The Hypocrites' Plans to Leave Muslims

Hypocrites Have a Constant Tendency to Run Away but They Cannot Leave Behind the Interests They Attain from Muslims

Hypocrites are strange beings. They have a profound admiration for unbelievers and a great yearning for the life they lead. They are full of anger, hatred and rage toward Muslims. But what is interesting is that even though they are free to leave Muslims and go to their unbelieving friends any time they like, they persistently prefer to live among Muslims.

As has been explained since the beginning of this book, there are of course many reasons for that. However, one of the most important reasons is that ‘hypocrites do not wish to leave behind the benefits they attain while living among Muslims’. The wealthier Muslims become, the stronger they get, the more successful they become, and thus the greater the dimensions of the interests the hypocrites attain. And this causes hypocrites to ‘hesitate and postpone their departure’ even though they inwardly have a great desire to go running to the side of the unbelievers.

Every time they want to leave, they are obligated to choose between the life they yearn for among unbelievers and the material and spiritual blessings Muslims possess. “Should they stay with the Muslims and benefit from them or should they instantly side with the unbelievers to benefit from the doors their friends would open for them and make use of the means they would offer?” “What if their friends among the unbelievers let them down?" "What if they don't keep their promises?" "What if they are left unemployed?" "What if they no longer hold them in such high esteem?" "What if the conditions they would face there are not as good as what they have while they are with Muslims?" "What if they are left devoid of the blessings they now have access to?" Hundreds of other questions similar to these keep their minds busy almost every single day. They calculate this numerous times every day. And they try to get a promise out of their friends among the unbelievers, to give them assurance about it.

All of this reveals the fact that the only reason for hypocrites’ hesitation about leaving or not, is ‘the problem of timing’. They try to find the best time to leave by constantly ‘questioning the means they would find among unbelievers and trying to see how the land lies before them’. Every moment, hypocrites live by making preparations for this move. That is why, almost every day, they try to keep close contact with the unbelievers. Or, hypocrites want to take the most villainous action they can muster up against the Muslims right away and then go and join the ranks of the unbelievers right after that. But all these calculations of interests render them indecisive.

In a verse of the Qur'an, God informs us that hypocrites ‘make all their calculations according to the benefits they could acquire,’ as follows:

If it had been a case of easy gains and a short journey, they would have followed you, but the distance was too great for them. They will swear by God: “Had we been able to, we would have gone out with you.” They are destroying their own selves. God knows that they are lying. (Surat at-Tawba, 42)

Hypocrites make their choices depending on the amount of benefits they could attain from Muslims and how easy it seems to attain them. If it had been a case of easy gains, they would postpone their leave for the unbelievers. But if their gains would somehow be limited or completely restricted, then the means they are offered among the unbelievers would become more attractive and they would start implementing their plans to leave.

Hypocrites Delay Their Departure to Be Able to Continue Harming Muslims

Hypocrites have very cowardly and vile personalities. While living among Muslims and playing their cunning games against them, they live in a constant state of fear of being spotted and caught. Hypocrites strongly fear that Muslims would distance themselves if the traps they have devised, their deceitfulness and cooperation with the unbelievers are revealed. That is because they would want to secure all the systems that they will build among unbelievers before they eventually leave Muslims. Being exposed and down when they are unprepared would be like death for them, so to speak.

However, although hypocrites feel such ‘a formidable fear’, they continue living with Muslims and carry on with their sly activities, albeit in fear, because of their ambition to harm Muslims. They think that when they depart, they will lose their power to carry out their vileness in an environment in which there are no Muslims and that they will not be able to carry out such effective acts of vileness as they can when they are with Muslims. Surely hypocrites would continue with their enmity towards Muslims as they go to the ranks of the unbelievers and try to harm Muslims by continuing with their evil acts. But hypocrites would derive far more evil pleasure in carrying out all these sly activities insidiously and secretly while they are still living among Muslims. Hypocrites would draw far more enjoyment from deceiving them while still living among them. Furthermore, while they are still living among Muslims they will have far more types of means to carry out their vileness, their ignominy and infamy. They have tens of different angles to work with: their voices, faces, gazes, mimics, looks and grumpiness. Their means to carry out all these when they are away from Muslims would be far less.

On the other hand, inwardly, hypocrites have a great desire ‘to go and side with the unbelievers as soon as possible and to be as far as possible from everything that would remind them of God and Islam’. Because only then could they be alone with satan, and they believe that only then could they attain the devilish happiness they desire.

Every moment they spend with Muslims, they bear witness to their joy, their peace, their unbreakable devotion and passionate love for one another. They are consumed with jealousy and this is a source of constant pain for them. And because of all those, they feel a great yearning with a desire to run away from them as soon as possible.

Consequently, hypocrites live among Muslims, constantly calculating these aspects and they live ‘agonizing over these gain and loss calculations’. When they believe that they have caused the greatest harm they can muster to Muslims from the inside, and that they have secured their place among the unbelievers to their liking, hypocrites will then start to implement their plans for leaving Muslims. To do that they need to have a guarantee that their gains from the unbelievers will exceed their current gains from Muslims, and also they need to have sufficiently harmed the Muslims from within. Unless all of these conditions are met simultaneously, hypocrites will not leave Muslims and will continue with their insidious plots until they actually attain these means.

There is a very important point that the hypocrites are unaware of while making all these calculations and devising all these devious plans. Both hypocrites' staying among Muslims and their leaving would be auspicious for Muslims in any case. Both their staying among Muslims and their leaving is a blessing from God for Muslims. Muslims' efforts to make religion prevail, despite the devious activities of such evil creatures, would increase the reward they would attain at the Sight of God. The departure of the hypocrites from the Muslim community, on the other hand, would create an amazing cleansing, enlightening and abundance for Muslims. Consequently, whatever the hypocrites do, all their evil efforts eventually work in favor of the Muslims and every insidious effort they make end up auspiciously in Muslims' favor.

Hypocrites Constantly Make Plans for the Filthy Life They Will Lead When They Depart

Hypocrites are people who've turned hypocrisy and insidiousness into a lifestyle. They lead their lives among Muslims shamelessly, as if there is nothing wrong, all the while secretly carrying out activities against Muslims. While smiling at the faces of Muslims and making use of the means Muslims provide, their beautiful and self-sacrificing morality, the safe environment they provide, their incessant lenience and mercy, they sneakily devise plans to do the greatest harm to them.

In their collaboration with the unbelievers, they constantly share information to reach these goals, carry out consultations, set traps and make new plans. All these actions are at the same time ‘preparations for the new life the hypocrites will start among unbelievers.’ After they take their revenge from the Muslims they hate and succeed in causing great harm to them, the only goal of the hypocrites would be 'to make a new life for themselves among unbelievers.' The basic characteristic of this new life they dream of is that it will be far away from God, the Qur'an and Muslims. The hypocrites dream of a life distanced from religion with their friends, among unbelievers, with the advocates of irreligiousness.

Every day they live among Muslims, hypocrites keep these plans in mind. They will be ill at ease if they spend even a single day without thinking about them. The more they can develop their plans and the closer they come to realizing them, the more meaningful life will be for them. Hypocrites side with Muslims with their tongues but they side with unbelievers in their hearts and dreams. That is why they constantly make preparations to go and live among unbelievers.

Hypocrites always think about how they live when they one day go to unbelievers. They do not like the discipline of Islam that beautifies one's heart and soul. Performing daily prayers, fasting, giving alms and making pilgrimages distress them (surely all the acts of worship mentioned in the Qur'an are above such thoughts). They yearn for the day they will be saved from all these. Furthermore, the hypocrites do not want to be clean but they desire to live in filth. For example they find it difficult to be clean and well-groomed, and to bathe everyday. They want to live in filth and infamy in that devilish life they take for freedom. Being able to use drugs as they like, to engage in fornication, thievery or immorality, living in the pocket of evil people in bad environments are more appealing for them. They want to live by that depravation to the fullest in the dark world of unbelief. Hypocrites constantly dream of living in such a dark world.

Along with all these, their real dream is to be the ‘greatest one’. Arrogance, egocentricity, looking down on others because of what they possess, putting on airs and aiming to come to the forefront is all they aspire after. In their twisted minds, 'they aspire after ruling the world from their seats.' Again, all these are dreams the hypocrites yearningly imagine that they would be living by when they go join the unbelievers.

Yet another dream that they fantasize about is ‘being able to embark on filthy adventures in the evil world of the unbelievers.’ Being in contact with dark and dangerous people and doing dangerous things is what they dream of. That is because hypocrites very much like getting involved in illegal acts, adventures, and filthy, dangerous and risky business. They are adventurous. Demoniac adventures are their indispensable ambitions. For instance, they go to the far end of the world and work on new ignominious acts there. Or they flee a location and get caught in another. The lives of the hypocrites go on groveling in such filth. And this dark, filthy world is their yearning. This is the life they constantly look for, dream of and make plans for.

They find the honest lives of Muslims to be very ‘boring and abnormal’. ‘A troubled, dangerous and filthy life’ is what hypocrites relish. That’s why they constantly try to make new friends and create new circles among unbelievers. They try to make a hit with them, currying favor with them in their own twisted minds just to ingratiate themselves in their favor. Since they are determined to go and join them one day, they look for ways to keep them handy by ingratiating themselves with the unbelievers. They keep everything ready just to be able to establish warm connections with them the moment they go to them and say “Hello, I am no longer in touch with them,” in the future, when they do eventually decide to leave the Muslims.

Hypocrites constantly live with this yearning to leave Muslims as soon as possible and to go and join unbelievers. They imagine that they will only feel relieved and happy when they go join the unbelievers. Since they will be alone with satan and abandon all the acts of worship required by religion, they imagine in their feeble minds that then they will ‘find comfort’. The fact that they keep dreaming about such a dark and filthy world even while they are living among radiant Muslims clearly reveals the true face of hypocrisy.

Another dream of the hypocrites is to be able to continue with their struggle against Muslims from afar, when they go join unbelievers. The very thought that they could use the means of the unbelievers and be successful in their endeavors against the Muslims puts them at ease. That is because an important reason they do not immediately leave but remain with the Muslims is 'to harm them from the inside and to gradually render them powerless against unbelievers.' The hypocrites who do not want to leave simply because they do not want to stop these insidious activities feel relieved when they think that they can continue these activities when they join the unbelievers.

Hypocrites firmly believe that they can realize these foolish dreams. That is because the hypocrites imagine that the order God ordained would certainly be defeated one day (God is surely above the thought). They regard Muslims as weak and powerless. Consequently, they believe that the unbelievers will definitely be victorious sooner or later. This belief among hypocrites is a profound desire and a passionate yearning, just like Muslims awaiting the dominion of Islamic morality. They fiercely believe that the proponents of satan will be victorious. That is why they never put their trust in God, Islam or Muslims. They expect that Muslims will definitely be defeated.

These dreams of the hypocrites, however, are merely a deception. The system of the unbelievers and satan is doomed to be defeated. It is God Who creates satan, the unbelievers and the hypocrites. He alone has the power to destroy them the moment He wills so. God only allows them for a certain amount of time. In the event that they use this time to their detriment, a bitter punishment awaits them both in this world and in the next.

In a verse of the Qur'an, God says "...God will not give the unbelievers any path against the Muslims." (Surat an-Nisa’, 141) This is what God has promised and God is the One Who never breaks His promises.