Tafsir of Surah Aal Imran - Verse 188

Chastising the People of the Scriptures for Breaking the Covenant and Hiding the Truth

In this Ayah, Allah chastises the People of the Scriptures, from whom Allah took the covenant by the words of their Prophets, that they would believe in Muhammad ﷺ and describe him to the people, so that they would recognize and follow him when Allah sent him. However, they hid this truth and preferred the the small amounts and the material gains instead of the rewards of this life and the Hereafter that they were promised. This is a losing deal and a failing trade, indeed.

These Ayat also contain a warning for the scholars not to imitate their behavior, so that they do not suffer the same fate and become like them. Therefore, the scholars are required to spread the beneficial knowledge that they have, encouraging the various righteous good deeds. They are also warned against hiding any part of their knowledge. A Hadith states that the Prophet said,

«مَنْ سُئِلَ عَنْ عِلْمٍ فَكَتَمَهُ، أُلْجِمَ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ بِلِجَامٍ مِنْ نَار»

(Whoever was asked about knowledge that he knew but did not disclose it, will be tied with a bridle made of fire on the Day of Resurrection.)

Chastising Those Who Love to be Praised for What They Have not Done

Allah's statement,

لاَ تَحْسَبَنَّ الَّذِينَ يَفْرَحُونَ بِمَآ أَتَوْاْ وَّيُحِبُّونَ أَن يُحْمَدُواْ بِمَا لَمْ يَفْعَلُواْ

(Think not that those who rejoice in what they have done, and love to be praised for what they have not done), refers to those who show off, rejoice in what they do and claim to do what they have not done. The Two Sahihs recorded that the Prophet said,

«مَنِ ادَّعَى دَعْوَةً كَاذِبَةً لِيَتَكَثَّرَ بِهَا، لَمْ يَزِدْهُ اللهُ إِلَّا قِلَّة»

(Whoever issues a false claim to acquire some type of gain, then Allah will only grant him decrease.)

The Sahih also recorded;

«الْمُتَشَبِّعُ بِمَا لَمْ يُعْطَ، كَلَابِسِ ثَوْبَيْ زُور»

(He who claims to do what he has not done, is just like a person who wears two robes made of falsehood.)

Imam Ahmad recorded that Marwan told his guard Rafi` to go to Ibn `Abbas and proclaim to him, "If every person among us who rejoices with what he has done and loves to be praised for what he has not done will be tormented, we all will be tormented." Ibn `Abbas said, "This Ayah was revealed about the People of the Scriptures." He then recited the Ayah,

وَإِذْ أَخَذَ اللَّهُ مِيثَـقَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُواْ الْكِتَـبَ لَتُبَيِّنُنَّهُ لِلنَّاسِ وَلاَ تَكْتُمُونَهُ فَنَبَذُوهُ وَرَآءَ ظُهُورِهِمْ وَاشْتَرَوْاْ بِهِ ثَمَناً قَلِيلاً فَبِئْسَ مَا يَشْتَرُونَ

((And remember) when Allah took a covenant from those who were given the Scripture (Jews and Christians) to make it (the truth) known and clear to mankind, and not to hide it, but they threw it away behind their backs, and purchased with it some miserable gain! And indeed worst is that which they bought.) then the Ayah,

لاَ تَحْسَبَنَّ الَّذِينَ يَفْرَحُونَ بِمَآ أَتَوْاْ وَّيُحِبُّونَ أَن يُحْمَدُواْ بِمَا لَمْ يَفْعَلُواْ

(Think not that those who rejoice in what they have done, and love to be praised for what they have not done)

Ibn `Abbas said, "The Prophet asked them about something, and they hid its knowledge, giving him an incorrect answer. They parted after showing off and rejoicing in front of him because they answered him, so they pretended, and they were delighted that they hid the correct news about what he had asked them." This was recorded by Al-Bukhari, Muslim, At-Tirmidhi and An-Nasa'i.

Al-Bukhari recorded that Abu Sa`id Al-Khudri said, "During the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, when the Messenger would go to battle, some hypocrite men would remain behind and rejoice because they did not accompany the Prophet in battle. When the Messenger would come back, they would ask him to excuse them swearing to having some excuse, and wanting to be praised for that which they did not do. So Allah revealed,

لاَ تَحْسَبَنَّ الَّذِينَ يَفْرَحُونَ بِمَآ أَتَوْاْ وَّيُحِبُّونَ أَن يُحْمَدُواْ بِمَا لَمْ يَفْعَلُواْ

(Think not that those who rejoice in what they have done, and love to be praised for what they have not done),"

to the end of the Ayah." And Muslim recorded similarly.

Allah said;

فَلاَ تَحْسَبَنَّهُمْ بِمَفَازَةٍ مِّنَ الْعَذَابِ

(think not that they are rescued from the torment, ) Do not think that they will be saved from punishment, rather it will certainly strike them. So Allah said;

وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ

(and for them is a painful torment.) Allah then said,

وَللَّهِ مُلْكُ السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضِ وَاللَّهُ عَلَى كُلِّ شَىْءٍ قَدِيرٌ

(And to Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and Allah has power over all things.) He is the Owner of everything, able to do all things and nothing escapes His might. Therefore, fear Him, never defy Him and beware of His anger and revenge. He is the Most Great, none is greater than Him, and the Most Able, none is more able than He is.

In continuation of the description of evils practiced by the Jews mentioned in previous verses, the first of the present two verses (187, 188) takes up yet another evil practice of theirs. This is their habit of going back on solemn pledges and covenants - for Allah Almighty had taken pledge from the people of the Book that they would communicate the commandments of Allah appearing in the Torah freely, openly and universally and that they would not conceal any injunction out of their selfish ends. The people of the Book broke this covenant. They concealed injunctions. Not only that, they were audacious enough to show their pleasure about having acted in this manner and taking this deed of theirs as commendable.

Commentary

Concealing the Knowledge of Faith is forbidden and waiting or manipulating to be praised without practicing it is deplorable

The three verses cited above describe two crimes committed by scholars from the people of the Book along with their subsequent punishment.

As pointed out earlier, they were commanded to tell their people about injunctions revealed in the Book of Allah freely and openly without any effort. To curtail or hold back what was in there people. Although, they were explicitly instructed not to hide any commandment, yet they elected to ignore the pledge they had made, out of their worldly considerations and personal greed. They did hide a good many commandments from their people.

Secondly, they had the problem of personally staying aloof from acting righteously while, at the same time, they had no qualms of conscience in wishing to be praised without acting the way they were expected to.

As for the incidence of hiding the commandments of the Torah, it has been reported in Sahih al-Bukhari on the authority of Sayyidna 'Abdullah ibn 'Abbas ؓ . He narrates that the Holy Prophet ﷺ asked the Jews about something mentioned in the Torah. They concealed the truth and told him something contrary to what was said in the Torah - and they left his company all pleased with their exercise in evil congratulating themselves on their deceit. Thereupon, this verse which carries a warning for them was revealed.

As for the other statement -'they love to be praised for what they never did' - it refers to the hypocrites among the Jews who would make excuses at the time of Jihad, sit home and celebrate how well they were able to dodge the hardships of Jihad. When the Holy Prophet ﷺ returned from Jihad, they would go to him, take false oaths and offer excuses and, on top of that, they would demand that this act of theirs be praised. (Sahih al-Bukhri)

The Holy Qur'an condemns them for both these attitudes. From here, we know that concealing the knowledge of Faith and the injunctions of Allah and His Messenger is forbidden (Haram ). But this forbiddance applies to the kind of concealment which was practiced by the Jews for they used to conceal Divine injunctions to promote their own worldly interest and, in this process, they made people pay for it. However, if an injunction is not broadcast publicly due to some expedient religious consideration, such an action would not fall under the purview of this ruling. This problem has been taken up by Imam al-Bukhari (رح) under a separate subject heading supported by relevant Hadith narrations. According to him, there are occasions when there is the danger that masses would fall prey to misunderstanding and disorder by publicising a certain injunction openly. If an injunction is allowed to remain unpublicised on the basis of such a danger, it does not matter.

The rule about doing a good deed is simple. If anyone does a good deed, then looks forward to be praised for it - or, worse still, takes elaborate steps to make this happen - then, despite having done what one did, this act will be deemed blameworthy under the Islamic legal-moral norms. And should one elect not to do that good deed at all, that would, then, be taken as far more blameworthy. As for the natural desire to do something good and thereby earn a fair name, it is not included under the purview of this ruling - unless, of course, if one does not make unusual projections to earn that fair name (Bayan al-Qur'an).

When a decline sets in in the bearers of a revealed Book, it in no way means that they have entirely severed their bond with God or His messenger. This is not possible, because religion becomes a part of the traditions of a community. It becomes a great national asset and a matter of tremendous pride. And once such a communal and national link is established with something, disassociation from it is just not possible for any group. However, this association with traditions in the name of religion is purely formal and lacks in genuine religiosity, for all worldly activities continue to be engaged in in the name of religion. Even when members of certain societies have nothing to do with religion, they want to be called religious. They want to take credit for things they have not done. Having no real concern for eternal salvation, they develop such concepts as appear to show that their salvation is certain. They follow a self-made religion, but call themselves upholders of divine religion. They are busy in activities serving worldly ends, but call these activities Hereafter-oriented. They call their self-styled politics divinely guided politics, declaring that they have been moved to action for the betterment of the ummah (community), whereas, in reality they do little more than serve their own national interests. One cannot save oneself from the chastisement of God by giving one’s irreligiousness the name of religion. When man remains engrossed in worldly pursuits, oblivious of matters which are important in view of the Hereafter, he is going astray, but when he engages himself in worldly pursuits in the name of God, or the Prophet, he is adding insult to injury, because he wants to be given credit for a faith which is hollow and actions which are false.