Transliteration:( Wa izaa ra aytahum tu'jibuka ajsaamuhum wa iny yaqooloo tasma' liqawlihim ka'annahum khushubum musannadah; yahsaboona kulla saihatin 'alaihim; humul 'aduwwu fahzarhum; qaatalahumul laahu annaa yu'fakoon )
10. This means Oh believers, these hypocrites. are so clean in appearance and sharp in speech that you will so easily fall for their outer behaviour. The outer appearance of Abdullah ibn Ubay and his friends and their speech were excellent. Today too, it can be seen that false people are very shrewd.
11. Like the beautiful wooden beams. They are pretty to look at, but they are lifeless and ignorant. Similarly, these people, too, are excellent in outer appearance and speech, but totally bereft of faith and like the beams, exist on the support of others.
12. If any believer makes an announcement, they think that perhaps it is regarding their hypocrisy. Perhaps, some verse may have been revealed concerning us. In short, this causes uneasiness in their hearts.
13. Verbally, they are friends, but inwardly they are your enemies. They pass information about the believers to the infidels. They are spies of the infidels and traitors of religion and people.
14. Do not be deceived by their glibness, their recitation of Kalimah and their recitation of the Holy Qur'aan. All that glitters is not gold. Presently, all enemies of Islam are walking with the Holy Qur'aan..
15. This expression, among the noble Arabs, was spoken to express anger. Its purpose is not to curse. Allah Almighty is pure from offering dua and curses.
The tafsir of Surah Munafiqun verse 4 by Ibn Kathir is unavailable here.
Please refer to Surah Munafiqun ayat 1 which provides the complete commentary from verse 1 through 4.
(63:4) When you look at them, their persons are pleasing, and when they speak, you pay heed to what they say.[5] But in truth they are (merely) beams of timber propped-up (against a wall).[6] They consider every shout they hear to be directed against them.[7] They are your utter enemies;[8] guard against them.[9] May Allah do away with them![10] How are they being turned away (from the Truth)?[11]
5. Abdullah bin Abbas has stated that Abdullah bin Ubayy was a strongly built, healthy, handsome and smoothtongued person, and the same was the case with most of his companions. They were all the nobles of Al-Madinah. When they came to sit in the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) assembly, they would sit reclining on cushions against the walls and would talk agreeably and convincingly. From their outward appearance and manner of speech no one could imagine that those honorable people of the city would be so wretched and degraded in their character.
6. That is, those who sit reclining on cushions against the walls, are not but but pieces of timber. Comparing them to timber is meant to imply that they are devoid of the moral sense which is the essence of humanity. Then by comparing them to blocks of timber propped up against the wall, it has also been pointed out that they are absolutely worthless, for the timber would be useful only when it has been utilized in making of a ceiling, or a door frame, or a piece of furniture. A block of timber that has just been placed against a wall serves no useful purpose at all.
7. This brief sentence portrays the state of their guilty conscience. Since they fully knew what game of hypocrisy they were playing under the screen of their superficial faith, they always remained in a state of alarm, thinking as to when the secret of their treason might be exposed, or the believers might feel disgusted with their evil deeds and machinations and take them to task for them. If ever a cry was raised anywhere in the city, or a noise was heard; they immediately grew alarmed and thought it was directed against themselves.
8. In other words, these hidden enemies are more dangerous than the open enemies.
9. That is, do not be deceived by their outward appearances. Beware of them, for they can deceive you at any moment.
10. This is not a curse but a declaration of the verdict about them by Allah that they have become worthy of His punishment and He will certainly inflict His punishment on them. It is also possible that Allah may not have used these words in their literal sense but in the meaning of a curse and condemnation according to Arabic idiom.
11. It has not been pointed out as to who perverts them from belief to hypocrisy. This by itself makes it clear that there is not one but many factors responsible for their perversion. There is Satan, there are their evil friends, and there are their own selfish motives. Someone’s wife or children become his motive, and someone is driven to perversion by the evil ones in his society, or by jealousy, spite and pride.
[1690]- i.e., bodies with empty minds and empty hearts.
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