63:8 Al-Munaafiqoon (The Hypocrites)

{ يَقُولُونَ لَئِنْ رَجَعْنَا إِلَى الْمَدِينَةِ لَيُخْرِجَنَّ الْأَعَزُّ مِنْهَا الْأَذَلَّ } وذلك في غزوة المريسيع، حين صار بين بعض المهاجرين والأنصار، بعض كلام كدر الخواطر، ظهر حينئذ نفاق المنافقين، وأظهروا ما في نفوسهم .وقال كبيرهم، عبد الله بن أبي بن سلول: ما مثلنا ومثل هؤلاء -يعني المهاجرين- إلا كما قال القائل: \" غذ كلبك يأكلك \" وقال: لئن رجعنا إلى المدينة { لَيُخْرِجَنَّ الْأَعَزُّ مِنْهَا الْأَذَلَّ } بزعمه أنه هو وإخوانه من المنافقين الأعزون، وأن رسول الله ومن معه هم الأذلون، والأمر بعكس ما قال هذا المنافق، فلهذا قال [تعالى:] { وَلِلَّهِ الْعِزَّةُ وَلِرَسُولِهِ وَلِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ } فهم الأعزاء، والمنافقون وإخوانهم من الكفار [هم] الأذلاء. { وَلَكِنَّ الْمُنَافِقِينَ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ } ذلك زعموا أنهم الأعزاء، اغترارًا بما هم عليه من الباطل، ثم قال تعالى:

فقال عبدالله بن أبي عدو الله لئن رجعنا إلى المدينة ليخرجن الأعز منها الأذل قال مالك بن الدخشن وكان من المنافقين ألم أقل لكم لا تنفقوا على من عند رسول الله حتى ينفضوا؟ فسمع بذلك عمر بن الخطاب فأقبل يمشي حتى أتي رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم فقال يا رسول الله ائذن لي في هذا الرجل الذي قد أفتن الناس أضرب عنقه يريد عمر عبدالله بن أبي فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم لعمر: "أو قاتله أنت إن أمرتك بقتله؟" فقال عمر نعم والله لئن أمرتني بقتله لأضربن عنقه فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم "اجلس" فأقبل أسيد بن حضير وهو أحد الأنصار ثم أحد بني عبد الأشهل حتى أتى رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم فقال يا رسول الله ائذن لي في هذا الرجل الذي قد أفتن الناس أضرب عنقه فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم "أو قاتله أنت إن امرتك بقتله؟" قال نعم والله لئن أمرتني بقتله لأضربن بالسيف تحت قرط أذنيه فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم "اجلس" ثم قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم "آذنوا بالرحيل" فهجر بالناس فسار يومه وليلته والغد حتى متع النهار ثم نزل ثم هجر بالناس مثلها حتى صبح بالمدينة في ثلاث سارها من قفا المشلل فلما قدم رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم المدينة أرسل إلى عمر فدعاه فقال له رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم "أي عمر أكنت قاتله لو أمرتك بقتله؟" فقال عمر نعم فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم "والله لو قتلته يومئذ لأرغمت أنوف رجال لو أمرتهم اليوم بقتله لقتلوه فيتحدث الناس أني قد وقعت علي أصحابي فأقتلهم صبرا" وأنزل الله عز وجل "هم الذين يقولون لا تنفقوا على من عند رسول الله ختى ينفضوا - إلى قوله تعالى - يقولون لئن رجعنا إلى المدينة" الآية وهذا سياق غريب وفيه أشياء نفيسة لا توجد إلا فيه وقال محمد بن إسحاق بن يسار حدثني عاصم بن عمر بن قتادة أن عبدالله بن عبدالله بن أبي لما بلغه ما كان من أمر أبيه أتى رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم فقال يا رسول الله إنه بلغني أنك تريد قتل عبدالله بن أبي فيما بلغك عنه فإن كنت فاعلا فمرني به فأنا أحمل إليك رأسه فوالله لقد علمت الخزرج ما كان لها من رجل أبر بوالده مني إني أخشى أن تأمر به غيري فيقتله فلا تدعني نفسي أنظر إلى قاتل عبدالله بن أبي يمسي في الناس فأقتله فأقتل مؤمنا بكافر فأدخل النار فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم "بل نترفق به ونحسن صحبته ما بقي معنا" وذكر عكرمة وابن زيد وغيرهما أن الناس لما قفلوا راجعين إلى المدينة وقف عبدالله بن عبدالله هذا على باب المدينة واستل سيفه فجعل الناس يمرون عليه فلما جاء أبوه عبدالله بن أبي قال له ابنه وراءك فقال مالك ويلك؟ فقال والله لا تجوز من ههنا حتى يأذن لك رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم فإنه العزيز وأنت الذليل فلما جاء رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم وكان إنما يسير ساقة فشكا إليه عبدالله بن أبي ابنه فقال ابنه عبدالله والله يا رسول الله لا يدخلها حتى تأذن له فأذن له رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم فقال أما إذا أذن لك رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم فجز الآن وقال أبو بكر عبدالله بن الزبير الحميدي في مسنده حدثنا سفيان بن عيينة حدثنا أبو هارون المدني قال: قال عبدالله بن عبدالله ابن أبي بن سلول لأبيه والله لا تدخل المدينة أبدا حتى تقول رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم الأعز وأنا الأذل قال وجاء إلى النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم فقال يا رسول الله إنه بلغني أنك تريد أن تقتل أبي فوالذي بعثك بالحق ما تأملت وجهه قط هيبة له لئن شئت أن آتيك برأسه لأتيتك فإني أكره أن أرى قاتل أبي.

Hypocrites are not interested to ask the prophet to ask Allah to forgive Them

Allah the Exalted states about the hypocrites, may Allah curse them,

وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ تَعَالَوْاْ يَسْتَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ لَوَّوْاْ رُءُوسَهُمْ

(And when it is said to them: "Come, so that the Messenger of Allah may ask forgiveness from Allah for you," they twist their heads,) meaning, they turn away, ignoring this call in arrogance, belitt- ling what they are invited to. This is why Allah the Exalted said,

وَرَأَيْتَهُمْ يَصُدُّونَ وَهُم مُّسْتَكْبِرُونَ

(and you would see them turning away their faces in pride.) Allah punished them for this behavior, saying,

سَوَآءٌ عَلَيْهِمْ أَسْتَغْفَرْتَ لَهُمْ أَمْ لَمْ تَسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ لَن يَغْفِرَ اللَّهُ لَهُمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لاَ يَهْدِى الْقَوْمَ الْفَـسِقِينَ

(It is equal to them whether you ask forgiveness or ask not forgiveness for them, Allah will never forgive them. Verily, Allah guides not the people who are the rebellious.) As Allah said in Surat Bara'ah, and a discussion preceded there, and here we will present some of the Hadiths reported that are related to it. Several of the Salaf mentioned that this entire passage was revealed in the case of `Abdullah bin Ubay bin Salul, as we will soon mention, Allah willing and our trust and reliance are on Him. In his book, As-Sirah, Muhammad bin Ishaq said, "After the battle of Uhud ended, the Prophet returned to Al-Madinah. `Abdullah bin Ubay bin Salul -- as Ibn Shihab narrated to me -- would stand up every Friday, without objection from anyone because he was a chief of his people, when the Prophet would sit on the Minbar, just before he delivered the Jumu`ah Khutbah to the people. `Abdullah bin Ubay would say, `O people! This is the Messenger of Allah ﷺ with you. Allah has honored us by sending him and gave you might through him. Support him, honor him and listen to and obey him.' He would then sit down. So after the battle of Uhud, even after he did what he did, that is, returning to Al-Madinah with a third of the army, he stood up to say the same words. But the Muslims held on to his clothes and said to him, `Sit down, O enemy of Allah! You are not worthy to stand after you did what you did.' `Abdullah went out of the Masjid crossing people's lines and saying, `By Allah, it is as if I said something awful when I wanted to support him.' Some men from Al-Ansar met him at the gate of the Masjid and asked him what happened. He said, `I just stood up to support him and some men, his Companions, jumped at me, pulled me back and admonished me, as if what I said was an awful thing; I merely wanted to support him.' They said to him, `Woe to you! Go back so that Allah's Messenger asks Allah to forgive you.' He said, `By Allah, I do not wish that he ask Allah to forgive me."' Qatadah and As-Suddi said, "This Ayah was revealed about `Abdullah bin Ubay. A young relative of his went to Allah's Messenger and conveyed to him an awful statement that `Abdullah said. The Messenger ﷺ called `Abdullah, who swore by Allah that he did not say anything. The Ansar went to that boy and admonished him. However, Allah sent down what you hear about `Abdullah's case and Allah's enemy was told, `Go to Allah's Messenger,' but he turned his head away, saying that he will not do it." Muhammad bin Ishaq said that Muhammad bin Yahya bin Hibban, `Abdullah bin Abi Bakr and `Asim bin `Umar bin Qatadah narrated to him the story of Bani Al-Mustaliq. They said that while the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was in that area, Jahjah bin Sa`id Al-Ghifari, a hired hand for `Umar, and Sinan bin Wabr fought over the water source. Sinan called out, "O Ansar", while Al-Jahjah called, "O Muhajirin!" Zayd bin Arqam and several Ansar men were sitting with `Abdullah bin Ubay bin Salul at that time. When `Abdullah heard what happened, he said, "They are bothering us in our land. By Allah, the parable of us and these foolish Quraysh men, is the parable that goes, `Feed your dog until it becomes strong, and it will eat you.' By Allah, when we go back to Al-Madinah, the most mighty will expel the weak from it." He then addressed his people who were sitting with him, saying to them, "What have you done to yourselves You let them settle in your land and shared your wealth with them. By Allah, if you abandon them, they will have to move to another area other than yours." Zayd bin Arqam heard these words and conveyed them to Allah's Messenger . Zayd was a young boy then. `Umar bin Al-Khattab was with the Messenger ﷺ and he said, "O Allah's Messenger! Order `Abbad bin Bishr to cut off his head at his neck." The Prophet replied,

«فَكَيْفَ إِذَا تَحَدَّثَ النَّاسُ يَا عُمَرُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا يَقْتُلُ أَصْحَابَهُ، لَا، وَلَكِنْ نَادِ يَا عُمَرُ الرَّحِيل»

(What if people started saying that Muhammad kills his companions, O `Umar No. However, order the people to start the journey (back to Al-Madinah).) When `Abdullah bin Ubay bin Salul was told that his statement reached Allah's Prophet , he went to him and denied saying it. He swore by Allah that he did not utter the statement that Zayd bin Arqam conveyed. `Abdullah bin Ubay was a chief of his people and they said, "O Allah's Messenger! May be the young boy merely guessed and did not hear what was said correctly." Allah's Messenger started the journey at an unusual hour of the day and was met by Usayd bin Al-Hudayr, who greeted him acknowledging his prophethood. Usayd said, "By Allah! You are about to begin the journey at an unusual time." The Prophet said,

«أَمَا بَلَغَكَ مَا قَالَ صَاحِبُكَ ابْنُ أُبَيَ؟ زَعَمَ أَنَّهُ إِذَا قَدِمَ الْمَدِينَةَ سَيُخْرِجُ الْأَعَزُّ مِنْهَا الْأَذَل»

(Did not the statement of your friend, Ibn Ubay reach you He claimed that when he returns to Al-Madinah, the mighty one will expel the weak one out of it.) Usayd said, "Indeed, you are the mighty one, O Allah's Messenger, and he is the disgraced one." Usayd said, "Take it easy with him, O Allah's Messenger! By Allah, when Allah brought you to us, we were about to gather the pearls (of a crown) so that we appoint him king over us. He thinks that you have rid him of his kingship." The Messenger of Allah ﷺ traveled with the people until the night fell, then the rest of the night until the beginning of the next day and then set camp with the people. He wanted to busy them from talking about what had happened. The minute people felt the ground under their feet, they went to sleep and Surat Al-Munafiqin was revealed. Al-Hafiz Abu Bakr Al-Bayhaqi recorded that Jabir bin `Abdullah said, "We were in a battle with Allah's Messenger and a man from the Emigrants kicked an Ansari man. The Ansari man called out, `O Ansar!' and the Emigrant called out, `O Emigrants!' Allah's Messenger heard that and said,

«مَا بَالُ دَعْوَى الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ؟ دَعُوهَا فَإِنَّهَا مُنْتِنَة»

(What is this call of Jahiliyyah Abandon it because it is offensive.) `Abdullah bin Ubay heard that and said, `Have they (the Emigrants) done so By Allah, if we return to Al-Madinah, surely, the more honorable will expel therefrom the meaner.' The Ansar at that time, were more numerous that the Emigrants when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ came to Al-Madinah, but later on the Emigrants imcreased in number. When this statement reached the Prophet , `Umar got up and said, `O Allah's Messenger! Let me chop off the head of this hypocrite!' The Prophet said:

«دَعْهُ، لَا يَتَحَدَّثُ النَّاسُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا يَقْتُلُ أَصْحَابَه»

(Leave him, lest the people say that Muhammad kills his companions.)" Imam Ahmad, Al-Bukhari and Muslim collected this Hadith. `Ikrimah and Ibn Zayd and others said that when the Prophet and his Companions went back to Al-Madinah,`Abdullah, the son of `Abdullah bin Ubay bin Salul, remained by the gate of Al-Madinah holding his sword. People passed by him as they returned to Al-Madinah, and then his father came. `Abdullah, son of `Abdullah, said to his father, "Stay where you are," and his father asked what the matter was His son said, "By Allah! You will enter through here until the Messenger of Allah ﷺ allows you to do so, for he is the honorable one and you are the disgraced." When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ came by, and he used to be in the last lines, `Abdullah bin Ubay complained to him about his son and his son said, "By Allah, O Allah's Messenger! He will not enter it until you say so." The Messenger gave his permission to `Abdullah bin Ubay and his son said, "Enter, now that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ gave you his permission." In his Musnad, Abu Bakr `Abdullah bin Az-Zubayr Al-Humaydi recorded from Abu Harun Al-Madani that `Abdullah, the son of `Abdullah bin Ubay bin Salul, said to his father, "You will never enter Al-Madinah unless and until you say, `Allah's Messenger is the honorable one and I am the disgraced." When the Prophet came, `Abdullah, son of `Abdullah bin Ubay bin Salul said to him, "O Allah's Messenger! I was told that you have decided to have my father executed. By He Who has sent you with Truth, I never looked straight to his face out of respect for him. But if you wish, I will bring you his head, because I would hate to see the killer of my father."

They say ‘Surely if we return from the raid against the Banū al-Mustaliq to Medina the powerful by which they meant themselves will soon expel from it the weaker’ by which they meant the believers. Yet the real might victory belongs to God and to His Messenger and to the believers but the hypocrites do not know that.

يَقُولُونَ لَئِن رَّ‌جَعْنَا إِلَى الْمَدِينَةِ لَيُخْرِ‌جَنَّ الْأَعَزُّ مِنْهَا الْأَذَلَّ (They say, “ If we return to Madinah, the more honourable ones will drive out the meaner ones from there.”…63:8). This too is the statement of Ibn Ubayy, the hypocrite. Although the words used by him were ambiguous, the intention was clear. He termed himself and the natives of Madinah as ‘honourable’ and the Holy Prophet ﷺ and the Emigrant Companions as (God forbid! ) the ‘meanest’. He thus provoked the Helpers of Madinah against the Emigrants that the former should drive out the latter from their city. In answer to this, Allah recoiled his boastful statement against himself by pointing out that if those who are really ‘honourable’ drive out those who are really the ‘meanest’ it will go against themselves, because all honour belongs to Him, His Messenger and the believers. The hypocrites, however, are unaware of this because of their ignorance. The concluding phrase of this verse is لَا يَعْلَمُونَ ‘…but the hypocrites do not know. [ 8]’ This may be contrasted with the concluding phrase of verse لَا یَفقَھونَ ‘ but they do not understand’. The reason for the distinction between ‘do not understand’ and ‘do not know’ is as follows: If a person thinks that he is the provider of others, this is completely irrational. This is the sign of his foolishness. Honour and dishonour, on the other hand, can fall to anyone’ s lot. Therefore, if he errs in his judgment, this is ignorance of facts or true state of affairs. Thus we have here لَا يَعْلَمُونَ ‘…but the hypocrites do not know. [ 8]