| Al 'Imran: (175) That is only Satan...

Know that His statement: {Satan} is the predicate of {That} (referring to the one who discourages), meaning: That discourager is Satan. {They were his allies} is a new sentence explaining the discouragement, or {Satan} is an adjective for the demonstrative pronoun, and {terrifies} is the predicate. The one referred to as Satan is the group of disbelievers, or it is Nu'aym ibn Mas'ud. He is named Satan due to his arrogance and rebellion in disbelief, like His saying: {Devils among mankind and jinn} (Al-An'am: 112). Or, it refers to Satan himself, terrifying through whispers.

Regarding His saying, the Exalted: {terrifies his allies}, there is a question: Those whom Allah named Satan were terrifying the believers. So what is the meaning of {Satan terrifies his allies}? The exegetes mentioned three interpretations for this:

The First View: The intended meaning of the statement is: That Satan terrifies you through his allies. Thus, the second object is omitted, and the preposition is omitted. An example of omitting the second object is His saying: {When you fear for him, cast him into the river} (Al-Qasas: 7), meaning: When you fear for him Pharaoh. An example of omitting the preposition is His saying: {to warn of a severe punishment} (Al-Kahf: 2), meaning: to warn you of a severe punishment, and His saying: {to warn of the Day of Meeting} (Ghafir: 15), meaning: to warn you about the Day of Meeting. This is the view of Al-Farra', Al-Zajjaj, and Abu 'Ali. They said that the recitation of Ubayy ibn Ka'b, {He terrifies you through his allies}, supports this.

The Second View: This is based on the construction where one says: "I frightened Zayd with 'Amr." The intended meaning of the verse is: He terrifies you, his allies. Thus, the first object is omitted, just as you say: "I gave the monies," meaning: I gave the people the monies. Ibn Al-Anbari said: This view is preferable to claiming an omitted preposition for which there is no evidence. His saying: {crookedness, straightness, to warn of a punishment} means: to warn you of a punishment, and His saying: {to warn of the Day of Meeting} means: to warn you of the Day of Meeting. The verb tawkhif (to terrify) can take two objects without a preposition, as you say: "Zayd feared the fighting," and "I made him fear the fighting." This view is supported by the recitation of Ibn Mas'ud: {They were his allies}.

The Third View: The meaning of the verse is: Satan terrifies his allies (the hypocrites) so that they refrain from fighting the polytheists. The meaning is: Satan terrifies his allies who obey him and prefer his command. As for the allies of Allah, they do not fear him when he terrifies them, nor do they submit to his command or intention regarding them. This is the view of Al-Hasan and Al-Suddi. Therefore, the first view has two omissions, the second has one omission, and the third has no omission.

As for the allies, they are the polytheists and disbelievers. In the first two views, the pronoun in {so do not fear them} refers back to the allies. In the third view, it refers back to {the people} in His saying: {Indeed, the people have gathered against you} (Al 'Imran: 173). {So do not fear them} means: do not refrain from fighting, and {and fear Me} means: strive alongside My Messenger and hasten towards what He commands you, {if you are believers}, meaning that faith requires you to prefer the fear of Allah over the fear of people.

! 7 < { And let not those who hasten into disbelief grieve you. Indeed, they will never harm Allah at all. Allah intends not to assign them any share in the Hereafter, and for them will be a great punishment. } > 7 !

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