Surah An-Nisa, Ayah 138

Characteristics of the Hypocrites and Their Destination

Allah states that whoever embraces the faith, reverts from it, embraces it again, reverts from it and remains on disbelief and increases in it until death, then he will never have a chance to gain accepted repentance after death. Nor will Allah forgive him, or deliver him from his plight to the path of correct guidance. This is why Allah said,

لَّمْ يَكُنْ اللَّهُ لِيَغْفِرَ لَهُمْ وَلاَ لِيَهْدِيَهُمْ سَبِيلاً

(Allah will not forgive them, nor guide them on the (right) way). Ibn Abi Hatim recorded that his father said that Ahmad bin `Abdah related that Hafs bin Jami' said that Samak said that `Ikrimah reported that Ibn `Abbas commented;

Commentary

In the first verse (138), the hypocrites have been given the news of a painful punishment. By articulating a distressing news with the word, 'basharah' (good news), the hint given is that everyone looks forward to some good news to brighten his or her future but, for the hypocrites, there is just no other news except this.

‘Believers, believe’ is like saying, ‘Muslims become Muslims!’ Calling oneself a Muslim or regarding oneself as such does not suffice for one to be held a Muslim in the eyes of God. A true Muslim is only that person who has made God the centre of his life and the source of his trust and confidence. A Muslim is one who believes in the Prophet and his guidance to the exclusion of all else. A Muslim is one who adheres to the revealed Scripture in such a manner that his thinking and his feelings become totally subordinated to it. A Muslim is one to whom belief in the angels means that he is surrounded by God’s guardians who are constantly watching him. A Muslim is one whose belief in the Hereafter is so profound that he begins to examine all his words and deeds in the balance of the Hereafter. One who becomes a believer in this sense is, in the eyes of God, on the right path, on the straight path to success in the Hereafter. One who does not become a believer in this sense has gone astray, however much he may consider himself a Muslim, a believer.