If it is asked:

“Allah has commanded striving against the unbelievers and the hypocrites in two verses of the Quran. If the hypocrite is outwardly subject to the rulings of Islam, how can one strive against him?”

The answer is that whatever faith or hypocrisy becomes firmly established in the heart must manifest its effects in speech and action. As one of the early generations said:

“No one conceals anything within himself without Allah revealing it in his facial expressions and slips of the tongue.”

Allah Most High says concerning the hypocrites:

“If We willed, We could show them to you, and you would recognize them by their marks; but you will surely recognize them by the tone of their speech.”

Thus, if a hypocrite openly neglects obligations or commits prohibited acts in a manner that warrants punishment, he is punished for his outward conduct. He is not punished for what is known of his inward state without outward evidence. Hence, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, knew those hypocrites whom Allah had identified to him. They would swear oaths to him while lying, yet he accepted their outward professions and entrusted their inner secrets to Allah.

The very foundation upon which hypocrisy rests is that the hypocrite’s private and public selves, his outward and inward states, necessarily differ. This is why Allah describes them in His Book as liars, just as He describes the believers as truthful. Allah Most High says:

“They will suffer a painful punishment because they used to lie.”

And He says:

“Allah bears witness that the hypocrites are indeed liars.”

There are many similar passages. Allah Most High also says:

“The believers are only those who believe in Allah and His Messenger, then do not doubt, and strive with their wealth and their lives in the cause of Allah. It is they who are truly sincere.”

And He says:

“Righteousness is not that you turn your faces towards the east or the west”—up to His words—“It is they who have been truthful, and it is they who are mindful of Allah.”

In brief, the fundamental principle underlying these issues is to understand that unbelief is of two kinds: overt unbelief