They seek to deceive The God and those who have entered faith (iman); but they deceive none except themselves, and they do not perceive.
This verse is a direct continuation of the previous verse. In verse 8, the Qur’an spoke of people who say, “We have believed in The God and in the Last Day,” while uncovering their reality: “but they are not believers.” Now verse 9 shows that this fracture between speech and reality does not remain merely a false claim. It becomes deceptive conduct.
The Qur’an says: yukhādiʿūna Allāha wa-alladhīna āmanū — they seek to deceive The God and those who have believed. This shows that they behave outwardly as if, through the language of faith, religious appearance, and presence among the believers, they can hide their reality. In the eyes of people, such deception may work for a time. Human beings see outward form, hear speech, and do not always know the inward reality of one another.
But the verse immediately clarifies the truth: wa-mā yakhdaʿūna illā anfusahum — but they deceive none except themselves. Although they imagine that they are deceiving The God and the believers, the reality of the deception returns upon their own selves. The God is not deceived, because He knows the manifest and the hidden. The believers may outwardly be misled for a time, but the main and final harm returns to the deceiver.
This verse uncovers a deep moral law: religious deception corrupts the self before it harms others. Whoever uses the language of faith for benefit, social safety, power, reputation, or a small price of worldly gain is losing a greater capital. Such a person trades truth, sincerity, peace, guidance, and the endless worth of the Hereafter for a passing advantage.
In this sense, their deception is a form of self-deception. They may deceive people, they may be outwardly accepted among believers, and they may benefit from the trust of a believing community. But in the end, it is their own self that has been deceived. No matter how much a human being deceives others, they cannot escape the reality of their own being, the consequence of their choices, or the judgment of The God.
The verse ends: wa-mā yashʿurūn — and they do not perceive. The Qur’an does not merely say that they do not know. It speaks of perception: a subtle inward awareness, moral sensing, and sensitive attention to the truth of one’s own action. The danger of hypocrisy lies here: a human being may reach a point where they no longer even sense their self-deception. Their tongue speaks the language of faith, and their behavior may appear religious, but their inward sensitivity to their own fall has been lost.
Therefore, verse 9 shows that hypocrisy is not only false speech. It is an inward structure of deception and self-deception. A person imagines they are deceiving others, while in truth they deprive their own self of sincerity, guidance, and the Hereafter; and more dangerously, they do not even perceive that deprivation.
In this verse, yukhādiʿūn comes from the root KH D ʿ. Its field includes deceiving, hiding, pretending, and showing something contrary to reality. In this verse, it describes those who hide their inner reality behind the appearance of faith and imagine they can deceive The God and the believers.
The word anfusahum comes from the root N F S, connected with the self, soul, inner person, life, and the center of personal experience and responsibility. The Qur’an returns the deception upon their own selves, meaning the final result of deception is inner corruption and harm to the person who deceives.
The word yashʿurūn comes from the root SH ʿ R, connected with perceiving, sensing, subtle awareness, and inward attention. So their problem is not merely lack of information. They do not perceive the truth of their self-deception and inner loss.