59.14
Abbas - Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs
(They) i.e. Banu Qurayzah and Banu'l-Nadir (will not fight against you in a body save in fortified villages or from behind walls) or if there is between you and them walls. (Their adversity among themselves is very great) He says: their fighting against each other is great, for they fought against their own folk and not against the Prophet (pbuh) and his Companions. (Ye think of them as a whole) united (whereas their hearts are diverse) whereas they differ a great deal. (That) differing and betrayal (is because they are a folk who have no sense) is because they do not understand Allah's command and divine Oneness.
They that is the Jews will not fight against you together all in a single body except in fortified towns or from behind some wall jidār a variant reading has plural judur ‘walls’ some kind of protective fence. Their might their belligerence is great among themselves. You would suppose them to be all together united as a single body but their hearts are disunited scattered contrary to supposition. That is because they are a people who have no sense;
(Have you not observed the hypocrites who say to their friends among the People of the Scripture who disbelieve: "If you are expelled, we indeed will go out with you, and we shall never obey anyone against you; and if you are attacked, we shall indeed help you.'') Allah then said,
وَاللَّهُ يَشْهَدُ إِنَّهُمْ لَكَـذِبُونَ
(But Allah is Witness that they verily are liars.) meaning, the hypocrites lied when they issued this promise, because it was just words that they did not intend to fulfill. Also, what they said they would do, would never have been fulfilled by them, and this is why Allah said,
وَلَئِن قُوتِلُواْ لاَ يَنصُرُونَهُمْ
(and if they are attacked, they will never help them.) meaning, the hypocrites will not fight along with the Jews,
وَلَئِن نَّصَرُوهُمْ
(And (even) if they do help them, ) and even if the hypocrites did fight along their side,
لَيُوَلُّنَّ الاٌّدْبَـرَ ثُمَّ لاَ يُنصَرُونَ
(they will turn their backs, and they will not be victorious.) This Ayah contains good news, just as the good news that this following Ayah conveys,
(They fight not against you even together, except in fortified townships, or from behind walls.) meaning, they will not fight Muslims except from behind besieged fortified forts, because of their cowardice and fear of Muslims. They only fight when they have to defend themselves (even though they threaten Muslims of reprisals). Allah the Exalted said,
بَأْسُهُمْ بَيْنَهُمْ شَدِيدٌ
(Their enmity among themselves is very great.) meaning, the enmity they feel against each other is intense,
وَيُذِيقَ بَعْضَكُمْ بَأْسَ بَعْضٍ
(And make you to taste the violence of one another.)(6:65) Allah said in the Ayah,
تَحْسَبُهُمْ جَمِيعاً وَقُلُوبُهُمْ شَتَّى
(You would think they were united, but their hearts are divided.) meaning, even though one might see them combining forces and think that these forces are harmonious, yet in reality, they are divided severely. Ibrahim An-Nakha`i said that this Ayah refers to the hypocrites and the People of the Scriptures,
ذلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ قَوْمٌ لاَّ يَعْقِلُونَ
(That is because they are a people who understand not.) Allah said,
(They are like their immediate predecessors; they tasted the evil result of their conduct, and for them a painful torment.) referring to the Jewish tribe of Bani Qaynuqa`, according to Ibn `Abbas, Qatadah and Muhammad bin Ishaq.
(Like Shaytan, when he says to man: "Disbelieve.'' But when (man) disbelieves, Shaytan says: "I am free of you...'') meaning, the example of the Jews being deceived by the promises of the hypocrites, who said that they will help them if Muslims fight them, is that of the devil. When matters got serious and the Jews were besieged, the hypocrites betrayed them and abandoned them to taste utter defeat. Likewise, the devil lures mankind into disbelief and when they obey him, he disowns them and declares himself free of their actions, saying,
إِنِّى أَخَافُ اللَّهَ رَبَّ الْعَـلَمِينَ
(I fear Allah, the Lord of all that exists!) Allah said,
(So, the end of both will be that they will be in the Fire, abiding therein.) meaning, the end of both he, Shaytan, who commanded that dis- belief be committed, and those who accep- ted his call, was in the fire of Hell forever,
وَذَلِكَ جَزَآءُ الظَّـلِمِينَ
(Such is the recompense of the wrongdoers. ) means, this is the recompense of every unjust person.
59.11-17
Maududi - Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi - Tafhim al-Qur'an
From the style of this whole section (vv. 11-17) it appears that it was revealed at the time when the Holy Prophet (upon who n be Allah's peace) had served a notice on the Bani an-Nadir to leave Madinah within ten days, but had not yet laid siege to their quarters. As has been mentioned about, when the Holy Prophet save the notice to the Bani an-Nadir, 'Abdullah bin Ubayy and other leaders of the hypocrites of Madinah sent them a message to the effect that they would come to their aid with two thousand men, and that the Bani Quraizah and the Bani Ghatafan also would rise in their support; therefore, they should stand firm and should never surrender to the Muslims. For if the Muslims waged a war against hem, they would fight them from their side; and if they expelled hem, they also would go out with them. Thereupon Allah sent own these verses, Thus, chronologically this section is an earlier revelation and the first section a later revelation, when the Bani an-Nadir had actually been driven out of Madinah. But in the Qur'an the order of the two passages has been reversed for the reason that the subject matter of the first section is of greater importance
That is, "The reason why they dare not face you openly in the field is not that they are Muslim: and have fear of God in their hearts and are afraid that despite their claim to the Faith when they come out to help the disbelievers as against the believers, they will be held accountable before God. But what actually restrains them froth facing you is that when they see your profound love and spirit of self-sacrifice and devotion for Islam and the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Upon whom be Allah's peace and blessings) and the great unity and concord in your rattles, they become dispirited. They a now full well that although you are few in number the spirit of martyrdom which has turned each single individual among you into a gallant warrior and the organization which has molded you into a solid body, will crush them also along with the Jews when they c]ash with you in the battlefield. Here one should bear in mind the fact that if a person harbors the fear of another than God in his heart, it is in fact a negation of the fear of God. Obviously. the person who considers one of the dangers as lesser and the other greater, pays no heed to the first but does whatever b e can to safeguard himself against the greater danger."
A great truth has been expressed in this brief sentence. A person who has sense knows that the real power to be feared is the power of Allah and not the power of men. Therefore, he will avoid every such thing as may call for the punishment of Allah, whether there is any human power to call him to account for it or not, and he will come out to accomplish any duty which Allah has enjoined on him, whether he is opposed and hindered by all the powers of the world. But a man, who has no sense, determines his attitude and conduct in view of the human powers, instead of Allah's power, in all matters of lift, because Allah's power for him is imperceptible and human powers arc perceptible. If he avoids something. he will avoid it, not because of the fear of Allah's punishment for it, but because of a human power, which may be there to take him to task. And if he does something he will do is not because Allah has enjoined it, but because some human power has ordered or approved of it, and will reward hi for it. This very distinction between intelligence and folly, in fact, distinguishes the character and conduct of a believer from that of an unbeliever.
This refers to the second weakness of the hypocrites. The first weakness was that they were cowardly: they feared the men instead of fearing God and had no higher aim of lift before them like the believers, which might impel them to fight for it even at the cost of life. And their second weakness was that they had no common tic between them except hypocrisy, which might unite them together into a strong band. The only thing that had brought them together was that they were all feeling highly upset at the flourishing leadership and rulership of Muhammad (upon whom be Allah's peace and blessings). who was an outsider in their city, and at the warm reception and help which their own compatriots the Ansar were giving the Emigrants. Because of this jealousy they wanted them to join hands together and in conspiracy with the enemies of Islam of the surrounding areas should somehow put an end to this alien power and authority. But apart from this negative objective there was no positive common aim to unify them. Each of their chiefs had his own separate band: each craved for his own leadership; no one was sincere to the other; but each bore such jealousy and malice for the other that they could neither forget their mutual enmities nor desist from harming the other fatally even while facing those whom they regarded as their common enemy. Thus, at the outset, even before the battle against the Bani an-Nadir took place, Allah analyzed the internal state of the hypocrites and informed the Muslims that there was no real danger from their side; therefore, they should not feel alarmed- at the rumors that when they lay siege to the Bani an-Nadir, the leaders of the hypocrites would attack them from the rear with two thousand men, and also bring the Bani Quraizah and the Bani Ghatafan along against them. AII this was empty boasting which would be exposed at the very beginning of the trial.
The allusion is to the disbelievers of the Quraish and the Jewish clan of the Bani Qrainuqa who had been defeated by a handful of ill-equipped Muslims in spite of their larger numbers and superior equipment, due mainly to these weaknesses
That is, "These hypocrites are treating the Bani an-Nadir in much the same way as Satan treats men. Today they are urging them to stand firm and go forth and clash with the Muslims making them believe that they would come to their aid, but when they actually clash with the Muslims, they would renounce their pledges and promises and would never even look back to see their fate. The same way does Satan treat every disbeliever, and a similar treatment had he given to the disbelieving Quraish at Badr, as has been mentioned in Surah al-Anfal: 48 above. First. he incited them with false hopes and brought them out to confront the Muslims, saying: `Today no one can overcome you, for I am with you." But when the two forces met in battle, he took to his heels, saying: "I have nothing to do with you. I see that which you cannot see. Indeed, I fear Allah."
…You [would] suppose them to be together, but their hearts are disunited…He said:The people of truth are united and the people of falsehood are forever divided. And even though they be united in body and agree outwardly, God has said: You [would] suppose them to be altogether, but their hearts are disunited.His words, Exalted is He:
