Overview (Verses 67 - 70)

The Trodden Path of Hypocrisy

So far, the sūrah has given us a number of examples of what the hypocrites said and did, as well as the way their concepts and views are formulated. Now it moves on to describe their true nature and their distinctive qualities which set them as a class apart from true believers. It also defines the punishment awaiting all hypocrites: “The hypocrites, both men and women, are all of a kind. They enjoin what is wrong and forbid what is right, and tighten their fists. They have forgotten God and so He has chosen to forget them. Surely the hypocrites are the transgressors. God has promised the hypocrites, both men and women, and the unbelievers the fire of hell, where they shall abide. It shall be sufficient for them. God has rejected them, and theirs is a lasting torment.” (Verses 67-68)

So, all the hypocrites have the same nature and the same characteristics, regardless of the time and the place where they are found. Their actual actions and statements may differ but they all share the same essence and go back to the same roots. They all have the same essential characteristics: wickedness at heart, ill intentions towards others, and evil scheming against them, because they feel themselves to be too weak and cowardly to enter into an open confrontation, etc. Their behaviour is similarly wicked: they urge others to do what they know to be wrong, and discourage them from doing what is right. They are also tight-fisted with their money. They will not give financial support to any good cause except when they need to do so in order to give a false impression about themselves.

At the same time, they deride those who do right and belittle the committing of wrong deeds. But in all that, they conceal their motives and notions. Whatever they say about right and wrong, they say it in whispers, or sly remarks, ridiculing people and slandering them, because they have no courage to confront anyone with their true convictions. Only when they feel secure do they come out with what is truly in their hearts.

“They have forgotten God,” (Verse 67) so they only consider their own interests and weigh up other people’s reactions. They only fear those who are powerful among fellow human beings. With such, they are humble and submissive. They try their best to please them and to carry favour with them. As a result, God “has chosen to forget them.” (Verse 67) He gives them no weight and no consideration. Such indeed is their situation in this life, and so it is in the life to come. People only give due importance to those who are strong, ready to speak up and make their position clear, defending their beliefs and trying to impress others with their ideas, and who fight or make peace in open daylight. Such people pay little attention to human beings in order to give all importance to the Lord of mankind. As they take their position in support of the truth, they fear no one. Such people are given their due respect by others.

“Surely the hypocrites are the transgressors.” (Verse 67) They have abandoned the path of faith, and chosen the path of error. Hence God promises them the same fate as that He promised the unbelievers. That is indeed a sorrowful destiny: “God has promised the hypocrites, both men and women, and the unbelievers the fire of hell, where they shall abide. It shall be sufficient for them.” (Verse 68) It is a fitting recompense for their crimes. There is no need for any other punishment. Nevertheless, they are denied access to God’s mercy: “God has rejected them, and theirs is a lasting torment.” (Verse 68)

Such a wicked nature is not something new; it has its parallels and forerunners in history. Previous communities had their own cases of hypocrisy. Those hypocrites of old faced a doom which befitted their offences, after they had their apportioned share of what this earthly life had to offer. Despite the fact that those were even more powerful than the hypocrite Arabs and possessed greater wealth and had more numerous children, nothing of all this was of any use to them when God inflicted His punishment on them.

Hence the Qur’ān reminds those Arabs of what happened to those communities before them, and warns them that as they follow the same route, they are likely to face the same outcome. If heeded, such warnings should be enough to guide them to follow the message of truth: “Yours is just like the case of those before you. They were more powerful than you and had greater wealth and more children. They enjoyed their share. And you have been enjoying your share, just as those who preceded you enjoyed their share; and you have been indulging in idle talk just like they did. Their works have come to nothing in this world and shall come to nothing in the life to come. They are indeed the losers.” (Verse 69)

They are deluded by the fact that they have power, wealth and children. Hence they adopt such an attitude. However, those who recognize the greatest power of God have no such delusions about any earthly or material power. They only fear the One who has the greatest power, and, therefore, they use their own power in demonstrating their obedience to Him and ensuring that His word reigns supreme. Their wealth and children do not give them any false sense of power, because they realize that it is God who has given them these. They are keen to show their gratitude to Him and to use what He has given them in what pleases Him. It is only those who have taken themselves away from the source of real power that are ungrateful and arrogant. Their style of life is that of eating and enjoyment, just like animals.

“Their works have come to nothing in this world and shall come to nothing in the life to come.” (Verse 69) Indeed whatever they do is worthless, because it is the same as a plant which has no roots: it cannot stand, grow or blossom. “They are indeed the losers.” (Verse 69) They have ended with complete loss with nothing left for them.

The sūrah now makes a general address, wondering at those who follow in the footsteps of those communities which suffered God’s punishment without learning the lesson: “Have they not heard the histories of those who preceded them, such as Noah’s people, `Ād and Thamūd, and Abraham’s people, and the folk of Madyan and the ruined cities? Their messengers came to them with clear evidence of the truth. It was not God who wronged them; it was they who wronged themselves.” (Verse 70)

The sūrah then puts a question with regard to those who just seek enjoyment and tread the path of destroyed nations: “Have they not heard the histories of those who preceded them?” There were many of them who suffered painful doom. There were first the people of Noah, destroyed by the great flood; and the people of `Ād, victims of a furious wind storm, and the people of Thamūd, overwhelmed by a stunning blast. There were also the people of Abraham whose despotic ruler was destroyed, while Abraham himself was saved by God. The folk of Madyan suffered the violent quake and were suffocated, and the people of Lot had their cities ruined. Now have these latter day hypocrites not heard the histories of those communities to whom “their messengers came to them with clear evidence of the truth.” (Verse 70) But they choose to deny such clear evidence and follow the path of error instead. Hence God punished them for what they did: “It was not God who wronged them; it was they who wronged themselves.” (Verse 70)

Yet the lessons of the past benefit only those who open their hearts and minds for the contemplation of the working of the laws God has set in operation. These laws make allowances for no one, regardless of their position. Many of those whom God tests with power and affluence choose to overlook what happened to those before them. So they are doomed when God’s law applies to them, and God takes them with a mighty hand. It is often the case that those given power and wealth are blinded to realities. Only those who serve God sincerely are spared such a blinding attitude which spells a miserable doom.