The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 1) — Page 47
PT. 1 AL-BAQARAH E CH. 2 and those who believe, and they يُخْدِعُونَ اللهَ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا They would deceive Allah. 10 وَمَا يَخْدَعُونَ إِلَّا أَنْفُسَهُمْ ;deceive none but themselves وَمَا يَشْعُرُونَ only they perceive it not. 16 "4:143. explained in another way. The hypocrites wanted to deceive the believers, so possibly they expressed themselves purposely in these words, omitting all reference to the Prophet and the Quran. By mentioning God and the Last Day they would induce believers to think that they subscribed fully to the Islamic faith, but in their hearts they made a reservation as regards belief in the Quran and the Prophet. This interpretation finds support in the following verse which says that the hypocrites wished to deceive the believers. The expression, they are not believers at all, has been used to intensify the repudiation of the claim of the hypocrites to be believers. If a mere negation of their claim had been intended, it would have been expressed by some such expression as "they are hypocrites". 16. Important Words: (would deceive) is derived from and (deceive) is derived from us. They says i. e. he deceived him; he made a show of what he was not; he tried to harm him in a way unknown to the latter. dc is sometimes loosely used to give the same meaning as but in reality it is different. ε is used when the deceiver is not successful in his attempt at deception and ε is used when the party intended to be deceived actually falls a victim to the deception (Baqā & Aqrab). This distinction is corroborated by Lane who says, "One says of a man ε when he has not attained his desire, and us when he has attained his desire. " The word ε also means: (1) he forsook or he abandoned; (2) it (the market) was variable. They say state, at one time brisk, at another dull in respect of traffic (Lane). Following this signification would mean (1) they forsake and abandon God; and (2) they are variable Strong denunciation of hypocrites is characteristic of the Quran (3:168; i. e. a market varying in its 5:42 & 5:62). According to the Quran, hypocrites are sheer disbelievers. This view of the Quran furnishes a strong refutation of the criticism that Islam permits the use of force in religious matters. Conversion by force can never be sincere, while the Quran insists upon sincerity in believers. A religion which makes sincerity a necessary quality of belief cannot tolerate, much less encourage, the use of force in religion. 47 with respect to Allah, believing at one time and disbelieving at another. they perceive) is derived) يشعرون from They say meaning, he perceived it; he came to know of it; he understood it; he felt it (Aqrab).