Surah At-Tawbah, Ayah 63

Hypocrites revert to Lies to please People

Qatadah said about Allah's statement,

يَحْلِفُونَ بِاللَّهِ لَكُمْ لِيُرْضُوكُمْ

(They swear by Allah to you (Muslims) in order to please you) "A hypocrite man said, `By Allah! They (hypocrites) are our chiefs and masters. If what Muhammad says is true, they are worse than donkeys.' A Muslim man heard him and declared, `By Allah! What Muhammad says is true and you are worse than a donkey!' The Muslim man conveyed what happened to the Prophet who summoned the hypocrite and asked him,

«مَا حَمَلَكَ عَلَى الَّذِي قُلْتَ؟»

(What made you say what you said) That man invoked curses on himself and swore by Allah that he never said that. Meanwhile, the Muslim man said, `O Allah! Assert the truth of the truthful and expose the lies of the liar.' Allah revealed this Verse."' Allah's statement,

أَلَمْ يَعْلَمُواْ أَنَّهُ مَن يُحَادِدِ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ

(Know they not that whoever opposes and shows hostility to Allah and His Messenger,) means, have they not come to know and realize that those who defy, oppose, wage war and reject Allah, thus becoming on one side while Allah and His Messenger on another side,

فَأَنَّ لَهُ نَارَ جَهَنَّمَ خَالِداً فِيهَا

(certainly for him will be the fire of Hell to abide therein), in a humiliating torment,

ذَلِكَ الْخِزْىُ الْعَظِيمُ

(That is the extreme disgrace)9:63, that is the greatest disgrace and the tremendous misery.

Commentary

The present verses, like the previous ones, chastise hypocrites for their absurd objections, hostility to the Holy Prophet ﷺ and their feigned professions of Faith on false oaths.

The first verse (61) mentions the painful comment made by the hypocrites against the Holy Prophet ﷺ . They thought, since he hears and believes everything, they had nothing to worry about. In the event, their conspiracy was exposed, they would simply tell him on oath that they had nothing to do with it. Allah Almighty corrected them by saying that His Messenger preferred silence against baseless hostilities because of his high morals. He did not believe in what they said. He himself knew reality as it was. He simply avoided refuting them on their faces because of his inherent gentleness of nature.

The hypocrites of Madinah used to deride Islamic personalities in private, but when they appeared before Muslims they assured them, on oath, that they were loyal to Islam. The reason for this was that the Muslims were powerful in Madinah. They were in a position to harm the interests of hypocrites. So the hypocrites wanted to give the impression that they were with the Muslims. This reveals the reality of a hypocritical character. The religiosity of a hypocrite derives from the fear of human beings and not from the fear of God. He becomes a man of character and justice where there is pressure from other human beings or there is the fear of a reaction from the public. But where there is no such risk and there is only the fear of God to prevent him from the misuse of his words and deeds, he becomes a completely changed man. He becomes a man who is not interested in being a man of character and does not feel the necessity to adopt the way of justice.