An-Nisa · Madani · ayah 142 of 176

An-Nisa 4:142

إِنَّ ٱلْمُنَـٰفِقِينَ يُخَـٰدِعُونَ ٱللَّهَ وَهُوَ خَـٰدِعُهُمْ وَإِذَا قَامُوٓا۟ إِلَى ٱلصَّلَوٰةِ قَامُوا۟ كُسَالَىٰ يُرَآءُونَ ٱلنَّاسَ وَلَا يَذْكُرُونَ ٱللَّهَ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا

“Indeed, the hypocrites [think to] deceive Allāh, but He is deceiving them. And when they stand for prayer, they stand lazily, showing [themselves to] the people and not remembering Allāh except a little,”

Saheeh International

Essence

The hypocrites' trick on Allah folds back on them, and they drag themselves to prayer for an audience, barely remembering Him in it.

A reflection

A coin that looks full weight

Inna l-munāfiqīna yukhādiʿūna Allāh: the hypocrites try to deceive Allah.

The root of yukhādiʿūna has a set of sly first pictures. A lizard khadaʿa when it smelled a man and slid back into its hole. A mirage was a khaydaʿ. And a light coin that looked full weight was called khādiʿ, deceptive, until someone put it on the scales.

That is exactly the hypocrite's position. His faith looks full weight. It passes from hand to hand in the marketplace of people. One commentator explains his mistake. Because it passed among people, and the outward rulings were applied to him, he assumed it would pass with Allah too. The Quran even says they will swear to Allah on the Day, as they swore to people (58:18).

Picture a man who sets an automatic reply on his email: 'In meetings all afternoon.' Then he drives to the golf course. He has done it every other Thursday for two years. No one has noticed. He feels rather pleased with himself, like a man who has found a gap in the system.

The ego loves that feeling. It is the feeling of being cleverer than the rules. This ayah punctures it. There is no gap in Allah's knowledge, and no one weighs coins more truly. A commentator states it plainly: Allah is not deceived, for He knows what lies in every heart.

A sceptic might ask why Allah cares whether people pretend. He does not need their sincerity; He is the Free of need (35:15). But the pretender is cheating only himself, spending his life passing a light coin he will one day have to weigh.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.