Surah An-Nur: Verses 51–54

Know that when the Almighty recounted the saying and actions of the hypocrites, He followed it by mentioning what they ought to have done and the path believers should follow. Thus, He said: {Indeed, the saying of the believers} (51). In this, there are several issues:

Al-Hasan read {قول المؤمنين} (the saying of the believers) with the nominative case (raising the noun). The accusative case (making it the predicate of kāna) is stronger because the first of the two nouns connected to kāna is usually the one most definite. {أن يقولوا} (that they say) is more definite because it cannot be rendered indefinite, unlike {قول المؤمنين}.

The meaning of {إنما كان قول المؤمنين} is that this must be their saying and their manner when they are called to the judgment of God's Book and His Messenger: they should say, "We hear and we obey." Their coming to him and their submission must be one of hearing and obedience.

The meaning of {سمعنا} (We heard) is "We responded," similar to the saying of the Muslims: Samiʿa Allāhu liman ḥamidah (May God listen to the one who praises Him), meaning He accepted and responded.

Then He said: {ومن يطع الله ورسوله} (And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger)—meaning in what displeases them and what pleases them—{ويخش الله} (and fears Allah) regarding sins committed in the past, {ويتقه} (and is mindful of Him) concerning the remainder of his life, {فأولئك هم المفلحون} (then those, they are the successful ones). This verse, despite its brevity, encompasses everything that believers ought to do.

Regarding His saying: {وأقسموا بالله جهد أيمانهم لئن أمرتهم ليخرجن} (And they swore by Allah with their most solemn oaths that if you commanded them, they would surely leave) [53]. Muqātil said: Whoever swears by Allah has exerted the utmost effort in the oath.

When Allah made clear the hypocrites' aversion to the Messenger's judgment, they said, "By Allah, if you commanded us to leave our homes and our wealth and our women, we would surely leave, and if you commanded us to fight (Jihad), we would fight."

Then, the Almighty commanded His Messenger to forbid them from this oath by saying: {قل لا تقسموا} (Say, "Do not swear"). If their oath were as it should be, forbidding it would not be permissible, because one who swears to uphold righteousness and duty should not be forbidden from it. Since this prohibition is established, it proves that their oath stemmed from their hypocrisy, and their inner reality contradicted their outward appearance. Whoever intends treachery, not fulfillment, his oath can only be reprehensible.

As for His saying: {طاعة معروفة} (obedience that is known/good) [54]. This is either the predicate of an omitted subject (i.e., "What is required of you is obedience that is known, not false oaths"), or it is the subject with an omitted predicate (i.e., "Obedience that is known is better than your oaths in which you are not truthful"). Another view is that it means: "Abandon the oath and do not be deceived by it; adhere to obedience that is known."

Al-Yazidi recited {طاعة معروفة} in the accusative case, meaning: "Obey with an obedience [to Allah]." {إن الله خبير بما تعملون} (Indeed, Allah is Acquainted with what you do) means He is All-Seeing; nothing of your secrets is hidden from Him, and He will certainly expose you and recompense you for your hypocrisy.

As for His saying: {قل أطيعوا الله وأطيعوا الرسول فإن تولوا فإنما عليه ما حمل وعليكم ما حملتم} (Say, "Obey Allah and obey the Messenger. But if you turn away, then upon him [the Messenger] is only what he was charged with, and upon you is what you were charged with") [52].

Know that the Almighty shifted the discourse from the third person (absentee) to the second person (direct address)—a rhetorical shift (iltifāt) that is more effective in rebuking them. {فإن تولوا} means if you turn away from obeying Allah and obeying the Messenger, then the Messenger is only responsible for what he was charged with (delivering the message), and you are responsible for what you were charged with (obedience). {وإن تطيعوه تهتدوا} (And if you obey him, you will be guided), meaning you will attain the truth. If you disobey him, the Messenger is only responsible for the clear delivery. Al-Balāgh means delivery, and al-Mubīn means clear and elucidating what you need.

Nāfiʿ recited {فإنما عليه ما حمل} with a fatḥa on the ḥāʾ and light shaddah, meaning: "The sin of what he carried [in disobedience] is upon him [the disobedient one]."

{وعد الله الذين آمنوا منكم وعملوا الصالحات ليستخلفنهم فى الارض كما استخلف الذين من قبلهم وليمكنن لهم دينهم الذى ارتضى لهم وليبدلنهم من بعد خوفهم أمنا يعبدوننى لا يشركون بى شيئا ومن كفر بعد ذالك فأولائك هم الفاسقون}

(Allah has promised those who have believed among you and done righteous deeds that He will surely make them successors in the land just as He made those before them successors, and that He will surely establish for them their religion which He has approved for them, and that He will surely change their state from after their fear to security. They will worship Me, associating nothing with Me. And whoever disbelieves after that—then it is those who are the defiantly disobedient.)