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'Hypocrites' According to the Koran

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Preface

The Koran has a lot to say about “hypocrites”. Muhammad and Allah are very troubled by both their existence and their activities. However the Koran is rather less forthcoming about the nature of the hypocrisy itself in many (though not all) cases. Thus, to find out the sort of attitudes and actions that cause the Koran to level the charge of hypocrisy against people we have to turn to other sources. Muslims have faced the similar problems in understanding many of the verses of the Koran. Consequently there are many commentaries (Tafseers) on the Koran which therefore address this and other problems. Muslim Authors (e.g. “H. Yahya”), though drawing on the same sources as I, seem to concentrate on the “characteristics” (all very bad) of the Hypocrites (to help Muslims identify them), rather than on what was the cause or nature of the “hypocrisy” in the first place.

This article does not claim any originality. On the contrary, all that is being undertaken is a drawing together of the Koran verses related to hypocrites and the Tafseers on these verses in order to clearly identify the Islamic understanding of this word.

To that end presented below are the verses related to “hypocrites” in the Koran (Hilali-Khan translation{1}) and identified in ibn Kathir (D).

In a departure from my normal methodology of presenting all the relevant evidence, I am simply giving the results of the study and the references used. The reason is quite simple: length of article. The “longer form” which did indeed present the verses and included a summary of the Tafseers{4} was running at over 26,000 words and I leave it to your imagination as to the length of the article with Tafseers quoted verbatim.

I thought that this was rather too long for publication here and so decided to omit the details. However, in the interests of veracity I have provided a list of Koran verses that support each “type” of hypocrite identified, as well as a list of the Tafseers used to arrive at my conclusion.

Anyone wishing to check my accuracy is thus enabled to do so.

In the original article I arranged these verses chronologically{2}, not in the normal sequence of the Koran{3} because this gives the view of how the Koran's attitude changes over time.

Regrettably, this aspect of my investigation is lost in this short version, but it has no bearing on the overall conclusions.

 

Hypocrites in the Koran

As will be seen from the list below, there are many types of hypocrite{5} mentioned in the Koran. In some cases the actual verse of the Koran contains the word “hypocrite(s)”, in others the verse is related to hypocrites by the writers of Tafseer, thus the use of some verses may be less obvious at first sight.

Summary

According to the Koran, hypocrites are:

 

Conclusion

The word “hypocrite” in the Koran is both a cypher and a catch-all for Muslims as well as being applied to non-Muslims.

It is a cypher because it can mean an apostate from Islam, [see 1f) above]. The identification of apostates as a group within “hypocrites” is important because Muslim apologists often say that the Koran does not speak of punishing apostates. Linguistically this is true: the word “apostate” does not occur in those Koran verses, but given that “hypocrite” is a cypher for apostate, the Koran does speak about apostates, by defining them as one “class” of Muslim “hypocrite” – the problem is to dissect out when this particular meaning is relevant.

It is a catch-all in that any failure on the part of a Muslim to live a less than fully Islamic life (except under Darura{12} or Maruna{13}) makes a Muslim a “hypocrite” (K.66:9 may be understood in this light). This is the case even if the person converts out of fear for his/her life – s/he is a hypocrite if s/he does not become a fully orthodox (or “true-believer”) Muslim{6}.

Almost amusingly a person bribed into Islam{9} is also a hypocrite, not having full faith in Islam – to which one is almost forced to ask “And what did you expect, Mo? Sincerity from someone you bribed?”

Another important category of Muslim “hypocrite” is the Muslim who doesn't want to see Shariah Law (in all its barbarity) fully enforced – and that not only within the Muslim community, but upon all people of course.

Also declared “hypocrites” are those Muslims who form close associations with non-Muslims, Muslims should only be “best friends” with other Muslims and should not take the part of a non-Muslim if they are in dispute with a Muslim. A corollary of this is that some Muslims understand this to mean that they must shelter and support (at least through silence) those Muslims who indulge themselves in terrorist activity or the preaching thereof{14}.

Somewhat ironically perhaps the Koran text itself thus tells us that “Quranite”{15} Muslims are also “hypocrites”, as are “Reformist”{16} Muslims. And so are “peace-loving” (“moderate”) Muslims - those unwilling to kill in sword-Jihad against non-Muslims. Thus the definitions of “hypocrite” as applied to Muslims acts as a “lock-out” on any attempts to reform Islam: such attempts can only be made by those the Koran – and thus Islam – itself calls “hypocrites”, since they are seen as “challenging the message of Muhammad”.

In fact the Koran and commentaries make a Mussalman's willingness to “wage (sword) jihad in the way of Allah with their possession and their person - i.e. risk life and limb”{17} (K.4:95; see also: 9:20,88; 61:11) a touchstone for being an orthodox Muslim [see 1j above for the negative confirmation]. Any one who isn't so willing is also a “weak” or “half-hearted” Muslim – referred to in the Koran as “those with a disease in their hearts” or similar to describe anyone who has any doubts about Islam's teachings.

The final group of (notional) Muslims that are declared to be “hypocrites” - and to be fair this category has the merit of being deserved – are the “subversive Muslims”. These are people who only joined Islam in order to undermine it from within. Not surprisingly, such folk are frowned on by the Koran{18}.

Turning to non-Muslims, the Koran more or less declares all non-Muslims “hypocrites” - at least those who have heard the message of Islam. The notion here is that once a person hears{19} the message they “know in their heart” the 'truth' about Islam. Therefore any failure to convert is the result of their hypocritically refusing to acknowledge this 'truth'. This is implicit in the word used in the Koran to describe non-Muslims - “Kaffir”. This word means “one who covers (up the truth)” and was originally used (and occurs in this sense in the Koran) for the “tillers of the soil” who “cover up” the seeds after planting them.

Again it is ironic to note that the Koran regards as (even greater, perhaps,) “hypocrites” those non-Muslims who “make nice” to Muslims whilst disliking or fearing them. The irony is that the Koran tells Muslims to do just this to non-Muslims if the Muslims are in fear of the non-Muslims (K.3:28) and the Bukhari hadith tells Muslims to “smile in the face of some people although our hearts curse them.” (also quoted in ibn Kathir on this verse).

The final two major groups of exclusively non-Muslim hypocrites (or, perhaps, hypocrites “twice over”) are those who don't want Shariah Law enforced on them (though why someone would not want a legal system enforced on them that discriminates against them I simply cannot imagine – and, yes, I am being sarcastic) and those who actively seek to “harm” Muslims.

In this latter-most case (that of “harming”) one can well see that persons who try to subvert Muslims particularly from within the Islamic community could be seen as “hypocritical” since they would have to be operating in a covert way. However, this is not the only meaning attached to the “harm-doers”. Given that the Koran says that all non-Muslims really “know that Islam is true”, then  “harm-doers” can be understood to mean anyone who says anything “nasty” about Islam (even if true!) since anything that “disturbs – or challenges – the 'spiritual' peace” of the Islamic community is deemed harmful.

The Koran makes it clear that the particular hypocrisy of selfishness applies to both Muslim and non-Muslim alike and given that selfishness is one of mankind's least attractive traits, I find myself in agreement with the intention of the Koran (to castigate such people), though the language is curious since it is predicated on the idea that such people are aware of their “wrong-doing” which is not a given for all and why call them “hypocrites” at all? Why not just stick with selfish? The only reason I can deduce (and it is only a deduction) is that hypocrites go to hell, therefore lumping everybody with whom the Koran disagrees together as “hypocrites” is a convenient way of saying “and you're going to hell too!”

A curious form of hypocrisy is that of “telling tales” about Muslims. It is fair enough to call  “tattlers” hypocrites for spreading nasty rumours about nice Muslims{20}, however there is a further implication and that is that Muslims should “cover” for one another by simply not believing that the “best of mankind” and such “superior” people as Muslims{21} would do illegal or immoral things. This, I suggest, is a less-than-healthy attitude in that it means that the victims of abuse will have little or no chance of redress since the prevailing mind-set is simply not to believe them.

As will be seen from the above the word “hypocrite” is used in the Koran to describe a wide range of people, both Muslim and non-Muslim, who do something – anything – that is contrary to the teachings of Islam.

Thus the most succinct definition of “hypocrite” within the Koran might be “not a true-believer Muslim”.

An interesting point which bears on this topic is the idea of “the four (types of) hearts”:

The point here is that the “shining lamp” of the believer's heart will enable them to see their way as they cross the “narrow way” into paradise. All others (without such light) will inevitably lose their footing and fall into hell – thus one element of the importance of being a “true-believer” Muslim.

This leaves the problem of defining a “true-believer” Muslim. This is a major issue within Islam itself as can be seen from the habit of various groups of Muslims to declare other groups of Muslim non-believers or apostates by declaring Takfir{22}. A corollary of this is the need for many Muslims to be seen as “true-believers” and thus avoid any risk of censure within their community. This in turn leads to increasingly literalistic interpretations of the Koran, because this is easier to defend, whereas a more nuanced approach to Koranic exegesis opens the practitioner up to the charge of not being a real Muslim. Thus we see the increasing “radicalisation”{23} of Islam today as group after group seems to want to outdo the other in orthodoxy and self-righteous pietistic behaviour, a sort of “race to the bottom” in Islamic interpretation{24}. Thus in the “Arab Spring” Countries of Egypt and Tunisia for instance the “moderate Islamist”{25} governments are being challenged by the “radical Islamist”{25} Salafists and one is left wondering what more “radical” group would arise to challenge the Salafists if they seized power. In other words Islamic interpretation is like a set of Russian dolls in that “inside” every group is another yet more orthodox in its interpretation. (Another analogy is the rhyme about fleas{23}.)

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Note and References.

 

Bibliography and Further Reading.