Commentators of the Quran have given varying explanations regarding this issue.

There is no doubt that the apparent meaning of the verse (2:154) is that they have a purgatory or spiritual life because their bodies have decomposed. In accordance to the words of Imām Sādiq (a) this life is lived with a mithālī existence (this body is comprised of unusual matter).[1] The explanation of this is the 100^th verse of Sūrah Mu’minūn: “Before them is a Partition [purgatory] till the Day they are raised up.”[2]

Some commentators of the Quran consider this life to be a life of the ‘unseen’ and special for the martyrs. The have said that they do not have any more information about how this life is lived and how they benefit from it.

Some have explained the word life in this verse to mean guidance and death to mean misguidance. They have said that it means to command people not to say that people who have been killed were misguided, rather they were guided.

Some others have said that their eternal life means that their name and their ideology will be remembered.

But, as we have said at the beginning, it is clear that none of these probabilities can be accepted. It is not necessary to explain the verse in a way that is not literal or to say that the purgatory is special for the martyrs. Rather, the martyrs have a purgatory and spiritual life being exceptional because of their closeness to divine mercy and being blessed with all kinds of blessings.

The apparent meaning of the verse under discussion (2:26) might cause the following incorrect thought: guidance and misguidance are determined – forced – and only stem from the desire of Allah. Whereas, the last sentence of the verse presents the truth that guidance and misguidance stem from man’s actions.

The explanation is this that man’s actions always have results. For instance, if the action was righteous the result will be more success and guidance from Allah which will produce better actions.

Supporting evidence for this claim is the 29^th verse of Sūrah Anfāl: “O ye who believe! if ye fear Allah, He will grant you a criterion (to judge between right and wrong).”[1]

If one goes after bad actions and his heart fills with darkness which would lead him to more sin which sometimes leads to one rejecting Allah all together.

Supporting evidence for this claim is the 10^th verse of Sūrah Rūm: “In the long run evil in the extreme will be the End of those who do evil; for that they rejected the Signs of Allah, and held them up to ridicule.”[2]

Another verse states: “Then when they went wrong, Allah let their hearts go wrong.”[3]

In the verse under discussion there is also evidence of this when it says: “but He causes not to stray, except those who forsake (the path).”

Therefore, the choice of taking the right or wrong path is there for man in the beginning. The conscience of any man accepts this. Then, one must await the forced results of this choice.

In short, guidance and misguidance in the Quran does not mean that one is forced in choosing the right path or the wrong path, rather as many verses have stated guidance is obtaining the tools necessary for success and misguidance is destroying the grounds of help without being forced to do so.

This obtaining the necessary tools or destroying them is the result of man’s actions. So, if Allah allows one to obtain these tools (if He guides him) or if he destroys the tools (misguides him) is it a direct result of his actions.

This reality in a simple example can. When one crosses a dangerous river the closer he gets to it his leg shakes and the probability of his fall becomes greater and the possibility of being saved is lessened. The farther that he gets away from it his steps become more stable and the possibility of his fall becomes lessened. This is guidance and the other is misguidance.

In conclusion, the answer was given to those that argue about guidance and misguidance – the issue has become clear.

It is interesting that the only characteristic for heavenly mates that was mentioned in this verse is purity. This shows that the most important characteristic for a spouse is purity – all other characteristics stem from this light. A famous tradition has been narrated from the Prophet (s) which also clarifies this fact: “Stay away from the green plants that goats eat.”

It was asked: “O’ Prophet! What do you mean by these plants?”

He said: “Beautiful women that are raised in polluted homes.”[1]

In many verses of the Quran faith and righteous deeds have been mentioned side by side in such a way that shows that they cannot be separated. This is the case because faith and actions perfect each other.

If faith influences the depths of one’s soul its rays will be seen in one’s actions – making them righteous. It is just like a strong light in a room – the light will spread out of the windows. The strong light is faith which shines in one’s heart and reaches one’s eyes, ears, tongue, hands, and feet.

The 11^th verse of Sūrah Talāq states: “And those who believe in Allah and work righteousness, He will admit to Gardens beneath which Rivers flow.”[1]

The 55^th verse of Sūrah Nūr states: “Allah has promised, to those among you who believe and work righteous deeds, that He will, of a surety, grant them in the land, inheritance (of power).”[2]

Principally, faith is like a root and righteous deeds are fruit. Sweet fruit proves that the roots are healthy and healthy roots cause the growth of useful fruit.

It is possible that faithless people perform righteous deeds from time to time, but it will surely not be forever. The thing that solidifies righteous deeds is faith in the depths of one’s soul which give him the sense of responsibility.

The Quran is the eternal miracle of the Prophet of Islam (s). The Quran is the best miracle of the Prophet and is a eternal testimony to the truthfulness of his message.

The Quran is a book outside of man’s intelligence. So far, nobody has been able to come up with a book similar to it. This book is a huge miracle from the sky.

The reason that the Quran is an eternal testimony to the prophethood of the Prophet of Islam (s) and his biggest miracle is because the Quran is an eternal, clear, international, and spiritual miracle.

The previous prophets had to have been alive with their miracles and they proved their miracles by challenging their opponents to produce similar miracles. In reality, their miracles were not the words of a prophet, rather they were the perfection. This is true for the other miracles of the Prophet of Islam as well.

But, the Quran is a spoken miracle which does not need an introduction. It, itself, invites its opposition to produce something similar to it, convicts them, and remains victorious after the competition.

Therefore, centuries after the death of the Prophet (s), as was the case during his lifetime, the challenge continues. It is religion. It is a miracle. It is a law. It is a proof of the law.

We know that the position of prophethood is the biggest position which is given to pure people because most other positions rule over the bodies of people. Prophethood is a position that rules over the souls of the society. Therefore, there are many people who falsely claim prophethood because of the high stature of the position – they want to misuse the position.

Then, people must either accept every claim that is made or reject every claim that is made. It is clear that this would cause anarchy. If none are accepted the result would be misguidance and digression.

Therefore, the same proofs for the necessity of prophethood itself says that true prophets must have a sign with them separating them from those who falsely claim prophethood and giving them evidence proving their truthfulness.

Along these lines it is necessary for every prophet to perform a miracle bearing testimony to their truthfulness.

As is understood from the Arabic term for miracle mu’jazah, the Prophet (s) must have the ability to perform something that is extraordinary – that which others are incapable of performing.

A prophet who has a miracle must invite the people to perform a similar miracle. He must introduce his sign so that if others cannot perform it, it will be called tahaddī.

 Here it is necessary to point out that associating a partner with Allah is not limited to the building of rock or wooden idols, or even worse than that – considering men such as Jesus (a) to be Allah. Rather it has a more general meaning. There are more hidden cases which would be included in idol-worship. Generally, whatever is considered more affective in life the same way that Allah is polytheism.

Ibn ‘Abbās said something interesting in this regard: “The Arabic term andād is polytheism which is sometimes more hidden that the movement of an ant on a black stone in a dark night. Examples of it are when a man says that by Allah, by my own soul, by your soul (here he puts Allah, his soul, and his friend’s soul on the same plane). Or when one says that if it weren’t for this dog being here last night thieves would have come (here he considers the dog his savior). Or when one says whatever Allah wants and whatever you want. All of these statements have the scent of polytheism.”[1]

It is stated in a tradition: Someone said the following sentence in the presence of the Prophet (s): “Whatever Allah wants and whatever you want.”

The Prophet said: “Are you creating a partner with Allah?”[2]

In modern layman’s terms it is frequently said: “First Allah and second you.” It must be accepted that such terms are not good for a complete monotheist to use.

There is a tradition from Imām Sādiq (a) explaining the 106^th verse of Sūrah Yūsuf (most of them believe not in Allah without associating (other as partners) with Him[3]): “This alludes to subtle polytheism – for instance: when one says: ‘If it wasn’t for you I would have been destroyed or my life would have gone with the wind.’”[4]

Although hypocrisy with its special meaning is a characteristic of faithless people who are apparently in the lines of Muslims but are disbelievers at heart, there is a more general meaning which would include any type of incongruence between the appearance of someone and his heart; between his words and his actions even if he be a believer. We call this the veins of hypocrisy.

The following tradition is an example of this: “There are three characteristics, whoever has them is a hypocrite no matter how much he fasts; no matter how much he prays; no matter if he considers himself a Muslim: A person who commits treachery in amanat, a person who lies when he speaks, and a person who promises but acts in opposition to his promise.”[1]

It is clear that these people are not hypocrites in its special meaning, but the veins of hypocrisy exist inside them, especially in those who perform actions to be seen of men as Imām Sādiq (a) mentions: “Performing actions to be seen of men is a tree who does not have any fruits except hidden polytheism and whose branches are hypocrisy.”[2]

Here we will direct your attention to the words of the Commander of the Faithful, ‘Alī (a) where he speaks about hypocrites: “O servants of Allah! I advise you to piety and warn you of the hypocrites because they are misguided and misguide. They commit mistakes and make others commit mistakes. They come in different colors and show themselves off with different faces speaking different languages. They use whatever they can to deceive people and to destroy you. They are sitting in anyplace where they can aim at you with their bow and arrow. They have bad insides and beautiful outsides. They take steps in deceiving people. They move from misguided roads. Their speech seems to be a cure but their actions are a pain which cannot be cured. They envy other’s comfort and are happy when tribulation befalls them. They make the hopeful loose hope. They have given lives in every path, they give a way for every heart, and they shed fake tears during times of sorrow. They loan praises to each other and await reward. If they want something they insist upon it.”[3]

There is no doubt that hypocrisy and hypocrites were not something special to the age of the Prophet (s). This group exists in all societies, but they must be recognized by accounted signs which the Quran gives so that loss does not incur. In the previous verses, and in Sūrah Munāfiqūn, as well as Islamic traditions various signs of hypocrites have been mentioned.[1] For example:

A. A lot of commotion and claims of grandeur – in short, big words and small actions.

B. Taking on the ‘color’ of whatever environment he is in – speaking in a way that each society likes, saying ‘we believe’ to the believers and ‘we are with you’ to the opposition.

C. Accounting for themselves in a different way than they account for the people and establishing secret societies with specified plans.

D. Being sly, lying, kissing up to people in power, breaking oaths, and treason.

E. Thinking that they are better than others, thinking that the people are unaware, calling other’s simple-minded while considering themselves to be intelligent.

Summary: The dual personalities and the opposition between one’s appearance and one’s heart, which are the clear characteristics of a hypocrite, cause one’s actions and sayings to be two-sided – this is how they can be easily recognized.

What phrase is more beautiful than what the Quran says in the verses that we read “In their hearts is a disease.” What disease is worse than one’s appearance being different than his heart? Which disease is more painful than thinking that you are better than others and not having the strength to face the situation?

But, hypocrisy is just like a heart disease in which one cannot completely hide, no matter how hidden it is and the signs of it appear on man’s face and whole body – it is able to be recognized by various actions.

Why are the Arabic terms qalb and basr plural whereas sam’ is singular? In the verse under discussion, as well as many other Quranic verses, qalb and basr have been used in the plural form, but sam’ is always mentioned in the Quran in the singular form. This difference definitely has a point. What is it?

Answer: It is true that in every instance where  sam’ has been used in the Quran it has been used in the singular form – not the plural. But, the terms qalb and basr have sometimes been used in the plural, as in the verse under discussion (2:7), and sometimes in the singular as in the 23^rd verse of Sūrah Jāthīyah: “and sealed his hearing and his heart (and understanding), and put a cover on his sight.”[1]

The great scholar of the past, Shaykh Tūsī in Tafsīr Tibyān narrates from a well-known linguist: “It is possible that the reason sam’ is used in the singular can be either because sam’ is sometimes used as a pluralized noun and we know that pluralized nouns have the plural meaning in them – there is no need to pluralize them – or, sam’ can take on an infinitive meaning and we know that infinitives proof the amount of something and do not need to be pluralized.”

In addition to this, there can be another Gnostic and intellectual reason for this difference: the heart-felt understandings and the sight are much greater than hearing. Because of this difference the heart and the eyes are mentioned in the plural form, but the hearing is only mentioned in the singular form.

We read in new physics: the waves of sound that can be heard are limited and do not surpass ten thousand whereas the waves of light and colors which can be seen are surpass the millions (ponder over this).