Tafsir of Surah Muhammad - Verse 31

Exposing the Hidden Secret of the Hypocrites Allah says ...

أَمْ حَسِبَ الَّذِينَ فِى قُلُوبِهِمْ مَّرَضٌ أَن لَّن يُخْرِجَ اللَّهُ أَضْغَـنَهُمْ

(Or do those in whose hearts is disease think that Allah would never expose their ill--wills) meaning, do the hypocrites think that Allah will not expose their affair to His believing servant Yes indeed, He will expose their affair and manifest it so that those with insight will be able to understand it. In that regard, Allah revealed Surah Bara'ah (or At-Tawbah), in which He clarified the hypocrites' scandals, and pinpointed their practices that are indicative of their hypocrisy. Because of that, this Surah (Surah Bara'ah) is also called "The Exposer". Adghan is the plural of Dighn, which means what the souls harbor of envy and hatred toward Islam and its people who support it. Allah then says,

وَلَوْ نَشَآءُ لأَرَيْنَـكَهُمْ فَلَعَرَفْتَهُم بِسِيمَـهُمْ

(Had We so willed, We could have shown them clearly to you, so that you would know them by their marks.) Allah is telling His Messenger , "Had We willed, O Muhammad, We would have shown you the specific individuals who are hypocrites, so that you would plainly know them." However, Allah did not do that in regard to all of the hypocrites. He conceals His creation, lets their affairs run according to apparent purity, and leaves the inner secrets to the One Who is well aware of them. Allah then adds,

وَلَتَعْرِفَنَّهُمْ فِى لَحْنِ الْقَوْلِ

(But you will know them by the tone of their speech!) which means, `you will know them by their speech that reveals their intentions.' A person declares his association through the context and meaning of his words -- as the Commander of the faithful `Uthman bin `Affan, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "Never would one conceal a secret but Allah will expose it by the look on his face and the uncontrolled words of his tongue." Allah then says,

وَلَنَبْلُوَنَّكُم

(And We will surely try you) meaning, `We will surely test you with commands and prohibitions.'

حَتَّى نَعْلَمَ الْمُجَـهِدِينَ مِنكُمْ وَالصَّـبِرِينَ وَنَبْلُوَ أَخْبَـرَكُمْ

(until We know those who strive among you and the patient, and We will put to a test all your affairs.) There is absolutely no doubt that Allah's knowledge precedes the occurrence of all events. In this Ayah, "until We know" means `until We know of its occurrence.' This is why Ibn `Abbas said in regard to this and similar texts, "Except so that We may know, means, so that We may see."

حَتَّىٰ نَعْلَمَ الْمُجَاهِدِينَ مِنكُمْ (...until We know those of you who carry out Jihad,... - 47:31) Allah's knowledge of every person’ s works and deeds is all-encompassing and eternal. It may be noted here that knowledge is of two kinds: [ i ] a priori knowledge or fore-knowledge, knowledge about a thing before its occurrence; and [ ii ] a posteriori knowledge or –in Mariam knowledge, knowledge about a thing after it has actually happened. Here knowledge refers to the second category. Allah’ s knowledge of things is since eternity. In this context, the knowledge about things is a posterioi, after the occurrence of the events in the external world. (ibn kathir) (The purport of this part of the verse is that Allah has enjoined fighting on the believers so that sincere believers may become distinguished from the hypocrites who shrink in horror at the very thought of fighting). Allah knows best.

When a man struggles for the cause of religion, he has to undergo different experiences, which are a test of his Faith: he must prove his steadfastness of belief by making sacrifices, crush his self, ignore his material interests, tolerate harassment; and remain steadfast in his devotion to God, even at the cost of his life and property. In order to place the believer in such circumstances, it is necessary for non-believers to have full freedom, so that they may indulge in all sorts of activities against the people of Faith. These activities, on the one hand, establish the guilt of opponents beyond doubt and, on the other, give the opportunity to the people of Faith to show that, by being steadfast in their Faith under the most trying circumstances, they are real believers and are entitled to be selected for the eternal afterlife in God’s ideal world.