Overview (Verses 142 - 143)

Whom Do They Deceive?
 
The sūrah moves on to paint another ugly picture of the hypocrites, adding further facts that show their designs to be hollow. It reiterates God’s warnings to them: “The hypocrites seek to deceive God, the while it is He who causes them to be deceived [by themselves]. When they rise to pray, they rise reluctantly, only to be seen by people, remembering God but seldom, wavering between this and that, [true] neither to these nor to those. For him whom God lets go astray you can never find any way.” (Verses 142-143)
 
These verses again touch believing hearts, which will undoubtedly feel disgust with people who try to deceive God. A believer knows that God, limitless is He in His glory, cannot be deceived. How could that be possible when He knows the innermost secrets of people’s hearts and what is even more deeply concealed. Believers realise that a person who tries to deceive God must have within him a great measure of evil, ignorance and naivety. Hence, they are disgusted with such people and look upon them with contempt.
 
The sūrah states that while they try to deceive God, it is indeed He who causes them to be deceived. He simply allows them to travel along their erring way, without alerting them by a calamity that opens their eyes. He leaves them to go along until they fall into the abyss towards which they aim. Calamities and trials can often be an act of mercy, as they deter people from going further into error, or they alert them to what they have overlooked. Favours and affluence may also be a temptation for those who have been hardened in sin. As a result, they are left without any shock to wake them up to the realities of which they have become oblivious to. They continue in their sinning ways until they reach their most evil destination.
 
The sūrah continues to give images of the hypocrites which add to the believers’ contempt: “When they rise to pray, they rise reluctantly, only to be seen by people, remembering God but seldom.” (Verse 142) They are in no way eager to meet God as believers are, standing up in prayer, feeling close to God and deriving strength from Him. The hypocrites only rise to pray in order to be seen by people. Hence, they are very reluctant as they stand up. To them, prayer is a very hard job. It is not a means for God’s remembrance. Indeed, they remember God only rarely. They remember people and try to be seen by them. All this adds up to a horrid picture in the eyes of the believers, increasing their feelings of disgust and contempt. This inevitably widens the gulf between them and the hypocrites, weakening personal and business ties between them. This forms an important stage in the Islamic system of educating the Muslim community, leading to a complete separation between the believers and the hypocrites.
 
Further lines are added to this ugly picture of the hypocrites, now shown to be “wavering between this and that, [true] neither to these nor to those. For him whom God lets go astray you can never find any way.” (Verse 143) A wavering, vacillating position without trying to commit oneself to either the camp of the believers or that of the unbelievers excites nothing among the believers but contempt. It suggests that the position of the hypocrites is inherently weak. It is their weakness that makes them unable to take a solid position, openly declaring themselves to belong to this side or that. They are too weak to declare a commitment on the basis of conviction. As a result of this shakiness they deserve not to be helped by God’s guidance. Hence, no one is able to provide them with guidance showing them a straight way: “For him whom God lets go astray you can never find any way.” (Verse 143)

Overview (Verses 142 - 143)

Whom Do They Deceive?
 
The sūrah moves on to paint another ugly picture of the hypocrites, adding further facts that show their designs to be hollow. It reiterates God’s warnings to them: “The hypocrites seek to deceive God, the while it is He who causes them to be deceived [by themselves]. When they rise to pray, they rise reluctantly, only to be seen by people, remembering God but seldom, wavering between this and that, [true] neither to these nor to those. For him whom God lets go astray you can never find any way.” (Verses 142-143)
 
These verses again touch believing hearts, which will undoubtedly feel disgust with people who try to deceive God. A believer knows that God, limitless is He in His glory, cannot be deceived. How could that be possible when He knows the innermost secrets of people’s hearts and what is even more deeply concealed. Believers realise that a person who tries to deceive God must have within him a great measure of evil, ignorance and naivety. Hence, they are disgusted with such people and look upon them with contempt.
 
The sūrah states that while they try to deceive God, it is indeed He who causes them to be deceived. He simply allows them to travel along their erring way, without alerting them by a calamity that opens their eyes. He leaves them to go along until they fall into the abyss towards which they aim. Calamities and trials can often be an act of mercy, as they deter people from going further into error, or they alert them to what they have overlooked. Favours and affluence may also be a temptation for those who have been hardened in sin. As a result, they are left without any shock to wake them up to the realities of which they have become oblivious to. They continue in their sinning ways until they reach their most evil destination.
 
The sūrah continues to give images of the hypocrites which add to the believers’ contempt: “When they rise to pray, they rise reluctantly, only to be seen by people, remembering God but seldom.” (Verse 142) They are in no way eager to meet God as believers are, standing up in prayer, feeling close to God and deriving strength from Him. The hypocrites only rise to pray in order to be seen by people. Hence, they are very reluctant as they stand up. To them, prayer is a very hard job. It is not a means for God’s remembrance. Indeed, they remember God only rarely. They remember people and try to be seen by them. All this adds up to a horrid picture in the eyes of the believers, increasing their feelings of disgust and contempt. This inevitably widens the gulf between them and the hypocrites, weakening personal and business ties between them. This forms an important stage in the Islamic system of educating the Muslim community, leading to a complete separation between the believers and the hypocrites.
 
Further lines are added to this ugly picture of the hypocrites, now shown to be “wavering between this and that, [true] neither to these nor to those. For him whom God lets go astray you can never find any way.” (Verse 143) A wavering, vacillating position without trying to commit oneself to either the camp of the believers or that of the unbelievers excites nothing among the believers but contempt. It suggests that the position of the hypocrites is inherently weak. It is their weakness that makes them unable to take a solid position, openly declaring themselves to belong to this side or that. They are too weak to declare a commitment on the basis of conviction. As a result of this shakiness they deserve not to be helped by God’s guidance. Hence, no one is able to provide them with guidance showing them a straight way: “For him whom God lets go astray you can never find any way.” (Verse 143)