Tafsir of Surah An-Nur - Verse 50

The Treachery of the Hypocrites and the Attitude of the Believers

Allah tells us about the characteristics of the hypocrites who show one thing while hiding another, and who say with their tongues,

آمَنَّا بِاللَّهِ وَبِالرَّسُولِ وَأَطَعْنَا ثُمَّ يَتَوَلَّى فَرِيقٌ مِّنْهُمْ مِّن بَعْدِ ذلِكَ

("We have believed in Allah and in the Messenger, and we obey," then a party of them turn away thereafter,) meaning, their actions contradict their deeds, and they say that which they do not do. Allah says:

وَمَآ أُوْلَـئِكَ بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ

(such are not believers.)

وَإِذَا دُعُواْ إِلَى اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ لِيَحْكُمَ بَيْنَهُمْ

(And when they are called to Allah and His Messenger, to judge between them...) means, when they are asked to follow the guidance which Allah has revealed to His Messenger , they turn away and are too arrogantly proud of themselves to follow him. This is like the Ayah:

أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى الَّذِينَ يَزْعُمُونَ أَنَّهُمْ ءَامَنُواْ بِمَآ أُنزِلَ إِلَيْكَ وَمَآ أُنزِلَ مِن قَبْلِكَ

(Have you not seen those who claim that they believe in that which has been sent down to you, and that which was sent down before you,) until His saying:

رَأَيْتَ الْمُنَـفِقِينَ يَصُدُّونَ عَنكَ صُدُوداً

(you see the hypocrites turn away from you with aversion) 4: 60-61.

وَإِن يَكُنْ لَّهُمُ الْحَقُّ يَأْتُواْ إِلَيْهِ مُذْعِنِينَ

(But if the truth is on their side, they come to him willingly with submission.) means, if the ruling will be in their favor and not against them, then they will come and will listen and obey, which is what is meant by the phrase

مُذْعِنِينَ

(willingly with submission.) But if the ruling will go against him, he turns away and demands something that goes against the truth, and he prefers to refer for judgement to someone other than the Prophet so that his false claims may prevail. His acceptance in the beginning was not because he believed that it was the truth, but because it happened to be in accordance with his desires. So when the truth went against what he was hoping for, he turned away from it. Allah said:

أَفِى قُلُوبِهِمْ مَّرَضٌ

(Is there a disease in their hearts...) meaning, their situation cannot be anything else, they must necessarily have a disease in their hearts, or else they have some doubts about the religion, or they are afraid that Allah and His Messenger will be unjust in their ruling against them. Whichever it is, it is pure disbelief, and Allah knows which of these characteristics each one of them has. d

بَلْ أُوْلَـئِكَ هُمُ الظَّـلِمُونَ

(Nay, it is they themselves who are the wrongdoers.) means, they are the evildoers who commit immoral actions, and Allah and His Messenger are innocent of the injustice and unfairness that they imagine; exalted be Allah and His Messenger above such a thing. Then Allah tells us about the attributes of the believers who respond to Allah and His Messenger and who seek no other way apart from the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger . Allah says:

إِنَّمَا كَانَ قَوْلَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ إِذَا دُعُواْ إِلَى اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ لِيَحْكُمَ بَيْنَهُمْ أَن يَقُولُواْ سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا

(The only saying of the faithful believers, when they are called to Allah and His Messenger, to judge between them, is that they say: "We hear and we obey".) meaning, to hear to obey. Allah describes them as having attained success, which is achieving what one wants and being saved from what one fears. So Allah says:

وَأُوْلَـئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ

(And such are the successful.) Concerning the Ayah:

أَن يَقُولُواْ سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا

(they say: "We hear and we obey".), Qatadah said: "We were told that when `Ubadah bin As-Samit, who had been present at Al-`Aqabah and at Badr, and was one of the leaders of the Ansar, was dying, he said to his nephew Junadah bin Abi Umayyah: `Shall I not tell you what you must do and what is your due' He said, `Yes.' He said: `You have to listen and obey when times are easy and when they are hard, when you feel energetic and when you do not want to, and when you feel selfish. You have to train your tongue to speak the truth. Do not go against those who are in authority, unless they openly command you to commit acts of disobedience to Allah. Whenever you are commanded to do something that goes against the Book of Allah, then follow the Book of Allah."' Qatadah said: We were told that Abu Ad-Darda' said, "There is no Islam except through obedience to Allah, and no goodness except in Jama`ah. Sincerity is to Allah and His Messenger , and to the Khalifah and all the believers." He said: "And we were told that `Umar bin Al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, used to say; `The bonds of Islam are La ilaha illallah, establishing prayer, paying Zakah and obeying those whom Allah has given authority over the affairs of the Muslims."' This was recorded by Ibn Abi Hatim. There are very many Hadiths and reports which state that it is obligatory to obey the Book of Allah, the Sunnah of His Messenger, the Rightly-Guided Khalifahs and the Imams when they command us to obey Allah; there are too many of these reports to quote them all here.

وَمَن يُطِعِ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ

(And whosoever obeys Allah and His Messenger,) in what he is commanded with, and avoid what he is forbidden,

وَيَخْشَ اللَّهَ

(fears Allah, ) means, for his past sins,

وَيَتَّقْهِ

(and has Taqwa of Him,) regarding sins he may commit in the future.

فَأُوْلَـئِكَ هُمُ الْفَآئِزُون

(such are the successful.) means, those who will attain all goodness and be saved from all evil in this world and the Hereafter.

Commentary

These verses were revealed on a special occasion. Tabari and others have related the incident saying that there was a hypocrite by the name Bishr, who had some dispute and enmity with a Jew over a piece of land. The Jew suggested to him to take their dispute before the Holy Prophet ﷺ for the judgment, but Bishr, the hypocrite knew well that he was on the wrong and if the dispute was taken to the Holy Prophet ﷺ he will definitely decide the case on merit, and he will lose the case. So, he did not agree with the suggestion and instead asked the Jew to take it to Ka'b Ibn Ashraf, another Jew. On this point these verses were revealed. In verse; أَفِي قُلُوبِهِم مَّرَ‌ضٌ (Is there any malady in their hearts - 50) the disease of firm infidelity or the doubt on prophethood have been negated to point out that this doubt and infidelity were not the real cause of evasion to take the dispute in the court of the Holy Prophet ﷺ . Although the infidelity and doubt on prophethood among the hypocrites is obvious and proven, but the underlying cause was that he (Bishr) knew well that if the case was placed before the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، he would definitely lose it, because he would decide the case on merit.

While the Prophet was in Madinah, there was a group which had apparently accepted Islam, but which was not really sincere about religion. This group was called the hypocrites (munafiqun). These people mouthed their obedience to God and His Prophet, but in practice, at the time of need, their actions would belie their pretensions. At that time, due to prevailing circumstances, a regular Islamic Court had not yet been established. The Jewish chiefs had been deciding cases as a matter of convention for centuries. But now the Prophet Muhammad had migrated to Madinah and established himself there. It was typical of the half-hearted hypocritical Muslims to agree to have their disputes (with other Muslims) settled by the Prophet Muhammad, provided they were sure that it would be decided in their favour. But when it seemed that the outcome might be unfavourable to them, these hypocrites (munafiqun) preferred going to a Jewish chief to have the matter decided. To all appearances this was an act of great cleverness, but in actuality they were just wronging themselves. Such apparent winners shall have lost their case even before reaching the court of God.