Surah Muhammad (Muhammad ) 47 : 26

Explanatory Note

The first of these two verses gives a physical image of the hypocrites abandoning Divine guidance after they came to know it. It is an image which shows them turning their backs and going away. It tells of what lies behind all this: it is Satan whispering to them and delivering all manner of temptations. Thus we see their movement for what it is in reality and appearance. The surah then tells us why Satan has such power over them, making them turn their backs on the truth after they knew it: "That is because they say to those who abhor all that God has revealed, (We will obey you in some matters'." (Verse 26)

The Jews of Madinah were the first to hate what God revealed. They expected that God's final message would be given to them, with the last messenger chosen from among their own kind. They used to tell the pagan Arabs about this expected message and that its time was close to hand, saying that the new prophet would lead them and ensure that they would have power and that they would regain their kingdom. God, however, chose His last messenger from a different branch of Abraham's seed. 

This made them hate his message all the more. When the Prophet migrated to Madinah, they hated his arrival there because they felt it threatened their own position. Therefore, they were hostile towards him from his very first day in Madinah. When they realized that they were no match for the Muslims in open warfare, they resorted to wicked scheming and conspiracies. They were joined in this by all those bearing a grudge against Islam and every hypocrite. This war between them and the Prophet continued, going to and fro, until the Prophet removed them from Madinah and then ensured that the Arabian Peninsula would remain totally for Islam.

Those hypocrites who turned their backs on Divine guidance said to the Jews: "We will obey you in some matters." Most probably this refers to their wicked schemes and conspiracies against Islam and the Prophet. "But God knows all their secret schemes." (Verse 26) This is a comment that implies a stern warning. What harm can their schemes produce when they are all known to God and exposed to His might?