SURAH AL-BAQARAH
Ayah 16.
أُوْلَـئِكَ الَّذِينَ اشْتَرُوُاْ الضَّلاَلَةَ بِالْهُدَى
فَمَا رَبِحَت تِّجَارَتُهُمْ وَمَا كَانُواْ مُهْتَدِينَ
Those are they who have bartered error for guidance; but their trade does not profit them, and they are not guided.
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“they who have bartered error for guidance”
They purchased misguidance and sold off guidance. The concept of buying and selling with our lives is mentioned in the Qur’an. There are two types of selling and buying, via cash or via credit.
If you sell things by cash, you get immediate cash.
If you sell things by credit, you’ll get the payment at the end of your agreement with the buyer.
Naturally, when we sell, we will prefer the payment to be in cash, as it is immediate payment. For a credit payment, you will need a guarantee like a receipt that the buyer will pay up at the end of the period of agreement.
We are in a credit business transaction in life with our Master. Whatever effort we have put in for the Deen, will be paid hugely in the hereafter. The only “receipt” that we have is His words/promises (Qur’an and words of His Messenger). It takes a lot of trust in this agreement contract with the Master. He buys your life BUT payment will be given only after you die.
Syaithan has his own agreement contract that he offered us. Whatever effort we put in will be paid immediately. He buys your life and payment given immediately. Our desires are immediately fulfilled. Syaithan beautify the world to interest you in taking his offer.
Example: When you enter a car showroom, it is nicely decorated with fragance smell and a smiling salesman entertaining you. The car salesman, trying to sell you an expensive car, will let you touch it, test drive it. You are given the experience immediately.
Syaithan will make his offer very tempting to your immediate desires. While the experience of “Jannah” paradise, you will only get it after you die.
“but their trade does not profit them”
It is a natural tendency that when your desires are fed, you will keep going back. The Munafiquun believed that they havd “saved” themselves and they have steered themselves for a successful life in this world but they failed to save themselves for the life in the hereafter.
In summary, they did not get anything out of their trade with syaithan. No profit of getting into paradise but loosing ending up in hell. Letting off the Deen is a loosing trade. Selling their Deen and replace with their worldly desires. Continuously feeding your desires are bad for you. By feeding your desire over and over again will destroy you, e.g getting broke, getting drunk, getting disease, broken homes, etc. In the end you gain no profit in the syaithan way of business deal. This is not a profitable deal.
“and they are not guided.”
They never make an effort to be guided, eg. refusal to attend/listen to religious classes, talks, books, chat, recordings, etc. Refusal to follow guidance. They entered into Islam casually by default and has little commitment to the Deen.