Surah Al-Munafiqun, Ayah 6

Hypocrites are not interested to ask the prophet to ask Allah to forgive Them

Allah the Exalted states about the hypocrites, may Allah curse them,

وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ تَعَالَوْاْ يَسْتَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ لَوَّوْاْ رُءُوسَهُمْ

(And when it is said to them: "Come, so that the Messenger of Allah may ask forgiveness from Allah for you," they twist their heads,) meaning, they turn away, ignoring this call in arrogance, belitt- ling what they are invited to. This is why Allah the Exalted said,

وَرَأَيْتَهُمْ يَصُدُّونَ وَهُم مُّسْتَكْبِرُونَ

(and you would see them turning away their faces in pride.) Allah punished them for this behavior, saying,

سَوَآءٌ عَلَيْهِمْ أَسْتَغْفَرْتَ لَهُمْ أَمْ لَمْ تَسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ لَن يَغْفِرَ اللَّهُ لَهُمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لاَ يَهْدِى الْقَوْمَ الْفَـسِقِينَ

Let us now study some specific sentences of the Surah:

وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ تَعَالَوْا يَسْتَغْفِرْ‌ لَكُمْ رَ‌سُولُ اللَّـهِ (And when it is said to them, “ Come on, and Allah’ s Messenger will pray for your forgiveness”…63:5). When this Surah exposed the false oaths of ‘Abdullah Ibn Ubayy, the leader of the hypocrites, people went up to him to advise him to approach the Holy Prophet ﷺ and admit his guilt. They said that he has still time to request the Holy Prophet ﷺ to pray to Allah to forgive him. To this, the responded by turning his head around and saying arrogantly. “ I believed when you asked me to believe; I paid Zakah when you asked to; and now the only thing left is for you to ask me to prostrate to Muhammad ﷺ . The above verses were revealed on this occasion, which make plain that he has no faith, and therefore asking forgiveness for him cannot benefit him in any way.

Ibn Ubayy, after this incident, returned to Madinah, lived for a few days, and died soon thereafter. [ Mazhari ]

A hypocrite protects his interests by his compromising and self-interested approach. He does not involve himself in considerations of right or wrong. However, he maintains good relations with everybody, and when he speaks, he dwells upon the interests of his hearers. Therefore, everybody finds something agreeable in his conversation. But these apparently ‘fresh green trees’ consist in reality of ‘dry sticks.’ In the hypocrite’s eyes, worldly interest is much more important than any religious interest. Such people, in spite of being vociferous claimants of Faith, are totally deprived of God’s guidance.