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ʾa-fī qulūbihim maraḍun ʾami rtābū ʾam yakhāfūna ʾan yaḥīfa llāhu ʿalayhim wa-rasūluhū bal ʾulāʾika humu ẓ-ẓālimūna
Is there a sickness in their hearts? Do they have doubts, or fear that Allah and His Apostle will be unjust to them? Indeed, it is they who are the wrongdoers.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Sura An-Nur - Verses 49-50
49. “But if the truth be on their side, they come unto him willingly with submission.”
50. “Is there in their hearts a disease, or do they doubt, or are they in fear that Allah and His Messenger will deal unjustly with them? Nay, but such are the unjust ones.”
When hypocrites and pagans saw that they were not right and they themselves were guilty and sinful, they refused to go to the Prophet (S) for judgment, for they knew that the Prophet would judge between them justly and fairly, and truth is not welcomed to every one. But if they found out that quarrel would end in favour of them, they would hasten to achieve what is their right and they would not be content with anything except with the Prophet’s judgment, so that the right, that was proved to be on the shoulder of their opposite party, would be served to them.
The verse says:
“But if the truth be on their side, they come unto him willingly with submission.”
Another point in this holy verse is that only a group of hypocrites refused to ask the judgment of the Prophet (S), perhaps, for the reason that another group was not so bold and impudent, for, hypocrisy has got various degrees and levels as faith has got. Then in the next verse, the main factors and motivations of their unyielding to the judgment of the Prophet (S) are mentioned in three sentences. First it says:
“Is there in their hearts a disease...”
This is one of the attributes of the hypocrites who declare to be faithful, but they never yield to the judgment of Allah and the Prophet (S), because they heartedly deviate from monotheism. Or if they do not have the sickness of hypocrisy in their heart, they have doubts and it is natural that when a person has doubt in accepting a religion, he does not succumb to its concomitants. The verse continues saying:
“...or do they doubt...”
And if they are not any of the above, they are believers, the verse says:
“...or are they in fear that Allah and His Messenger will deal unjustly with them?...”
This is an obvious paradox that a person who knows the Prophet (S) as the Messenger of Allah and His religion herald and considers his judgment as Allah’s judgment, never thinks that he might do any oppression upon him. Is it possible that Allah treats anyone unjustly? Is not oppression originating from ignorance, or need or conceit? Allah’s holy realm is pure from all of them. The verse says:
“...Nay, but such are the unjust ones.”
They did not want to be satisfied with what was their right, and because they knew the Prophet (S) would not grant any thing from others’ rights to them, they would not succumb to his judgment.
What is Hypocrisy?
Hypocrisy is, in fact, a malady and deviation. A soundman has got only one face; his soul and body are in harmony; if he is a believer, his whole entity declares faith, and if he is a deviated person, both his appearance and inward declare his deviation. But if his appearance professes faith and his inward declares paganism, this quality is a kind of disease, as Sura Al-Baqarah, No. 2, verse 10 says:
“In their hearts is a disease, so Allah has increased their disease...”
In view of the fact that these people do not deserve Allah’s guidance and favour, because they are obstinate and stubborn in their deeds and plans, Allah leaves them to themselves so that their disease increases. Verily, the most dangerous people of a society are often hypocrites, for we do not know what to do with them, they are really neither friend nor seem enemy. They use the believers’ facilities, and are apparently saved from pagans’ punishment, but their deeds are worse than pagans’.
As we know, because this inconsistency in appearance and inward can not be continued for ever, finally curtains are drawn and their defiled inward will be shown, as in the former verses and their occasion of revelation we saw that when a case of judgment was formed, the cat was let out of the bag and their inward malice appeared. Another matter is that, the government of justice is only Allah’s government, for if man tries as much as possible to be free from conceit, animosity, kindness, and selfishness, he may get unconsciously involved in them, unless he is infallible and immune from the side of Allah.
It is for this reason that we say the real and true legislator is only Allah, because not only He knows all needs of man with His unlimited knowledge and He knows the best way for satisfying them, but also He never gets deviated because of needs, kindness and animosity. The fairest judgments are carried out by Allah, the Prophet (S) and the Infallible Imams. And the judgment of those who follow them is a little like theirs. But this selfish man does not accept these fair and just judgments, and does not acknowledge these evenhanded rules, and he goes after a law, a government and a judgment that satiate his greed, avarice and lust more.
And what an interesting sentence is in the above verse:
“...Nay, but such are the unjust ones.”
Meanwhile, facing such events is often a touchstone for evaluating man’s true faith so that every man who is not straightforward will be facially dark.