Translation:
8. And of mankind, there are some who say: "We believe in Allâh and the Last Day" while in fact they do not.
9. They are deceiving Allâh and the believers, and they are only deceiving themselves, but they know not!
10. In their hearts is a disease and Allâh has increased their disease. A painful torment is theirs because they used to tell lies.
11. And when it is said to them: "Make not mischief on the earth," they say: "We are only peacemakers."
12. Verily! They are the ones who make mischief, but they perceive not.
13. And when it is said to them : "Believe as the people have believed," they say: "Shall we believe as the fools have believed?" Verily, they are the fools, but they know not.
14. And when they meet those who believe, they say: "We believe," but when they are alone with their Shayâtin (devils - polytheists, hypocrites, etc.), they say: "Truly, we are with you; verily, we were but mocking."
15. Allâh mocks at them and gives them increase in their wrong-doings to wander blindly.
16. These are they who have traded misguidance for guidance, so their trade was profitless. And they were not going to gain guidance.
Tafseer
these verses deal with Munafiqat (hypocrisy). According to a Sahih Bukhari hadith, there are 4 signs of a hypocrite (munafiq):
1. when something is entrusted to them, they breach the trust
2. when they talk , they lie
3. when they promise, they go back on their promise
4. they are unfair and unjust in their arguments
Similarly, the verse 8 of this surah signifies a hypocrite characteristic of being double faced (conflict between whats inside and what is shown on the outside). verse 9 highlights the characteristic of being deceivers, verse 10 highlights the traits of lying and possessing an imperfect heart. and verse 11 highlights their traits of creating mischief/conflicts on earth.
these hypocrites are the ones who claim to believe in Allah and the Last Day and His Faith but in reality they are trying to deceive not only the true believers but Allah as well. But they are unaware that they are deceiving no one other than their own self. Allah has caused a disease in their hearts and this disease has been increased. they will be faced with severe consequences because they tell lies. When they are told that they create conflicts on earth, they deny and say that they are the peacemakers. thought infact they are indeed the ones who create conflicts. and when they are told to believe like the believers have done, they term the believers as fools though actually they themselves are the fools. and when they are alone with their people they give them the assurance of being with them. they traded guidance for misguidance and this transaction indeed is a loss/ profitless.
the emphasize on the disease of heart implies that when the heart is suffering with a disease, then all parts of the body are affected. there is a sahih bukhari hadith that states the Holy Prophet (pbuh) said: "that there is one specific piece of meat in the human body which when functioning perfectly, the entire body functions fine. and when it is not functioning properly, the entire body fails to function properly. and that piece of meat is the heart."
the above hadith signifies the importance of the heart and to understand why heart is the core of the matter for that we need to recall that Quran has been revealed on hearts, fear of God (taqwa) is linked to heart so ultimately munafiqat has to be linked to the heart as well. the bloood from the heart is pumped to each and every tiniest and minutiest cell of the body thereby reflecting the health of the heart on the whole of the body. So whatever the heart contains (be it purity, taqwa, hypocrisy ) is reflected on the whole body.
to understand this from a more biological perspective lets look at it this way. depending on the situation the heart sends a signal to either one of the 3 layers of the brain (intellect , emotions or desires). the brain acts accordingly by sending signals to the relevant part of the body to function accordingly. thus, unless our heart wants to do a good deed and hits the corresponding layer of the brain, it wont perform the desired function. the moral being that unless our heart changes, unless our values and beliefs strengthen and unless we eliminate the hypocrisy from our hearts, till then our deeds(aamaal) wont change.
An important thought:
The Holy Prophet (pbuh) transplanted the hearts of people - spiritually. our hearts need such a spiritual transplantation as well. what better surgeon than the Quran and Sunnah itself?
8. And of mankind, there are some who say: "We believe in Allâh and the Last Day" while in fact they do not.
9. They are deceiving Allâh and the believers, and they are only deceiving themselves, but they know not!
10. In their hearts is a disease and Allâh has increased their disease. A painful torment is theirs because they used to tell lies.
11. And when it is said to them: "Make not mischief on the earth," they say: "We are only peacemakers."
12. Verily! They are the ones who make mischief, but they perceive not.
13. And when it is said to them : "Believe as the people have believed," they say: "Shall we believe as the fools have believed?" Verily, they are the fools, but they know not.
14. And when they meet those who believe, they say: "We believe," but when they are alone with their Shayâtin (devils - polytheists, hypocrites, etc.), they say: "Truly, we are with you; verily, we were but mocking."
15. Allâh mocks at them and gives them increase in their wrong-doings to wander blindly.
16. These are they who have traded misguidance for guidance, so their trade was profitless. And they were not going to gain guidance.
Tafseer
these verses deal with Munafiqat (hypocrisy). According to a Sahih Bukhari hadith, there are 4 signs of a hypocrite (munafiq):
1. when something is entrusted to them, they breach the trust
2. when they talk , they lie
3. when they promise, they go back on their promise
4. they are unfair and unjust in their arguments
Similarly, the verse 8 of this surah signifies a hypocrite characteristic of being double faced (conflict between whats inside and what is shown on the outside). verse 9 highlights the characteristic of being deceivers, verse 10 highlights the traits of lying and possessing an imperfect heart. and verse 11 highlights their traits of creating mischief/conflicts on earth.
these hypocrites are the ones who claim to believe in Allah and the Last Day and His Faith but in reality they are trying to deceive not only the true believers but Allah as well. But they are unaware that they are deceiving no one other than their own self. Allah has caused a disease in their hearts and this disease has been increased. they will be faced with severe consequences because they tell lies. When they are told that they create conflicts on earth, they deny and say that they are the peacemakers. thought infact they are indeed the ones who create conflicts. and when they are told to believe like the believers have done, they term the believers as fools though actually they themselves are the fools. and when they are alone with their people they give them the assurance of being with them. they traded guidance for misguidance and this transaction indeed is a loss/ profitless.
the emphasize on the disease of heart implies that when the heart is suffering with a disease, then all parts of the body are affected. there is a sahih bukhari hadith that states the Holy Prophet (pbuh) said: "that there is one specific piece of meat in the human body which when functioning perfectly, the entire body functions fine. and when it is not functioning properly, the entire body fails to function properly. and that piece of meat is the heart."
the above hadith signifies the importance of the heart and to understand why heart is the core of the matter for that we need to recall that Quran has been revealed on hearts, fear of God (taqwa) is linked to heart so ultimately munafiqat has to be linked to the heart as well. the bloood from the heart is pumped to each and every tiniest and minutiest cell of the body thereby reflecting the health of the heart on the whole of the body. So whatever the heart contains (be it purity, taqwa, hypocrisy ) is reflected on the whole body.
to understand this from a more biological perspective lets look at it this way. depending on the situation the heart sends a signal to either one of the 3 layers of the brain (intellect , emotions or desires). the brain acts accordingly by sending signals to the relevant part of the body to function accordingly. thus, unless our heart wants to do a good deed and hits the corresponding layer of the brain, it wont perform the desired function. the moral being that unless our heart changes, unless our values and beliefs strengthen and unless we eliminate the hypocrisy from our hearts, till then our deeds(aamaal) wont change.
An important thought:
The Holy Prophet (pbuh) transplanted the hearts of people - spiritually. our hearts need such a spiritual transplantation as well. what better surgeon than the Quran and Sunnah itself?
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