Revealed in Madinah, Surah Al-Munafiqun (The Hypocrites) exposes the double-faced nature of the hypocrites who publicly swear allegiance to the Prophet while secretly plotting against the Muslims. It warns the believers that their wealth and children should not distract them from the remembrance of God, urging them to spend in charity before death arrives and they are left pleading for a brief delay.
Transliteration
Itha jaaka almunafiqoona qaloo nashhadu innaka larasoolu Allahi waAllahu yaAAlamu innaka larasooluhu waAllahu yashhadu inna almunafiqeena lakathiboona
Translation
When the hypocrites come to you, they say, “We bear witness that you are God’s Messenger.” God knows that you are His Messenger, and God bears witness that the hypocrites are liars
'We testify that you are the Messenger of Allah'': Exposes the core hypocrisy of the Medinan subversives: while their tongues uttered the correct verbal formula of faith, their internal hearts harbored deceit and hostility, rendering their outward testimony a lie before God.
Transliteration
Ittakhathoo aymanahum junnatan fasaddoo AAan sabeeli Allahi innahum saa ma kanoo yaAAmaloona
Translation
They treat their oaths as a cover, and so they repel others from God’s path. Evil is what they do
Transliteration
Thalika biannahum amanoo thumma kafaroo fatubiAAa AAala quloobihim fahum la yafqahoona
Translation
That is because they believed, and then disbelieved; so their hearts were sealed, and they cannot understand
Transliteration
Waitha raaytahum tuAAjibuka ajsamuhum wain yaqooloo tasmaAA liqawlihim kaannahum khushubun musannadatun yahsaboona kulla sayhatin AAalayhim humu alAAaduwwu faihtharhum qatalahumu Allahu anna yufakoona
Translation
When you see them, their appearance impresses you. And when they speak, you listen to what they say. They are like propped-up timber. They think every shout is aimed at them. They are the enemy, so beware of them. God condemns them; how deluded they are
A vivid psychological profile of hypocrites: outwardly impressive in appearance, tall, elegantly groomed, and silver-tongued in rhetoric, yet internally hollow and devoid of spiritual life like propped-up wooden planks ('Khashubun Musannadah'). Paralyzed by guilt, they live in constant paranoia, assuming every public announcement is a plot against them.
Transliteration
Waitha qeela lahum taAAalaw yastaghfir lakum rasoolu Allahi lawwaw ruoosahum waraaytahum yasuddoona wahum mustakbiroona
Translation
And when it is said to them, “Come, the Messenger of God will ask forgiveness for you,” they bend their heads, and you see them turning away arrogantly
Transliteration
Sawaon AAalayhim astaghfarta lahum am lam tastaghfir lahum lan yaghfira Allahu lahum inna Allaha la yahdee alqawma alfasiqeena
Translation
It is the same for them, whether you ask forgiveness for them, or do not ask forgiveness for them; God will not forgive them. God does not guide the sinful people
Transliteration
Humu allatheena yaqooloona la tunfiqoo AAala man AAinda rasooli Allahi hatta yanfaddoo walillahi khazainu alssamawati waalardi walakinna almunafiqeena la yafqahoona
Translation
It is they who say: “Do not spend anything on those who side with God’s Messenger, unless they have dispersed.” To God belong the treasures of the heavens and the earth, but the hypocrites do not understand
Exposes Abdullah ibn Ubayy's economic blockade strategy: he urged his local Medinan followers to cut off all financial donations and aid to the impoverished Meccan refugees (Muhajirun) to starve them into abandoning the Prophet ﷺ. God reminds believers that the infinite treasuries of the universe belong to Him alone.
Transliteration
Yaqooloona lain rajaAAna ila almadeenati layukhrijanna alaAAazzu minha alathalla walillahi alAAizzatu walirasoolihi walilmumineena walakinna almunafiqeena la yaAAlamoona
Translation
They say, “If we return to the City, the more powerful therein will evict the weak.” But power belongs to God, and His Messenger, and the believers; but the hypocrites do not know
Chronicles the infamous statement of chief hypocrite Abdullah ibn Ubayy during the Banu al-Mustaliq expedition: 'When we return to Medina, the more honorable [referring to himself] will expel the more humiliated [referring to the Prophet ﷺ]!' Young teenage companion Zayd ibn Arqam overheard this and alerted the Prophet ﷺ. When Ibn Ubayy falsely swore he never said it, God revealed this verse quoting his words verbatim, completely vindicating young Zayd.
Transliteration
Ya ayyuha allatheena amanoo la tulhikum amwalukum wala awladukum AAan thikri Allahi waman yafAAal thalika faolaika humu alkhasiroona
Translation
O you who believe! Let neither your possessions nor your children distract you from the remembrance of God. Whoever does that—these are the losers
Warns sincere believers against letting obsessive accumulation of business profits and family attachments distract them from conscious remembrance of God and community welfare.
Transliteration
Waanfiqoo min ma razaqnakum min qabli an yatiya ahadakumu almawtu fayaqoola rabbi lawla akhkhartanee ila ajalin qareebin faassaddaqa waakun mina alssaliheena
Translation
And give from what We have provided for you, before death approaches one of you, and he says, “My Lord, if only You would delay me for a short while, so that I may be charitable, and be one of the righteous.”
Captures the desperate deathbed plea of an unrepentant person begging for a few more minutes of life so they can donate all their accumulated wealth to charity, reminding readers that when one's appointed hour arrives, no extension is ever granted.
Transliteration
Walan yuakhkhira Allahu nafsan itha jaa ajaluha waAllahu khabeerun bima taAAmaloona
Translation
But God will not delay a soul when its time has come. God is Informed of what you do