اتَّخَذوا أَيمانَهُم جُنَّةً فَصَدّوا عَن سَبيلِ اللَّهِ فَلَهُم عَذابٌ مُهينٌ

They make a shield of their oaths and bar [people] from the way of Allah; so there is a humiliating punishment for them.

EXEGESIS

Aymān is the plural of yamīn^{‎[1]Mizan, 19/192; Arabic-English Dictionary of Quranic Usage, p. 1059.} and may mean right hand sides as in 7:17,^{‎[2]Arabic-English Dictionary of Quranic Usage, p. 1059.} oaths^{‎[3]Mizan, 19/192; Arabic-English Dictionary of Quranic Usage, p. 1059.} as in 5:89 and in this verse,^{‎[4]Mizan, 19/192.} and pacts and covenants as in 16:91.^{‎[5]Arabic-English Dictionary of Quranic Usage, p. 1059.}

The term junnah means a cover by which harm and injury is avoided such as a shield,^{‎[6]Mizan, 19/192; Tabrisi, 9/382; Arabic-English Dictionary of Quranic Usage, p. 177.} a protection.^{‎[7]Arabic-English Dictionary of Quranic Usage, p. 177.}

The term ṣaddū (ʿan) is a plural perfect tense verb. It means to cause someone to turn away (from) something, or to hinder and bar someone from something. Here it occurs in reference to the hypocrites who barred people from God’s path. Its verbal noun is ṣadd, meaning prevention, hindering, barring, impeding.^{‎[8]Arabic-English Dictionary of Quranic Usage, p. 514.}

The term muhīn is an adjective for the noun ʿadhāb (punishment), qualifying it, and it occurs in the form of the active participle.^{‎[9]Mizan, 19/192.} It is derived from the verbal noun ihānah,^{‎[10]Mizan, 19/192.} meaning humiliation, debasement, dishonour,^{‎[11]Mizan, 19/192.} contempt, and scorn.^{‎[12]Tibyan, 9/554.} Its opposite is ikrām.^{‎[13]Tibyan, 9/554.} Therefore, the phrase ʿadhābun muhīn means humiliating, disgraceful punishment.

EXPOSITION

This verse means that the hypocrites render their oaths as a cover, using it to rebut any accusation and suspicion from themselves whenever something surfaces from their part which startles the believers and fills them with doubt, suspicion, and misgiving regarding them,^{‎[14]Tibyan, 9/554; Mizan, 19/192; Tabrisi, 9/382.} and which could lead the believers to attack them. They use the trust, so deceptively earned, to bar the believers and others from the faith of Islam by means of doubts, distortions, discouragements, and other inhibitory factors, while themselves being far away from it.^{‎[15]Tibyan, 9/554; Mizan, 19/192.} This exact same description for the hypocrites occurs in 63:2. For that, theirs will be a humiliating and disgraceful punishment.^{‎[16]Tibyan, 9/554; Mizan, 19/192.} Thus the contents of this verse is yet another additional example of the evil they had been doing (verse 15).

The Quran warns against using oaths to harm or deceive, as in 16:94, 2:224, 5:53, 5:89, 6:109, 9:13, 16:38, 16:91-92, 16:94, 24:53, and 35:42, and praises those who keep their oaths, as in 3:77 and 38:44.

REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE

Verses 15 and 16 both mention punishment for the same group of people, who are the hypocrites. Verse 15 mentions a severe punishment for them, while verse 16 mentions a humiliating punishment for them. This repetition has led some to suggest that the first mention pertains to their punishment in this world^{‎[17]Amthal, 18/141.} or in the grave,^{‎[18]Razi, 29/498; Daqaiq, 13/144, Amthal, 18/141.} while the second mention pertains to their punishment in hell.^{‎[19]Razi, 29/498; Daqaiq, 13/144.} However, it is also suggested that both verses are simply describing the punishments in the hereafter for the hypocrites but by means of two different descriptions, similar to 16:88.^{‎[20]Razi, 29/498; Daqaiq, 13/144; Amthal, 18/141.}

[1] Mizan, 19/192; Arabic-English Dictionary of Quranic Usage, p. 1059.
[2] Arabic-English Dictionary of Quranic Usage, p. 1059.
[3] Mizan, 19/192; Arabic-English Dictionary of Quranic Usage, p. 1059.
[4] Mizan, 19/192.
[5] Arabic-English Dictionary of Quranic Usage, p. 1059.
[6] Mizan, 19/192; Tabrisi, 9/382; Arabic-English Dictionary of Quranic Usage, p. 177.
[7] Arabic-English Dictionary of Quranic Usage, p. 177.
[8] Arabic-English Dictionary of Quranic Usage, p. 514.
[9] Mizan, 19/192.
[10] Mizan, 19/192.
[11] Mizan, 19/192.
[12] Tibyan, 9/554.
[13] Tibyan, 9/554.
[14] Tibyan, 9/554; Mizan, 19/192; Tabrisi, 9/382.
[15] Tibyan, 9/554; Mizan, 19/192.
[16] Tibyan, 9/554; Mizan, 19/192.
[17] Amthal, 18/141.
[18] Razi, 29/498; Daqaiq, 13/144, Amthal, 18/141.
[19] Razi, 29/498; Daqaiq, 13/144.
[20] Razi, 29/498; Daqaiq, 13/144; Amthal, 18/141.