Does Allah deceive people?

- It is stated in verse 142 of the chapter of an-Nisa that the hypocrites tried to deceive Allah but Allah deceived them.

Dear Brother / Sister,

The meaning of verse 142 of the chapter of an-Nisa is as follows:

“The Hypocrites - they think they are over-reaching Allah, but He will over- reach them: When they stand up to prayer, they stand without earnestness, to be seen of men, but little do they hold Allah in remembrance.” 

First of all, the meaning of the verse is that the hypocrites will be repaid for their mockery and attempts to deceive. It is called the art of mushakala. Mushakala is the use of similar words to mean something completely different. For example, when the mother threatens her child who laughs slyly while misbehaving and says, “Laugh and I will laugh at you!”, it means she will laugh in a completely different way.

Besides, Allah does not deceive anyone in the sense we know because deception is a kind of lie.

“And whose word can be truer than Allah’s?” (an-Nisa, 4/87, 122),

“The word of thy Lord doth find its fulfilment in truth and in justice: None can change His words...” (al-Anam, 6/115)

It is emphasized in the verses of the Quran above that there is no one who speaks more truthfully and in a more balanced way than Allah.

The concept “khida’” used in the verse is understood metaphorically and means “Allah will punish the hypocrites (munafiqs) who try to deceive His friends”. (see Razi, Qurtubi, Ibn Ashur, the interpretation of the verse in question)

- According to a narration from Ibn Abbas, he explains the verse in detail as follows.

In the Hereafter, Allah will give a light to the hypocrites as He gives a light to the believers. When they reach the bridge, the light of the hypocrites will be extinguished and they will be in darkness. This kind of punishment is called khida’. The evidence for it is the following verse:

 “Their similitude is that of a man who kindled a fire; when it lighted all around him, Allah took away their light and left them in utter darkness. So they could not see.” (al-Baqara, 2/17; see Razi, ibid)

Maraghi also states that the concept of “khida’” in the verse means punishing and gives the details:

a) There is an art of mushakala here. That is, the form of the same word, even if the meaning is different, is used for the sake of harmony with the word used for the hypocrites. When the hypocrites try to deceive the Prophet (pbuh), they think deceive Allah. And Allah punishes them.

b) A similar verse is the following one:

“And (the unbelievers) plotted and planned, and Allah too planned, and the best of planners is Allah.” (Aal-i Imran, 3/54).

The lexical meaning of the word makr is deception. Although Allah does not need to deceive, the use of this word about Him is also an example of the art of mushakala; the same words are associated with each other. They think their plotting and conspiring against the Prophet (pbuh) and the believers who follow him is a way to fulfill their desires, but in reality, it is a great failure for them and a punishment from Allah. (see Maraghi, the interpretation of the verse in question)

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