(61–63) “Among them are those who offend the Prophet and say, ‘He is all ears.’ Say, ‘He listens to what is good for you. He believes in Allah, trusts the believers, and is a mercy to those among you who believe. Those who offend Allah’s Messenger will have a painful punishment.’”
That is, among these hypocrites are “those who offend the Prophet” with vile words and disparage him and his religion. “They say, ‘He is all ears.’” In other words, they are unconcerned about the offensive things they say concerning the Prophet. They say, “If some of what we have said reaches him, we will go and make our excuses to him, and he will accept them from us, because he is all ears”—that is, he accepts everything he is told and does not distinguish the truthful from the liar. ⦗342⦘ What they meant in their private conversations—may Allah disgrace them—was that they cared nothing about the matter and were wholly unconcerned by it: if it did not reach him, that was what they wanted; and if it did, they would content themselves with offering a false excuse.
Thus, they committed the gravest offense in numerous respects. Foremost among them was their offending their Prophet, who had come to guide them and deliver them from misery and ruin into guidance and happiness.
Another was their complete indifference to this, which went beyond the offense itself.
Another was their impugning the Prophet’s intellect—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and his ability to comprehend and distinguish the truthful from the liar, although he possessed the most perfect intellect of all creation, the fullest understanding, and the most penetrating judgment and insight. Allah Most High therefore says, “Say, ‘He listens to what is good for you’”—that is, he accepts what is good and true from those who tell it to him.
As for his turning away and refraining from rebuking many of the hypocrites who offered false excuses, this was due to his magnanimous character, the little importance he attached to their affairs (1), and his compliance with Allah’s command: “When you return to them, they will swear by Allah to you so that you will leave them alone. So leave them alone; they are truly impure.”
As for the true state of his heart and judgment, Allah says of him, “He believes in Allah and trusts the believers”—those who are truthful and affirm the truth. He knows the truthful from the liar, even though he often turns away from those whose lies and insincerity he knows. “And he is a mercy to those among you who believe,” for through him they are guided, and his character serves as their example.
As for the unbelievers, they did not accept this mercy but rejected it, and thus lost both this world and the Hereafter. “Those who offend Allah’s Messenger” by word or deed “will have a painful punishment” in this world and the Hereafter. Part of that painful punishment is that anyone who offends or reviles him must be put to death.