Tafseer of The Repentance · At-Tawba · 9:96
They swear to you so that you might be satisfied with them. But if you should be satisfied with them - indeed, Allah is not satisfied with a defiantly disobedient people.
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: يَحْلِفُونَ لَكُمْ لِتَرْضَوْا عَنْهُمْ فَإِنْ تَرْضَوْا عَنْهُمْ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ لا يَرْضَى عَنِ الْقَوْمِ الْفَاسِقِينَ (96) ("They swear to you that you may be pleased with them; but even if you should be pleased with them, then indeed Allah is not pleased with the defiantly disobedient people." (9:96))
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is mentioned, says: These hypocrites (munāfiqūn) swear to you, O you who believe in Allah, by way of excuse, with falsehood and lies — that you may be pleased with them; but even if you should be pleased with them, then indeed Allah is not pleased with the defiantly disobedient people. He says: If you, O believers, are pleased with them and accept their excuse — since you cannot distinguish their truthfulness from their lying — then your being pleased with them avails them nothing with Allah. For Allah knows of the hidden matters of their affair what you do not know, and of their concealed conviction what you do not perceive, and that they persist in disbelief (kufr) against Allah [...] — that is to say, that they are those who have departed from faith (īmān) into disbelief against Allah, and from obedience into disobedience.
(Footnote: At the place of these ellipses there is undoubtedly a lacuna in the words of Abū Jaʿfar, caused by the copyist of his book. The correct reading would probably be: "and that they persist in disbelief against Allah, and that they are the defiantly disobedient (fāsiqūn) — that is to say: that they are those who have departed..." or words to that effect.)