ادرك الشیء means, he attained, reached or overtook the thing; he sought or pursued and attained it. درك means, the act of attaining, or overtaking; the attainment or acquisition of an object; a consequence; an evil consequence; the bottom or lowest depth of a thing or of anything deep as of a well or sea. درك signifies, a stage counting downwards whereas درج is a stage upwards (Lane & Aqrab).

الاسفل (lowest) is both comparative and superlative degree from سافل meaning, low or base or vile. اسفل means, lower or lowest, both physically and in rank (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

The Quran’s strong denunciation of the hypocrites is a clear refutation of the charge brought against it that it exhorts its followers to spread Islam by means of the sword. If a man is forced to accept Islam against his will, he can never make a sincere believer. In other words, such a one will be a hypocrite and the last thing that can be alleged against the Quran is that it enjoins its followers to augment their numbers by admitting hypocrites into their fold.

The hypocrites will be placed in the lowest depth of Hell, because they combine the sin of disbelief with

that of hypocrisy. The lowest depth does not necessarily signify a depth which is the physically lowest, but a depth which is the hardest in torment and is meant for offenders of the lowest type.

Commentary:

In deference to his very exalted spiritual rank the Holy Prophet has been addressed as النبی (the Prophet) in the present verse and at several other places in the Quran. No other Prophet in any revealed Scripture or in the Quran has been addressed as such. All the Prophets have been addressed by their proper names. This peculiarity of address for the Holy Prophet has been adopted to show that he alone is النبی i.e. the Prophet par excellence. Or the reference in this form of address may be to a Biblical prophecy in which the advent of "that Prophet" has been foretold. The prophecy clearly and definitely applies only to the Holy Prophet.

Incidentally, according to Quranic idiom the word النبی (the Prophet) implies also the followers of the Holy Prophet.

48:7.

59:20.

Important Words:

المنافقون (the hypocrites) is derived from نافق which is derived from نفق. They say نفق الشیء i.e. the thing became diminished; or it became spent up and perished. نفقت السلعة means, the merchandise was in much demand. نفقت السوق means, the market became brisk, its goods selling quickly. نفق الرجل means, the man expired. نفق الیربوع means, the rat came out of its hole in the earth. انفق ماله mean, he spent freely and constantly so as to reduce or exhaust his wealth. نافق فی المحبة means, he acted hypocritically in respect of love. نافق الرجل فی الدین means, the man concealed disbelief in the heart and expressed belief with his tongue. نافق الیربوع means, the rat known as yarbu‘ betook itself to its hole. النافقاء means, a hole in the earth having two open ends which the rat enters concealing one end and leaving the other exposed, so that in time of danger it may avail itself of the concealed end and escape through it. النفق means, a hole or passage through earth leading up to some place through an opening at the other end. النفاق means, entering faith through one door and leaving it through another; acting hypocritically. المنافق means, one who conceals disbelief in his heart and expresses belief with his tongue; a hypocrite (Aqrab, Taj & Mufradat). Though hypocrites have been mentioned in the Quran as early as in 2:9, the word منافق(hypocrite) has been first used in 4:62.

نسیھم (He has neglected them). نسیان generally meaning "forgetfulness", does not always signify the act of forgetting. Truly speaking, نسیان means, one’s ceasing to think of a person or a thing either owing to loss of memory or owing to negligence. The Quran says لا تنسوا الفضل بینکم i.e. do not cease (lit. do not forget) to do good to one another. In fact, when the word نسیان is used about God, it never means "forgetting" but simply cutting off connection by way of punishment or ceasing to think of a person with feelings of love and affection (Mufradat).

Commentary:

This verse mentions some of the signs by which hypocrites can be distinguished from true believers. These signs are: (1) that the hypocrites form a sort of inner society among themselves, shunning true believers and being inter-connected with one another; (2) that they enjoin evil; (3) that they forbid good; (4) that they do not spend in the cause of God, keeping their hands closed; (5) that they neglect Allah and His commandments; (6) that, as a consequence, God too neglects them and they do not enjoy Divine help in their works; and (7) that they are disobedient to God, always seeking to evade His behests.