49 Al-Hujurat (The Private Apartments)

Medina Period 106 [18 verses]9H

49:14 THE BEDOUIN say, "We have attained to faith." Say [unto them, O Muhammad]: "You have not [yet] attained to faith; you should [rather] say, 'We have [outwardly] surrendered' - for [true] faith has not yet entered your hearts. 17 But if you [truly] pay heed unto God and His Apostle, He will not let the least of your deeds 18 go to waste: for, behold, God is much- forgiving, a dispenser of grace."

قَالَتِ الْأَعْرَابُ آمَنَّا...

14. The desert Arabs say, "We believe."

C4934. The desert Arabs were somewhat shaky in their faith. Their hearts and minds were petty, and they thought of petty things, while Islam requires the complete submission of one's being to Allah. See next verse.

Some of the failings of the desert Arabs are described in 48:11-15. But the reference here is said to be to the Banu Asad, who came to profess Islam in order to get charity during a famine.

...قُل لَّمْ تُؤْمِنُوا وَلَكِن قُولُوا أَسْلَمْنَا وَلَمَّا يَدْخُلِ الْإِيمَانُ فِي قُلُوبِكُمْ...

Say,

"Ye have no faith; but ye (only) say, 'We have submitted our wills to Allah.'

C4935. 'This is what ye ought to prove if your faith has any meaning, but ye only say it with your tongues.'

For not yet has Faith entered your hearts.

...وَإِن تُطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ لَا يَلِتْكُم مِّنْ أَعْمَالِكُمْ شَيْئًا إِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ ﴿١٤﴾

But if ye obey Allah and His Messenger, He will not belittle aught of your deeds:

for Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful."

[[Asad’s note - 18 I.e., "your own deeds, in distinction from the supposed 'glorious deeds' of your ancestors, which count for nothing in His sight" . ]]