Women (Al-Nisa’)
Verses 140-141 GROUP_148 4.140-141
140
وَقَدْ نَزَّلَ عَلَيْكُمْ فِي الْكِتَابِ أَنْ إِذَا سَمِعْتُمْ آيَاتِ اللّهِ يُكَفَرُ بِهَا وَيُسْتَهْزَأُ بِهَا فَلاَ تَقْعُدُواْ مَعَهُمْ حَتَّى يَخُوضُواْ فِي حَدِيثٍ غَيْرِهِ إِنَّكُمْ إِذًا مِّثْلُهُمْ إِنَّ اللّهَ جَامِعُ الْمُنَافِقِينَ وَالْكَافِرِينَ فِي جَهَنَّمَ جَمِيعًا
He has instructed you in the Book that, when you hear people deny or ridicule God’s revelations, you must not sit with them unless they engage in other talk, or else you yourselves shall become like them. God will gather all the hypocrites and those who deny the truth together in Hell.
141
الَّذِينَ يَتَرَبَّصُونَ بِكُمْ فَإِن كَانَ لَكُمْ فَتْحٌ مِّنَ اللّهِ قَالُواْ أَلَمْ نَكُن مَّعَكُمْ وَإِن كَانَ لِلْكَافِرِينَ نَصِيبٌ قَالُواْ أَلَمْ نَسْتَحْوِذْ عَلَيْكُمْ وَنَمْنَعْكُم مِّنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ فَاللّهُ يَحْكُمُ بَيْنَكُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ وَلَن يَجْعَلَ اللّهُ لِلْكَافِرِينَ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ سَبِيلاً
The hypocrites wait to see what happens to you and, if God grants you a victory, they say, ‘Were we not on your side?’ And if those who deny the truth have a share of it [victory] they say to them, ‘Did we not help you win, and protect you from the believers?’ God will judge between you [all] on Resurrection Day. And never will God allow those who deny the truth to harm the believers.
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Commentary
(a) Whenever the call of God is addressed to any human group, its basis is so strong that it is not possible to refute it by arguments. Therefore, those who do not want to accept it, attempt to show its worthlessness by ridiculing it. By heaping contempt upon it, they want to convey to others that this message is not worthy of being accepted. Those who act like this, demonstrate by their behaviour that they do not regard truth to be a serious matter. And when people are not serious about something, arguing with them is of no use. On such occasions it is better to remain silent and wait for the time when the addressees are in the right state of mind to give their attention to the missionary call. We should withdraw from any company where the divine call is held in low esteem. Being a part of such company, where truth is taken to be a subject of ridicule, will be a clear indication that we are not serious about truth. (a) The hypocrite is one who is outwardly religious but inwardly irreligious. Having no principles, he watches out for opportunities to turn events to his own advantage. He associates himself with any group which may help him realise his worldly ambitions, be it composed of believers or of those who deny the truth. Into whichever gathering he goes, he speaks to please everybody. For reasons of worldly convenience or expediency he has to associate himself at times with believers, but he is not their well-wisher. Since the very existence of true believers becomes a criterion of Truth in a society, those who stand on the ground of false religiosity want such criteria as expose their false religiosity to be demolished. However, the evil wishers of the believers can make mischief only in this world. Believers will be safe from their mischief in the Hereafter. A hypocrite is bracketed with those who deny the truth, because in God’s judgement, there is no difference between outward religiosity and blatant irreligiosity. This is because although both the states may appear to be different, in reality they are identical. To God, what is of importance is the inward state (the reality) and not the outward appearance.