Tafsir of Surah Al Baqarah

And of mankind there is he whose speech may please you (O Muhammad), in this worldly life, and he calls Allah to witness as to that which is in his heart,

As-Suddi said that;

these Ayat were revealed about Al-Akhnas bin Shariq Ath-Thaqafi who came to Allah's Messenger and announced his Islam although his heart concealed otherwise.

Ibn Abbas narrated that;

these Ayat were revealed about some of the hypocrites who criticized Khubayb and his companions who were killed during the Raji` incident. Thereafter, Allah sent down His condemnation of the hypocrites and His praise for Khubayb and his companions:

النَّاسِ مَن يَشْرِي نَفْسَهُ ابْتِغَاء مَرْضَاتِ اللّهِ

And of mankind is he who would sell himself, seeking the pleasure of Allah. (2:207)

It was also said that;

they refer to the hypocrites and the believers in general.

This is the opinion of Qatadah, Mujahid, Ar-Rabi bin Anas and several others, and it is correct.

Ibn Jarir related that Al-Qurazi said that;

Nawf Al-Bikali, who used to read (previous Divine) Books said, "I find the description of some members of this Ummah in the previously revealed Books of Allah:

they (hypocrites) are people who use the religion to gain material benefit. Their tongues are sweeter than honey, but their hearts are more bitter than Sabir (a bitter plant, aloe). They show the people the appearance of sheep while their hearts hide the viciousness of wolves. Allah said, `They dare challenge Me, but they are deceived by Me. I swear by Myself that I will send a Fitnah (trial, calamity) on them that will make the wise man bewildered.'

I contemplated about these statements and found them in the Qur'an describing the hypocrites:

وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَن يُعْجِبُكَ قَوْلُهُ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَيُشْهِدُ اللّهَ عَلَى مَا فِي قَلْبِهِ

And of mankind there is he whose speech may please you (O Muhammad), in this worldly life, and he calls Allah to witness as to that which is in his heart.

This statement by Al-Qurazi is Hasan Sahih.

Allah said:

وَيُشْهِدُ اللّهَ عَلَى مَا فِي قَلْبِهِ

and he calls Allah to witness as to that which is in his heart,

This Ayah indicates that such people pretend to be Muslims, but defy Allah by the disbelief and hypocrisy that their hearts conceal.

Similarly Allah said:

يَسْتَخْفُونَ مِنَ النَّاسِ وَلَا يَسْتَخْفُونَ مِنَ اللَّهِ

They may hide (their crimes) from men, but they cannot hide (them) from Allah. (4:108)

This Tafsir was reported from Ibn Abbas by Ibn Ishaq.

It was also said that;

the Ayah means that when such people announce their Islam, they swear by Allah that what is in their hearts is the same of what their tongues are pronouncing.

This is also a correct meaning for the Ayah that was chosen by Abdur-Rahman bin Zayd bin Aslam.

It is also the choice of Ibn Jarir who related it to Ibn Abbas and Mujahid.

Allah knows best.

Allah said:

وَهُوَ أَلَدُّ الْخِصَامِ

Yet he is the most Aladd of the opponents.

The Ayah used the word Aladd here, which literally means `wicked' (here it means `quarrelsome').

A variation of the word Ludda was also used in another Ayah:

وَتُنْذِرَ بِهِ قَوْماً لُّدّاً

So that you (Muhammad) warn with it (the Qur'an) a Ludda people. (19:97)

Hence, a hypocrite lies, alters the truth when he quarrels and does not care for the truth. Rather, he deviates from the truth, deceives and becomes most quarrelsome.

It is reported in Sahih that Allah's Messenger said:

ايَةُ الْمُنَافِقِ ثَلثٌ

إِذَا حَدَّثَ كَذَبَ

وَإذَا عَاهَدَ غَدَرَ

وَإِذَا خَاصَمَ فَجَر

The signs of a hypocrite are three:

Whenever he speaks, he tells a lie.

Whenever he promises, he always breaks it (his promise).

If you have a dispute with him, he is most quarrelsome.

Imam Bukhari reported that Aishah narrated that the Prophet said:

إِنَّ أَبْغَضَ الرِّجَالِ إلَى اللهِ الاْلَدُّ الْخَصِم

The most hated person to Allah is he who is Aladd and Khasim (meaning most quarrelsome).