Tafseer of The Spoils of War · Al-Anfaal · 8:21
And do not be like those who say, "We have heard," while they do not hear.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The explanation of His word: wa-lā takūnū ka-lladhīna qālū samiʿnā wa-hum lā yasmaʿūn (21) (And be not like those who said: "We have heard," while they do not hear) (21).
Abū Jaʿfar said: He, exalted is His mention, says to those who believe in Allah and His Messenger, belonging to the companions of the Prophet of Allah ﷺ: Be not, O believers, in your opposition to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, like the polytheists (mushrikīn) who, when they heard the Book of Allah recited to them, said: "We have heard," with our ears — "while they do not hear" — He says: while they take no lesson from what they hear with their ears and derive no benefit from it, on account of their aversion to it and their failing to preserve it in their hearts and to reflect upon it. Thus Allah, since they derived no benefit from the admonitions of the Qurʾān, even though they had heard them with their ears, placed them in the position of one who has not heard it. He, exalted be His praise, says to the companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: Be not, in your aversion to the command of the Messenger and your failing to comply with it, while you hear it with your ears, like these polytheists who hear the admonitions of the Book of Allah with their ears and say: "We have heard," while they turn away from listening to it and from letting themselves be admonished thereby, like one who does not hear it.
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And Ibn Isḥāq used to say concerning that, as follows:
15853 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us; he said: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: (and be not like those who said: "We have heard," while they do not hear), that is to say: like the hypocrites (munāfiqīn) who outwardly showed him obedience and inwardly concealed disobedience.
15854 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me; he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us; he said: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the word of Allah: (while they do not hear) — he said: the disobedient.
15855 — Al-Muthannā related to me; he said: ʿAbd Allāh related to us, on the authority of Warqāʾ, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, the like of it.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: For what Ibn Isḥāq said there is a basis, but His word: (and be not like those who said: "We have heard," while they do not hear) stands in the context of the account about the polytheists, and it is followed by the report about them with His censure of them, namely His word: inna sharra l-dawābbi ʿinda llāhi l-ṣummu l-bukmu lladhīna lā yaʿqilūn (Verily, the worst of creatures in the sight of Allah are the deaf and the dumb, who do not understand). That what stands between the two is a report about them is therefore more fitting than that it should be a report about others than them.
