His saying, exalted is He: "Do they not reflect upon the Qur'an? If it had been from other than Allah, they would have found in it much contradiction." "And when there comes to them a matter of safety or fear, they spread it. But if they had referred it to the Messenger and to those in authority among them, they would have known it by those who extract it from them. And if it had not been for the favor of Allah upon you and His mercy, you would have followed Satan, except for a few."

The meaning: These hypocrites, who criticize you, raising doubts without evidence regarding your prophethood, do they not return to the evidence and look at the place of the proof? Do they not reflect upon the words of Allah, exalted is He, so that His proofs become clear to them and His evidence appears?

And reflection is: looking into the consequences of matters and the interpretations of things. All of this is required by His saying: "Do they not reflect upon the Qur'an?" This is a command to look and deduce. Then He, exalted is He, defined the locations of the proof, meaning: if it were from the words of humans, it would have contained what is found in human speech of shortcomings, and contradictions and conflicts that cannot be reconciled, as that exists in human speech, and the Qur'an is free from it, as it is the speech of the One who encompasses all things in knowledge.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: If a doubt arises for someone and he thinks there is a contradiction in something from the Book of Allah, it is obligatory for him to suspect his own understanding and to ask someone who is more knowledgeable than him.

Al-Zajjaj went to say that the meaning of the verse is: they would have found in what we inform you of regarding what they conceal, contradictions, meaning: if you inform them of it according to what occurs, then that is evidence that it is from Allah, a hidden matter of the unseen. This is the meaning of His saying, and it has been clarified by Ibn Furak and Al-Mahdawi.

And His saying, exalted is He: "And when there comes to them a matter of safety..." The majority of the interpreters said: the verse is about the hypocrites as previously mentioned, and the verse was revealed regarding the expeditions of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him. The meaning is that the hypocrites would lean towards hearing what would upset the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, in his expeditions. When a suspicion of safety for the Muslims arose, they belittled it and diminished its importance, and they spread that belittlement and diminishment. And when a suspicion of fear for the Muslims arose or a calamity, they magnified it and spread that magnification. And "they spread it" means: they made it known, and it is an action that is transitive with a preposition, and sometimes by itself, you say: I spread such-and-such, and I spread it with. From it is the saying of Abu Al-Aswad:

They spread it among the people until it was as if it were a fire ignited through holes.

And a group said: the verse was revealed about the hypocrites and about those whose resolve was weak in faith among the believers, and their experience was little.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

So either this is regarding the matter of the expeditions, for they would hear the words of the hypocrites and say them along with those who said them, and they would spread them along with those who spread them, while they were not verifying their correctness. This indicates their lack of experience. Or this could be in other matters that occur, like what Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, said: 'Indeed, a group came to the mosque saying: The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, has divorced his wives.' He said: So I entered upon Aisha and said: O daughter of Abu Bakr, has it reached you that you harm the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him? She said: O son of al-Khattab, take care of your own faults. He said: So I entered upon Hafsa and said: O Hafsa, you know that the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, did not love you, and if it were not for me, he would have divorced you. So she began to cry. He said: So I left until I came to the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, while he was in his room, and Rabaah, his freed slave, was sitting at the door of the room. I said: O Rabaah, ask permission for me to enter upon the Messenger of Allah. He looked towards the room, then looked at me and was silent. I said: O Rabaah, ask permission for me to enter upon the Messenger of Allah, for perhaps he thinks that I have come for Hafsa. By Allah, if he had commanded me to strike her neck, I would have done so. So he looked, then gestured to me with his hand to enter. I entered, and there was the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, lying on a mat, and it had left marks on his side, and there was nothing in his room except a handful of barley and a handful of dried pods, and there were two leather water skins hanging. So I cried. The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: What makes you cry, O son of al-Khattab? I said: O Messenger of Allah, you are the chosen one of Allah from His creation and His Messenger, and you have nothing of this world except this, while Kisra and Caesar are in trees and rivers. He said: Are you here, O Umar? Are you not pleased that they have the world and we have the Hereafter? I said: Yes. Then I began to speak to him until he became cheerful and smiled. I said: O Messenger of Allah, they claimed that you divorced your wives. He said: No. I said: Do you permit me to inform the people? He said: Do so if you wish. He said: So I stood at the door of the mosque and said: Indeed, the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, has not divorced his wives. (p-614) Then Allah revealed regarding this story: 'And when there comes to them a matter of safety or fear, they spread it.' The verse.

And this interpretation is in accordance with the saying of Umar, may Allah be pleased with him: I derived it through my research and questioning. The verse may mean: The responsible ones who derive knowledge may have known it and informed others of their knowledge. Abu al-Sammal read: "Laa'lamahu" with the lam being silent, and that is similar to "a tree among them." The pronoun in "they returned it" refers to the matter, and in "from them" it is possible that it refers to the Messenger and those in authority, and it is possible that it refers to the entire community, meaning: the researchers among the people may have known it.

And His saying, the Exalted: "And were it not for the favor of Allah upon you and His mercy" - this address is to all the believers by consensus of the interpreters. The meaning is: Were it not for the guidance of Allah and His directing you to faith - and that is a favor from Him and a mercy - you would have remained in your disbelief, and that is following the devil. Al-Zajjaj narrated: Were it not for the favor of Allah in this Qur'an and the message of Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him.

The interpreters differed regarding the exception in His saying: "except for a few." What is it? Ibn Abbas and Ibn Zayd said: That is an exception from His saying: "They spread it - except for a few," and al-Tabari preferred this. Qatadah said: It is an exception from His saying: "They derive it - except for a few." A group said: That is an exception from His saying: "You followed the devil except for a few," in the continuation of the speech without estimating a precedence. Then this group differed, and al-Dahhak said: Indeed, Allah guided all of them to faith, so there were among them those who were firmly established in it until no thought of doubt ever crossed their minds, nor did any suspicion of uncertainty ever trouble them, and that is the few. And all others who embraced Islam from the Arabs were not free from thoughts, so were it not for the favor of Allah in granting them guidance, they would have gone astray and followed the devil.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This is the meaning of the words of al-Dahhak, and the favor comes specifically, meaning: the message of Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, and the Qur'an, for all were guided by the favor of Allah in general. And some said: The address in His saying "You followed" is to all the believers, and His saying: "except for a few" refers to those who were before Islam not following the devil upon the religion of Ibrahim, peace be upon him, like Warakah ibn Nawfal and Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nufail, and others. And some said: The exception is only from the following, meaning: You all followed the devil except for a few matters in which you did not follow him. And some said: His saying: "except for a few" is an expression of non-existence, meaning: You all followed the devil, and this last statement is a weak one, and it does not resemble what Sibawayh narrated from their saying: "A land seldom produces such" meaning: it does not produce it, for the conjunction of fewness with the exception necessitates its occurrence, but al-Tabari mentioned it.