Hypocrisy exposed
In a third group appeared: those who claimed while working against it. Revelation described their signs so believers could recognise them.
Hypocrisy in the Madinan community
Related reading · not an occasion of revelation
The surah opens with the disconnected letters, then names the Book as guidance for the muttaqīn — those who believe in the unseen, establish prayer and spend what they have been given. It then sets disbelief (2:6–7) and, at greater length, hypocrisy (2:8–20) against this description, giving the new Madinan community a mirror for self-examination.
This describes hypocrisy; no single first-year occasion is established for the whole passage here.
ʿAbdullāh ibn Ubayy's words on the return from Banū al-Muṣṭaliq
Their lie concerns their claimed belief, not the Prophet’s status. They outwardly declared something true while inwardly rejecting it.
Ibn Kathīr explains that their turning away belittles the invitation itself; their refusal comes from pride, not from failing to understand what is offered.
The reply exposes the false assumption behind their pressure: controlling some financial support does not make them owners of Allah's provision.
Ibn Ubayy's claim rested on numbers and tribal standing; the verse rejects that measure of honour and identifies its true source.
The mosque built to cause harm, at the time of Tabūk
The reports produced real anxiety. ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb later recalled how quickly people feared that the Ghassānids had arrived whenever urgent news came. At the same time, men opposing had built a place later called Masjid aḍ-Ḍirār, the mosque of harm. They presented it as a mosque for weak and ill people and asked the Prophet to pray there. He was preparing to leave, so he said he would consider it on his return. Revelation later exposed it as a place made to cause harm, disbelief and division.
Before the Prophet entered , revelation exposed Masjid aḍ-Ḍirār. ibn ad-Dukhshum and Maʿn ibn ʿAdī were sent to pull it down and burn it. Sūrat at- 9:107 says it had been made to cause harm and division and to prepare for someone who had fought Allah and His Messenger . A building called a mosque was judged by what it was built to do, not by its name.
The builders asked the Prophet to pray in their new mosque before he departed for Tabūk; he deferred until his return, when this revelation exposed their true intent and he sent men to burn and demolish it.
Sources and connection notes
These accounts reuse the existing sourced lessons. A book reference does not by itself establish an occasion of revelation; no firm year is assigned here where a year is not shown.
Hypocrisy in the Madinan community
Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr
- Paragraph 1: Ibn Kathīr on 2:2–3; Al-Saʿdī on 2:3
Where in ar-Raḥīq: The supplied ar-Raḥīq al-Makhtūm sections do not cite this passage. It is included on the strength of: Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr.
Why it belongs: Related reading: the passage speaks to the same trial or pattern. It is not presented as revealed for this event. The sources do not fix a year, so no year is shown.
ʿAbdullāh ibn Ubayy's words on the return from Banū al-Muṣṭaliq
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 4900; Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr
- Paragraph 1: Ibn Kathīr (Quran.com), commentary on Qur’ān 63:1
- Paragraph 2: Ibn Kathīr — Quran.com, tafsīr of Qur'ān 63:5–6
- Paragraph 3: Qur'ān 63:7 (translation: Quran.com)
- Paragraph 4: Al-Qurṭubī — supplied tafsīr note on Qur'ān 63:8
Where in ar-Raḥīq: The supplied ar-Raḥīq al-Makhtūm sections do not cite this passage. It is included on the strength of: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 4900; Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr.
Why it belongs: The cited sources connect this event to this passage, which is why it belongs to the thread's pattern. The sources do not fix a year, so no year is shown.
The mosque built to cause harm, at the time of Tabūk
Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr
- Paragraph 1: ar-Raḥīq al-Makhtūm — The Invasion of Tabūk in Rajab, 9 AH. https://seerah.gtaf.org/books/1/chapters/38/the-underlying-reasons/; ar-Raḥīq al-Makhtūm — Abū Bakr رضي الله عنه performs the pilgrimage. https://seerah.gtaf.org/books/1/chapters/39/abu-bakr-r-performs-the-pilgrimage/; ar-Raḥīq al-Makhtūm — The Delegations (Thaqīf, Najrān and other dated arrivals). https://seerah.gtaf.org/books/1/chapters/42/the-delegations/; Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 4418 — Kaʿb ibn Mālik’s رضي الله عنه account of Tabūk and the fifty nights. https://sunnah.com/bukhari:4418; Jāmiʿ at-Tirmidhī 3701 — the reported virtue of ʿUthmān’s رضي الله عنه support for Tabūk. https://sunnah.com/tirmidhi:3701; Sūrat at-Tawbah — the difficult march, the three, the mosque of harm and the pilgrimage declaration.
- Paragraph 2: ar-Raḥīq al-Makhtūm — The Invasion of Tabūk in Rajab, 9 AH. https://seerah.gtaf.org/books/1/chapters/38/the-underlying-reasons/; ar-Raḥīq al-Makhtūm — Abū Bakr رضي الله عنه performs the pilgrimage. https://seerah.gtaf.org/books/1/chapters/39/abu-bakr-r-performs-the-pilgrimage/; ar-Raḥīq al-Makhtūm — The Delegations (Thaqīf, Najrān and other dated arrivals). https://seerah.gtaf.org/books/1/chapters/42/the-delegations/; Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 4418 — Kaʿb ibn Mālik’s رضي الله عنه account of Tabūk and the fifty nights. https://sunnah.com/bukhari:4418; Jāmiʿ at-Tirmidhī 3701 — the reported virtue of ʿUthmān’s رضي الله عنه support for Tabūk. https://sunnah.com/tirmidhi:3701; Sūrat at-Tawbah — the difficult march, the three, the mosque of harm and the pilgrimage declaration.
- Paragraph 3: Ibn Kathīr on 9:107
Where in ar-Raḥīq: The supplied ar-Raḥīq al-Makhtūm sections do not cite this passage. It is included on the strength of: Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr.
Why it belongs: The cited sources connect this event to this passage, which is why it belongs to the thread's pattern. The year shown is the one the sources fix.