One of the names of Surah At-Tawbah is Surah Al-Hafirah (the digger) because it exposes the hidden hypocrisy of the hypocrites. Some scholars also use the expression (sources of repentance) for the verses which expose the hypocrites and begin with the words of Allah (swt): “And among them,”:

“And among them is he who says, ‘Permit me [to remain at home],’ ”

“And among them is he who criticizes you concerning [the distribution of] charities,”

“And among them are those who made a covenant with Allah.”

وَمِنْهُمُ الَّذِينَ يُؤْذُونَ النَّبِيَّ وَيَقُولُونَ هُوَ أُذُنٌ ۚ…  (And among them are those who abuse the Prophet and say, “He is an ear.”): The term ‘ear’ refers to a means of perception, and it is the fundamental sensory organ in humans. They commonly use the organs or sensory organs to describe people. For instance, they use the term: (long hand) describes a person who always steals. Therefore, when they say ‘ear’, it means a person who builds his judgments and opinions based on what he hears, or giving his ear to all speech without discretion. Allah (swt) defends the Prophet (saws) by saying:

…قُلْ أُذُنُ خَيْرٍ لَّكُمْ..   (Say, “[It is] an ear that listens to goodness for you.): He hears from the heavens, and the heavens bestow goodness upon people. So, he is hearing the revelation. This contradicts the idea they meant that he is just an ear (one who merely listens to every speech). Hence, The Lord says: Yes, he is an ear for goodness, because he hears from Gabriel (upon him be peace) and he delivers the divine guidance of Allah (swt) the guidance of goodness for all people.

…يُؤْمِنُ بِاللَّهِ وَيُؤْمِنُ لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَرَحْمَةٌ لِّلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مِنكُمْ ۚ.. (…he believes in Allah and believes for the believers and [is] a mercy to those who believe among you,): Faith is belief. “he believes”, meaning he affirms. There is a distinction between the letter “in” and the letter “for” in the verse:

…يُؤْمِنُ بِاللَّهِ وَيُؤْمِنُ لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ… (…The believes in Allah and believes for the believers,): The Prophet (saws) believes in Allah, meaning he affirms his belief in all that has come from Allah (swt) and the existence of Him. On the other hand, he (saws) believes for the believers, that is, for the benefit of the believers.
He (saws) supports the believers, but he does not support the hypocrites, liars, and polytheists.

وَرَحْمَةٌ لِّلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مِنكُمْ ۚ…)) (and [is] a mercy to those who believe among you.): The Messenger of Allah (saws) is a mercy to the worlds, as Allah (swt) states:

  وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ إِلَّا رَحْمَةً لِّلْعَالَمِينَ 

(We have not sent you except as a mercy to all the worlds) (Al-Anbiya’: 107)

Here, Allah (swt) says:

وَرَحْمَةٌ لِّلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مِنكُمْ ۚ…  (and [is] a mercy to those who believe among you.): How can we reconcile between these two statements? The answer: He (saws) is a mercy to the worlds because he came for all of humanity with the path of goodness, love, forgiveness, and generosity. However, on the Day of Judgment, he is a mercy for the believers because he will intercede for them to enter Paradise.أعلى النموذج

…وَالَّذِينَ يُؤْذُونَ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ…)) (And those who abuse the Messenger of Allah,): Those who say about him that, “He is an ear”, harm him with bad words and actions, insulted him, besieged him, and opposed him. However, in reality, they do not harm the Messenger of Allah (saws), rather, they harm those who believe in the Messenger of Allah (saws). Allah (swt) says:

 إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يُؤْذُونَ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ لَعَنَهُمُ اللَّهُ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ وَأَعَدَّ لَهُمْ عَذَابًا مُّهِينًا 

(Indeed, those who abuse Allah and His Messenger – Allah has cursed them in this world and the Hereafter and prepared for them a humiliating punishment) (Al-Ahzab: 57)

How can anyone abuse Allah (swt)? The answer is: They harm those who believe in Allah (swt) and they stand as an obstacle against the call to goodness.

…لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ)) (for them is a painful punishment.): The painful punishment will be everlasting on the Day of Judgment. No believer or Muslim can appoint themselves as a judge and arbitrate between people on that Day. Allah (swt) is the One Who judges among the people.