What is the meaning of the phrase “they (think to) deceive Allaah” in the aayah from Soorat al-Baqarah?
Question

                What is the tafsir of the verse in the beginning of Sura-t-ul Baqarah that is translated to mean "they think to fool Allah and those who Believe".  How can a person try to fool Allah, The Glorious and Exalted?

also, do you have any advice for an american who would like to study islam overseas?
Praise be to Allah. Ibn 
          Katheer said in his tafseer of this aayah: 
“ ‘they 
          (think to) deceive Allaah and those who believe’ [al-Baqarah 2:9 – interpretation 
          of the meaning] means, by 
          their making an outward show of faith whilst inwardly they conceal kufr. 
          They think in their ignorance that they can deceive Allaah in this way, 
          and that this will benefit them with Him. They think that they can fool 
          Him as they fooled some of the believers, as Allaah says (interpretation 
          of the meaning): 
“On the Day when Allaah will resurrect them all together (for their 
          account); then they will swear to Him as they swear to you (O Muslims). 
          And they think that they have something (to stand upon). Verily, they 
          are liars!” [al-Mujaadilah 58:18] 
Hence Allaah responds 
          to their belief by saying (interpretation of the meaning): 
“while they only deceive themselves, and perceive (it) not!” 
[al-Baqarah 2:9] 
i.e., they are not 
          deceiving anyone by their actions but themselves, but they do not perceive 
          that in themselves. This is like the aayah (interpretation of the meaning): 
          
“Verily, the hypocrites seek to deceive Allaah, but it is He Who deceives 
          them” [al-Nisaa’ 4:142]
We advise the American who wants to learn about Islam to be fair-minded and 
          free from whims and desires. He should beware of the ways in which the 
          enemies of Islam try to distort Islam. He should strive to learn about 
          Islam from its pure sources and not from the sects who give a bad image 
          of Islam by their bid’ah and innovations, like the Qadiaanis (Ahmadis), 
          Shi’ah and Sufis, etc. These groups have distorted the message of Islam 
          with their innovations, so he should not regard their actions and words 
          as being Islam. We ask Allaah to guide him.