سورة آل عمران

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): وَ لِیَعْلَمَ الَّذِینَ نافَقُوا وَ قِیلَ لَهُمْ تَعالَوْا قاتِلُوا فِی سَبِیلِ اللَّهِ [And that He might know the hypocrites; and it was said to them: Come, fight in Allah's way]; the meaning is those three hundred hypocrites who turned back with Abdullah ibn Ubayy Salul, and Jabir ibn Abdullah (may Allah have mercy on him) said to them: "I ask you, for the sake of Allah, to give aid to the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) and to your religion and your homes." They said: "By Allah, there will be no fighting today, and if we knew and were certain that there would be fighting, we would surely have come with you." It is here that Allah says: هُمْ لِلْکُفْرِ یَوْمَئِذٍ أَقْرَبُ مِنْهُمْ لِلإِیمَانِ یَقُولُونَ بِأَفْوَاهِهِم مَّا لَیْسَ فِی قُلُوبِهِمْ وَ اللهُ أَعلَمُ بِمَا یَکْتُمُونَ [They were on that day much nearer to unbelief than to belief. They say with their mouths what is not in their hearts, and Allah best knows what they conceal].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Whoever is weak in certainty clings to causes and means and gives himself license, and follows customs and conventions. He follows the sayings of people in which there is no truth. He occupies himself with worldly causes and means and busies himself with amassing and hoarding wealth. With their tongues they acknowledge that whatever He wills, that is what comes to pass, and that the withholder and the giver is Allah. Allah distributes sustenance among people, and through effort and striving one can obtain sustenance — yet in action and in heart he opposes this. Allah the Exalted says in the Glorious Qur'an: یَقُولُونَ بِأَفْواهِهِمْ ما لَیْسَ فِی قُلُوبِهِمْ وَ اللهُ أَعْلَمُ بِما یَکْتُمُون [They say with their mouths what is not in their hearts, and Allah best knows what they conceal].

Imam Hadi (peace be upon him): As for the driving cause — that is, the intention which impels a person to every act — the organ associated with it is the heart. So whoever performs a deed while not being wholeheartedly in accord with it, Allah will not accept it from him unless he brings forward sincerity of intention and ikhlas (sincerity). For this reason Allah has said concerning the hypocrites: یَقُولُونَ بِأَفْواهِهِمْ ما لَیْسَ فِی قُلُوبِهِمْ وَ اللهُ أَعْلَمُ بِما یَکْتُمُون [They say with their mouths what is not in their hearts, and Allah best knows what they conceal].