THE WORD OF GOD

are the [real] enemies, so beware of them. The curse of God be upon them! How they turn away! When they are told, ‘Come! The Messenger of God will ask forgiveness for you!’ they turn their heads away and you see them walking away arrogantly. It makes no difference whether you ask forgiveness for them or not. God will not forgive them: God does not guide such rebellious people. (63: 4-6) A hypocrite protects his interests by his compromising and selfinterested approach. He does not discriminate between right and wrong. However, he maintains good relations with everybody and speaks as though he is interested in their welfare. Everyone finds him agreeable. But these apparently ‘fresh green trees’ are in reality ‘dry sticks.’ To the hypocrite, worldly interest matters more than religious interest. Such people, despite claiming to be men of faith, are deprived of God’s guidance. They are the ones who say, ‘Give nothing to those who follow God’s Messenger, until they abandon him;’ but the treasures of the heavens and the earth belong to God, though the hypocrites do not understand this [and] they say, ‘Indeed, when we return to Madinah, [we] the ones most worthy of honour, will surely drive out from there the contemptible ones!’ [referring to poor Muslims]. However, all honour belongs to God, and to His Messenger and those who believe [in God]: but of this the hypocrites are not aware. (63: 7-8) In Madinah, at the time of the Prophet, there were two groups of Muslims—one, the Migrants (al- Muhajrun), and the other, the Helpers (al-Ansar)—the local hosts in Madinah. The Migrants had come to Madinah on being displaced from their native place, Makkah. Their apparent supporters were the local Muslims of Madinah, the Helpers. In the eyes of world-loving people, the Migrants seemed to be people without honour compared to the Helpers, who were respectable people. This was felt so keenly that on one occasion, ‘Abdullah ibn Ubayy clearly stated, ‘What is the status of these Migrants? If we expel them from our place, they will not find refuge anywhere in the world.’ Such people are unaware of the reality that everything in this world belongs to God. He gives to whomever He wishes and takes away from whomever He wishes.