the Muslims and feel secure with regard to their lives and property. Thus, a hypocrite outwardly proclaims faith in Allah, His angels, His Books, His Messengers, and the Last Day, while inwardly he has cast all of that aside and denies it. He does not truly believe in Allah, nor that Allah spoke words which He sent down to a human being, whom He appointed as a messenger to mankind—guiding them by His permission, warning them of His might, and making them fear His punishment.

Allah has torn away the veils of these hypocrites, laid bare their secrets in the Noble Quran, and clarified their condition for His servants so that they might beware of them and of the traits they embody. At the very beginning of Surah al-Baqarah He mentions the three groups that exist in the world: the believers, the unbelievers, and the hypocrites. He devoted four verses to the believers, two to the unbelievers, and thirteen to the hypocrites, because of their great number, the widespread trial they pose, and the severity of the tribulations they inflict upon Islam and its people. Indeed, the calamity that Islam suffers on their account is exceedingly grave, for they are outwardly affiliated with it—claiming to support and be loyal to it—while in reality they are its enemies. They present their enmity in every guise; the uninformed imagine it to be knowledge and reform, whereas it is nothing but the height of ignorance and corruption (1).