The Rise of the Hypocrites

Among the consequences of the Battle of Badr, the first is hypocrisy. There were many people in Madīnah who were not happy to see the Muslims victorious, but who were not strong enough to declare that publicly, so they went underground. They publicly professed Islam; outwardly, one could not tell a difference between them and the Muslims — they prayed like Muslims, they fasted like Muslims, they paid zakāh like Muslims, they attended the gatherings of the Muslims, they attended the teaching of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) — but deep in their hearts they despised Islam, they hated the Muslims, and they wished that Islam would vanish from the face of the earth; they wished that Islam had never come to Madīnah. These were al-munāfiqūn. But because Islam was now victorious, and the Muslims were strong, and the standing of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) in Madīnah was increasing, they dared not speak their minds; so they carried on plotting underground against the Muslims.

The hypocrites were an extremely dangerous enemy — perhaps the most dangerous enemy of all — because they were living with the Muslims, and knew the secrets of the Muslims, and were passing these secrets on to the outside enemies of Islam. They were a fifth column: they were the ones delivering the news to Quraysh, the ones assisting the enemies of Allah in their planning against the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). It was a very dangerous situation, and a very difficult enemy to deal with, because they did not declare their belief openly, and blended perfectly among the Muslim community. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) himself did not know about many of these hypocrites; Allah, Mighty and Majestic, says: lā taʿlamuhum naḥnu naʿlamuhum — you do not know them, We know them (9:101) — so even the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) did not know the names of some of the hypocrites, until they were later revealed to him by Allah, Mighty and Majestic. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, says about them:

And when they meet those who believe, they say, we believe; but when they are alone with their evil ones, they say, indeed we are with you, we were only mockers. So when they were with the Muslims, they would say, we are like you, we are Muslim. This, then, was a consequence of the Battle of Badr: a new category of people, al-munāfiqūn. Before, there had been kuffār and Muslims; now there were kuffār, munāfiqūn, and Muslims. The munāfiqūn are, in truth, a part of the kuffār, but the difference is that they claim to be Muslim.