Tafsir of Al-Hujurat 49:14

Faith (Iman): It is affirmation accompanied by trust and tranquility of the soul. Submission (Islam): It is entering into peace and exiting the state of being at war with the believers by manifesting the two testimonies of faith (Shahadatayn).

Do you not see His saying, “But faith has not yet entered your hearts”? Know that whatever occurs as an acknowledgment by the tongue without the concurrence of the heart is Islam, and whatever the heart concurs with the tongue in is Iman.

If you ask: What is the logic behind His saying, “Say, ‘You have not believed; but say, “We have submitted”’”? The structure of the speech would seem to require saying: "Say, 'Do not say we have believed, but say we have submitted,'" or "Say, 'You have not believed, but you have submitted.'"

I reply: This structure serves first to refute their claim and repel what they falsely attributed to themselves. Thus, it was said: “Say, ‘You have not believed.’” In this type of refutation, a refined etiquette was observed by not explicitly stating the word "lie." He did not say, "You have lied." Instead, He placed “You have not believed”—which is the negation of what they claimed to establish—in its place. He then signaled what He intended by placing it in the position of "you have lied" in His description of the sincere ones: “Those are the truthful ones” (v. 15), implying that these [Bedouins] are the liars. Often, an implication is more powerful than an explicit statement.

He dispensed with the phrase "Do not say we have believed" by using the sentence “You have not believed,” because it is distasteful to address them with a phrasing that explicitly forbids them from claiming faith. Then, He connected it with the sentence beginning with the particle of rectification (lakin), based on the meaning. He did not say, "But you have submitted," so that it would be framed as a claim and an assertion—just as their saying "We have believed" was a claim. If it had been said, "But you have submitted," it would have been in the form of accepting their statement and giving it weight, whereas it is not worthy of weight.

If you ask: His saying, “But faith has not yet entered your hearts,” after His saying, “Say, ‘You have not believed,’” resembles repetition without a new benefit.

I reply: It is not so. The benefit of “You have not believed” is the refutation of their claim. His saying, “But faith has not yet entered your hearts,” provides the timing for what they were commanded to say. It is as if it were said to them: "Say, 'We have submitted' at the time when the concurrence of your hearts with your tongues has not been established." This is a statement that functions as a state (hal) for the pronoun in “Say.” The meaning of expectation (tawaqqu') in “not yet” (lamma) indicates that these people might believe later.

“He will not deprive you [of anything] of your deeds” (la yalitkum): He will not diminish or wrong you. It is said: "The ruler alata (deprived) him of his right," which is the dialect of Ghatafan. The dialect of Asad and the people of Hijaz is latahu laytan. Al-Asma'i narrated from Umm Hisham al-Saluliyya that she said: "Praise be to God who does not perish (la yufat) and is not diminished (la yulat), and whom voices do not deafen." It is recited in both dialects: la yalitkum and la ya'litkum. Similar in meaning is: “No soul will be wronged at all” (Al-Anbiya: 47).

The meaning of obeying God and His Messenger is that they repent from the hypocrisy they were in, fix their hearts upon faith, and act according to its requirements. If they do that, God will accept their repentance, grant them His forgiveness, and bestow upon them His abundant reward.

Ibn Abbas (may God be pleased with them both) narrated that a group from the tribe of Asad came to Medina during a year of drought. They manifested the testimony of faith, but they fouled the paths of Medina with excrement and drove up its prices. They would go to the Messenger of God (peace be upon him) morning and evening, saying, "The Arabs have come to you with their own selves on the backs of their mounts, and we have come to you with our burdens and our children," seeking charity and reminding him of their favor. Thus, this verse was revealed.

“The believers are only the ones who have believed in Allah and His Messenger and then doubt not but strive with their properties and their lives in the cause of Allah. It is those who are the truthful.”