The mindset of the munafiq
One of the alternative names of Surat at-Tawbah is al-Fadihah, which means the surah that exposed the hypocrites. This surah talks the most about the attributes of the munafiqeen (hypocrites) more than anywhere else in the Quran, so much so that numerous people have written PhD theses on it. Unfortunately, we can see many munafiqeen in our communities, even some of the leaders and scholars in the very front rows today. They generally display five key features.
1. Spying and listening to rumours
Allah Almighty says:
لَوۡ خَرَجُواْ فِيكُم مَّا زَادُوكُمۡ إِلَّا خَبَالٗا
وَلَأَوۡضَعُواْ خِلَٰلَكُمۡ يَبۡغُونَكُمُ ٱلۡفِتۡنَةَ
وَفِيكُمۡ سَمَّـٰعُونَ لَهُمۡۗ وَٱللَّهُ عَلِيمُۢ بِٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ,
Had they gone forth with you ˹believers˺, they would have been nothing but trouble for you, and would have scrambled around, seeking to spread discord in your midst. And some of you would have eagerly listened to them. And Allah has ˹perfect˺ knowledge of the wrongdoers. [9:47]
Allah Almighty uses the word samma’una, and scholars of tafseer have two opinions on what this means. One is that they are people from within the community who pay too much attention to rumours. Other scholars, including Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him), say this refers to spies – i.e. people who listen to what is going on in the community and report it to others. Both behaviours are haram and attributes of the hypocrites.
Scholars who hold the former opinion have commented that the people who listen to rumours are very naïve, and will follow whatever they are told. We see this in many election campaigns etc., where people will blindly believe whatever promises politicians make. The 20th century Egyptian shaykh, Mohammed al-Ghazali commented that you don’t need to be a spy to harm your people: you can do as much harm just out of ignorance.
2. Spreading pessimism and lowering morale
لَقَدِ ٱبۡتَغَوُاْ ٱلۡفِتۡنَةَ مِن قَبۡلُ وَقَلَّبُوا
لَكَ ٱلۡأُمُورَ حَتَّىٰ جَآءَ ٱلۡحَقُّ وَظَهَرَ
أَمۡرُ ٱللَّهِ وَهُمۡ كَٰرِهُونَ,
They had already sought to spread discord before and devised every ˹possible˺ plot against you ˹O Prophet˺, until the truth came and Allah’s Will prevailed—much to their dismay. [9:48]
The following verses mention several other features of the hypocrites. They are people who delight in spreading bad news and pessimism, discouraging other people and destroying their morale.
These verses were revealed in the context of the hypocrites trying to discourage people from going into battle. Allah says that for the believers, there are only two options in the battle and both are good: if you are killed, you will be a martyr, and if you live you will be victorious. This is the optimistic thinking Allah gives to the ummah – the opposite of the hypocrites’ message.
قُلۡ هَلۡ تَرَبَّصُونَ بِنَآ إِلَّآ إِحۡدَى ٱلۡحُسۡنَيَيۡنِۖ
وَنَحۡنُ نَتَرَبَّصُ بِكُمۡ أَن يُصِيبَكُمُ ٱللَّهُ بِعَذَابٖ
مِّنۡ عِندِهِۦٓ أَوۡ بِأَيۡدِينَاۖ فَتَرَبَّصُوٓاْ إِنَّا مَعَكُم مُّتَرَبِّصُونَ,
Say, “Do you await for us anything except one of the two best things while we await for you that Allah will afflict you with punishment from Himself or at our hands? So wait; indeed we, along with you, are waiting.” [9:52]
3. Schadenfreude – rejoicing at suffering
Another key characteristic is that when you receive something good, the hypocrites will be sad, but if something bad happens they will be happy. We see many people who are happy about what has been happening in Palestine: this is not just an attribute of nifaaq (hypocrisy), but disbelief altogether.
إِن تُصِبۡكَ حَسَنَةٞ تَسُؤۡهُمۡۖ وَإِن تُصِبۡكَ
مُصِيبَةٞ يَقُولُواْ قَدۡ أَخَذۡنَآ أَمۡرَنَا مِن قَبۡلُ وَيَتَوَلَّواْ
وَّهُمۡ فَرِحُونَ,
If some good comes to you, it annoys them, and if hardship befalls you, they say, “We had already taken care of our problem”, and they go their way delighted. [9:50]
4. Laziness and cowardliness
وَمَا مَنَعَهُمۡ أَن تُقۡبَلَ مِنۡهُمۡ نَفَقَٰتُهُمۡ
إِلَّآ أَنَّهُمۡ كَفَرُواْ بِٱللَّهِ وَبِرَسُولِهِۦ وَلَا يَأۡتُونَ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ
إِلَّا وَهُمۡ كُسَالَىٰ وَلَا يُنفِقُونَ إِلَّا وَهُمۡ كَٰرِهُونَ,
And what prevented their donations from being accepted is that they do not believe in Allah and His Messenger, they never come to prayer except half-heartedly, and they never donate except resentfully. [9:54]
Hypocrites don’t want to pray or pay zakat, or do other good deeds: in reality they are on the side of the enemy and just pretending to be part of the community. We can witness many like this in our midst. Deep down, they are in fact cowardly:
وَيَحۡلِفُونَ بِٱللَّهِ إِنَّهُمۡ لَمِنكُمۡ وَمَا
هُم مِّنكُمۡ وَلَٰكِنَّهُمۡ قَوۡمٞ يَفۡرَقُونَ
لَوۡ يَجِدُونَ مَلۡجَـًٔا أَوۡ مَغَٰرَٰتٍ أَوۡ مُدَّخَلٗا
لَّوَلَّوۡاْ إِلَيۡهِ وَهُمۡ يَجۡمَحُونَ
And they swear by Allah that they are from among you while they are not from among you; but they are a people who are afraid.
If only they could find a refuge, or a cave, or any hiding-place, they would rush headlong towards it. [9:56-57]
They will hide anywhere they can rather than fight or stand for the community.
5. Materialistic mindset
وَمِنۡهُم مَّن يَلۡمِزُكَ فِي ٱلصَّدَقَٰتِ
فَإِنۡ أُعۡطُواْ مِنۡهَا رَضُواْ وَإِن لَّمۡ يُعۡطَوۡاْ مِنۡهَآ
إِذَا هُمۡ يَسۡخَطُونَ,
There are some of them who are critical of your distribution of alms ˹O Prophet˺. If they are given some of it, they are pleased, but if not they are enraged. [9:58]
The last attribute mentioned in this section is that the hypocrites would criticise the Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) for the way he distributed zakat and sadaqah – they wanted to receive more of it. They weren’t doing anything for Allah’s sake, but only wanted material gain. Be careful not to fall into this trap: make sure you do things for the sake of Allah, not for the sake of gain in the dunya. If the gain comes, say alhamdulillah, but if not, don’t be upset.
Allah is highlighting these attributes for us to be aware of who is around us. Don’t be fooled by anyone’s title or status, but only judge according to Quranic attributes. We ask Allah to keep us and our families far away from hypocrisy and the hypocrites, and to enable us to recognise them in the community.
Delivered by Shaykh Haytham Tamim 18th Ramadan 2025. Transcribed by H Khan
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