Surah Saff ayat 3 Tafsir Quran 61:3

﴿كَبُرَ مَقْتًا عِندَ اللَّهِ أَن تَقُولُوا مَا لَا تَفْعَلُونَ﴾
[ الصف: 3]

61:3 Great is hatred in the sight of Allah that you say what you do not do.

It is greatly loathsome maqtan is for specification to God that you say an taqūlū constitutes the agent of the verb kabura ‘it is greatly’ what you do not do.

It is utterly distasteful to Allah and objectionable to Him indeed that your actions with your words do not accord

Which was revealed in Madina The Virtues of Surat As-Saff Imam Ahmad recorded that `Abdullah bin Salam said, "We asked, `Who among us should go to the Messenger ﷺ and ask him about the dearest actions to Allah' None among us volunteered.
The Messenger ﷺ sent a man to us and that man gathered us and recited this Surah, Surat As-Saff, in its entirety."' بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Chastising Those Who say what They do not do We mentioned in many a places before the meaning of Allah's statement, سَبَّحَ لِلَّهِ مَا فِى السَّمَـوَتِ وَمَا فِى الاٌّرْضِ وَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ ( Whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth glorifies Allah.
And He is the Almighty, the All-Wise. ) Therefore, we do not need to repeat its meaning here.
Allah's statement, يأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ لِمَ تَقُولُونَ مَا لاَ تَفْعَلُونَ ( O you who believe! Why do you say that which you do not do ) This refutes those who neglect to fulfill their promises.
This honorable Ayah supports the view that several scholars of the Salaf held, that it is necessary to fulfill the promise, regardless of whether the promise includes some type of wealth for the person receiving the promise or otherwise.
They also argue from the Sunnah, with the Hadith recorded in the Two Sahihs in which Allah's Messenger ﷺ said,
«آيَةُ الْمُنَافِقِ ثَلَاثٌ: إِذَا وَعَدَ أَخْلَفَ، وَإِذَا حَدَّثَ كَذَبَ، وَإِذَا اؤْتُمِنَ خَان»
( There are three signs for a hypocrite: when he promises, he breaks his promise; when speaks, he lies; and when he is entrusted, he betrays. ) And in another Hadith in the Sahih,
«أَرْبَعٌ مَنْ كُنَّ فِيهِ كَانَ مُنَافِقًا خَالِصًا،وَمَنْ كَانَتْ فِيهِ وَاحِدَةٌ مِنْهُنَّ كَانَتْ فِيهِ خَصْلَةٌ مِنْ نِفَاقٍ حَتْى يَدَعَهَا»
( There are four characteristics which if one has all of them, he is the pure hypocrite, and if anyone has any of them, he has a characteristic of hypocrisy, until he abandons it. ) So he mentioned breaking the promise among these four characteristics.
We mentioned the meaning of these two Hadiths in the beginning of the explanation of Sahih Al-Bukhari, and to Allah is the praise and the thanks.
Therefore Allah implied this meaning, when He continued His admonishment by saying, كَبُرَ مَقْتاً عِندَ اللَّهِ أَن تَقُولُواْ مَا لاَ تَفْعَلُونَ ( Most hateful it is with Allah that you say that which you do not do. ) Imam Ahmad and Abu Dawud recorded that `Abdullah bin `Amir bin Rabi`ah said, "Allah's Messenger ﷺ came to us while I was a young boy, and I went out to play.
My mother said, `O `Abdullah! Come, I want to give you something.' Allah's Messenger ﷺ said to her,
«وَمَا أَرَدْتِ أَنْ تُعْطِيَهُ؟»
( What did you want to give him ) She said, `Dates.' He said,
«أَمَا إِنَّكِ لَوْ لَمْ تَفْعَلِي كُتِبَتْ عَلَيْكِ كَذْبَة»
( If you had not given them to him, it would have been written as a lie in your record. )" Muqatil bin Hayyan said, "The faithful believers said, `If we only knew the dearest good actions to Allah, we would perform them.' Thus, Allah told them about the dearest actions to Him,saying, إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ الَّذِينَ يُقَـتِلُونَ فِى سَبِيلِهِ صَفّاً ( Verily, Allah loves those who fight in His cause in rows ) Allah stated what He likes, and they were tested on the day of Uhud.
However, they retreated and fled, leaving the Prophet behind.
It was about their case that Allah revealed this Ayah: يأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ لِمَ تَقُولُونَ مَا لاَ تَفْعَلُونَ ( O you who believe! Why do you say that which you do not do ) Allah says here, `The dearest of you to Me, is he who fights in My cause."' Some said that it was revealed about the gravity of fighting in battle, when one says that he fought and endured the battle, even though he did not do so.
Qatadah and Ad-Dahhak said that this Ayah was sent down to admonish some people who used to say that they killed, fought, stabbed, and did such and such during battle, even though they did not do any of it.
Sa`id bin Jubayr said about Allah's statement, إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ الَّذِينَ يُقَـتِلُونَ فِى سَبِيلِهِ صَفّاً ( Verily, Allah loves those who fight in His cause in rows (ranks )) "Before Allah's Messenger ﷺ began the battle against the enemy, he liked to line up his forces in rows; in this Surah, Allah teaches the believers to do the same." He also said that Allah's statement, كَأَنَّهُم بُنْيَـنٌ مَّرْصُوصٌ ( as if they were a solid structure. ) means, its parts are firmly connected to each other; in rows for battle.
Muqatil bin Hayyan said, "Firmly connected to each other." Ibn `Abbas commented on the meaning of the Ayah, كَأَنَّهُم بُنْيَـنٌ مَّرْصُوصٌ ( as if they were a solid structure. ) by saying, "They are like a firm structure that does not move, because its parts are cemented to each other."

(61:3) Most hateful it is in the sight of Allah that you should say that which you do not do. *2

Great is hatred in the sight of meaning

*2) One meaning of this passage is general as is apparent from its words.
It has a special meaning also, which becomes evident when this verse is read along with the verse that follows.
The first meaning is that there should be complete agreement between a true Muslim's word and deed: he should carry into effect whatever he says, and when he has no intention of doing it, or has no power for it, he should not say it.
To say one thing and do another is one of the most hideous characteristics of man, in the sight of Allah.
The Holy Prophet ( upon whom be Allah's peace ) has explained that a person's being characterised by this quality is a sign that he is not a believer but a hypocrite.
According to a .Hadith he said;
" The hypocrite has three signs even if he offered the Prayer and observed the Fast, and professed to be a Muslim: That then he spoke he lied; when he made a promise, he broke it; and when he was entrusted with something, he proved dishonest.
" ( Bukhari, Muslim ) .

In another Hadith he said:
" Four characteristics are such that the one who has all the four, is a hypocrite through and through, and the one who has one of these, has one characteristic of hypocrisy in him until he gives it up: that when he is entrusted with something, he proves dishonest; when he speaks, he lies; when he makes a promise, he breaks it; and when he quarrels he crosses all limits of morality and decency. " ( Bukhari, Muslim ).

The jurists of Islam have almost unanimously held the view that if a person makes a pledge to AIlah ( e.g..
vows to do some thing ), or enters an agreement with others, or promised somebody to do something, it is obligatory for him to fulfil it, unless the thing he has promised is by itself sinful.
If it is sinful, he should not observe or carry out the agreement or promise, but should expiate its violation as mentioned in Surah AI-Ma'idah: 89 above.
( AI-Jassas and Ibn al'Arabi, Ahkam al-Qur-an an ).

This much for the general meaning of these verses.
As for their special meaning, it becomes obvious when these are read along with the verse that follows.
The object is to reprove those people who talked much and made tall promises to fight and lay down their lives in the cause of Islam, but when the time came of their test and trial, they fled the battlefield.
The people of weak faith have been taken to task for this weakness at several places in the Qur'an.
For instance, in Surah An-Nisa': 77, it has been said: " Have you also marked those to whom if was said, 'Withhold your hands ( a while from war ) and establish the salat and pay the zakat.
Now that they have been commanded to fight, some of them fear the people as they should fear Allah, or even more than that.
They say: 'Our Lord, why have You prescribed fighting for us? Why have You not given us further respite? " And in Surah Muhammad: 20: " Those who have believed, were saying, 'Why is not a Surah sent down ( to enjoin fighting )?' But when a decisive Surah was sent down in which fighting had been mentioned, you saw those in whose hearts was a disease, looking towards you like the one under the shadow of death.' On the occasion of the Battle of Uhud in particular, the weaknesses to which allusions have been made continuously from verse 121 to verse 171 of Surah Al-'Imran became all the more conspicuous and visible.

The commentators while explaining the background of the revelation of these verses have mentioned the different forms of the weaknesses to which exception has been taken here.
Ibn 'Abbas says that before the fighting was proscribed, there were some people among the Muslims who said: "Would that we could know the act that is most lovable in the sight of Allah, so that we would perform the same." But when they were told that it was fighting in the cause of AIIah, it became most difficult for them to carry out their promise.
Muqatil bin Hayyan has stated that in the Battle of Uhud these very people were put to the test, and they abandoned the Holy Prophet ( upon whom be Allah's peace ) and fled Ibn Zaid says that many of the people made the Holy Prophet ( upon whom be peace ) believe that they would go out with him to fact the enemy whenever it was so required, but whcn the time of the test came their promises proved false.
Qatadah and Dahhak say that if some people did take pan in the battle, they accomplished nothing.
but on their return from the battlefield they boasted and bragged, saying.
"We put up a brave fight and we achieved such and such a victory." It is such people who have been rebuked by Allah in these verses.

 

Which was revealed in Madina The Virtues of Surat As-Saff Imam Ahmad recorded that `Abdullah bin Salam said, "We asked, `Who among us should go to the Messenger ﷺ and ask him about the dearest actions to Allah' None among us volunteered.
The Messenger ﷺ sent a man to us and that man gathered us and recited this Surah, Surat As-Saff, in its entirety."' بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Chastising Those Who say what They do not do We mentioned in many a places before the meaning of Allah's statement, سَبَّحَ لِلَّهِ مَا فِى السَّمَـوَتِ وَمَا فِى الاٌّرْضِ وَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ ( Whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth glorifies Allah.
And He is the Almighty, the All-Wise. ) Therefore, we do not need to repeat its meaning here.
Allah's statement, يأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ لِمَ تَقُولُونَ مَا لاَ تَفْعَلُونَ ( O you who believe! Why do you say that which you do not do ) This refutes those who neglect to fulfill their promises.
This honorable Ayah supports the view that several scholars of the Salaf held, that it is necessary to fulfill the promise, regardless of whether the promise includes some type of wealth for the person receiving the promise or otherwise.
They also argue from the Sunnah, with the Hadith recorded in the Two Sahihs in which Allah's Messenger ﷺ said, «آيَةُ الْمُنَافِقِ ثَلَاثٌ: إِذَا وَعَدَ أَخْلَفَ، وَإِذَا حَدَّثَ كَذَبَ، وَإِذَا اؤْتُمِنَ خَان» ( There are three signs for a hypocrite: when he promises, he breaks his promise; when speaks, he lies; and when he is entrusted, he betrays. ) And in another Hadith in the Sahih, «أَرْبَعٌ مَنْ كُنَّ فِيهِ كَانَ مُنَافِقًا خَالِصًا،وَمَنْ كَانَتْ فِيهِ وَاحِدَةٌ مِنْهُنَّ كَانَتْ فِيهِ خَصْلَةٌ مِنْ نِفَاقٍ حَتْى يَدَعَهَا» ( There are four characteristics which if one has all of them, he is the pure hypocrite, and if anyone has any of them, he has a characteristic of hypocrisy, until he abandons it. ) So he mentioned breaking the promise among these four characteristics.
We mentioned the meaning of these two Hadiths in the beginning of the explanation of Sahih Al-Bukhari, and to Allah is the praise and the thanks.
Therefore Allah implied this meaning, when He continued His admonishment by saying, كَبُرَ مَقْتاً عِندَ اللَّهِ أَن تَقُولُواْ مَا لاَ تَفْعَلُونَ ( Most hateful it is with Allah that you say that which you do not do. ) Imam Ahmad and Abu Dawud recorded that `Abdullah bin `Amir bin Rabi`ah said, "Allah's Messenger ﷺ came to us while I was a young boy, and I went out to play.
My mother said, `O `Abdullah! Come, I want to give you something.' Allah's Messenger ﷺ said to her, «وَمَا أَرَدْتِ أَنْ تُعْطِيَهُ؟» ( What did you want to give him ) She said, `Dates.' He said, «أَمَا إِنَّكِ لَوْ لَمْ تَفْعَلِي كُتِبَتْ عَلَيْكِ كَذْبَة» ( If you had not given them to him, it would have been written as a lie in your record. )" Muqatil bin Hayyan said, "The faithful believers said, `If we only knew the dearest good actions to Allah, we would perform them.' Thus, Allah told them about the dearest actions to Him,saying, إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ الَّذِينَ يُقَـتِلُونَ فِى سَبِيلِهِ صَفّاً ( Verily, Allah loves those who fight in His cause in rows ) Allah stated what He likes, and they were tested on the day of Uhud.
However, they retreated and fled, leaving the Prophet behind.
It was about their case that Allah revealed this Ayah: يأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ لِمَ تَقُولُونَ مَا لاَ تَفْعَلُونَ ( O you who believe! Why do you say that which you do not do ) Allah says here, `The dearest of you to Me, is he who fights in My cause."' Some said that it was revealed about the gravity of fighting in battle, when one says that he fought and endured the battle, even though he did not do so.
Qatadah and Ad-Dahhak said that this Ayah was sent down to admonish some people who used to say that they killed, fought, stabbed, and did such and such during battle, even though they did not do any of it.
Sa`id bin Jubayr said about Allah's statement, إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ الَّذِينَ يُقَـتِلُونَ فِى سَبِيلِهِ صَفّاً ( Verily, Allah loves those who fight in His cause in rows (ranks )) "Before Allah's Messenger ﷺ began the battle against the enemy, he liked to line up his forces in rows; in this Surah, Allah teaches the believers to do the same." He also said that Allah's statement, كَأَنَّهُم بُنْيَـنٌ مَّرْصُوصٌ ( as if they were a solid structure. ) means, its parts are firmly connected to each other; in rows for battle.
Muqatil bin Hayyan said, "Firmly connected to each other." Ibn `Abbas commented on the meaning of the Ayah, كَأَنَّهُم بُنْيَـنٌ مَّرْصُوصٌ ( as if they were a solid structure. ) by saying, "They are like a firm structure that does not move, because its parts are cemented to each other."

( It is most hateful in the sight of Allah that ye say that which ye do not ) that you promise that which you cannot fulfil or speak of doing that which you cannot do.

Most hateful it is with Allah that you say that which you do not do.

Page 551 English transliteration