'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful'

Tafsir of Surah Al-Munafiqun

It is a Medinan surah by consensus. This is because it was revealed during the battle of Banu Al-Mustaliq due to the statements of Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul, who was present in that battle. He had followers who echoed his words. The entire surah was revealed because of that. Allah, glorified and exalted is He, mentioned in it what had preceded from the hypocrites regarding their oaths and their outward testimony of faith, and that they are liars. He also mentioned what occurred from them later during that battle. The explanation of this will come, section by section, when interpreting the verses, if Allah, glorified and exalted is He, wills.

His saying, exalted is He:

﴿When the hypocrites come to you, they say, 'We bear witness that you are indeed the Messenger of Allah.' And Allah knows that you are indeed His Messenger, and Allah bears witness that the hypocrites are liars.﴾ ﴿They have taken their oaths as a shield, so they hinder from the way of Allah. Indeed, evil is what they were doing.﴾ ﴿That is because they believed, then disbelieved; so their hearts were sealed, and they do not understand.﴾ ﴿And when you see them, their bodies please you; and if they speak, you listen to their words. They are as if they were wooden planks propped up. They think that every shout is against them. They are the enemy, so beware of them. May Allah fight them; how are they deluded?﴾

Allah, glorified and exalted is He, exposed the secret of the hypocrites with this verse. This is because they would say to the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him: 'We bear witness that you are indeed the Messenger of Allah,' while they are lying in their statement. The essence of lying is that a person informs of the opposite of what is in their heart. The alif in 'Indeed' is broken in the three instances due to the entry of the confirming lam in the statement, and this cannot be with the open vowel. And His saying, exalted is He: 'bears witness' and what follows it from the actions of certainty and knowledge is responded to as an oath would be responded to; it is like an oath.

And the people read: 'Their oaths' as the plural of 'oath.' Al-Hasan ibn Abi Al-Hasan read - with a difference from him -: 'Their faith' with a broken alif, meaning: this which you show. This implies a deletion of a genitive, the estimation of which is: showing. And 'the shield' is what is concealed with in bodies and meanings. And His saying, exalted is He: 'so they hinder' can be interpreted as not being transitive, as you say: 'Zayd hindered.' It can also be interpreted as transitive, as in the saying:

I hindered the cup from us, O mother of Amr...

So the meaning is: they hinder others who wanted to believe, or from the believers in that they fight them or deny them. And that is the way of Allah, glorified and exalted is He, concerning them. The interpretation of a similar verse has preceded.

And His saying, exalted is He: 'That is' refers to the action of Allah, glorified and exalted is He, in exposing them and reproaching them. It is possible that the reference is to the evil of what they did. The meaning is: evil is their action that they disbelieved after their faith.

And His saying, glorified and exalted is He: "They believed, then disbelieved" may mean that among them were those who had believed, then became hypocrites after a period of sound faith. This indeed existed. Or it may mean all of them. The meaning is that they displayed faith, then disbelieved in the depths of their matter. Thus, He called that display faith. Some of the reciters read: "Then it was sealed" with a dammah on the ta' in the form of a passive verb without assimilation. Abu Amr assimilated it. Al-A'mash read: "Then Allah sealed." And Allah, glorified and exalted is He, expressed sealing regarding what He created in their hearts of doubt and suspicion, and sealed them with it from disbelief and the end to the Fire.

And His saying, glorified and exalted is He: "And when you see them, their bodies please you, and if they speak, you listen to their words" is a reprimand for them. This is because they were the most handsome and eloquent of men. Their appearance was pleasing, and their speech was captivating. However, Allah, glorified and exalted is He, made them like wooden planks, as they have no beneficial understanding, nor do they possess insight. Thus, that appearance has no informant like wooden planks. They are merely bodies without intellects, relying on others, unable to stand by themselves. This is akin to their saying: "They support the people" when they line up and face each other for battle. It may be that he likens their alignment in gatherings to the alignment of wooden planks, and their lack of beneficial understanding is like the lack of that in the wooden planks. A man said to Ibn Sirin: "I saw myself in a dream hugging a piece of wood." Ibn Sirin replied: "I think you are among the people of this verse," and he recited: "As if they were wooden planks."

Ikrimah and Atiyyah read: "They hear" with a dammah on the ya'. Nafi', Ibn Amir, Hamzah, and Asim read: "Wooden planks" with a dammah on the kha' and the sheen. Qanbal, Abu Amr, and Al-Kisai read: "Wood" with a dammah on the kha' and a sukoon on the sheen. This is the reading of Al-Bara' ibn Azib, may Allah be pleased with him, and the choice of Ibn Ubaid. Sa'id ibn Jubair and Sa'id ibn Al-Musayyib read: "Wood" with a fatha on the kha' and the sheen. All of this is the plural of "piece of wood" with a fatha on the kha' and the sheen. The first two readings are like saying: "A camel" and "camels" and "a herd," as Sibawayh said. The latter is in the same category as "fruit" and "fruits."

And Abdullah ibn Ubayy was among the most handsome of the hypocrites and the tallest of them. This is indicated by the fact that there was no shirt to cover Al-Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, other than his own shirt. This was previously mentioned in Surah Al-Baqarah regarding the clarification of the matter of the hypocrites and how Islam concealed them.

And His saying, glorified and exalted is He: "They think that every shout is against them" is also a disclosure of what they concealed of fear. This is because they were expecting that the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, would order their killing by Allah. Muqatil said: Whenever they heard a call for a lost item, or a shout in any manner, or were informed of the descent of revelation, their hearts would flee and their minds would become confused until that would settle and be unrelated to them. This expression has become a proverb for the fearful, similar to the poet's saying:

"The secrets terrify him in every land, fearing that he himself may be the secret."

And the saying of Jarir:

You continue to think of everything after them as cavalry charging at them and men. Then Allah, the Most High, informed that they are the enemy and warned against them. The term 'enemy' applies to both the singular and the plural. His saying, 'May Allah fight them,' is a supplication that includes expulsion and opposition, wishing evil for them. His saying, 'How are they turned away?' means they are diverted. It is possible that 'how' is an interrogative, as if He, the Most High, is saying: How are they diverted? Or: For what reason do they not see the guidance of themselves? It is also possible that 'how' is an adverb for 'May Allah fight them,' as if He, the Most High, is saying: May Allah fight them, how they have turned away and been diverted, so there is no interrogation in this saying.