The Majestic Quran

63. Al-Munafiqun The Hypocrites This chapter was revealed in Madinah after the campaign of Banu Mustalaq in the sixth year of Hijra. It is a commentary on an incident that took place after this campaign. The Muslims were camped in an oasis near a well. A fight between two men broke out. One of them called out: ‘Ansar! Come to my help!’ The other called out: ‘Emigrants! Come to my help!’ Both sides responded, swords were drawn out and a battle about to follow. The Prophet r rushed to the site and cautioned them: “Why have you started shouting the slogans of the Age of Ignorance? After embracing Islam, this is criminal behaviour.” The Prophet r calmed the belligerents, and everyone dispersed. However, the hypocrites were annoyed by this. They were jealous of Muslim unity and began to scheme. Abdullah ibn Ubayy, the leader of the hypocrites stated: “When we get back to Madinah, the strong will expel the weak,” meaning his forces were the strong, and would expel “the weak” Muslims. Some Muslims heard this insulting threat, the Helpers in particular were furious. They went to Abdullah ibn Ubayy and asked him to retract his words and apologise to the Messenger r . Instead, he responded angrily: “You told me to believe in him, so I believed in him. You said pay Zakat and I donated money. What do you want me to do now – prostrate before him?” When he approached Madinah, his son stood tall with his sword drawn out in front of his father, and stopped him from entering. He swore an oath: “I will not let you enter Madinah until the Messenger r allows you.” Upon hearing this, the Prophet r said, “Let him enter Madinah.”