The Holy Qur’an repeatedly reproaches and condemns the Hypocrites among the early Muslims. With the exception of ‘Abdullah ibn Ubbay, universally accepted as being one of the Hypocrites among the Companions of the Prophet, the majority of Muslim scholars, mostly among Ahl al-Sunnah as opposed to Ahl al-Bayt, shy away from the subject, refusing to pin-point individuals in particular and some of the common characteristics of these false converts. In the following pages we will examine the definition of a hypocrite according to Islamic Law, the description of the Hypocrites provided in the Qur’an and Sunnah, identify some of the leading faux Muslims and the similarities they share. We will see that a hypocrite is an individual who falsely professes Islam, who merits the lowest level of Hell, who identifies himself as such through his words and actions, and who comes from a long line of polytheistic pagans.

The Arabic word munafiq means “hypocrite.” While the word means “hypocrite,” “two-faced,” and “dishonest” in a general sense, in Islamic terminology it refers to people who feign belief in Allah and Islam but who actually disbelieve, often preserving their faith in pre-Islamic polytheism. While Islam tolerates and even prescribes taqiyyah, pious dissimulation of one’s faith in times of fear, to pretend to be a Muslim is a crime. The reason for this is quite clear: Islam protects the rights of its subjects, be they polytheists, Zoroastrians, Jews or Christians. To be a Hypocrite, however, is to be traitor, to be a spy, to pretend being Muslim to integrate the community while attempting to undermine it, indicating loyalty to the enemy. Almighty Allah describes them in the following terms:

Of the people there are some who say: ‘We believe in Allah and the Last Day;’ but they do not (really) believe. (2:8).

Fain would they deceive Allah and those who believe, but they only deceive themselves, and realize (it) not. (2:9).

In their hearts is a disease; and Allah has increased their disease: and grievous is the penalty they (incur), because they are false (to themselves). (2:10).

When it is said to them: ‘Make not mischief on the earth,’ they say: ‘Why, we only want to make peace!’ (2:11).

Of a surety, they are the ones who make mischief, but they realize (it) not. (2:12).

When it is said to them: ‘Believe as the others believe,’ they say: ‘Shall we believe as the fools believe?’—Nay, of a surety they are fools but they do not know. (2:13).

When they meet those who believe, they say: ‘We believe;’ but when they are alone with their evil ones, they say: ‘We are really with you, we (were) only jesting.’ (2:14).

Allah will throw back their mockery on them and give them rope in their trespasses; so they will wander like blind ones (to and fro). (2:15).

They are they who have bartered guidance for error: but their traffic is profitless, and they have lost true direction. (2:16).

Their similitude is that of a man who kindled a fire; when it lighted all around him, Allah took away their light and left them in utter darkness, so they could not see. (2:17).

Deaf, dumb, and blind, they will not return (to the path). (2:18).

The Hypocrite is likened to a man who “calls Allah to witness about what he has in his heart; yet is the most contentious of enemies. When he turns his back, his aim is everywhere to spread mischief through the earth… When it is said to him: ‘Fear Allah,’ he is led by arrogance to (more) crime. Enough for him is Hell; - an evil bed indeed (to lie on)” (2:204-206). The Hypocrites are described as those who turn to the devil for judgment (4:60) and when they are called to what Allah has revealed “avert their faces…in disgust” (4:61). “They are people who wish that the Muslims should reject their faith as they do” (4:89). They are “liars” (59:11) for whom there are no excuses. As Allah says, “Make ye no excuses: ye have rejected faith after ye had accepted it” (9:66). Almighty Allah urges those who believe to “Enter into Islam whole-heartedly; and follow not the footsteps of the Evil One; for he is to you an avowed enemy” and warns that “If ye backslide after the clear (signs) have come to you, then know that Allah is Exalted in Power, Wise (2:208-209). The Almighty criticizes false conversions when He says: “The desert Arabs say, ‘We believe.’ Say, ‘Ye have no faith; but ye (only) say, ‘We have submitted our wills to Allah.’ For not yet has faith entered your hearts” (49: 14). Allah describes the Hypocrites as “nearer to unbelief than to faith” (3:167). According to the Qur’an,

The Hypocrites, men and women, (have an understanding) with each other: they enjoin evil and forbid what is just, and are close with their hands. They have forgotten Allah; so He hath forgotten them. Verily the Hypocrites are rebellious and perverse. (9:67).

Allah hath promised the Hypocrites, Men and women, and the rejecters of faith, the fire of Hell: therein shall they dwell: sufficient is it for them: for them is the curse of Allah, and enduring punishment. (9:68).

According to Allah, “The Hypocrites will be in the lowest depths of the Fire: no helper wilt thou find for them” (4:145). Now that the Hypocrites have been duly defined and described, the only thing remaining is their identification and common classification. Imam ‘Ali, describes the Hypocrites as follows:

They have made Satan the master of their affairs, and he has taken them as partners. He has laid eggs and hatched them in their bosoms. He creeps and crawls in their laps. He sees through their eyes, and speaks with their tongues. In this way he has led them to sinfulness and adorned for them foul things like the action of one which Satan has made partner in his domains and speaks untruth through his tongue. (123)

In one of his sermons, the Imam describes the Days of Ignorance as a time when:

Allah was disobeyed, Satan was given support and belief had been forsaken. As a result the pillars of religion fell down, its traces could not be discerned, its passages had been destroyed and its streets had fallen into decay. People obeyed Satan and tread his paths. They sought water from his watering places. Through them Satan’s emblems got flying and his standard was raised in vices which trampled the people under their hoofs… (103)

Interestingly enough, the Imam likens the pre-Islamic Arabs to the present-day hypocrites, denouncing them in the following terms:

They sowed vices, watered them with deception and harvested destruction. None in the Islamic community can be taken at par with the Progeny of the Prophet. One who was under their obligation cannot be matched with them. They are foundation of religion and pillar of belief…They possess the chief characteristics of vicegerency. In their favor exists the will and succession [of the Prophet]. (104)

As Peter Mansfield explains in The Arab World: A Comprehensive History, “By the fourth century AD the people of southern Arabia abandoned polytheism to adopt their own form of monotheism, a belief in a supreme god known as al-Rahman or, “The Merciful” (16). As Vernet has observed, the name Rahman appears frequently in the Meccan chapters of the Qur’an (3). Since this was the name of the One God worshipped by the Sabean monotheists, the Qur’an may have been appealing to these southern Arabian believers. As Vernet also points out, the name al-Rahim, which permeates the Qur’an, was the name of the One God which was venerated by the Safales, Palmineros, and southern Arabs during the Days of Ignorance (3).

When the Qur’an employs the divine attribute al-Rahman, and instructs the believers to “Call upon Allah, or call upon Rahman, by whatever ye call Upon Him, (it is well): for to Him belong the Most Beautiful Names” (17:110), it may very well be addressing southern Arabian monotheists. Although Allah was the name of the Creator used by Arab polytheists, al-Rahman was the name of the Creator used by southern Arabian monotheists. In fact, al-Rahman was the name the southern Arabs applied to the God of the Jews, and to God the Father from the Christian Trinity. Appealing to the southern Arab believers, the Prophet stressed that, after Allah, the personal name of God, the greatest divine attribute was al-Rahman. As he explained, “Verily, the names most liked by Allah are ‘Abd Allah and ‘Abd al-Rahman” (Muslim).

Islam did not appear in a vacuum. As Hitti has explained, vague monotheistic ideas has already appeared and developed into a cult prior to the arrival of the Prophet (1968:20). As Lapidus has pointed out, “By the sixth century, monotheism already had a certain vogue. Many non-believers understood the monotheistic religions; others, called hanif in the Qur’an, were believers in one God but not adherents of any particular faith” (16). As Bishar explains,

Only a few years before Muhammad’s time, a compromise religion was in the making; some of the more sophisticated Arabs accepted Allah of the Ka‘aba as a non-tangible God without a form or representation; however they worshipped him according to their old pagan customs… This group of Arabs was called the Hanifs, many of whom later on became followers of Muhammad due, perhaps, to the great similarity between Islam and their beliefs. Muhammad’s cousin-in-law is known to have been a Hanif, and many scholars assert that Muhammad himself had been greatly influence by the Hanif concepts before he introduced the Islamic religion to Arabia. This Hanif religion was gradually spreading among the Arabs… (53)

Although they were neither Jews nor Christians, these southern Arab monotheists believed in a single, transcendent God. While the Prophet had difficulty in converting polytheists, Jews, and Christians to his cause, it was these primitive Arab believers who eagerly embraced his monotheistic message. It comes as no surprise, then, that the bulk of the Prophet’s sincere Sahabas were of southern Arabian stock. Considering the natural predisposition the southern Arabs had towards monotheism, it comes as no surprise that Muhammad was granted refuge in Medina, a city composed primarily of southern Arabs (Naiki 59). Although there were bona fide believers among both northern and southern Arabs, it was primarily the southern Arabs, as opposed to the northern Arabs, who sided with the Ahl al-Bayt, and defended the rights of ‘Ali and his descendants.

In the previous pages we examined the meaning of hypocrisy in light of the Qur’an, the Sunnah, the Arabic language and Islamic terminology. We have seen that a hypocrite, in the Islamic context, is an unbeliever who poses as a believer, and is considered the most serious of sins in Islam. The hypocrites, as we demonstrated, manifested this disbelief through their words and actions, and were those who opposed the Prophet and His Family subtly and through open hostility. Upon examination of the hypocrites, we found that, to a great extent, they shared many similarities. The Muslims, we observed, were the Family of Muhammad and, in large part, his faithful followers among the southern Arabians, many of whom had been monotheistic prior to the advent of Islam and were accustomed to a religious social order. The hypocrites, on the other hand, were predominantly northern Arabians who had previously being polytheists, who believed in a more secular vision of the state, and who had embraced Islam for socio-political profit.

Works Cited

Bishar, Wilson B. Islamic History of the Middle East: Backgrounds, Developments and Fall of the Arab Empire. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1968.

Hitti, Philip K. The Arabs: A Short History. 5th ed. New York: St. Martin’s P, Jomier, J. “Le nom divin al-rahman dans le Coran.” Melanges Louis Massignon. 2 (1957): 361-81.

Lapidus, Ira M. A History of Islamic Societies. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2002.

Naiki, Ryoichi. “The Origins of the Name of God and Basmallah.” Tokyo Gaikokugo Daigaku Ronshu = Area and Cultural Studies 36 (1986): 45-59.