Tafsir of Surah Al-Hashr - Verse 17

The False Promise of Support the Hypocrites gave to the Jews

Allah states that the hypocrites, `Abdullah bin Ubayy and his like, sent a messenger to Bani An-Nadir promising them help. Allah the Exalted said,

أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى الَّذِينَ نَـفَقُواْ يَقُولُونَ لإِخْوَانِهِمُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ مِنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَـبِ لَئِنْ أُخْرِجْتُمْ لَنَخْرُجَنَّ مَعَكُمْ وَلاَ نُطِيعُ فيكُمْ أَحَداً أَبَداً وَإِن قُوتِلْتُمْ لَنَنصُرَنَّكُمْ

(Have you not observed the hypocrites who say to their friends among the People of the Scripture who disbelieve: "If you are expelled, we indeed will go out with you, and we shall never obey anyone against you; and if you are attacked, we shall indeed help you.") Allah then said,

وَاللَّهُ يَشْهَدُ إِنَّهُمْ لَكَـذِبُونَ

(But Allah is Witness that they verily are liars.) meaning, the hypocrites lied when they issued this promise, because it was just words that they did not intend to fulfill. Also, what they said they would do, would never have been fulfilled by them, and this is why Allah said,

وَلَئِن قُوتِلُواْ لاَ يَنصُرُونَهُمْ

(and if they are attacked, they will never help them.) meaning, the hypocrites will not fight along with the Jews,

وَلَئِن نَّصَرُوهُمْ

(And (even) if they do help them, ) and even if the hypocrites did fight along their side,

لَيُوَلُّنَّ الاٌّدْبَـرَ ثُمَّ لاَ يُنصَرُونَ

(they will turn their backs, and they will not be victorious.) This Ayah contains good news, just as the good news that this following Ayah conveys,

لاّنتُمْ أَشَدُّ رَهْبَةً فِى صُدُورِهِمْ مِّنَ اللَّهِ

(Verily, you are more fearful in their breasts than Allah.) meaning, the hypocrites fear you more than they fear Allah, as He says;

إِذَا فَرِيقٌ مِّنْهُمْ يَخْشَوْنَ النَّاسَ كَخَشْيَةِ اللَّهِ أَوْ أَشَدَّ خَشْيَةً

(Behold! a section of them fear men as they fear Allah or even more.)(4:77) This is why Allah said,

ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ قَوْمٌ لاَّ يَفْقَهُونَ

(That is because they are a people who comprehend not.) Allah then said,

لاَ يُقَـتِلُونَكُمْ جَمِيعاً إِلاَّ فِى قُرًى مُّحَصَّنَةٍ أَوْ مِن وَرَآءِ جُدُرٍ

(They fight not against you even together, except in fortified townships, or from behind walls.) meaning, they will not fight Muslims except from behind besieged fortified forts, because of their cowardice and fear of Muslims. They only fight when they have to defend themselves (even though they threaten Muslims of reprisals). Allah the Exalted said,

بَأْسُهُمْ بَيْنَهُمْ شَدِيدٌ

(Their enmity among themselves is very great.) meaning, the enmity they feel against each other is intense,

وَيُذِيقَ بَعْضَكُمْ بَأْسَ بَعْضٍ

(And make you to taste the violence of one another.)(6:65) Allah said in the Ayah,

تَحْسَبُهُمْ جَمِيعاً وَقُلُوبُهُمْ شَتَّى

(You would think they were united, but their hearts are divided.) meaning, even though one might see them combining forces and think that these forces are harmonious, yet in reality, they are divided severely. Ibrahim An-Nakha`i said that this Ayah refers to the hypocrites and the People of the Scriptures,

ذلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ قَوْمٌ لاَّ يَعْقِلُونَ

(That is because they are a people who understand not.) Allah said,

كَمَثَلِ الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ قَرِيباً ذَاقُواْ وَبَالَ أَمْرِهِمْ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ

(They are like their immediate predecessors; they tasted the evil result of their conduct, and for them a painful torment.) referring to the Jewish tribe of Bani Qaynuqa`, according to Ibn `Abbas, Qatadah and Muhammad bin Ishaq.

The Parable of the Hypocrites and the Jews

Allah said,

كَمَثَلِ الشَّيْطَـنِ إِذْ قَالَ لِلإِنسَـنِ اكْفُرْ فَلَمَّا كَفَرَ قَالَ إِنِّى بَرِىءٌ مِّنكَ

(Like Shaytan, when he says to man: "Disbelieve." But when (man) disbelieves, Shaytan says: "I am free of you...") meaning, the example of the Jews being deceived by the promises of the hypocrites, who said that they will help them if Muslims fight them, is that of the devil. When matters got serious and the Jews were besieged, the hypocrites betrayed them and abandoned them to taste utter defeat. Likewise, the devil lures mankind into disbelief and when they obey him, he disowns them and declares himself free of their actions, saying,

إِنِّى أَخَافُ اللَّهَ رَبَّ الْعَـلَمِينَ

(I fear Allah, the Lord of all that exists!) Allah said,

فَكَانَ عَـقِبَتَهُمَآ أَنَّهُمَا فِى النَّارِ خَـلِدِينَ فِيهَا

(So, the end of both will be that they will be in the Fire, abiding therein.) meaning, the end of both he, Shaytan, who commanded that dis- belief be committed, and those who accep- ted his call, was in the fire of Hell forever,

وَذَلِكَ جَزَآءُ الظَّـلِمِينَ

(Such is the recompense of the wrongdoers. ) means, this is the recompense of every unjust person.

كَمَثَلِ الشَّيْطَانِ إِذْ قَالَ لِلْإِنسَانِ اكْفُرْ‌ (The example [ of the hypocrites ] is like the Shaitan when he says to a human being, "Become a disbeliever" then once he disbelieves, he says, "I disown you; I fear Allah, the Lord of the worlds."....59:16) This is another example of the hypocrites who made false promises of solidarity and support to the Banu Nadir, and provoked the latter to fight against the Messenger of Allah ﷺ . But when the Muslims besieged them, not a single hypocrite came forward to assist. The Qur'an here uses a simile to illustrate the similarity between a hypocrite and the Shaitan. The Shaitan incited man to disbelieve and promised him the world, but when he was seriously involved in disbelief, he said that he has nothing to do with him. Only Allah knows how many such episodes the devil must have been involved in, textually, however, we find one such episode narrated in the Qur'an in Surah Anfal, verse [ 48]:

وَإِذْ زَيَّنَ لَهُمُ الشَّيْطَانُ أَعْمَالَهُمْ وَقَالَ لَا غَالِبَ لَكُمُ الْيَوْمَ مِنَ النَّاسِ وَإِنِّي جَارٌ‌ لَّكُمْ ۖ فَلَمَّا تَرَ‌اءَتِ الْفِئَتَانِ نَكَصَ عَلَىٰ عَقِبَيْهِ وَقَالَ إِنِّي بَرِ‌يءٌ مِّنكُمْ إِنِّي أَرَ‌ىٰ مَا لَا تَرَ‌وْنَ إِنِّي أَخَافُ اللَّـهَ ۚ وَاللَّـهُ شَدِيدُ الْعِقَابِ

"And when the Shaitan beautified their deeds for them and said, 'None of the people is to overpower you today, and I am a protector for you.' But, when the two groups saw each other, he turned back on his heels and said, 'I have nothing to do with you. I am seeing what you do not see. I am scared of Allah, and Allah is severe in punishment.'

This incident occurred on the occasion of the battle of Badr when the Shaitan misled the pagan Quraish, urged them to wage a war against Muslims, and then he withdrew, and left them in the lurch when they were in the middle of a pitched-battle. It is not clear how the Shaitan did all this, whether he cast suggestions into their minds or whether he came to them in human shape and spoke to them face to face. A full explanation is available in Volume [ 4] of Ma’ ariful Qur’ an, pages 242-247.

If the verse refers to this incident, in which the Shaitan provokes man to disbelieve and when he does that, he washes his hands of them, it does not seem that the Shaitan asked them to commit kufr, because they were already kafirs. He asked them to be firm in opposing the Messenger ﷺ . The answer is all too obvious, in that it is all the same whether he asked them to commit kufr, or bids them to remain firm in their kufr or fight the Messenger of Allah ﷺ ، because it is also tantamount to kufr.

Tafsir Mazhari, Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir and others have cited several incidents where monks and devotees were deceived into kufr. For example, one of the Israeli monks devoted himself to Allah in his synagogue, and fasted consecutively and broke his fast only once in ten days. In this way, he spent seventy years of his life. The accursed Shaitan pursued him. He sent after him the most cunning devil in the shape of a monk, a devotee of God. He went up to him and exerted himself in the worship of God and thus built up confidence in the genuine monk. Eventually, the impostor succeeded in teaching the monk a few of the prayers that are efficacious in curing the sickly people. Then the former exerted his influence on many people to fall sick, and gave them the monk's address. When the latter recited the prayers, the devil would remove his influence and thus they would feel cured. He kept up this process for a long period of time, until one day he performed his exertion on the beautiful daughter of an Israeli leader. He sent her also to the monk. He succeeded in getting her into his synagogue and gradually he succeeded in getting him to commit fornication with the girl who, as a result, fell pregnant. He suggested that the girl be killed to save face. After the killing, the devil himself went around telling the story of the killing and put up the people against the monk. They, in their fury, demolished the synagogue and decided to kill him and crucify him. Then the Shaitan went back to the monk and said to him that there is no way out to save his life. 'Of course', he said to him, 'there is one way of saving your life, in that you prostrate to me and I will save your life.' The monk had already committed all the sins. The way to commit kufr was paved. So, he prostrated. At that juncture, the Shaitan said to him plainly, 'You were not falling into my trap. I adopted all these guiles for you to commit kufr. I cannot assist you in any way.' This story is recounted fully in Tafsir Mazhari and Qurtubi. Allah, the Pure and Exalted, knows best!

The hypocrites of Madinah who instigated the Banu al-Nadir against the Muslims had evidently learnt nothing from the total defeat of the Quraysh and Banu Qaynuqa‘ tribes who shortly before that had risen against the Muslims. This is always the case with those who take Satan’s counsel. First of all they urge people to indulge in criminal actions. Thereafter, when the terrible results of this become evident, they attempt to absolve themselves of the responsibility by making all sorts of excuses. But these efforts cannot save such people from the grip of God.