Hypocrisy raises its head in Madinah
There was no motivation for deception and double dealing in Makkah. Islam was helpless,
harried and harassed there. Moreover, none had the power to turn the tide in Makkah, nor
could anyone think of gaining any worldly advantage by accepting Islam. Giving one’s faith
to Islam meant one was prepared to set oneself at odds with the whole of Makkah and to
risk one’s life. Only one venturesome in spirit and having the courage of convictions could
bear to play with the fire of hostility raging in the hearts of Islam’s enemies, only a man of
mettle could take a chance with his life and property, future and prosperity. In Makkah,
there were not two powers equally poised; the heathens were brought out forcefully by the
Qur'an in its elegant style.
“And remember, when ye were few and reckoned feeble in the land, and were in fear
lest men should extirpate you.”When Islam found a new safe haven in Madina and the Prophet (r) and his companions
were blessed with peace and stability, Islam began to prosper. It brought into existence a
new society, a new brotherhood of men united by the consciousness of a common outlook
in life and common aspirations as expressed by the Islamic principles. The dazzling spectacle
of an idealistic commonwealth meant a complete break with the past for the change was so
radical so as to induce the fainthearted to sail under false colors. This was quite logical or
rather based on the natural instincts of those who could not cope with the revolutionary
movement. Also, hypocrisy shows up its mettle only where two contending powers or prin-
ciples are pitted against each other, for the indecisive and the spineless are always waver-
ing, swinging from one end to another. They are always of two minds, hesitant, and never
able to take a final decision. Often they hang together with one of the two contenders,
profess loyalty and try to go along with it, but their self-solicitude and vested interests do
not permit them to cling on and sacrifice and endure with it. The fear that the other party
might recover its strength someday does not elude them, nor are they ever able to make a
total break with their past for the sake of new ideas or ideals. This is a delicate state of
disloyalty or infirmity of purpose portrayed graphically by the Qur’an as follows:
“And among the mankind is he who worshipeth Allah upon a narrow marge so that if
good befalleth him, he is content therewith, but if a trial befalleth him, he falleth away
utterly. He loseth both the world and the hereafter. That is the sheer loss.” [Qur'an
22:11]
The distinctive trait of this group is delineated in another verse which says:“Swaying between this (and that), (belonging) neither to these nor to those.” [Qur'an 8:26]
The leader of the hypocrites, drawn from the ranks of Aus and Khazraj as well as the Jews
of Madinah, was Abdullah b. Ubayy b. Sal’ul. Exhausted by the battle of Buath that was