Before the Hijrah, however, people were either believers or disbelievers; there were no hypocrites. The Muslims were weak and oppressed, so whoever believed did so both inwardly and outwardly, while whoever did not believe was a disbeliever.

When the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, migrated to Medina, the believers gained strength and supporters there, and most of its inhabitants embraced Islam willingly and of their own choice. Among their relatives and others, however, were some who outwardly professed Islam to conform, whether out of fear or hope of gain, while inwardly remaining disbelievers. Their leader was ʿAbdullāh ibn Ubayy ibn Salūl, concerning whom, and other hypocrites like him, verses were revealed. The Quran mentions the believers and the hypocrites in numerous places, including the surahs al-Baqarah, Āl ʿImrān, al-Nisāʾ, al-Māʾidah, al-ʿAnkabūt, and al-Ahzāb.

These hypocrites were found among both the inhabitants of Medina and the desert dwellers, as Allah, exalted is He, says:

“Among the Bedouins around you are hypocrites, and among the people of Medina are those entrenched in hypocrisy. You do not know them; We know them.”

Some of the hypocrites had originally been polytheists, while others had originally belonged to the People of the Book. They are also mentioned in the surahs al-Fath, al-Qitāl, al-Hadīd, al-Mujādalah, al-Hashr, and al-Munāfiqūn. Indeed, He mentions the hypocrites in most of the Medinan surahs.

Allah, exalted is He, says in Sūrat Āl ʿImrān:

“O you who believe, do not be like those who disbelieved and said of their brothers when they travelled through the land or went out to fight, ‘Had they been with us, they would not have died or been killed.’”

The passage continues to His words:

“And so that He might make evident those who were hypocrites, to whom it was said, ‘Come