For ever since Allah (1) sent Muhammad—may blessings and peace be upon him—and honoured him with the Hijrah and the divine support that followed, mankind has been divided into three categories:
- Believers: those who affirm him both outwardly and inwardly.
- Disbelievers: those who openly reject him.
- Hypocrites: those who profess belief outwardly while harboring no faith within.
Because of this, Allah (2) opened Sūrah al-Baqarah with four verses describing the believers, followed by two verses describing the disbelievers, and then thirteen verses describing the hypocrites.
Each of the three—faith, disbelief, and hypocrisy—possesses its own pillars and branches, as the proofs of the Quran and Sunnah demonstrate, and as the Commander of the Faithful, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib—may Allah be pleased with him—explained in the well-known report about faith and its pillars and branches (3).
Among the forms of hypocrisy is the greater hypocrisy, whose perpetrator will reside in the lowest depths of Hell. This was the hypocrisy of ʿAbdullāh ibn Ubayy and others: outwardly declaring the Messenger a liar, denying part of what he brought, despising him, refusing to acknowledge the obligation to follow him, rejoicing when his religion declines, grieving when it prevails, and the like—deeds whose doer can be nothing but an enemy of Allah and His Messenger.