ﱕ ﱖ ﱗ ﱘ ﱙ ﱚ ﱛ ﱜ ﱝ ﱞ ﱟ ﱠ ﱡ ﱢ ﱣ ﱤ ﱥ ﱦ ﱧ ﱨ ﱩ ﱪ ﱫ ﱬ ﱭ
What is [the matter] with you [that you are] two groups concerning the hypocrites, while Allah has made them fall back [into error and disbelief] for what they earned. Do you wish to guide those whom Allah has sent astray? And he whom Allah sends astray - never will you find for him a way [of guidance].
Tafsir
Verse range: 4:88
"فَمَا لَكُمْ فِي الْمُنَافِقِينَ فِئَتَيْنِ"
"فئتين" (Two factions): In the accusative case as a circumstantial qualifier (ḥāl), similar to your saying: "What is the matter with you standing?" (mā laka qāʾiman).
It is narrated that a group of hypocrites sought permission from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) to go out to the desert, claiming the climate of Medina was unhealthy for them. Once they left, they continued traveling stage by stage until they joined the polytheists. The Muslims then differed regarding them: some said, "They are disbelievers," while others said, "They are Muslims."
It is also said: They were a people who migrated from Mecca, then changed their minds and returned, writing to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ): "We are upon your religion, and nothing drove us out except the unhealthiness of Medina and longing for our homeland."
It is also said: They were a people who went out with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) on the day of Uhud and then turned back.
It is also said: They were the ‘Uraniyyūn who raided the livestock and killed Yasār.
It is also said: They were a people who professed Islam but refrained from migrating.
The meaning is: Why have you differed regarding the affair of a people who manifested hypocrisy, splitting into two factions? Why have you not reached a definitive conclusion regarding their disbelief?
"وَاللَّهُ أَرْكَسَهُم" Meaning: He returned them to the status of the polytheists, just as they were.
"بِمَا كَسَبُوا" Because of what they earned through their apostasy, their joining the polytheists, and their deception toward the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). Or, He cast them back into disbelief by abandoning them until they fell into it, due to what He knew of the sickness in their hearts.
"أَتُرِيدُونَ أَن تَهْدُوا مَنْ أَضَلَّ اللَّهُ" Do you wish to place among the guided those whom Allah has deemed among the misguided, or whom He has abandoned until they went astray?
Note: It is recited as "raksahum" and "ruksū fīhā".
