91sage and the heart of iu Prophet's acrion; all the later \"erses of the Qumn
that refe r to confficts. killing, and fighting must be read in the context of
their Revelation (Muslims being in a situation of waf and needing to de-
fend thcmsdvt::s) and by no means alter the essential C(JlIlnJlS uf the mes-
sage as a whole.H ypoc rites
In spite of this covenant, in spite of )\'Iuhammad's e fforts to reassure dlC
different tribes and the different religious leaders, the simatia n was far
from simple. Ie involved dealing with some pe ople's jealousy, greed, and
struggle fur power, and with others' frustration. The Prophet was con-
fronted lJ,tith attitudes he had had little opportunity to know in i\lccca,
where conversion required such sacrifices in human ter ms that it co uld
spring only from sincere and deeply believing hearts. Henceforth, things
were to be different. The sodal configuration in Medina, the different
power centers there. and th e very narure o f the Prophet's role--exerting
such obvious influence over hearts and social affairs alike---entirely trans-
formed the situation: some individuals saw an opportunity to brain power
(a quasi-political interest) in publicizing their conve rsio n to Islam. The
Quran refers, in the first surah revealed in Medina, to this troubling ap-
parition of the tJIIJllajiqun, the "hypocrites," who are a major danger since
theyanack the Muslim community from within.^24 As Ibn Kathir pointS
Out in hi s commentary on th e Quran, four verses at the beginning of the
surah "r\J-Baqarah" (fhe Cow) speak of sincere believen, and only nvo
mention unbelievers, bm th irteen long verses desc ribe the hypocrites' atti-
tudes and speech, laden with duplicity and treachery:2.5
Of th e people, there are some who say: "\Ve believe in G od and the LaSt
Day": but they do not believe. They attempt to d eceive G od md those who
believe. but th ey only deceive themselves, and realize it not!26-f hen further on:
When ther meci those who believe, they say: "\',7e believe," but when they
are alone with thear evil ones, thcy say: "\X'c are really with )·ou, we "I;I.""ere
only jesting [when pretending to believej.,,27