Abū Jaʿfar said: Whichever of the two matters it was from them in that regard—meaning in their claim that they are peacemakers—there is no doubt that they thought they were peacemakers in what they did. So whether their claim of peacemaking was between the Jews and the Muslims, or in their religions, and in the disobedience to God they committed, and their lying to the believers in what they outwardly showed them of speech while inwardly concealing other than what they showed; because in all of that of their affair, they were doing good in their own eyes, while they were doing evil in the sight of God, and opposing the command of God. Because God, may His praise be exalted, had obligated upon them enmity toward the Jews and fighting them alongside the Muslims, and He obligated upon them belief in the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him, and in what he brought from God, just as He obligated that upon the believers. Thus, their meeting with the Jews—by way of alliance with them, and their doubting the prophethood of the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him, and that what he brought was from God—was the greatest corruption, even if they considered it peacemaking and guidance: in their religions or between the believers and the Jews. So He, may His praise be exalted, said about them: {Unquestionably, it is they who are the corrupters} rather than the believers who forbid them from causing corruption on the earth, {but they perceive it not}.

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The statement regarding the interpretation of His statement, may His praise be exalted: {Unquestionably, it is they who are the corrupters, but they perceive it not (12)}

This statement from God, may His praise be exalted, is a falsification of the hypocrites in their claim. When they were commanded to obey God in what God commanded them, and forbidden from disobeying God in what He forbade them from, they said: "We are only peacemakers, not corrupters, and we are upon right guidance and direction—in what you have condemned us for—unlike you, not astray." So God Almighty falsified them in that statement of theirs, saying: Unquestionably, it is they who are the corrupters who oppose the command of God Almighty, transgress His limits, commit disobedience to Him, and abandon His obligations, while they do not perceive nor know that they are such—not the believers who enjoin justice upon them,