Sūrat al-Munāfiqūn

Medinan. It consists of eleven verses. (Revealed after [the Sūrah of] al-Ḥajj).

In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

{When the hypocrites come to you, they say, "We bear witness that you are indeed the Messenger of God." And God knows that you are indeed His Messenger, and God bears witness that the hypocrites are liars. They have taken their oaths as a shield, so they averted [people] from the way of God. Indeed, evil is what they have been doing. That is because they believed, then disbelieved, so their hearts were sealed, and they do not understand.}

"They say: 'We bear witness that you are indeed the Messenger of Allah'" They intended by their statement a testimony in which their hearts did not align with their tongues. Allah, the Exalted, said: They say that, "And Allah knows" that the matter is as their statement indicates: that you are indeed the Messenger of Allah. "And Allah bears witness that the hypocrites are liars" in their claim: "We bear witness," and in their assertion of alignment [between heart and tongue]. Or, they are liars in it because, if it is devoid of alignment, it is not a testimony in reality; thus, they are liars in calling it a testimony. Or, He meant: Allah bears witness that they are liars to themselves, because they believed their statement, "You are indeed the Messenger of Allah," to be a lie and a report contrary to the state of the one being reported about.

If you ask: What is the benefit of His saying, "And Allah knows that you are His Messenger"? I say: If He had said, "They say: 'We bear witness that you are the Messenger of Allah,' and Allah bears witness that they are liars," it would have suggested that their statement [that you are the Messenger] is a lie. So, He placed between them: "And Allah knows that you are His Messenger" to remove this illusion.

"They have taken their oaths as a shield" It is permissible that it means their statement, "We bear witness that you are the Messenger of Allah," is one of their false oaths, because testimony functions as an oath regarding the emphasis intended by it. A man says, "I testify and I testify by Allah," and "I resolve and I resolve by Allah," in the place of "I swear." Abu Hanifa (may Allah have mercy on him) used this as evidence that "I testify" is an oath. It is also possible that it is a description of the hypocrites in their shielding themselves with oaths. Al-Hasan al-Basri read it as imānahum (their faith), meaning: what they manifested of faith with their tongues. This is supported by His saying: "That is because they believed, then disbelieved."

"Evil is what they used to do" From their hypocrisy and their hindering people from the path of Allah. In sā'a (evil is) is the meaning of wonder, which serves to magnify their affair in the ears of the listeners.

"That is" A reference to His saying, "Evil is what they used to do," meaning: that statement which testifies against them that they are the worst of people in deeds is [due to] the cause that "they believed, then disbelieved," or it refers to what was described of their state in hypocrisy, lying, and shielding themselves with oaths—meaning: all of that is because they believed, then disbelieved.

"So their hearts were sealed" Therefore, they became bold in every grave matter.

If you ask: The hypocrites were only ever in a state of constant, fixed disbelief, so what is the meaning of His saying, "then disbelieved, then"? I say: There are three aspects:

1. "They believed": meaning they uttered the word of testimony and acted as one who enters Islam acts, "then disbelieved": then their disbelief became apparent after that, and was made clear by what was revealed of their statements, such as: "If what Muhammad says is true, then we are donkeys," and their statement during the Battle of Tabuk: "Does this man hope that the palaces of Chosroes and Caesar will be opened for him? Far from it!" Similar to this is His saying: "They swear by Allah that they did not say it, but they did say the word of disbelief and disbelieved after their Islam" (At-Tawbah: 74), meaning: their disbelief became apparent after they had submitted. Similar is His saying: "Do not make excuses; you have disbelieved after your belief" (At-Tawbah: 66).
2. "They believed": meaning they uttered faith in the presence of the believers, then uttered disbelief in the presence of their devils in mockery of Islam, as in His saying: "And when they meet those who believe..." (Al-Baqarah: 14) to His saying: "We are only..." (Al-Baqarah: 14).
3. It refers to those among them who committed apostasy.

It has been recited: fa-ṭubiʿa ʿalā qulūbihim (so they were sealed upon their hearts). Zayd ibn Ali recited: fa-ṭabaʿa Allāhu (so Allah sealed).