The benefits of the verse: “They deceive Allah and those who believe, but they do not deceive except themselves, and they do not perceive it,” and a discussion on *tawriyah* (euphemistic ambiguity) and its ruling.
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Among the benefits of this verse and what follows it is that the hypocrites deceive Allah and those who believe. From this, it is derived that deception is one of the characteristics of the hypocrites.
If someone were to say: “*Tawriyah* contains a type of deception. Does this mean that the one who uses *tawriyah* is associated with the characteristics of the hypocrites? Because he displays the opposite of what he intends?”
The answer is that *tawriyah*, if it has a valid purpose, is not similar to the deception of the hypocrites. However, if it does not have a valid purpose, there is a fear that the person is imitating the hypocrites. For this reason, the Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) forbade *tawriyah* except for a pressing need or dire necessity. But most scholars say that *tawriyah* by one who is not an oppressor is permissible.
And among the benefits of this noble verse is:[Al-Baqarah 2:9] the permissibility of connecting something other than Allah to Allah with a conjunction that implies sharing, as in His saying: [Al-Baqarah 2:9] and He did not say "then those who believed." The reason for this is that the cause is one; deceiving Allah is deceiving the believers, and deceiving the believers is deceiving Allah (Mighty and Majestic). This is unlike worldly matters, where what other than Allah must be mentioned connected by "then," because worldly matters pertain to lordship, and what pertains to lordship, if we act in it, is a follower of the action of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). This is unlike religious matters. For this reason, Allah said in many verses, or attributed the thing to Him and to His Messenger with the conjunction "and" in many verses, but these are in religious matters.
Among the benefits of this verse is that whoever deceives Allah and the believers is only deceiving himself, because they will deal with him according to his outward appearance, and he will persist in this falsehood. This is undoubtedly self-deception, where he thinks he is on the right path and continues in his action, thereby deceiving himself. And among the benefits of this noble verse is that these hypocrites deceive Allah and those who believe, while in reality they are deceiving themselves, but they have no awareness of this within themselves. Therefore, they persisted in this. Had they been aware that they were deceiving themselves, they would not have persisted in it.
If someone were to say: “*Tawriyah* contains a type of deception. Does this mean that the one who uses *tawriyah* is associated with the characteristics of the hypocrites? Because he displays the opposite of what he intends?”
The answer is that *tawriyah*, if it has a valid purpose, is not similar to the deception of the hypocrites. However, if it does not have a valid purpose, there is a fear that the person is imitating the hypocrites. For this reason, the Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) forbade *tawriyah* except for a pressing need or dire necessity. But most scholars say that *tawriyah* by one who is not an oppressor is permissible.
And among the benefits of this noble verse is:
They [think to] deceive Allah and those who believe
يخادعون الله والذين آمنواThey [think to] deceive Allah and those who believe
يخادعون الله والذين آمنواAmong the benefits of this verse is that whoever deceives Allah and the believers is only deceiving himself, because they will deal with him according to his outward appearance, and he will persist in this falsehood. This is undoubtedly self-deception, where he thinks he is on the right path and continues in his action, thereby deceiving himself. And among the benefits of this noble verse is that these hypocrites deceive Allah and those who believe, while in reality they are deceiving themselves, but they have no awareness of this within themselves. Therefore, they persisted in this. Had they been aware that they were deceiving themselves, they would not have persisted in it.