of Nokounam, May His Secret be Sacred (Session 166)
The Holy Quran, like an inexhaustible treasury, elucidates human phenomena with wise order and a scientific context. The initial verses of Surah Al-Baqarah, particularly verse ten, فِي قُلُوبِهِمْ مَرَضٌ فَزَادَهُمُ اللَّهُ مَرَضًا ۖ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ بِمَا كَانُوا يَكْذِبُونَ
(In their hearts is a disease, so Allah has increased their disease; and for them is a painful punishment because they [habitually] lie), analyse the characteristics of hypocrites through a psychological and social lens. This work, adopting a scholarly and exalted approach, examines the inner traits and social behaviours of hypocrites, maintaining all details to present a systematic and academic text for learned audiences. The objective is to explicate hypocrisy as a multilayered phenomenon, to critique unscientific perspectives, and to reconstruct religious knowledge with an emphasis on Quranic order and the connection between theoretical and practical wisdom.
Analysis and Elucidation
The opening verses of Surah Al-Baqarah, comprising مِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يَقُولُ آمَنَّا بِاللَّهِ وَبِالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ وَمَا هُمْ بِمُؤْمِنِينَ
(Al-Baqarah: 8; Among the people are some who say, "We believe in Allah and the Last Day," but they are not believers), يُخَادِعُونَ اللَّهَ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا
(Al-Baqarah: 9; They [think to] deceive Allah and those who believe), and فِي قُلُوبِهِمْ مَرَضٌ
(Al-Baqarah: 10), resemble a three-step ladder sequentially addressing apparent speech, deceitful conduct, and the hearts disease of hypocrites. This structure, akin to a precise map, explains the spiritual issues of hypocrites with scientific order.
Analysis and Elucidation
The view of some who seek disorder in the order of the Holy Quran is like a fragile buildingunscientific and harmful. Quranic order, like stars in the sky of knowledge, is designed with logical and wise context, and chaos or disorder is incompatible with its nature.
Analysis and Elucidation
The practical problems of hypocrites, like branches nourished from a diseased root, stem from deficiencies in their theoretical wisdom. Humans, like architects building their lives, create their thoughts and act accordingly.
Analysis and Elucidation
Deceit or concealment, like a natural shield, is a spiritual trait present in humans and even animals. This trait, as an intrinsic gem, is considered essentially a perfection, unless accompanied by treachery and falsehood.
Analysis and Elucidation
Concealment, like a shared instinct, exists in humans and advanced animals openly and manifests differently in simpler creatures. This trait, as a survival tool, is rooted in the psychology of beings.
Analysis and Elucidation
Concealment, like a flowing river, is a stable and inherent trait, whereas dissembling, like a fleeting moment, is occasional and rare. Concealment, as a trait of perfection, accompanies reflection and prudence in believers.
Analysis and Elucidation
The believer, like a gardener who carefully plants saplings, expresses words from beyond the heart and with contemplation. This concealment, like a pearl in a shell, signifies prudence and perfection, unlike the frivolous who utter whatever crosses their minds.
Analysis and Elucidation
The frivolous, like reckless birds, express whatever comes to mind without reflection. This behaviour, like a building without foundation, signals weakness and inability, contrasting with the believers concealment born of prudence.
Analysis and Elucidation
The verse فِي قُلُوبِهِمْ مَرَضٌ فَزَادَهُمُ اللَّهُ مَرَضًا
, like a divine warning, explains the heart disease of hypocrites. This disease, like an old wound, has its root in falsehood and deceit, which God increases as a consequence of their denial.
Analysis and Elucidation
The verse وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ بِمَا كَانُوا يَكْذِبُونَ
, like a fiery warning, declares the painful punishment as the consequence of the hypocrites denial. This punishment, like a bitter fruit, grows from the tree of falsehood and hypocrisy.
The verse: They seek to deceive Allah and those who believe, but they deceive none except themselves, and they perceive it not (Al-Baqarah: 9) acts as a clear warning, demonstrating that the hypocrites, in their attempts to deceive Allah and the believers, only end up deceiving themselves.
Key Point: The hypocrites, in their efforts to deceive Allah and the believers, only deceive themselves and remain unaware of this loss.
This verse, like a celestial melody, reveals the truth of hypocrisy and its harm to the hypocrites themselves.
The hypocrites cannot deceive Allah, the Prophet, or the believers who observe with divine light. This immunity to deception, like a steadfast shield, is rooted in divine infallibility and insight.
Key Point: Allah, the Prophet, and insightful believers are protected from the deceit of the hypocrites owing to their infallibility and divine light.
This perspective, like a blazing torch, emphasises the immunity of divine authorities against hypocrisy.
The hypocrites, akin to skilled actors, have historically used deception to mislead nave believers and achieve apparent successes. This success, like a fleeting shadow, is negligible compared to their ultimate loss in the Hereafter.
Key Point: By deceiving nave believers, hypocrites achieve apparent successes, but their loss in the Hereafter is inevitable.
This analysis, like a mirror reflecting history, illustrates the impact of hypocrisy on religious communities.
Since the dawn of Islam, the hypocrites, like wolves in sheeps clothing, have challenged Islamic societies through deceit. This deception, like an old wound, has inflicted significant damage upon the Muslim Ummah.
Key Point: Hypocrisy, since the inception of Islam, has caused great harm to Islamic societies through deceit and treachery.
This critique, like a historical book review, underscores the destructive effects of hypocrisy.
Truth, like a solid rock, is an external and immutable reality, whereas belief, like a flowing stream, is subjective and mutable. The hypocrites, with deceptive beliefs, distance themselves from truth.
Key Point: Truth is a fixed and external reality, whereas the beliefs of the hypocrites are subjective and deceitful, distancing them from it.
This distinction, like a clear line, introduces hypocrisy as a deviation from truth.
Sophistry, like darkness that conceals truth, and intellectual tyranny, like chains that imprison the mind, are both unscientific and harmful. Truth, like a radiant light, requires calm and non-violent inquiry.
Key Point: Sophistry and intellectual tyranny obstruct truth-seeking, and calm inquiry is the path to truth.
This critique, like an invitation to enlightenment, emphasises the necessity of logical and scientific dialogue.
Hypocrisy, like a destructive storm, is a serious threat to religious achievements. This danger, like a sinister shadow, can lead Islamic societies to destruction unless confronted with insight and vigilance.
Key Point: Hypocrisy poses a serious threat to religious achievements and demands vigilance and insight.
This warning, like a wake-up call, stresses the need to protect religious values.
Some interpretations, like a fragile structure, have reduced the deceit of the hypocrites to trivial matters such as bad smell. This view, like a dust cloud covering truth, neglects the depth of hypocrisy and its destructive effects.
Key Point: Reducing the deceit of the hypocrites to trivial issues neglects the profound destructive impacts of hypocrisy.
This critique, like a clear mirror, highlights the necessity of precise and deep understanding of hypocrisy.
Hypocrisy, like an old wound, has inflicted significant harm on Islamic societies since the dawn of Islam through deceptions resembling sieges and conflicts. These effects, like a heavy shadow, continue to this day.
Key Point: Hypocrisy, through its historic deceptions, has caused great harm to Islamic societies.
This analysis, like a historical reexamination, reveals the destructive effects of hypocrisy.
The apparent success of the hypocrites, like a deceptive mirage, results from the lack of insight among nave believers. Insight, like a blazing torch, is the only means to confront hypocrisy and preserve religious achievements.
Key Point: Insight is the key to confronting hypocrisy and safeguarding religious achievements.
This perspective, like a call to awakening, emphasises the necessity of strengthening insight against hypocrisy.
The exegesis of the verse In their hearts is a disease, so Allah has increased their disease; and for them is a painful punishment because they [habitually] used to lie functions like a blazing torch, explaining hypocrisy as a psychological and social phenomenon. This work, through scientific contextual analysis of the verses on hypocrisy, demonstrated that the Holy Quran, with logical order, progresses from apparent speech to deceitful behaviour and then to the hypocrites cardiac disease. Concealment, an intrinsic and perfect attribute, is transformed into a defect in hypocrites due to deception and betrayal. The critique of unscientific views such as the Qurans disorder, reduction of hypocrisy to trivial matters, and neglect of the historical impacts of hypocrisy reveals the necessity of reconstructing religious knowledge. The distinction between truth and belief, the critique of sophistry and intellectual tyranny, and the emphasis on insight against hypocrisy are pivotal points of this exegesis. This analysis, like a solid bridge, guides researchers towards deeper understanding of the Holy Quran and reconstructing religious knowledge with a scientific and spiritual approach.
Supervised by Sadegh Khademi
