suppose us to be feeble-minded; you shouldn’t imagine we’re people like that! No, we act as sincere believers act.” However, inwardly they say: “We aren’t like those impoverished, worthless believers,” which is an oblique hint at their depravity and spreading of corruption and their arrogance and duplicity.
“As the weak-minded believe (ka-mā āmana al-sufahā’);” that is, “You suppose the believers to be the people of perfection, but in our view they are contemptible mendicants. They’re forced to turn to religion. They’re worthless for all their numbers. They’re the riff-raff of other nations.”
Their claiming that there can be no comparison between them indicates that Islam is the refuge of the downtrodden, the recourse of the poor, the defender of truth, and the preserver of right, the preventer of arrogance, and the restrainer of pride; it is the only measure of perfection and distinction.
The dissemblers’ claim to be different also points to the cause of dissembling, which for the most part is self-interest, pride, and arrogance, as is explained by the verse, “We see [in] you nothing but a man like ourselves; nor do we see that any follow you but the most abject among us, in judgement immature.”(12:27)
It is also a concealed sign that Islam cannot be made an instrument of domination and oppression in the hands of the worldly and high-ranking; it is rather a means of upholding right at the disposal of the poor and needy, contrarily to other religions. History testifies to this.
“Oh, verily, it is they, they who are weak-minded (a’ lā innahum hum al-sufahā’):”
Consider this: the sole reason for the Qur’an’s vigorous assaults on dissembling and its condemnation of it is that its various kinds have been the cause of most of the calamities visited on the Islamic world.
The interjection “a’ lā – Oh, verily” is to attract attention and publicize their folly and call on public opinion to testify to it. The real meaning of “a’ lā” is “Don’t you know that they’re weak-minded? That is, you ought to know!”
The corroborative particle “inna” acts as a mirror to the truth and is a means to it, as though it were saying: “Refer to the truth and understand that their outward sophistries are baseless.”
The pronoun “they (hum)” infers restriction [to themselves] and [its purpose] is to reject their self-justification and repulse their imputation of feeble-mindedness to the believers, indicated by “as the weak-minded believe (ka-mā āmana al-sufahā’).” That is, the weak-minded are those people who