Surah An-Noor (24) — Ayah 53

(Ayah 53) ➊ There can be two grammatical constructions of {وَ اَقْسَمُوْا بِاللّٰهِ جَهْدَ اَيْمَانِهِمْ … : ’’ جَهْدَ اَيْمَانِهِمْ ‘‘}: one is that it is the verbal noun (masdar) of an omitted verb, which is emphasizing that verb: {’’أَيْ أَقْسَمُوْا بِاللّٰهِ يَجْهَدُوْنَ أَيْمَانَهُمْ جَهْدًا‘‘} and {’’ جَهْدَ اَيْمَانِهِمْ ‘‘} mean that they swore by Allah with the utmost strength they possessed in swearing. This is derived from “jahada nafsahu,” which means he exerted his utmost effort. The second construction is that it is in the accusative case as a circumstantial qualifier (hal): {’’أَيْ أَقْسَمُوْا بِاللّٰهِ مُجْتَهِدِيْنَ فِيْ أَيْمَانِهِمْ‘‘} meaning they swore by Allah while exerting their utmost effort in swearing. (Shawkani) That is, the hypocrites, due to their behavior, felt that the Muslims did not trust their word, so they swore the strongest oaths possible before the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), saying that if you command us to leave our homes and families, we will leave them, and if you command us to fight, we will surely go out with you for jihad; in short, whatever you command, we will do it. In reality, their very act of swearing oaths was itself an indication that their word was not trustworthy, as Mutanabbi said:
{وَ فِيْ يَمِيْنِكَ فِيْمَا أَنْتَ وَاعِدُهُ ¤ مَا دَلَّ أَنَّكَ فِي الْمِيْعَادِ مُتَّهَمُ}
“And in your swearing an oath upon what you promise, there is proof that you are not trustworthy in your promise.”
Allah Almighty said: Say to them, do not swear oaths.
➋ { طَاعَةٌ مَّعْرُوْفَةٌ: ’’أَيْ الْمَطْلُوْبُ مِنْكُمْ طَاعَةٌ مَّعْرُوْفَةٌ‘‘} That is, what is required from you is not to swear oaths, but rather obedience according to the well-known way, and that is sufficient; there is no need for oaths. The second meaning is: {’’طَاعَتُكُمْ طَاعَةٌ مَّعْرُوْفَةٌ‘‘} that do not swear oaths, your obedience is well-known and your falsehood is famous and recognized; everyone knows how you obey. By swearing oaths, you will not become obedient; whatever you are doing or will do, no matter how much you try to hide it, Allah Almighty is fully aware of it. This second interpretation is supported by this verse: «{ يَحْلِفُوْنَ لَكُمْ لِتَرْضَوْا عَنْهُمْ فَاِنْ تَرْضَوْا عَنْهُمْ فَاِنَّ اللّٰهَ لَا يَرْضٰى عَنِ الْقَوْمِ الْفٰسِقِيْنَ }» [ التوبۃ : ۹۶ ] “They will swear oaths to you so that you may be pleased with them, but if you are pleased with them, indeed Allah is not pleased with the defiantly disobedient people.”

53-1 And that is, just as you swear false oaths, your obedience is also based on hypocrisy. Some have interpreted this to mean that your matter should be obedience in what is right. That is, obedience in what is right without any kind of oath, just as Muslims do; so you too should become like them. (Ibn Kathir)

53. (The hypocrites) swear by Allah with their strongest oaths (to the Messenger) saying, "If you command us, we will surely go forth (for jihad)." Say to them, "Do not swear. What is required is obedience in accordance with what is right [80]." And Allah is fully aware [81] of what you do.

[80] There are two meanings of "obedience is recognized." One is that those who have sincerely pledged to obey Allah and His Messenger demonstrate their obedience in action, and they never feel the need to swear oaths. The need to swear oaths, to convince others by swearing, and to restore trust only arises when someone's trust has already been damaged. And even then, the correct way is not merely to try to restore trust by swearing strong oaths, but rather to demonstrate obedience in practice. In this way, their trust will be restored without the need for oaths. The second meaning is that the extent and manner of their obedience is already known to everyone. Even before, people used to make grand claims and give assurances. After swearing oaths, what kind of obedience can be expected from them?

[81] That is, even if you swear oaths and convince people of your words, such tricks and deceptions are of no use before Allah, who is fully aware of all your outward and inward evils, and at any time can expose your cunning and hypocrisy.