63:1. When the hypocrites come to you, they say: We bear witness that you are indeed the Messenger of Allah. Allah knows that you are indeed His Messenger, and Allah bears witness that the hypocrites are indeed liars.

63:2. They have taken their oaths as a cover [for their hypocrisy] in order to bar people from the path of Allah. Evil indeed is what they have been doing.

63:3. That is because they believed then disbelieved; therefore their hearts have been sealed up, so that they do not understand.

63:4. When you see them, their outward appearance pleases you; when they speak, you listen to what they say. But they are like propped-up pieces of wood [devoid of all understanding].^{1When they sat in the Prophet’s gathering, listening to him whilst leaning against the wall, they were likened to pieces of wood that are left propped up against a wall, in that they were devoid of understanding and knowledge. (ash-Shawkani)} They think that every cry is against them. They are the enemy, so beware of them. May Allah destroy them; how could they have gone so far astray?

63:5. When it is said to them: Come; the Messenger of Allah will pray for your forgiveness, they shake their heads, and you see them turn away in arrogance.

63:6. It is the same to them whether you pray for their forgiveness or do not pray for their forgiveness; Allah will never forgive them. Verily Allah does not guide the wicked people.

When the Prophet (ﷺ) came to Madinah and the number of Muslims in the city increased and Islam gained strength, some of its people - from al-Aws and al-Khazraj - made an outward display of believing, whilst concealing disbelief, in order to retain their status, live in peace, and keep their wealth safe.

Therefore Allah mentioned some of their characteristics by which they would be known, so that people could be cautious of them and be aware of their situation. Allah said:

t﴾ When the hypocrites come to you, they say[﴿, and they are lying:﴾We bear witness that you are indeed the Messenger of Allah ]?. This testimony on the part of the hypocrites was a lie. Moreover, there was no need for their testimony to support His Messenger (ﷺ).

For ﴾Allah knows that you are indeed His Messenger, and Allah bears witness that the hypocrites are indeed liars﴿ in their words and claims, and that it is not truly meant on their part.

﴾They have taken their oaths as a cover [for their hypocrisy]﴿ that is, as a shield to protect themselves from being called hypocrites, ﴾in order to bar people from the path of Allah﴿. They have barred themselves from His path, and have barred others who are not aware of their real nature.

﴾Evil indeed is what they have been doing﴿ when they pretended outwardly to be believers, whilst concealing disbelief in their hearts, and they swore an oath to that effect and gave the impression of being sincere.

﴾That﴿ namely what has been made fair-seeming to them of hypocrisy

﴾is because﴿ they were not steadfast in their faith; rather ﴾they believed then disbelieved; therefore their hearts have been sealed up﴿ so that no goodness can ever enter them, ﴾so that they do not understand﴿ what will benefit them, and they do not pay attention to what is in their best interests.

﴾When you see them, their outward appearance pleases you﴿ because they look very impressive,

﴾when they speak, you listen to what they say﴿ because they are so eloquent and well spoken, and you enjoy listening to them.

Their outward appearance and their words are impressive, but there is nothing beyond that of good morals or righteousness. Hence Allah says:

﴾But they are like propped-up pieces of wood﴿ and there is nothing good in them; nothing can come from them but pure harm.

﴾They think that every cry is against them﴿ - that is because of their cowardice, fear, weak hearts and doubt. They are constantly afraid of being found out.

These people ﴾are the enemy﴿ in the true sense, because the enemy who is clearly and openly an enemy is easier to deal with than an enemy one is not aware of, because he is resorting to trickery and deceit, claiming to be a friend when in fact he is an avowed enemy. ﴾fso beware of them. May Allah destroy them; how could they have gone so far astray?p That is, how could they have strayed from the religion of Islam, after its proof has been established and its teachings have become clear, and been diverted towards disbelief which only brings loss and doom?

﴾When it is said to them﴿ namely these hypocrites )﴾Come; the Messenger of Allah will pray for your forgiveness﴿ for what you have done, so that your situation may be improved and your deeds may be accepted, they refuse emphatically.

﴾they shake their heads﴿, refusing to request supplication from the Messenger (ﷺ)

sfand you see them turn away﴿ from the truth, in aversion and ﴾in arrogance﴿, for they are too arrogant and stubborn to follow it.

This is their condition when they are called to request supplication from the Messenger (ﷺ) This is kindness from Allah to His Messenger (ﷺ), to preserve his dignity, as they did not come to him so that he might pray for forgiveness for them.

It is all the same whether he prays for forgiveness for them or does not; Allah will never forgive them, because they are wicked people who refused to obey Allah and gave precedence to disbelief over faith. Therefore the Messenger’s prayers for forgiveness would not benefit them if he did pray for forgiveness for them. This is like the verse in which Allah te) says:﴾Whether you [O Prophet] seek forgiveness for them, or do not seek forgiveness for them, even if you seek forgiveness for them seventy times, never will Allah forgive them...]4 (at-Tawbah 9: 80)

﴾Verily Allah does not guide the wicked people﴿.

63:7. It is they who say: Do not spend on those who are with the Messenger of Allah, so that they will disperse [and desert him]. Yet to Allah belong the treasuries of the heavens and the earth, but the hypocrites do not understand.

63:8. They say: When we return to Madinah, the mightier will surely drive out therefrom the weaker. In fact, might belongs to Allah, and to His Messenger and to the believers. But the hypocrites do not know.

Because of their intense enmity towards the Prophet (ﷺ) and the Muslims, when they saw the unity and harmony of his Companions, and how they hastened to try to please the Messenger (ﷺ), they said, on the basis of their false claims, ﴾Do not spend on those who are with the Messenger of Allah, so that they will disperse [and desert him] j﴿. According to that claim, were it not for the wealth of the hypocrites and their spending on them, they would not rally in support of the religion of Allah.

This is something very strange, that these hypocrites, who were the keenest of people to cause Islam to fail and cause harm to theMuslims, would make such a claim, which could not be believed except by one who knew nothing of the facts of the matter.

Hence Allah said, refuting their claim: ﴾Yet to Allah belong the treasuries of the heavens and the earth﴿, so He bestows provision on whomever He wills and withholds it from whomever He wills; He makes the means available for whomever He wills and makes them inaccessible for whomever He wills.

f﴾but the hypocrites do not understand﴿ and for that reason they said these words, the implication of which is that the treasuries of provision are in their hands and under their control.

﴾They say: When we return to Madinah, the mightier will surely drive out therefrom the weaker﴿. That was during the campaign of al-Muraysee\ when words were exchanged between some of the Muhajireen and Ansar that upset many people, at which point the hypocrisy of the hypocrites showed itself and they expressed what was in their hearts.

Their leader, 'Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salool, said: Our likeness and that of these people - meaning the Muhajiroon - is, as the saying goes: Feed your dog and he will eat you. He said: ^When we return to Madinah, the mightier will surely drive out therefrom the weaker﴿, on the basis of his claim that he and his fellow hypocrites were the mightier and the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and those who were with him were the weaker. But in fact it was the opposite of what this hypocrite said.

Hence Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) said: ﴾fln fact, might belongs to Allah, and to His Messenger and to the believers﴿ so it is they who are the mightier, and the hypocrites and their fellow disbelievers are the weaker.

﴾But the hypocrites do not know﴿ that, therefore they claimed that they were the mightier, because they were deceived by their falsehood.

g) Swti'

63:9. O you who believe, do not let your wealth and your children distract you from the remembrance of Allah. Whoever does that, it is they who are the losers.

63:10. And spend from that which We have provided for you, before death comes to one of you and he says: My Lord, if only You would grant me a reprieve for a little while, then I would give in charity and be among the righteous.

63:11. But Allah will not grant a reprieve to any soul when its appointed time has come, and Allah is well aware of all that you do.

Here Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) enjoins His believing slaves to remember Him a great deal, for in that there is gain, triumph and much good. And He forbids them to let their wealth and children distract them from remembering Him, for love of wealth and children is inherent in most souls, so they may give precedence to love of these things over love of Allah, but that leads to great loss. Therefore Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) says:

﴾Whoever does that﴿) that is, lets his wealth and his children distract him from the remembrance of Allah

﴾it is they who are the losers﴿) who will lose out on eternal happiness and everlasting bliss, because they gave precedence to that which does not last over that which does last. Allah te) says elsewhere: ﴾Your wealth and your children are but a trial, and with Allah there is an immense reward.﴿) (ai-Taghdbun 64. 15)

﴾And spend from that which We have provided for you﴿ - this includes obligatory spending, such as zakah, expiation, spending on wives and servants, and so on, as well as recommended spending, such as spending wealth whenever needed.

Allah says ﴾from that which We have provided for you﴿, so as to highlight the fact that He does not burden people with spending that is beyond their means and is too difficult for them. Rather He instructs them to spend some of that which He has provided for them and made available to them.

So let them appreciate what He has given them, by helping their needy brethren, and let them hasten to do that before death comes, for when it comes they will not be able to do an atom’s weight of good. Hence Allah says:

﴾before death comes to one of you and he says﴿, regretting what he has failed to do at the time when it was possible, and asking to be allowed to go back, which is impossible:

﴾My Lord, if only You would grant me a reprieve for a little while)-﴿ so that I can make up for what I neglected.

﴾then I would give in charity﴿ from my wealth, so that I might be saved from the punishment and deserve a great reward.

﴾and be among the righteous﴿ by doing all that is enjoined and avoiding all that is forbidden - which includes Hajj and other deeds.

This request and wishful thinking will come too late, when the time for those things has passed and it is no longer possible to make them up. Hence Allah says:

﴾But Allah will not grant a reprieve to any soul when its appointed﴿ and inevitable ﴾time has come, and Allah is well aware of all that you do﴿ of good and evil, and He will requite you for what He knows of you, of your intentions and deeds.

This is the end of the commentary on Soorat al-Munafiqoon.

All praise and thanks are for Allah, and may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon Prophet Muhammad his family, and his Companions abundantly until the Day of Judgement.