“What befell you on the day the two armies met was by Allah’s permission, so that He might make the believers evident and make the hypocrites evident. They were told, ‘Come, fight in the cause of Allah, or at least defend.’ They replied, ‘Had we known there would be fighting, we would have followed you.’ That day they were nearer to disbelief than to faith. They say with their mouths what is not in their hearts, and Allah knows best what they conceal. Those who remained behind said of their brothers, ‘Had they obeyed us, they would not have been killed.’ Say, ‘Then avert death from yourselves, if you are truthful.’”

Allah then states that the killing and defeat which befell them at Uhud, on the day the Muslim and polytheist armies met, occurred by His permission and according to His judgment and decree. It could not be averted and was bound to occur. Once the divine decree takes effect, nothing remains but submission to it. He decreed it for profound wisdom and immense benefits, including that the believer might thereby be distinguished from the hypocrite.

When the hypocrites were commanded to fight and were told, “Come, fight in the cause of Allah”—that is, in defense of Allah’s religion, to protect it, and in pursuit of Allah’s good pleasure—“or at least defend” your families and your city, even if you had no righteous intention, they refused and offered the excuse: “Had we known there would be fighting, we would have followed you.” That is, had we known that fighting would occur between you and them, we would have followed you. Yet they were lying. They knew with certainty—and everyone knew—that these polytheists were filled with rancor and rage against the believers because of what the believers had inflicted upon them; that they had expended their wealth, assembled as many men and as much equipment as they could, and advanced with a vast army toward the believers in their own city, burning with eagerness to fight them. Given their condition, how could it be imagined that no fighting would occur between them and the believers, especially when the Muslims had left Medina and gone out to confront them? Such a thing was impossible. The hypocrites, however, thought this excuse would gain credence among the believers.

Allah Most High says that “that day they were nearer to disbelief than to faith,” meaning in the state in which they declined to set out with the believers. “They say with their mouths what is not in their hearts.” This is the hallmark of the hypocrites: through their words and deeds, they display the opposite of what they conceal within their hearts and innermost selves.

An example is their statement, “Had we known there would be fighting, we would have followed you,” even though they knew that fighting would take place.

This verse provides evidence for the principle of “committing the lesser of two evils to ward off the greater, and pursuing the lesser of two benefits when one is unable to attain the greater.” [For the hypocrites were commanded to fight for the religion; if they would not do so, then at least to defend their families and homelands.] (1) “Allah knows best what they conceal,” so He discloses it to His believing servants and punishes them for it.

Allah Most High then said: “Those who said of their brothers, while they themselves remained behind, ‘Had they obeyed us, they would not have been killed.’” That is, they combined remaining behind from jihad with objecting to and denying Allah’s judgment and decree. Allah replied to them: “Say, ‘Then avert death from yourselves, if you are truthful’”—if you are truthful in claiming that, had they obeyed you, they would not have been killed. Yet you have no power or ability to do so.

These verses provide evidence that a servant may possess a trait of disbelief as well as a trait of faith, and may be closer to one than to the other.