and a hypocrite who conceals disbelief. This is why Allah mentions these three categories at the beginning of Sūrat al-Baqarah: four verses describing the believers, two concerning the disbelievers, and over ten concerning the hypocrites.

Allah mentions the disbelievers and the hypocrites in several places in the Quran, as in His words:

“And do not obey the disbelievers and the hypocrites.”

And His words:

“Indeed, Allah will gather the hypocrites and the disbelievers all together in Hell.”

And His words:

“So today no ransom will be accepted from you or from those who disbelieved.”

He mentions them alongside the disbelievers as a distinct group because they outwardly profess Islam. Inwardly, however, they are worse than the disbelievers, as Allah Most High says:

“Indeed, the hypocrites will be in the lowest depths of the Fire.”

And as He says:

“And never pray over any of them who dies, nor stand at his grave. Indeed, they disbelieved in Allah and His Messenger.”

And as He says:

“Say: Spend willingly or unwillingly; it will never be accepted from you. Indeed, you have been a defiantly disobedient people.”

“Nothing prevents their contributions from being accepted except that they disbelieve in Allah and His Messenger, come to prayer only reluctantly, and spend only unwillingly.”

Since this is so, among the proponents of religious innovation are hypocrites who conceal disbelief; such a person is a disbeliever. People of this kind are numerous among the Rāfidah and the Jahmiyyah, for their leaders were hypocrites who concealed disbelief. The first person to introduce the Rāfidī doctrine was a hypocrite. The same applies to the Jahmī doctrine, whose origins lie in concealed disbelief and hypocrisy. This is why the hypocrites who conceal disbelief among the Qarāmitah—the esotericists who espouse philosophy—and their like incline towards the Rāfidah and the Jahmiyyah, because of their affinity with them.

Among the proponents of religious innovation are also those who have faith both inwardly and outwardly, but are marked by ignorance and wrongdoing