﴿14-19﴾ “Have you not seen those who ally themselves with a people with whom Allah is angry? They belong neither to you nor to them, and they knowingly swear to lies. * Allah has prepared a severe punishment for them. Evil indeed is what they have been doing. * They have made their oaths a shield and turned people away from the path of Allah, so theirs will be a humiliating punishment. * Neither their wealth nor their children will avail them in the least against Allah. They are the companions of the Fire, where they will remain forever. * On the Day Allah resurrects them all, they will swear to Him just as they swear to you, thinking that they have something to stand upon. Truly, it is they who are the liars. * Satan has gained mastery over them and caused them to forget the remembrance of Allah. They are the party of Satan. Truly, it is the party of Satan who are the losers.”
Allah Most High describes the deplorable condition of the hypocrites who ally themselves with the disbelievers—Jews, Christians, and others with whom Allah is angry and who have received the fullest share of Allah’s curse. They belong neither to the believers nor to the disbelievers, but are “wavering in between, belonging neither to these nor to those.”
They are not believers both outwardly and inwardly, because inwardly they side with the disbelievers. Nor are they disbelievers both outwardly and inwardly, because outwardly they side with the believers. This is how Allah has described them, yet they swear to the contrary, which is a lie: they swear that they are believers while they know (1) that they are not.
The recompense of these treacherous, wicked liars is that Allah has prepared for them a severe punishment beyond measure and description. Evil indeed is what they had been doing, for they committed deeds that displease Allah (2) and incur punishment and damnation.
“They have made their oaths a shield”; that is, a means of protection by which they ward off the reproach of Allah, His Messenger, and the believers. Through this, they turn themselves and others away from the path of Allah—the path that leads whoever follows it to the Gardens of Bliss. Whoever is turned away from it has no path before him except the one leading to Hell. “So theirs will be a humiliating punishment.” Because they arrogantly refused to believe in Allah and submit to His signs, He will humiliate them with everlasting punishment, which will not be lightened for them for even an hour, nor will they be granted respite.
“Neither their wealth nor their children will avail them in the least against Allah.” They will not ward off (3) any part of the punishment from them or secure for them any share of the reward. “They are the companions of the Fire”—its constant inhabitants, who will never leave it—“where they will remain forever.” A person dies upon the very state in which he lived.
Just as the hypocrites deceive ⦗848⦘ the believers in this world and swear to them that they are believers, so, when the Day of Resurrection comes and Allah resurrects them all, they will swear to Allah just as they swore to the believers. They will suppose that, in taking this oath, they have something to stand upon. Their disbelief, hypocrisy, and false beliefs continued to become increasingly ingrained in their minds until they deluded them, and they imagined that they possessed something of consequence to which reward might attach. Yet they are lying in this, and it is well known that no lie can deceive the One who knows the unseen and the seen.
What befell them resulted from Satan gaining mastery over them. He took control of them, made their deeds appear fair to them, and caused them to forget the remembrance of Allah. He is the manifest enemy who desires nothing for them but evil: “He only calls his party so that they may become companions of the Blaze.”
“They are the party of Satan. Truly, it is the party of Satan who are the losers”—those who have lost their religion, their worldly lives, themselves, and their families.