al-Ḥujurāt

يَمُنُّونَ عَلَيْكَ أنْ أسْلَمُوا قُل لَآ تَمُنُّوا عَلَيَّ إِسلامَكُم بَلِ اللَّهُ يَمُنُّ عَلَيْكُمْ أنْ هَدَاكُمْ لِلْإِيمَانِ إِن كُنتُمْ صَادِقِينَ

إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَعْلَمُ غَيْبَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأرْضِ وَاللَّهُ بَصِيرٌ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ

17. They regard as a favor to you that they have converted to Islam. Say: “Count not your Islam as a favor to me. Nay, but Allah has conferred a favor upon you that He has guided you to the faith if you indeed are truthful.

18. Truly, Allah knows the Unseen of the heavens and the earth. And Allah is the All-Seer of what you do.

Being guided to the Islamic faith and embracing it are great Divine Favors conferred upon man, since God Almighty is needless of his belief, faith, and worship;

(“Count not your Islam as a favor to me. Nay, but Allah has conferred a favor upon you that He has guided you to the faith if you indeed are truthful”).

At any rate, the tribe of Banu Asad counted their conversion to the Islamic faith as a favor to the Noble Prophet (S) saying that they had come to him with their families without waging war against him and had converted to the Islamic faith as a consequence of which they regarded themselves worthy of being rewarded imagining that they render a service to the Noble Prophet (S) through their conversion and requested him to return their favor.

Thus, the blessed Verses in question was revealed to refute their false belief so that no one may presume that conversion to the Islamic faith or doing righteous good deeds requires God Almighty and His Messenger (S) to return their favor through conferring rewards upon him. Nonetheless, God confers a Favor upon those who believe, since being guided and any righteous good deed are dependent upon Divine Favor. The blessed Verse 17 reflects that no one deserves Reward in return for his belief or for his righteous good deeds. The Rewards promised to believers are through Divine Favor rather than owing to worthiness since God Almighty confers whatever He wills to whoever He wants.

The blessed Verse 18 is saying that God Almighty is certainly All-Aware of what is concealed from sense perception in the heavens and the earth. The blessed Verse disapproves the claims of those who making attempts at dissimulating their inward wickedness pretend belief without faith having penetrated their hearts and count themselves amongst believers. Such people should know that the truth is other than what they imagine since God Almighty and His Messenger (S) are fully aware of their secret intentions.