أَلَم تَرَ إِلَى الَّذينَ نُهوا عَنِ النَّجوىٰ ثُمَّ يَعودونَ لِما نُهوا عَنهُ وَيَتَناجَونَ بِالإِثمِ وَالعُدوانِ وَمَعصِيَتِ الرَّسولِ وَإِذا جاءوكَ حَيَّوكَ بِما لَم يُحَيِّكَ بِهِ اللَّهُ وَيَقولونَ في أَنفُسِهِم لَولا يُعَذِّبُنَا اللَّهُ بِما نَقولُ ۚ حَسبُهُم جَهَنَّمُ يَصلَونَها ۖ فَبِئسَ المَصيرُ
Have you not regarded those who were forbidden from secret talks but again resumed what they had been forbidden from, and hold secret talks [imbued] with sin and transgression and disobedience to the Apostle? And when they come to you they greet you with that with which Allah did not greet you, and they say to themselves: ‘Why does not Allah punish us for what we say?!’ Let hell suffice them: they shall enter it; and it is an evil destination!
EXEGESIS
The noun ithm occurs many times in the Quran. It means sin, crime. It is suggested to refer to a deed which has an evil effect but whose evil effect does not extend beyond the perpetrator of the deed, such as drinking intoxicants, gambling, and the abandoning of the ritual prayers. These are from the deeds that relate to God’s rights on man.
The noun ʿudwān means aggression, transgression. It is suggested that ʿudwān refers to a deed whose effect extends beyond the perpetrator and onto others; deeds by which mankind is negatively affected and harmed. These are disobedient deeds that relate to the rights of man on man, such as the engagement by the hypocrites and Jews with secret conversations which caused anxiety, suspicion, and trepidation among the Muslims.
Both ithm and ʿudwān fall within the purview of God’s disobedience.
The noun maʿṣiyah means disobedience. This noun occurs in this verse as part of a possessive construct phrase, which is maʿṣiyat al-rasūl (disobedience of the Messenger). It therefore refers to disobeying and opposing the Prophet in his capacity as a leader. An example of such disobedience of the Messenger in this case is the Prophet’s prohibition to the hypocrites and the Jews from engaging in secret conversations and counsels, which the latter refused to heed and obey.
This verse contains two verbs from the root letters ḥ-y-y. These are the plural perfect tense verb ḥayyaw in reference to those who were forbidden to engage in secret conversations and who came to the Prophet and greeted him in unpleasant terms, and the singular negative imperfect tense verb lam yuḥayyi which is in reference to God. Thus ḥayyaw means they greet, while the latter negative verb lam yuḥayyi means He did not greet. The relevant verbal noun is taḥiyyah which means greeting, salutation, wishing for the safety and life of the one greeted. It is derived from the noun ḥayāt, meaning life as opposed to death, the state of being alive.
EXPOSITION
The literary context of these verses indicates that there was a hostile group of people who had established a secret counsel among themselves against the Prophet and the believers. They engaged in secret conversations among themselves in favour of sin (ithm), transgression (ʿudwān), and disobedience to the Apostle (maʿṣiyat al-rasūl). They used to persist in that, refusing to stop when asked to, and consequently these verses were revealed.
The hypocrites and the Jews used to engage in a lot of secret conversations between themselves. It is suggested that they did this for two reasons; one was to portray the image of being a cohesive, united bloc so that it would induce fear in the hearts of the Muslims, who would consequently think twice and act cautiously before engaging in reprisals against the bloc in case anything happened from the latter’s part that raised suspicions about their loyalty, and the second was to cause anxiety and sadness to the believers so that the latter may become aggrieved and hurt, as well as to spread fear and alarm among them, and to weaken their resolve.
The Muslims at that time were threatened from different sides. A section of the Muslims had, and continued to engage, in military expeditions at the Prophet’s behest against their adversaries and so the secret conversations of the hypocrites and the Jews used to evoke anxiety, fear, and apprehension among the Muslims in Medina who feared the worst for their compatriots sent on expeditions in that they had been defeated and/or that the enemies had arrived to the outskirts of Medina. Thus, Ibn Abbas is attributed to have said: ‘Have you not regarded those who were forbidden from secret talks … descended with respect to the Jews and the hypocrites in that they used to engage in secret conversations between themselves to the exclusion of the believers. They would look at the believers and then wink at each other with their eyes. So when the believers would witness their secret conversations they would conclude that news of the death, misfortune, or defeat of their relatives and co-believers had reached them. These were those who had left for military expeditions. This would thus render them anxious and sad. When this behaviour continued for a long time, the believers complained to the Messenger of God (s) who ordered them not to engage in secret conversations to the exclusion of the Muslims, however they disobeyed and continued with their offensive secret conversations whereupon this part of the verse was revealed.’
Have you not regarded means: Do you not know? The address is to the Prophet but the intended is the entirety of the Muslim community, while the next part which reads Have you not regarded those who were forbidden from secret talks but again resumed what they had been forbidden from consists of blame, rebuke, and censure against the hypocrites and the Jews in absentia, and in a tone of surprise where the verse addresses the Prophet rather than addressing them directly, refusing to address them directly, in order to exaggerate the contemptible and debased nature of their deed, and to distance them from the honour of a direct address, just as one were to say to one’s companion whilst intending another person: ‘Have you not seen this vile, disobedient person?’ Hence the meaning obtained is: Do you not regard those who were forbidden from engaging in secret conversations and counsels among themselves regarding what saddens and grieves the believers? And yet they resume what they were prohibited from, returning to it again and again!
The plural imperfect tense verb yaʿūdūna (they all resume) which occurs in this verse indicates sustained continuity of this misdeed on the part of this hostile group consisting of the hypocrites and the Jews since the imperfect tense stresses unfinished action or an ongoing activity, and therefore its continuity, unlike a perfect tense verb which refers to a deed that has finished and come to an end. The same import applies to the plural imperfect tense verb yatanājawna (they hold secret counsels). Thereafter, the following part of this verse, and hold secret talks [imbued] with sin and transgression and disobedience to the Apostle, clarifies and justifies why they were forbidden secret counsels and subjected to blame and censure: because their secret counsels and whispered conversations consisted of three types of misdeeds to which they returned repeatedly: sin, transgression, and disobedience to the Apostle.
And when they come to you they greet you with that with which Allah did not greet you: this refers to the misbehaviour of the hypocrites and the Jews with the Prophet. God greeted the Prophet with the greetings of peace (33:56, 27:59) and had laid it down as a greeting for him from Himself, a pure and blessed greeting; however, the hypocrites and the Jews greeted him with other than the laid down formula. They used to greet the Messenger of God with al-sāmu ʿalayka, intending to insult and curse him by that. The term al-sām means death or sickness, and they would delude others into thinking that they were actually saying al-salāmu ʿalayka meaning peace be on you. This is while the Prophet is attributed to respond with ‘and on you [too]’ (wa ʿalayka), having recognised their mischief.
It is also suggested that the greeting means you shall (soon) get bored, fed up, and tired (satasʾamūna/tamlūna) of your religion and abandon it. In this case the word al-sām is understood to be equivalent to al-saʾm meaning boredom, tediousness, and weariness. The hypocrites are also said to have greeted him purposely with ‘good morning’ (anʿama ṣabāḥan) and ‘good evening’ (anʿama masāʾan), which were pagan pre-Islamic modes of greeting. This means that in spite of apparently having submitted to the Muslim faith, the hypocrites’ choice of greeting demonstrated their stubborn refusal to let go of their past lifestyle and to adopt the new divine teachings, thereby laying bare their hypocrisy. When they would greet the Prophet thus, he would say: ‘God has exchanged for us the pre-Islamic greeting with the best of the greetings of those worthy of paradise, which is al-salāmu ʿalaykum.’
And they say to themselves: ‘Why does not Allah punish us for what we say?!’ The apparent meaning of this is that what the hypocrites and the Jews say arrogantly, which was Why does not Allah punish us for what we say was from the speech of their souls and hearts, which they concealed in their hearts and which incited them to rebellion and sarcasm. Thus, the meaning obtained is: the hypocrites and the Jews greet you with what God has not greeted you, and they ask their hearts for the proof of their speech, which is – why does God not punish us for it – in that it means you are not a messenger from God for had you been His messenger, He would have certainly punished us for our insolent, audacious, and bold utterance against His prophet, and He would have certainly fulfilled what he (Muhammad) invoked against us when he responded with ‘and on you too’, which was an invocation of death on us! Such thoughts being entertained by the hypocrites in their hearts meant their denial of the messengership of the Prophet and their denial of God’s omniscience, while such thoughts on the part of the Jews denoted their hostility.
God then refutes their aspersion by saying Let hell suffice them: they shall enter it; and it is an evil destination, meaning: evil is their ultimate outcome (which is the fire) due to what it contains of different types of punishments, meaning: they are surely mistaken in assuming that they will not be punished, for they shall surely be punished with what God has prepared for them of punishment, which is hell, which would be their ultimate outcome. This would be sufficient for them as punishment, for although God may delay punishment for reprobates, He does not forget or neglect their crime, so let the reprobates not seek to make haste regarding it for it is an outcome promised, and it is an evnd it is anoutcome promisedgarding ither, in reality itccession of blessings one after the other in favour of a tyrantil outcome, while the Day of Judgement is not far off.
Many people insist that it is imperative for God to punish transgression, iniquity, and tyranny immediately and that He should not delay it. This is while God explains the reason for His delay in discharging punishment immediately, which is that the succession of blessings one after the other, in favour of a tyrant, may apparently suggest the tyrant enjoying well-being and prosperity, however, in reality it is to the tyrant’s detriment. This is because after God has completed granting the tyrant His boons, He shall seize him from whence he does not anticipate: As for those who deny Our signs, We will draw them imperceptibly [into ruin], whence they do not know. And I will grant them respite, for My devising is indeed sure (7:182-183).
INSIGHTS FROM HADITH
- Imam al-Bāqir (a) relates: ‘A Jew came in to see the Messenger of God (s) while ʿĀʾishah was with him. He greeted the Messenger of God with al-sāmu ʿalaykum. The Messenger of God (s) replied to him with ʿalaykum (on you [too])! Then a second Jew came in and greeted the Messenger likewise and the Messenger responded as before, replying to him as he had replied to his compatriot. Thereafter a third Jew came in and greeted the Messenger as had the first two and the Messenger replied to him as he had replied to his compatriots. On seeing this behaviour from the Jews, ʿĀʾishah got angry and said to them: “May death (sām), fury (ghaḍab), and damnation (laʿnah) be on you all, you community of Jews, brothers of apes and swine!” At this the Messenger of God (s) said to her: “ʿĀʾishah! If obscenity were to take a form, it would take the form of evil. Gentleness was not placed on anything save that it adorned it while it was not taken away from it ever save that it disgraced it.” She protested: “Messenger of God (s), did you not hear their speech [which was] al-sāmu ʿalaykum?” He replied: “I did, but did you not hear me reply to them? I said ʿalaykum. Thus when a Muslim greets you then respond with salāmun ʿalaykum (peace be on you), and when a disbeliever greets you, say ʿalayka (on you).”’
- ʿĀʾishah related: ‘A group of Jews came in to see the Messenger of God (s). They greeted him with the words al-sāmu ʿalayka Abū al-Qāsim.’ ʿĀʾishah said she responded with: ‘May death (sām) and damnation (laʿnah) be on you all,’ whereupon the Messenger said: ‘Surely God does not like obscenity and bad language!’ ʿĀʾishah said she protested: ‘Did you not hear them say al-sāmu ʿalayka?’ The Messenger of God (s) said: ‘Yet did you not hear what I said [which was] wa ʿalaykum?’ She said: ‘And then God revealed And when they come to you they greet you with that with which Allah never greeted you …’
- Ibn Abbas said regarding this verse: ‘The hypocrites used to greet the Messenger of God (s) with sāmu ʿalayka whereupon this verse was revealed.’
- Imam Ali (a) said: ‘Indeed, if God gives respite to the oppressor, yet His [ultimate] seizure [of the oppressor] will never be lost or forgotten, for He lies in wait for him on the path he treads and at the place where throats suffocate.’
REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE
Early Quran scholars disagreed regarding the referent of verse 7-10, especially verses 8 and 10. Some thought that these verses referred to the Jews, others opined that they referred to the hypocrites, while yet others thought they referred to both the Jews and the hypocrites together. Subsequent Quran scholars continued to prefer one of these three positions. So, for example, Mujāhid is attributed to have said: ‘The Prophet had forbidden the Jews from secret counsels between themselves because they would secretly converse solely to offend and cause anxiety to the believers,’ while Qatādah is attributed to have said: ‘The hypocrites used to hold secret counsels between themselves which would irritate and anger the believers,’ and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Zayd is attributed to have said: ‘They [the hypocrites] used to mislead the Muslims into believing that a misadventure had befallen the Muslims in the course of a military campaign or something similar.’ On the other hand, al-Farrāʾ is attributed to have said: ‘This verse descended in respect of the hypocrites and the Jews. They were forbidden to engage in secret conversations [between themselves] when they gathered in one place with the Muslims,’ an opinion also attributed to Ibn Abbas. These opinions relate to the first half of verse 8 yet the same debate exists with regards to the second half of it, as observed in the Exposition, in addition to which the verse itself indicates that the same group of people is meant throughout.
However, it is not improbable that these verses refer to both the hypocrites and the Jews together. Both groups existed in Medina, and while the hypocrites were obviously hostile to the Prophet and the Muslims, a sizeable section of the Jews were also very hostile to the Prophet and the Muslims as is evident from a study of the history of the Prophet’s time in Medina, especially the incidents that led to the expulsion of three prominent Jewish tribes from Medina. These were the Banī Qaynuqāʿ (who were expelled very soon after the Battle of Badr), Banī al-Naḍīr (who were expelled during the fourth year ah), and the Banī Qurayẓah (who were expelled during the fifth year ah). In addition, a study of the Prophet’s time in Medina shows that the hypocrites and the hostile Jews were strongly allied and in league with each other, cooperating closely with each other against the Muslims as well as cooperating with the Muslims’ external opponents. Thus, when the hostile Jewish tribe of Banī Qaynuqāʿ was to be expelled from Medina, ʿAbd-Allāh ibn Ubayy, the leader of the Medinan hypocrites, pleaded with the Prophet in their favour due to the alliance he had with them, and when the Prophet turned away from him, he thrust his hand into the collar of the Prophet’s robe in his insistence; an act which greatly angered and annoyed the Prophet. In contrast, ʿUbādah ibn al-Ṣāmit, who had a similar alliance with the Banī Qaynuqāʿ Jews, renounced them in favour of God and His Prophet.
When the Banī al-Naḍīr Jews proved treacherous and the Prophet laid siege to their forts, subsequently expelling them from Medina, the hypocrites of Medina sent a message to them telling them to stand firm, promising to help them militarily even though ultimately no such help materialised from them. This treachery of the hypocrites in respect of the Banī al-Naḍīr Jews is mentioned in 59:11-17. During the Battle of the Trench, which was instigated by the Meccan Quraysh, their Bedouin allies, and the Banī al-Naḍīr Jews, when Ḥuyayy ibn Akhṭab of the Banī al-Naḍīr attempted to convince Kaʿb ibn Asad – the chief of the Banī Qurayẓah tribe in Medina – to break his tribe’s pact with the Prophet and to ally with the invading force, it was some of the hypocrites who confirmed Ḥuyayy ibn Akhṭab’s assertions regarding the strength of the invading force and the latter’s determination to extirpate the Prophet and the Muslims once and for all. Furthermore, Ibn Isḥāq, the author of the early biography of Prophet Muhammad (s), gives a list of Jewish rabbis who accepted Islam hypocritically, and these and other hypocrites used to gather in the Prophet’s mosque and scoff at the Muslim faith. One day, the Prophet saw the hypocrites in his mosque, huddled together, talking among themselves in lowered voices. He had them ordered out of the mosque. Consequently, they were thrown out violently by the Muslims who were present there. All these incidents show a close alliance between the hypocrites and a hostile segment of the Medinan Jews, which is further corroborated by verses 14-22.
Finally, some Quran commentators have understood and they say to themselves differently to the meaning preferred earlier under Exposition. They have understood it to mean: they say among themselves in conversation with each other, rather than saying it within their hearts.
[1] Arabic-English Dictionary of Quranic Usage, p. 12.
[2] Mizan, 19/186; Munyah, 28/58, 63.
[3] Arabic-English Dictionary of Quranic Usage, p. 607.
[4] Mizan, 19/186; Munyah, 28/58, 64.
[5] Munyah, 28/64.
[6] Mizan, 19/186.
[7] Arabic-English Dictionary of Quranic Usage, p. 626.
[8] Mizan, 19/186.
[9] Arabic-English Dictionary of Quranic Usage, p. 247.
[10] Amthal, 18/120.
[11] Arabic-English Dictionary of Quranic Usage, p. 249.
[12] Amthal, 18/120.
[13] Amthal, 18/120.
[14] Arabic-English Dictionary of Quranic Usage, p. 249.
[15] Mizan, 19/185; Tabrisi, 9/377.
[16] Tabrisi, 9/375, 377; Zamakhshari, 4/491; Safi, 5/146.
[17] Tabrisi, 9/375, 377; Zamakhshari, 4/491; Safi, 5/146.
[18] Munyah, 28/58-59.
[19] Munyah, 28/58-59.
[20] Munyah, 28/58-59.
[21] Tabrisi, 9/375; Zamakhshari, 4/491; Safi, 5/146.
[22] Tibyan, 9/548.
[23] Mizan, 19/185; Kashif, 7/269; Munyah, 28/63.
[24] Kashif, 7/269.
[25] Mizan, 19/186; Munyah, 28/63.
[26] Amthal, 18/120.
[27] Mizan, 19/186; Razi, 29/491.
[28] Suyuti, 6/184.
[29] Mizan, 19/186; Kashif, 7/269; Tabrisi, 9/377; Razi, 29/491; Tibyan, 9/549.
[30] Mizan, 19/186; Kashif, 7/269; Tabrisi, 9/377; Razi, 29/491; Tibyan, 9/549.
[31] Tabrisi, 9/377; Kashif, 7/269; Razi, 29/491; Tibyan, 9/549; Suyuti, 6/184.
[32] Tibyan, 9/550; Tabrisi, 9/377.
[33] Tibyan, 9/550.
[34] Qummi, 2/355; Nur, 5/261; Safi, 5/146.
[35] Qummi, 2/355; Nur, 5/261; Makārim Shīrāzī writes that although it is possible that the greeting condemned in verse 8 refers to this specific pre-Islamic greeting of ‘good morning’ (anʿama ṣabāḥan) and ‘good evening’ (anʿama masāʾan), which were established modes of pre-Islamic greetings, however this greeting’s prohibition is not established, and therefore the verse’s reference to it is less than convincing (Amthal, 18/121).
[36] Mizan, 19/187; Tibyan, 9/549; Kashif, 7/269; Tabrisi, 9/377; Razi, 29/491.
[37] Tabrisi, 9/377; Munyah, 28/65.
[38] Amthal, 18/121.
[39] Tibyan, 9/549; Tabrisi, 9/377.
[40] Tibyan, 9/549; Mizan, 19/187; Tabrisi, 9/377.
[41] Munyah, 28/65.
[42] Burhan, 5/314-315.
[43] Suyuti, 6/184.
[44] Suyuti, 6/184.
[45] Nahj, sermon 97.
[46] Tibyan, 9/548.
[47] Tibyan, 9/548.
[48] Tibyan, 9/548.
[49] The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah, pp. 363-364.
[50] The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah, pp. 363-364.
[51] The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah, pp. 437, 246.
[52] Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources, p. 222.
[53] The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah, p. 246.
[54] The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah, p. 246.