Allah, exalted is He, says: “And among those Bedouins who live around you there are hypocrites, and among the people of Madinah as well—men who have steeped themselves in hypocrisy. You do not know them, but We know them. We shall punish them twice, then they will be returned to a tremendous punishment” (al-Tawbah 9:101).

This verse refers to a group of hypocrites who were experts at hiding their true nature.

Such concealed hatred is called hypocrisy, but when a person brings it into the open and says, “I detest this prayer,” the veil is lifted: he has exposed his hypocrisy and thereby becomes an apostate, for he has voiced the wickedness and disbelief that lay within him. Allah says: “That is because they followed what angered Allah and hated what would earn His pleasure, so He nullified their deeds” (Muhammad 47:28).