Day 8 Ayah 8

April 12, 2013

Surah baqarah - ayah 8

 وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يَقُولُ آمَنَّا بِاللَّهِ وَبِالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ وَمَا هُمْ بِمُؤْمِنِينَ

8. And among men there are some who say, "We believe in Allah and the Last Day", yet they are no believers.  

The first 20 verses of the surah delineate the characteristics of those who believe from those who do not. 

• Ayah 1- 5 deal with the MUTTAQUN (The God-fearing)
• Ayah 6-7 deal with the KAAFIRUN (the disbelievers) - who were violent and open in their hostility
• Ayah 8-20 deal with the MUNAAFIQUN (The Hypocrites) - the crafty disbelievers who claim to be Muslims, but were not so in reality.
• This particular ayah (8) describes the main characteristic of the hypocrites.
• the hypocrites say the believe in Allah and the last day but they really do not believe and are only putting on a display
• they try to deceive Allah and those who believe but they are deceiving only their own selves, without being aware of it.
• Allah cannot be deceived obviously, and His beloved Prophet (S) and the believers, will not be deceived because Allah is protecting them from their treachery and deceit
• they are deceiving and fooling only their own selves

IMAN is something that is rooted in the heart and proven with actions.
However, if only actions exist with no iman = hypocricy

In Madina, the hypocrites used to come to the mosque to pray and appear as Muslims as well, but in their secret meetings they plotted against the believers. 

Practical Implications

1.  We should seek refuge in Allah from hypocricy (memorize the dua "Allahumma tahhir qalbi minan nifaaqi..."
2. we should STOP lying and DECEIVING others
3. REPENT from all previous sins 
4. INCREASE our imaan so that we may become stronger to please Allah