الآية رقم (204) - وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَن يُعْجِبُكَ قَوْلُهُ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَيُشْهِدُ اللّهَ عَلَى مَا فِي قَلْبِهِ وَهُوَ أَلَدُّ الْخِصَامِ

(204) - (And of the people is he whose speech pleases you in worldly life, and he calls Allah to witness as to what is in his heart, yet he is the fiercest of opponents.)

These verses relate to a very important issue, which is the contradiction between the outward and the inside, or as called the behavioral hypocrisy. This behavioral hypocrisy of some people is what destroys and ruins communities from within. When you are strong, people fawn on you, and when you are weak, nobody play the hypocrisy on you. The hypocrisy movement started in the Medina after the Prophet (saws) triumphed and the Muslims became strong. When Muslims had established the first community in Medina, the phenomenon of hypocrisy began. Allah (swt) wants to shed light in these verses on this issue. This verse has a reason of revelation, but as for the interpretation of the Qur’an, the moral lies in the general meaning, not in the specific reason. Hence, this verse apply to all people, although it is related to Al-Akhnas Ibn Shuraiq, who used to show that he was a believer and that he was on the side of Muslims, and that he loved the Prophet (saws), but, when he used to leave out Medina, he used to kill, loot, and behead the Muslims.

( وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَن يُعْجِبُكَ قَوْلُهُ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا ) (And of the people is he whose speech pleases you in worldly life..): There is a type of people who show something different from what they conceal. Indeed, there is a very important grace that Allah (swt) has granted us; which is that He (swt) covers the secrets of His creation from each other. What does this mean? If people have the ability to see what other people conceal, no one would have lived with anyone. If your inside could be revealed to others, you would be in dissonance. Therefore, one of names of Allah (swt) is As-Sattar (The Concealing, or the Covering One). The Prophet (saw) said:

“O community of people, who believed by their tongue, and belief did not enter their hearts, do not back-bite Muslims, and do not search for their faults, for if anyone searches for their faults, Allah will search for his fault, and if Allah searches for the fault of anyone, He disgraces him in his house”.[1]

The concealment is one of which Allah (swt) has granted the believers and Muslims. Human being must be careful about his tongue, careful about his speech, and careful about every single matter. However, here is another issue; that is to say by the tongue something different from what is hidden in the heart, and to show something different from what is hidden in oneself, and this is a type of hypocrisy and one of its elements. Accordingly, the fate of those who hypocrite in faith will be in the lowest depths of the Fire. There are two types of hypocrisy; hypocrisy in belief and a hypocrisy in the behavior. Verify, it is a blessing from Allah (swt) that He conceals the unseen of His creation from each other, so that Man does not know the secrets of another.

( وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَن يُعْجِبُكَ قَوْلُهُ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَيُشْهِدُ اللَّهَ عَلَىٰ مَا فِي قَلْبِهِ وَهُوَ أَلَدُّ الْخِصَامِ ) (And of the people is he whose speech pleases you in worldly life, and he calls Allah to witness as to what is in his heart, yet he is the fiercest of opponents.): In this life, he has knowledge by tongue, but he is ignorant in the heart. He gives you the sweetness of the tongue, and speaks words that you may like, but in fact, he is the fiercest of opponents. He calls Allah (swt) to witness as to what is in his heart. Why? Why does not he call somebody else to witness as to what is in his heart? That is because he, intentionally, wants Allah (swt) to testify to what is in his heart, nevertheless, he is the fiercest of opponents. The Prophet (saws) said:

“The most hated person in the sight of Allah is the most quarrelsome person”.[2]

Where does this fierceness in dispute come from? This violence, fierceness, and persistence in the opposition come from hypocrisy. If people show each other what is suspicious to them, hypocrisy, this treacherous trait, would not embed in the hearts of the people. Furthermore, when he says something different from what he conceals, and says by his tongue what differs from what he conceals, he would be the most adversarial, fierceness, violence and immorality in his rivalry than the ordinary adversary with whom you argue openly. The one, who conceal something and says something different, has one of the qualities of hypocrisy, and he is the fiercest of opponents.

[1] Sunan Abi Dawud, Book of General Behavior (Kitab Al-Adab), Chapter: Regarding backbiting (al-ghibah), no. 4880.

[2] Sahih Al-Bukhari, Book of Oppressions, Chapter: The Statement of Allah: “Yet he is the most quarrelsome of the opponents…”, no. 2325.