They swear by Allah that they said nothing (evil), but indeed they uttered blasphemy, and they did it after accepting Islam; and they meditated a plot which they were unable to carry out: this revenge of theirs was (their) only return for the bounty with which Allah and His Messenger had enriched them! If they repent, it will be best for them; but if they turn back (to their evil ways), Allah will punish them with a grievous penalty in this life and in the Hereafter: They shall have none on earth to protect or help them. At-Tawbah 9:74 ⧉
Tafsir:
According to a tradition, during the period of the Prophet Muhammad, there were about eighty hypocrites in Madinah. This indicates that the jihad ordered here against hypocrites did not mean waging (qital) war on them. Had it been so, the Prophet would have had them eliminated. According to a hadith narrated by Ibn ‘Abbas, here jihad meant striving by word of mouth. Hence, according to the majority of Muslims, jihad with the sword against hypocrites is not in accordance with the Shariah. Hypocrisy is the adoption of Islam in such a way that it is subservient to personal interests and worldly considerations. When hypocrites see that true believers have adopted Islam in a manner devoid of self-interest and worldly consideration and invite others also to accept the true Islam, they feel that this Islam amounts to degrading their form of Islam. Therefore, they begin to hate such preachers (da‘is). They become the enemies of the inviters to that very Islam in the name of which they have flourishing business. This enmity of hypocrites expresses itself by way of conspiracy and ridicule. If they observe that somebody has ill feelings towards the believers, the hypocrites encourage and incite these feelings with a view to making sure that fighting breaks out against the believers. They make fun of sincere people of faith. They utter words which belittle their sacrifices. They trivialize and distort their doings in order to spoil their image among the people. During the Tabuk journey, it once happened that the Prophet Muhammad’s camel strayed from a camp site and a search was started by some of the Muslims. When the hypocrites came to know of this, they mockingly said, ‘This gentleman tells about happenings in the skies, but he is not aware of the whereabouts of his camel.’ The hypocritical Muslims become the accomplices and instruments of Satan in order to defeat the believers. But, God is ever the supporter of true believers, and He saves them in spite of all the conspiracies of hypocrites. The fate of the hypocrites is that, their transgressions having been established beyond doubt, they become liable for punishment in this world as well as in the Hereafter. a Tha‘laba ibn Hathib Ansari requested the Prophet Muhammad to pray to God to bless him with wealth. The Prophet said that to be grateful to God for less wealth is better than acquiring a lot of wealth and then being unable to be grateful to Him. But Tha‘laba repeated his request several times. So, the Prophet prayed, ‘O God, bless Tha‘laba with wealth.’ Thereafter, Tha‘laba reared a goat. The breed of goats increased to such an extent that the land of Madinah could not provide enough fodder for his goats. Tha‘laba then shifted to a valley outside Madinah. Now Tha‘laba started becoming remiss in his Islamic observances. First of all he missed the congregational prayers. Then he missed the Friday prayers. A stage came when an official on behalf of the Prophet Muhammad approached Tha‘laba to collect alms (zakat) and he refused, saying, ‘This is nothing but a capital tax (jizyah); this is in no way different from the tax levied on those who deny the truth.’