(14–18) “The Bedouins say, ‘We have believed.’ Say, ‘You have not believed. Rather, say, “We have submitted,” for faith has not yet entered your hearts. If you obey Allah and His Messenger, He will not diminish the reward of your deeds in the least. Indeed, Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.’ * The true believers are only those who believe in Allah and His Messenger, then entertain no doubt, and strive with their wealth and their lives in the cause of Allah. It is they who are truthful. * Say, ‘Would you inform Allah about your religion, when Allah knows all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth? Allah has full knowledge of all things.’ * They regard their acceptance of Islam as a favor to you. Say, ‘Do not regard your Islam as a favor to me. Rather, Allah has favored you by guiding you to faith, if you are truthful.’ * Indeed, Allah knows the unseen of the heavens and earth, and Allah sees all that you do.”
Allah Most High informs us of the words of the Bedouins who entered Islam during the time of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, without insight and without fulfilling the duties and requirements of faith. Despite this, they claimed, “We have believed”—meaning that they possessed complete faith, fulfilling all its requirements, as their words implied. Allah therefore commanded His Messenger to respond to them: “Say, ‘You have not believed’”; that is, do not claim for yourselves the station of complete faith, both outwardly and inwardly.
“Rather, say, ‘We have submitted’”; that is, we have entered Islam. Confine yourselves to that.
The reason for this is that “faith has not yet entered your hearts.” You embraced Islam only out of fear, hope, or some similar motive that prompted you to do so. Consequently, the delight of faith had not entered your hearts. The words “faith has not yet entered your hearts” refer to the time when they made this statement and thus allude to their condition thereafter, for Allah later favored many of them with true faith and striving in His cause.
“If you obey Allah and His Messenger” by doing good or refraining from evil, “He will not diminish the reward of your deeds in the least”; that is, He will not diminish them by even an atom’s weight. Rather, He will repay them to you in full and in the most complete manner, so that you lose nothing, whether small or great. “Indeed, Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful”; that is, He forgives those who repent and return to Him and shows them mercy by accepting their repentance.
“The true believers”—that is, those who truly possess faith—“are only those who believe in Allah and His Messenger, then entertain no doubt, and strive with their wealth and their lives in the cause of Allah.” They are those who combine faith with striving in His cause. When someone strives against the disbelievers, this demonstrates the completeness of the faith within his heart, for if he strives against others for Islam and for the observance of its laws, then he has all the more reason to strive against his own soul for the same purpose. Conversely, a person’s inability to strive is evidence of the weakness of his faith. Allah stipulated that faith must be free of misgiving—that is, doubt—for beneficial faith is unwavering certainty in everything Allah has commanded one to believe, untouched by doubt in any respect.
His words, “It is they who are truthful,” mean that they have confirmed the truth of their faith through their righteous deeds. Truthfulness is a momentous claim, and anyone who makes a claim requires proof and evidence. The greatest such claim is that of faith, upon which happiness, everlasting triumph, and perpetual success depend. Whoever claims it and fulfills its duties and necessary implications is truthful and truly a believer. Whoever does not do so is known to be untruthful in his claim, and his claim is of no benefit, for no one but Allah Most High can see the faith within the heart.
To affirm or deny its presence is therefore tantamount to attempting to inform Allah of what lies within the heart. This is discourteous and reflects an improper conception of Allah. Hence He said: “Say, ‘Would you inform Allah about your religion, when Allah knows all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth? Allah has full knowledge of all things.’” This encompasses everything, including the faith and unbelief, righteousness and wickedness within people’s hearts. Allah Most High knows all of it and recompenses them accordingly: good for good and evil for evil.
This is one possible state of a person who claims faith without possessing it: either ⦗803⦘ his claim amounts to attempting to inform Allah, even though he knows that Allah has knowledge of all things, or they intended by these words to remind His Messenger of a favor they had done him—namely, that they had offered him [and voluntarily given] something that was not in their own interests but merely served his worldly interests. This is seeking distinction through something that confers no distinction and boasting before His Messenger of something about which they had no right to boast (1). Rather, all favor belongs to Allah Most High. Just as He favors them (2) through creation, provision, and blessings both outward and inward, His favor in guiding them to Islam and granting them faith is greater (3) than every other favor. Hence Allah Most High said: “They regard their acceptance of Islam as a favor to you. Say, ‘Do not regard your Islam as a favor to me. Rather, Allah has favored you by guiding you to faith, if you are truthful.’”
“Indeed, Allah knows the unseen of the heavens and earth”; that is, the hidden matters within them that remain concealed from created beings, such as what lies in the depths of the seas and the vastness of the barren wilderness, what the night covers and what the day conceals. He knows every raindrop and grain of sand, all that hearts conceal, and every hidden matter.
“Not even a leaf falls without His knowledge, nor a grain in the darkness of the earth, nor anything moist or dry, but that it is recorded in a clear Book.”
“And Allah sees all that you do.” He records all your deeds, renders them to you in full, and recompenses you for them as required by His all-encompassing mercy and consummate wisdom.
The exegesis of Sūrat al-Hujurāt is complete,
with Allah’s aid, favor, bounty, and generosity.
To You, O Allah, belong the fullest and most perfect praise,
and the finest and most all-encompassing generosity (4).