In Makkah, there were three kinds of reactions to the Prophet's message:

1. The believers who were staunch in their belief, come what may.
2. The ones who wanted to compromise and negotiate.
3. The ones who were completely opposed to the message of Islam; hard line enemies.
When the Prophet (‫ )ﺻﻠﻰ اﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ و ﺳﻠﻢ‬went to Madina, there were two groups of people
reacting to his leaving:
1. Those who wanted to go after him and finish him off
2. Those who said "Let it go. If his message spreads, he is a Makkan so only we are
going to be more powerful. If his message doesn't spread, all the better and we're
good."
The Prophet (‫ )ﺻﻠﻰ اﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ و ﺳﻠﻢ‬kept scouts as lookouts in the vicinity of Madina. One of them
got caught and a fight broke out. A trade caravan which was passing by, got raided. News
traveled to Makkah and everybody got convinced to go to war. The stage was set for Battle
of Badr.
Now, in Madina there were similar three reactions to the Prophetic message:
1. There were the Ansaar (the helpers) who had unconditional love for the Prophet (‫ﺻﻠﻰ‬
‫ )اﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ و ﺳﻠﻢ‬and his Companions.
2. There was a group of Muslims and Jews who wanted to negotiate and bring about
peace. The Muslims among them had ties to Makkah and they were totally not ready
for sacrifice and war. They wanted to reason with the Makkans and remain peaceful.
3. Leaders of the Jewish community who opposed Islam vehemently. This was amply
expressed in their talks with their congregation.

َ ‫ﻮن ِإﱠﻻ َأﻧُﻔ َﺴ ُﻬ ْﻢ َو َﻣﺎ َﯾ ْﺸ ُﻌ ُﺮ‬

‫ون‬ َ ‫آﻣُﻨﻮا َو َﻣﺎ َﯾ ْﺨ َﺪ ُﻋ‬ َ ‫ﻮن اﻟﱠﻠ َـﻪ َواﱠﻟ ِﺬ‬
َ ‫ﯾﻦ‬ َ ‫ُﯾ َﺨ ِﺎد ُﻋ‬
They [think to] deceive Allah and those who believe, but they deceive not except
themselves and perceive [it] not.
Note in this ayah that the Prophet (‫ )ﺻﻠﻰ اﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ و ﺳﻠﻢ‬is not mentioned. The people deceive
Allah (‫ )ﺳﺒﺤﺎﻧﻪ و ﺗﻌﺎﻟﻰ‬and those who believe. Where is the Prophet (‫ ?)ﺻﻠﻰ اﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ و ﺳﻠﻢ‬The
people being talked about here had no communication with Allah (‫)ﺳﺒﺤﺎﻧﻪ و ﺗﻌﺎﻟﻰ‬, but with the
Prophet (‫)ﺻﻠﻰ اﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ و ﺳﻠﻢ‬.
The explanation behind the above is that in worship, we only worship Allah (‫)ﺳﺒﺤﺎﻧﻪ و ﺗﻌﺎﻟﻰ‬. But
in obedience, we obey the Messenger of Allah (‫ )ﺻﻠﻰ اﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ و ﺳﻠﻢ‬and THUS obey Allah (‫ﺳﺒﺤﺎﻧﻪ‬
‫)و ﺗﻌﺎﻟﻰ‬. There is no difference between obeying the Messenger (‫ )ﺻﻠﻰ اﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ و ﺳﻠﻢ‬and obeying
Allah (‫)ﺳﺒﺤﺎﻧﻪ و ﺗﻌﺎﻟﻰ‬. So in reality, these people ARE trying to deceive the Prophet (‫ﺻﻠﻰ اﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ‬
‫ )و ﺳﻠﻢ‬but Allah (‫ )ﺳﺒﺤﺎﻧﻪ و ﺗﻌﺎﻟﻰ‬emphasizes that crime against the Prophet (‫ )ﺻﻠﻰ اﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ و ﺳﻠﻢ‬is
actually, crime against Allah (‫ )ﺳﺒﺤﺎﻧﻪ و ﺗﻌﺎﻟﻰ‬Himself.
The agenda of such people is to not be called out if they don't go to fight in battle and to stay
relevant. They give epic excuses for not going to battle too (one person had the audacity to
say that he might get into fitnah because the enemies' women are really beautiful -
imagine!). But they have no realization that they are really just deceiving themselves.

From the perspective of the Jews of Madina:

The Jews were thinking that they were fooling Allah (‫ )ﺳﺒﺤﺎﻧﻪ و ﺗﻌﺎﻟﻰ‬and the people who believe
by being two faced; in reality, they were only fooling themselves. Allah (‫ )ﺳﺒﺤﺎﻧﻪ و ﺗﻌﺎﻟﻰ‬saw right
through their deception when they pretended to find common ground with the Muslims while
advising each other to never believe in the final Messenger (‫)ﺻﻠﻰ اﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ و ﺳﻠﻢ‬.

‫ض َﻓ َﺰ َاد ُﻫ ُﻢ اﻟﱠﻠ ُـﻪ َﻣ َﺮ ًﺿﺎ‬

ٌ ‫ ﻓِﻲ ُﻗُﻠﻮِﺑ ِﻬﻢ ﱠﻣ َﺮ‬- In their hearts is disease, so
Allah has increased their disease
The disease in their heart entails:
1. They have no realization of the disease
2. That they are perpetually doubtful.
It is important to understand the use of the word ‫ ﻗﻠﻮب‬here. There are two words for hearts,
used in the Quran: ‫ ﻗﻠﻮب‬and ‫ﺻﺪور‬.
‫ ﺻﺪور‬refers to the place, the chests themselves. And the ‫ ﻗﻠﻮب‬refer to the treasures inside
those chests, which are the hearts. Shaitaan whispers into the chests {recall Surah Al-Naas:
‫ﺎس‬ ‫ﱠ‬
ِ ‫ﺻُﺪ‬
ِ ‫ور اﻟﻨ‬ ُ ‫س ِﻓﻲ‬ َ ‫}اﻟﱠِﺬي ﯾ‬. So this whispering can only happen in the place; there is no access
ُ ‫ُﻮ ْﺳ ِﻮ‬
to the actual heart UNLESS...
You let it. If you open the door to Shaitaan and let him inside your heart enough times, then
your heart gets diseased and now it is dictated by Shaitaan, not by your pure disposition
(fitrah). Allah (‫ )ﺳﺒﺤﺎﻧﻪ و ﺗﻌﺎﻟﻰ‬increases their disease so now they only think favorably of those
things that are blatantly wrong, and oppose things that are true and pure.

From the perspective of the Jews of Madina:

The Jews always had a disease in their hearts and Allah (‫ )ﺳﺒﺤﺎﻧﻪ و ﺗﻌﺎﻟﻰ‬increased that. They
had always tried to inflict pain upon the Muslims. Even before the Prophet (‫)ﺻﻠﻰ اﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ و ﺳﻠﻢ‬
migrated to Madina, the Jews had collaborated with the Quraish to provide "tough" questions
to the Prophet (‫ )ﺻﻠﻰ اﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ و ﺳﻠﻢ‬so that (in their estimation), he would be unable to answer
them and thus be humiliated.

َ ‫اب َأﻟِﯿ ٌﻢ ِﺑ َﻤﺎ َﻛﺎُﻧﻮا َﯾ ْﻜ ِﺬُﺑ‬

‫ﻮن‬ ٌ ‫ َوَﻟ ُﻬ ْﻢ َﻋ َﺬ‬- And for them is a painful
punishment because they [habitually] used to lie.
The word ‫ َﻛﺎُﻧﻮا‬is a ‫ ﻣﺎﺿﻰ اﺳﺘﻤﺮارى‬i.e. continuous past tense. So because of the continuous lies
they make, they will get a painful punishment. ‫ اﻟﯿﻢ‬is a ‫ ﺻﻔﻪ ﻣﺸﺒّﻪ‬and means: continuous pain.
The difference between ‫اﻟﯿﻢ‬ ًٌ
ًٌ ‫ﻋﺬاب‬ ًٌ
(painful punishment) and ‫ﻋﻈﯿﻢ‬ ًٌ
‫ﻋﺬاب‬ (great punishment) is that
the former is continuous pain which is never going to get less painful, whereas the latter is a
great amount of pain in a burst, rather than continuous [but even this one won't get better].

ُ ‫ض َﻗﺎُﻟﻮا ِإﱠﻧ َﻤﺎ َﻧ ْﺤ ُﻦ ُﻣ ْﺼﻠ‬

َ ‫ِﺤ‬
‫ﻮن‬ َْ ‫ِﯿﻞ َﻟ ُﻬ ْﻢ َﻻ ُﺗ ْﻔ ِﺴُﺪوا ﻓِﻲ‬
ِ ‫اﻷ ْر‬ َ ‫ َوِإ َذا ﻗ‬- And when it is
said to them, "Do not cause corruption on the earth,"
they say, "We are but reformers."
They are quick to point out that they are the ones who want to negotiate and bring everyone
towards peace and security. They blame the Muslims for inciting conflict in the region and
clashing with the Quraish. Allah (‫ )ﺳﺒﺤﺎﻧﻪ و ﺗﻌﺎﻟﻰ‬has the ultimate response to their comment
and states:

َ ‫ٰﻛِﻦ ﱠﻻ َﯾ ْﺸ ُﻌ ُﺮ‬
‫ون‬ َ ‫ َأ َﻻ ِإﱠﻧ ُﻬ ْﻢ ُﻫ ُﻢ اْﻟ ُﻤ ْﻔ ِﺴُﺪ‬- Unquestionably, it is they
‫ون َوَﻟـ‬
who are the corrupters, but they perceive [it] not.
The actual definition of ‫ ﻓﺴﺎد‬is injustice. ‫ ﻓﺴﺎد‬can be apparent (when land stops producing
crops etc. due to spiritual corruption) and moral (unjust policies and practices). The people
who wanted to make a deal with the Quraish are being told that moral corruption cannot be
made peace with. The Quraish were highly unjust to the orphans, to the baby girls (they
killed them in their infancy) and worshipped idols. Nobody can negotiate with that. This deen
is not meant to make adjustments to. Hence the ones who claim to be reformers are actually
the ones perpetuating ‫ ﻓﺴﺎد‬in the land, but don't perceive it.

From the perspective of the Jews of Madina:

When the Jews were told not to cause corruption (by hiding their own revelations in order to
deny the final Messenger (‫) )ﺻﻠﻰ اﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ و ﺳﻠﻢ‬, there is a profound lesson for us Muslims here.
We have the entire Quran and there are some parts in it which can cause a lot of "political
incorrectness" in our society. Ayaat which can cause this are often used by those seeking to
malign Islam on various platforms. We must never hide these ayaat from anyone because
there is nothing in our Book we should be ashamed of. Every ayah in the Quran has a
purpose, a meaning and a context. Once we figure that out, we would never have a reason
to hide any one of the beautiful verses of this Book. And remember, if you are honest in your
explanation of the Quran (and not evasive), everybody will understand (even if they don't
agree).
Hiding any part of the Quran amounts to causing ultimate corruption in the land.