لَأَنتُمْ أَشَدُّ رَهْبَةً فِى صُدُورِهِم مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ قَوْمٌ لَّا يَفْقَهُونَ 13
Translations
You [believers] are more fearful within their breasts than Allāh. That is because they are a people who do not understand.
Transliteration
La-antum ashaddu rahbatan fee sudurihim minaAllah. Dhalika bi-annahum qawmun la yafqahun.
Tafsir (Explanation)
This ayah, addressing the believers, states that they (the Muslims) are more feared in the hearts of the hypocrites and enemies than Allah Himself is feared, because these people lack understanding (fiqh) of divine matters. According to Ibn Kathir and Al-Tabari, this reveals the spiritual blindness and warped priorities of those who reject faith—they fear worldly power and military might more than they fear the consequences of defying their Creator, demonstrating their fundamental lack of religious comprehension.
Revelation Context
This ayah appears in the context of Surah Al-Hashr, which discusses the expulsion of Banu Nadir (a Jewish tribe from Medina) and the hypocrites' weakness in supporting them. The ayah specifically addresses the believers' strength and the hypocrites' cowardice, illustrating how the hypocrites feared the Muslims' military capability while simultaneously showing indifference toward divine punishment—a sign of their spiritual bankruptcy.
Related Hadiths
The theme of fearing Allah more than creation is reflected in the hadith: 'The strongest of you is the one who overcomes his desires' (Tirmidhi). Additionally, the hadith about hypocrisy and lack of understanding relates to: 'Whoever fears Allah, He will make a way out for him' (Surah At-Talaq 65:2-3), emphasizing that true fear of Allah leads to salvation.
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah reminds believers that the absence of God-consciousness in people's hearts causes them to prioritize worldly fears over divine accountability. For modern readers, it serves as a call to examine our own hearts: do we fear Allah's judgment more than we fear worldly consequences, social disapproval, or loss of status?