Overview (Verses 138 - 139)

True Submission, True Freedom
 
The campaign begins with clear derision, which appears by using a phrase indicating a happy announcement instead of a warning, and in considering grievous suffering something to welcome like a very happy piece of news. The reasons that bring about such grievous suffering are then outlined. These are their close friendship with the non-believers in preference to the believers, their foul thinking of God and their misguided concept of the source of honour: “Happily announce to the hypocrites that grievous suffering awaits them. They are those who take unbelievers for their allies in preference to believers. Is it honour they seek among them? Indeed all honour belongs to God.” (Verses 138-139)
 
The unbelievers mentioned here are, most probably, the Jews whom the hypocrites had befriended, and together they plotted all types of evil schemes against the believers. God Almighty asks disapprovingly why they take unbelievers for their allies when they profess to be believers? Why do they place themselves in such an untenable situation? Do they seek to receive honour and power from the unbelievers? All honour is the property of God alone. No one will get any of it unless he seeks it from Him and aspires to His protection.
 
Thus, the first point exposes the nature of the hypocrites and their first characteristic, which is their alliance with the unbelievers in preference to the believers. It also shows their lack of understanding of the balance of power. The unbelievers have no honour or might to impart to others as the hypocrites believe. It declares that all honour belongs to God, and it is to be sought from Him alone.
 
People should understand that they have only one source of support. When they seek this, they will find honour and protection. They will be able to feel their dignity and freedom. Otherwise, they will be enslaved by other values, traditions, people and fears. There will be none to protect them from such subjugation. On the other hand, submission to God alone imparts a true feeling of dignity and honour which frees them from all the humiliation which is attendant on submission to any other source or power. The choice is open for us all to make.
 
No one seeks honour from someone other than God and remains a believer. No one turns to God’s enemies for support, strength and glory if he truly believes in God. Some people in our midst who claim to be Muslim and have Muslim names seek support from God’s worst sworn enemies on earth. They should reflect on what the Qur’ān says, if they truly want to be Muslims. Otherwise, they should know that God does not stand in need of anyone.
 
A correlative of seeking honour from the unbelievers and making alliances with them in preference to the believers is that feeling of affinity to earlier generations who lived as unbelievers, holding this tie of ancestry as being of ongoing importance to the present Muslim generation. This we see today when people ignorantly boast about the honour they feel as descendants of the Pharaohs, Assyrians, Phoenicians, Babylonians and the pagan tribes of Arabia. Imām Aĥmad ibn Ĥanbal reports that the Prophet says: “Whoever claims descent of nine unbelieving forefathers, seeking honour and pride, will be the tenth with them in hell.” What we should know is that, from the Islamic point of view, the bond that blends a community is faith. The nation comprises all believers in God, from the beginning of history, in all places and across all generations. Nation, in Islam, consists of neither a succession of generations nor the inhabitants of a geographical area in a particular generation.