Surah At-Tawbah 9:56

Exposing Hypocrites' Fright and Fear

Allah describes to His Prophet the fright, fear, anxiety and nervousness of the hypocrites,

(They swear by Allah that they are truly of you), swearing a sure oath,

(while they are not of you), in reality,

(but they are a people who are afraid), and this is what made them swear.

(Should they find a refuge), such as a fort in which they hide and fortify themselves,

(or caves), in some mountains,

(or a place of concealment), a tunnel or a hole in the ground, according to the explanation given by Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid and Qatadah,

(they would turn straightway thereto with a swift rush) away from you because they associate with you unwillingly, not because they are fond of you. They prefer that they do not have to mix with you, but necessity has its rules! It is because of this that they feel grief, sadness and sorrow, seeing Islam and its people enjoying ever more might, triumph and glory. Therefore, whatever pleases Muslims brings them grief, and this is why they prefer to disassociate themselves from the believers. Hence Allah's statement,

(Should they find a refuge, or caves, or a place of concealment, they would turn straightway thereto with a swift rush.)

Ayat ini menerangkan kepada Nabi Muhammad tentang kegelisahan dan kecemasan orang-orang munafik karena takut rahasia mereka diketahui oleh orang-orang mukmin. Oleh karena itu mereka bersumpah dengan nama Allah untuk menutupi kedustaan ucapan mereka bahwa mereka berada di pihak orang-orang mukmin. Sedangkan mereka itu pada hakikatnya tidak beriman, bahkan mereka selalu diliputi oleh keragu-raguan dan kegelisahan. Mereka selalu menyatakan sesuatu yang berlainan dengan apa yang dikandung dalam hati mereka karena mereka selalu berada dalam ketakutan. Demikianlah tingkah laku orang-orang munafik ketika bertemu dengan orang-orang mukmin, sebagaimana diterangkan Allah dalam firman-Nya:

Dan apabila mereka berjumpa dengan orang yang beriman, mereka berkata, "Kami telah beriman." Tetapi apabila mereka kembali kepada setan-setan (para pemimpin) mereka, mereka berkata, "Sesungguhnya kami bersama kamu, kami hanya berolok-olok." (al-Baqarah/2: 14)