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In the name
of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful |
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SECTION: 1
When the hypocrites come to you, they say: “We bear witness that
you are indeed the Rasool of Allah." Allah knows that you are
indeed His Rasool, and Allah bears witness that the hypocrites
are liars.[1] They use their faith as a disguise, and thus debar
others from the Way of Allah. Evil is indeed what they do.[2]
This is because they believed and then renounced their faith.
Their hearts are sealed, therefore, they are devoid of
understanding.[3] When you see them, their good stature pleases
you; and when they speak, you listen to what they say. Yet they
are as worthless as hollow pieces of propped up timber.
Every shout they hear, they think it to be against them. They
are your enemies, so guard yourselves against them. May Allah
destroy them! How perverse they are![4] When it is said to them:
“Come, the Rasool of Allah will pray for your forgiveness,” they
shake their heads and you see them turning away with
arrogance.[5] It is the same, whether you pray for their
forgiveness or not, Allah is not going to forgive them. Surely
Allah does not guide the transgressors.[6] They are the same
people who say: “Do not give anything to those who follow the
Rasool of Allah until they have deserted him." To Allah belong
the treasures of the heavens and the earth; but the hypocrites
cannot understand.[7] They say: “When we return to Madinah, the
honorable ones will soon drive out the mean ones." But the honor
belongs to Allah, to His Rasool and to the believers; but the
hypocrites do not know.[8]
63:[1-8] |
Hypocrites are such enemies of Islam and Muslims that even the
Rasool's prayer cannot obtain forgiveness for them from Allah
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SECTION: 2
O believers! Let neither your riches nor your children divert
you from the remembrance of Allah. Those who will do so, it is
they who shall be the real losers.[9] Spend, in charity and
in the Cause of Allah, out of the sustenance which We have
bestowed on you before that time when death will come to anyone
of you, and he shall say: “O my Rabb! If only you would reprieve
me for a little while then I would give out everything in
charity, and be among the righteous."[10] But Allah reprieves no
soul when its term comes to an end. Allah is well aware of all
your actions.[11]
63:[9-11]
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Let not your riches or children divert you from the remembrance
of Allah, lest you become a real loser |
Major Issues, Divine
Law and Guidance:
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* Hypocrisy is such a sin against Islam
and Muslims that even the Rasool’s prayer cannot obtain
forgiveness for them from Allah.
* Let not your riches or children divert you from the
remembrance of Allah, lest you become a real loser.
Before mentioning the particular incident
about which this Sürah was revealed, it is necessary to have a
look at the history of the hypocrites of Madinah. The incident
that occurred on this occasion was not a chance happening, but
had a whole series of events behind it, all of which ultimately
led up to it.
Before the Prophet’s migration to Madinah the tribes of the Aus
and the Khazraj, fed up with their mutual rivalries and civil
wars, had almost agreed on the leadership of one man and were
making preparations to crown him their king. This was Abdullah
bin Ubayy bin Salul, the chief of the Khazraj. Muhammad bin
Ishăq has stated that among the people of Khazraj his authority
was never contested and never had the Aus and the Khazraj
rallied to one man before this.
When the Prophet arrived in Madinah, Islam had so deeply
penetrated every house of the Ansăr that Abdullah bin Ubayy
became helpless and did not see any other way to save his
leadership than to become a Muslim himself. So, he entered Islam
along with many of his followers from among the chiefs and
leaders of both the tribes although their hearts were burning
with rage from within. Ibn Ubayy in particular was filled with
grief, for the Prophet (pbuh) had deprived him of his kingship.
For several years his hypocritical faith and grief of being
deprived of his kingdom manifested itself in different ways. On
the one hand, when on Fridays the Prophet (pbuh) took his seat
to deliver the Sermon, Abdullah bin Ubayy would stand up and say
“O people, the Rasool of Allah is present among you, by whom
Allah has honored you; therefore, you should support him, listen
to what he says and obey him.” (Ibn Hisham, vol. III, p. 111).
On the other, his hypocrisy was being exposed day by day and the
true Muslims were realizing that he and his followers bore great
malice against Islam, the Prophet and the Muslims.
Following is a summary of the hypocrites' behavior:
- Once when the Prophet was passing along the way, Abdullah
bin Ubayy spoke to him in harsh words. When the Prophet
complained of it to Sayyidună Sa‘d bin Ubadah, he said: "O
Rasool of Allah, don’t be hard on him, for when Allah sent you
to us we were about to crown him, and, by God, he thinks that
you have robbed him of his kingdom.” (Ibn Hisham vol: II, pp.
237-238)
- After the Battle of Badr when the Prophet (pbuh) invaded
the Jewish tribe of Bani Qainuqa for breaking their agreement
and unprovoked revolt, this man stood up in support of them,
and holding the Prophet by his armor, said: “These 700
fighters have been helping and protecting me against every
enemy; would you cut them down in one morning? By God, I will
not leave you until you pardon my clients.” (Ibn Hisham, vol.
III, pp. 5l-52)
- On the occasion of the Battle of Uhud this man committed
open treachery and withdrew from the battlefield with 300 of
his companions. One should note that at this critical moment
when he so acted, the Qureysh had marched upon Madinah with
3,000 troops and the Prophet had marched out with only 1,000
men to resist them. Of these 1,000 this hypocrite broke away
with 300 men and the Prophet was left with only 700 men to
meet 3,000 troops of the enemy on the field. After this
incident the common Muslims of Madinah came to realize that he
was certainly a hypocrite and so were his companions. That is
why when on the very first Friday, after the Battle of Uhud,
this man stood up as usual to make a speech before the
Prophet’s Sermon, the people pulled at his garment, saying
“Sit down you are not worthy to say any thing.” That was the
first occasion in Madinah when this man was publicly
disgraced. Thereupon he was so filled with rage that he left
the mosque jumping over the heads of the people. At the door
of the Mosque some of the Ansăr said to him, “What are you
doing? Go back and ask the Prophet (upon whom be Allah’s
peace) to pray for your forgiveness.” He retorted “I do not
want him to pray for my forgiveness.” (Ibn Hisham, vol. III,
p. 111)
- In A. H. 4 the Battle of Bani an-Nadir took place. On this
occasion he and his companions supported the enemies of Islam
even more openly. On the one side, the Prophet (pbuh) and his
devoted companions were pre- paring for war against their
enemy, the Jews, and on the other, these hypo- crites were
secretly sending messages to the Jews to the effect: “Stand
firm we are with you: if you are attacked, we will help you,
and if you are driven out, we too will go out with you.” The
secret of this intrigue was exposed by Allah Himself, as has
been explained in Sürah Al-Hashr verses 11-17. In spite of
being so exposed the reason why the Prophet (pbuh) was still
treating him kindly was that he had a large band of the
hypocrites behind him. Many of the chiefs of both the Aus and
the Khazraj were his supporters. At least a third of the
population of Madinah consisted of his companions, as became
manifest on the occasion of the Battle of Uhud. Under such
conditions it was not prudent to wage a war with these
internal and external enemies combined. On this very account,
in spite of being fully aware of their hypocrisy, the Prophet
continued to deal with them for a long time according to their
apparent profession of faith.
- When Abdullah bin Ubayy, and like minded hypocrites, got
an opportunity to accompany the Prophet (pbuh) in his campaign
against the Bani Al- Mustaliq, they engineered two great
mischiefs which could shatter the Muslim unity to pieces.
However, by virtue of the wonderful training in discipline
that the Muslims had received through the pure teaching of the
Qur'an and the companionship of the Prophet (pbuh) both
mischiefs were stopped in time, and the hypocrites themselves
were disgraced instead. One of these was the mischief that is
mentioned in Sürah An-Nür, and the other in this Sürah. These
incidents are related by Bukhări, Muslim, Ahmed, Nasăi,
Tirmidhi, Baihaqi, Tabari, Ibn Marduyah, Abdur Razzaq, lbn
Jarir Tabari, Ibn Sa’d and Muhammad bin Ishăq through many
reliable channels.
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