The Madinan Period, Part 9: The Battle of Uhud, Part One
Section 10 of 13 · The Life of the Prophet Muhammad: The Madinan Period
The Day That Separates Belief From Hypocrisy
Then the hypocrites withdrew. The Muslim army had been a thousand; ʿAbdullāh ibn Ubayy pulled back a third of that, so they were left with about seven hundred soldiers. The justification given by ʿAbdullāh ibn Ubayy was: "Muḥammad listened to the kids and ignored my opinion" — it was the young men who were urging the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) to go out; they were the ones who wanted to fight. So ʿAbdullāh ibn Ubayy was saying that he ignored the advice of the wise old men, like himself, and went by the opinion of the youngsters; and if he thought there was going to be any fighting he would come, but he didn't think there was going to be any fighting, so he left.
Subḥānallāh, one can see how it is the battlefield that separates the muʾmin from the munāfiq. In a peaceful situation, one cannot know who is munāfiq and who is muʾmin — the munāfiq could be anywhere; the munāfiq could be praying with you in the first row; the munāfiq could be the one giving the khuṭbah; the munāfiq could be the muftī, or the mullah, or the ʿālim of whom you are asking a question — you do not know who is muʾmin and who is munāfiq. But what separates the believer from the hypocrite is the battlefield, and this occurs again and again — this is where the hypocrites show up. So Allah (swt) says that He will not leave the believers in the state they are in — the state they were in now, where everyone is blended together and one does not know who is who — until He separates the corrupt from the good. This ayah, revealed talking about the Battle of Uḥud, is 3:166–167*:
وَمَآ أَصَـٰبَكُمْ يَوْمَ ٱلْتَقَى ٱلْجَمْعَانِ فَبِإِذْنِ ٱللَّهِ وَلِيَعْلَمَ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَلِيَعْلَمَ ٱلَّذِينَ نَافَقُوا۟ ۚ وَقِيلَ لَهُمْ تَعَالَوْا۟ قَـٰتِلُوا۟ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ أَوِ ٱدْفَعُوا۟ ۖ قَالُوا۟ لَوْ نَعْلَمُ قِتَالًا لَّٱتَّبَعْنَـٰكُمْ ۗ هُمْ لِلْكُفْرِ يَوْمَئِذٍ أَقْرَبُ مِنْهُمْ لِلْإِيمَـٰنِ ۚ يَقُولُونَ بِأَفْوَٰهِهِم مَّا لَيْسَ فِى قُلُوبِهِمْ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا يَكْتُمُونَ
“Whatever you suffered on the day when the two troops faced each other was by the will of Allah, and in order to know the believers, and in order to know those who are hypocrites. It was said to them, “Come on, fight in the way of Allah, or defend.” They said, “Had we known it to be a fight we would have certainly followed you.” That day, they were nearer to disbelief than they were to Belief. They utter from their mouths what is not in their hearts. Allah knows well what they conceal.” (3:166–167)
These were the words of ʿAbdullāh ibn Ubayy: they were nearer to disbelief that day than to faith, saying with their mouths what was not in their hearts, and Allah is most knowing of what they conceal. In truth they were leaving because they were afraid there was going to be fighting — it was the other way around from what they claimed.
Now there were two tribes who very nearly defected, just like the hypocrites — Banū Salamah and Banū Ḥārithah — but Allah (swt) made them steadfast. Allah (swt) says:
إِذْ هَمَّت طَّآئِفَتَانِ مِنكُمْ أَن تَفْشَلَا وَٱللَّهُ وَلِيُّهُمَا ۗ وَعَلَى ٱللَّهِ فَلْيَتَوَكَّلِ ٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ
“When two of your groups were about to lose heart, while Allah was their guardian! It is in Allah alone that the believers must place their trust.” (3:122)
This was a negative thing for these two tribes to do, but Jābir ibn ʿAbdullāh said, "I would not wish that this had not happened, because Allah revealed the ayah saying that He is our ally." Subḥānallāh, it was Allah who made them steadfast, and Allah (swt) revealed the verse talking about them, saying that He is their ally — and that is why He kept them firm.