(64–66) “The hypocrites fear lest a surah be sent down concerning them, informing them of what is in their hearts. Say, ‘Go on mocking! Allah will surely bring to light what you fear.’ * If you question them, they will surely say, ‘We were only talking idly and joking.’ Say, ‘Was it Allah, His revelations, and His Messenger that you were mocking? * Make no excuses. You have disbelieved after your belief. If We pardon one group among you, We will punish another because they were criminals.’”
This noble surah was known as “the Exposer” because it revealed the hypocrites’ secrets and tore away their veils. Allah repeatedly says, “Among them are…” and “Among them are…,” mentioning their characteristics without identifying them personally. This serves two purposes. The first is that Allah is One who conceals faults and loves to conceal the faults of His servants.
The second is that the censure applies to everyone who bears that description among the hypocrites—both those originally addressed and all others until the Day of Resurrection. Mentioning the description was therefore more general and appropriate, to the point that they became utterly terrified.
Allah Most High says: “If the hypocrites, those in whose hearts is a disease, and the rumormongers in Medina do not desist, We will surely incite you against them. Then they will remain your neighbors there only briefly. * Accursed, they will be seized wherever they are found and killed relentlessly.”
Here He says: “The hypocrites fear lest a surah be sent down concerning them, informing them of what is in their hearts”—that is, exposing them and revealing their secrets until their true state becomes publicly known to His servants and they become a lesson for those who take heed.
“Say, ‘Go on mocking!’” That is, persist in the mockery and ridicule you are engaged in. “Allah will surely bring to light what you fear.” Allah Most High fulfilled His promise by sending down this surah, which revealed their true state, exposed them, and tore away their veils.
“If you question them” about their attacks upon the Muslims and their religion, they will surely respond. During the expedition of Tabūk, a group of them said, “We have never seen anyone like these Quran reciters of ours”—meaning the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and his Companions—“with greater appetites, more lying tongues, or more cowardice when facing the enemy,” and other remarks of that kind.
When they learned that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had become aware of their words, they came to offer him excuses, saying, “We were only talking idly and joking”—that is, we were merely speaking without meaning anything by it and did not intend to attack or disparage anyone.
Allah Most High explained that their excuse was unacceptable and that they were lying when He said: “Say” to them, “Was it Allah, His revelations, and His Messenger that you were mocking? * Make no excuses. You have disbelieved after your belief.” Mocking Allah, His revelations, or His Messenger constitutes disbelief that takes a person out of the religion, because the foundation of the religion rests upon revering Allah, His ⦗343⦘ religion, and His messengers. Mocking any of these is utterly incompatible with and diametrically opposed to that foundation.
Thus, when they came to the Messenger offering this excuse, he said nothing more to them than: “Was it Allah, His revelations, and His Messenger that you were mocking? * Make no excuses. You have disbelieved after your belief.”
His words, “If We pardon one group among you,” refer to their repentance, seeking forgiveness, and remorse; “We will punish another group” among you “because they were criminals”—because they persisted in their disbelief and hypocrisy.
These verses provide evidence that whoever harbors a secret intention—especially one involving plots against Allah’s religion and mockery of it, His revelations, and His Messenger—will have it brought to light by Allah Most High, who will expose and disgrace that person and punish him most severely.
They also show that whoever mocks anything in the Book of Allah or in the authentically established Sunnah of His Messenger, ridicules or disparages it, or mocks or disparages the Messenger, is a disbeliever in Allah Almighty; and that repentance is accepted for every sin, however grave.