(8–10) “And among the people are some who say, ‘We believe in Allah and the Last Day,’ but they are not believers. * They seek to deceive Allah and those who believe, but they deceive none but themselves, though they do not perceive it. * In their hearts is a disease, so Allah has increased their disease; and for them is a painful punishment because they used to lie.”
Know that hypocrisy consists of outwardly displaying good while inwardly concealing evil. This definition includes both creedal hypocrisy and practical hypocrisy, such as that mentioned by the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—when he said: “The sign of a hypocrite is threefold: when he speaks, he lies; when he promises, he breaks his promise; and when he is entrusted, he betrays the trust.” Another narration states: “When he quarrels, he transgresses all bounds.”
As for creedal hypocrisy, which takes a person outside the fold of Islam, it is the hypocrisy with which Allah described the hypocrites in this surah and elsewhere. Hypocrisy did not exist before the Messenger’s—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—emigration [from Mecca] to Medina. After he emigrated, the Battle of Badr took place (1), and Allah granted the believers ascendancy and might. Those in Medina who had not embraced Islam were humbled (2), so some of them outwardly professed Islam out of fear and deceit, in order that their lives might be spared and their property kept safe. They lived in the midst of the Muslims, outwardly appearing to be among them, while in reality they were not.
Part of Allah’s kindness to the believers was that He clearly revealed the hypocrites’ condition and described them by traits through which they could be distinguished, lest the believers be deceived by them and so that they themselves might also be restrained from much of their wickedness. [Allah Most High says]: “The hypocrites fear lest a surah be sent down concerning them, informing them of what is in their hearts.” Allah then described them by the essence of hypocrisy, saying: “And among the people are some who say, ‘We believe in Allah and the Last Day,’ but they are not believers.” They utter with their tongues what is not in their hearts, so Allah declared their claim false by saying: “But they are not believers.” True faith is that upon which the heart and tongue agree; what they display is merely an attempt to deceive Allah and His believing servants.
Deception is when a person shows the one he seeks to deceive one thing while concealing its opposite, so that he may obtain what he wants from him. These hypocrites adopted this course toward Allah and His servants, but their deception rebounded upon themselves. Indeed, (3) this is astonishing: ordinarily, a deceiver’s scheme either bears fruit and secures what he seeks (4), or else he escapes unscathed, with neither gain nor loss. Yet the deception of these people rebounded upon them. It is as though they (5) engage in all their scheming only to destroy themselves, harm themselves, and plot against themselves. Allah Most High is not harmed [in any way] by their deception, and their schemes do not harm His believing servants in any way. The believers are not harmed when the hypocrites outwardly profess faith, thereby keeping their property safe and their lives spared. Instead, their schemes recoil upon them, bringing them disgrace and exposure in this world, as well as constant sorrow over the strength and victory attained by the believers.
Then, in the Hereafter, they will suffer the painful, agonizing, and dreadful punishment because of their lies, disbelief, and wickedness, while in their ignorance and foolishness they remain unaware of this.
Regarding His words, “In their hearts is a disease,” what is meant here is the disease of doubt, false notions, and hypocrisy. This is because (6) the heart is vulnerable to two diseases that deprive it of soundness and balance: the disease of false notions and the disease of ruinous desires. Disbelief, hypocrisy, doubts, and religious innovations all belong to the disease of false notions, while adultery, the love and commission of [indecencies and] sins, belong to the disease of desires. Allah Most High says: “Lest one in whose heart is a disease should be moved with desire,” namely, the desire for adultery. Whoever is protected from both diseases attains certainty and faith, patiently refrains from every sin, and is arrayed in the robes of well-being.