Part 8

He (48) mentioned this verse in the hadith of intercession on this occasion talked about in the previous hadith and in the hadith he said, ‘...so He will uncover His shin,’ and thereby made clear that it was His shin that was being talked about in the verse. Ponder all of this and you will come to understand a secret from the secrets of Tawbid, understanding of the Quran, and how Allah deals with the people of Tawhid as compared to the people of shirk.

v) The first parable deals with them acquiring darkness which is a similitude for misguidance and confusion, the opposite of which is guidance. The second patable deals with their acquiring fear, the opposite of which is safety and security. The hypocrites are not guided and neither are they safe,

O94 pry Those who believe and do not mix their faith with any wrongdoing, they are the ones who are

safe; it is they who are guided.

Ibn ‘Abbas and other exegetes said, ‘The similitude of these

The Parable of the Hypocrites 61

people’s hypocrisy is that of a person who kindled a fire in a dark night on a terrifying occasion. He warms himself up, sees what is around him, and is saved from what he feared; then while in that state, the fire is suddenly extinguished and he remains once again in that darkness in a state of fear and utter confusion. The hypocrites, by their outwardly testifying to faith, have secured their wealth and children, they marry the believers, they inherit from them, and they acquire a portion of the war booty. This is their light, but when they die, they return once again to darkness and fear,’

Mujahid said, “The fire alighting for them means their going towards the Muslims and guidance. Their light being taken away means their going towards the polytheists and misguidance.’

The acquiring of light and its removal has been explained variously to take place in this life, or the life of the grave, or in the Hereafter. The correct position is that it occurs in all three stages of life, for they are recompensed for their state in this world in all three stages with,

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Your Lord does not wrong His slaves. [Fussilat (41): 46]

In the resurrection a person shall reap what he sowed in this world and that is why it is called the Day of Recompense,

62 Characteristics Of The Hypocrites

4 bet cote Ge se ee ee ee EG 5 BW WANNA OES IR IOTRDOSESUCELOS SPY) Those who ate blind in this world will be blind

in the Hereafter and even further off the Path.

ARtecatt Bassa oe thay scal 214.555 Allah augments those who are guided by giving them greater guidance.

To return to the discussion at hand...Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, has propounded two parables, one for fire and one for water, in seerah al-Bagarah, seerah ar-Ra’d, and Strah an-Nar. This is because life comes about through water and light; the believer has a living and illuminated heart, and the hypocrite has a dead and dark heart. Allah, Exalted is He says,

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Is someone who was dead and whom We brought to life, supplying him with light by which to walk among people, the same as someone who is in utter darkness, unable to emerge from it?

6 At this point the author, may Allah have mercy upon, digresses to a lengthy discussion concerning this issue. Since it is unrelated to the explanation of the parable at hand, the translator has opted to omit it.

The Parable of the Hypocrites 63

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The blind and the seeing are not the same, nor are darkness and light, nor are cool shade and fierce heat. The living and dead are not the same, Allah makes anyone He wills to hear but you cannot make those in the grave to hear.

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Therefore He considered those who follow His guidance, and illuminate themselves with His light to be alive, taking refuge under a shade that saves them from the heat of doubts, misguidance, innovation, and shirk. And He considered one who does not do so to be blind and dead, submerged in the heat of

disbelief, shirk and misguidance, engulfed in layer after layer of darkness.

7 Thn al-Qayyim, Stina al-Juyish al-Islamiyyah [pp. 63-72, 79-87]; Tafsir al-Oayyim [pp. 114-126]. The author also has an explanation to both these parables in his. al-Amthil fi--Qur'én and al-Wabil.as-Sayyib.

ash-Shanqiti on al-Bagarah (2): 19-20

Allah, Exalted is He, says in seerah al-Bagarah concerning the hypocrites:

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19. Or that of a storm-cloud in the sky, full of darkness, thunder and lightning. They thrust their fingers in their ears against the thunderclaps, fearful of death. Allah encompasses the disbelievers.

20. The lightning all but snatches away their sight. Whenever they have light, they walk therein but whenever darkness covers them, they halt. If Allah wished, He could take away their hearing and their sight; for Allah has power over all things.

ash-Shangiti on al-Bagarah (2): 19-20. 65

The saying of the Exalted, ‘Or that of a storm-cloud,’ Sayyib means rain. Allah has set forth a parable in this verse for the guidance and knowledge that the Messenger of Allah (2) came with, likening it to rain. It is likened so because knowledge and guidance is a source of life for the souls just as water is a source of life for the bodies. This aspect of the parable was indicated by Allah in His saying,

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It is He who sends out the winds as heralds of good tidings going before His mercy so that when they have lifted up heavy clouds, We despatch them to a land that is dead and send down water to it...the vegetation of a good land comes forth by the permission of its Lord, but that which is bad only yields scantily.

The Messenger (g) explained this aspect of the parable clearly in the hadith of Abii Misa (radiyAlahu ‘anhu) recorded by Bukhari and Muslim wherein he (8) said, “The similitude of the guidance and knowledge that Allah has sent me with is like abundant rain falling on the earth; some of which has fertile soil that absorbed the rain water and brought forth vegetation and grass in abundance; and another portion of it was hard and held the rain water and Allah benefited the people with it and they utilised it for drinking, making their animals drink from it, and

66 Characteristics Of'The Hypocrites

for irrigation of the land for cultivation; and a portion of it was barren which could neither hold water nor bring forth vegetation. This similitude betokens the one who understands the religion, benefits from what Allah has sent me with, learns and teaches it; and the one who pays not heed and does not accept the guidance with which I have been sent.’

‘Full of darkness,’ Allah has set forth a parable in this verse regarding the doubts and suspicion that have afflicted the hypocrites with respect to the Qur’an - comparing these to the darkness in the storm-cloud which in turn has been set forth as a similitude to the Quran. Allah has illustrated a number of occasions, in other verses, which are like darkness for them because they increase them only in blindness. He says,

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We only appointed the Qiblah which you used to face in order to know those who follow the Messenger from those who would turn on their heels. Though in truth it was a very hard thing - except for those Allah has guided.

The abrogation of the Qiblah from Jerusalem to the Ka‘bah made the people having weak conviction think that the Messenget (#8) was not certain of his message: for one day he was facing one direction in prayer and another day another direction! This is why Allah has said,

ash-Shanqiti on al-Bagarah (2): 19-20. 67

The fools among the people will ask, ‘What has made them change from the Qiblah they used to face?”

So Allah has made clear that the abrogation of the Qiblah was hard upon those whom Allah did not guide and strengthen his conviction in His saying, ‘Indeed it was a great test except for those whom Alléh guided.’

Another example lies in His saying,

Ue permeer ae (bed, GRATER ORCI C3 SCBA AG Soe a4 We made not the vision which We showed you and the accursed tree in the Quran but a trial for mankind. We warn and frighten them but it

increases them only in excessive insolence.

What he (4) was shown on the night of Isra’ and Mi‘raj was from amongst the miracles and wonders bestowed him, therefore it was a means of strengthening the belief of the disbelievers that he (48) was a liar because they thought that what he was informing them of could not possibly occur. Hence, this event was a means by which the misguided increased in misguidance.

68 Characteristics Of The Hypocrites

Likewise, the accursed tree in the Qur’dn, which is the tree of Zaqqum, was also a means of increasing the misguided in misguidance, for when they heard the Prophet (8) reciting,

Bi hake - 5% Indeed it is a tree that springs out of the depths

of the Blazing Fire, [as Saffat (37): 64]

they said, ‘His lie has become clear: a tree will not grow in a desert so how can one grow in the bottom of Hellfire!’

Another example lies in His saying,

We have only specified their number as a trial for

the disbelievers, [al-Muddaththir (74): 31]

When he (3) recited the verse,

There are nineteen in charge of it. {al-Muddaththir (74): 30]

some of the people said, “This is such a smal! number guarding this Fire that Muhammad (3g) thinks that we shall enter that we are capable of killing them and then taking Paradise by force!”

Allah, Exalted is He, did this as a test for them, and He has an all-encompassing wisdom behind doing so, and He is Exalted,

ash-Shangjti on al-Bagarah (2): 19-20 69

far above what the unbelievers say.

‘Thunder,’ Allah has set forth a similitude to thunder due to what the Quran contains of rebukes that ring in the ears and stir the heart, some of which are mentioned in other verses such as His sayings,