Page 224 - The Profound Darkness of the Hypocrite

THE PROFOUND DARKNESS OF THE HYPOCRITE

According to the information given in the commentaries, the hypocrite named
Tu'mah stole a coat of mail, but there was no accord on how the incident actually
took place. Tu'mah claimed and swore that he did not commit this theft, but that it
was a Jew who was close to the area who did it and presented false evidence to
make Muslims believe in this lie. He spread flour from the bag of flour all the way
from where the coat was stolen to the Jew's house and thus created a trace to the
home of this Jew. When the theft came to light and some Muslims were taken un-
awares and testified in favor of Tu'mah without knowing what had actually happened,
our Prophet (pbuh) decided to defend Tu'mah after which God revealed those
Qur'anic verses in Surat an-Nisa' and commanded our Prophet (pbuh) as follows:
"But do not be an advocate for the treacherous. And ask God's forgiveness."

(Surat an-Nisa', 105-106)
With this treachery, Tu'mah ibn Ubairiq openly betrayed God, Islam and the
Prophet (pbuh). He stole and seized Muslims' properties unjustly, then lied to the
Prophet (pbuh) and the believers and attempted to deceive all Muslims by making
a false statement under oath. He committed a theft and when asked he replied, "I
did not steal it" and slandered an innocent person saying "he stole it." When the
truth of the matter came into view, instead of repenting for what he did, he fled and
went to Mecca. Afterwards he rejected religion and abandoned Islam. Although he
was later on captured, kicked out, despised and humiliated everywhere he went, he
continued with his immoral character by swindling and all kinds of other schemes.
He was kicked out of someone's house where he took shelter in Mecca, then he
moved to someone else's house, where he again showed his vile character and stole
from them. In another house he went to afterwards he attempted to drill into the
wall for theft, but the wall collapsed and he was trapped under the collapsed wall.
According to accounts he got out of the ruins alive. He introduced himself as a
merchant and blended in among a convoy of merchants and committed theft once
again. Those who caught Tu'mah ibn Ubairiq after this incident beat him to death.
This hypocrite assumed that people of unbelief were good-natured, gentle and
just people like Muslims and thought that he could easily do to them what he did to
Muslims. Actually, Muslims showed such good character because of their fear of
God. People of unbelief, on the other hand, thinking that they themselves would be
the ones to ensure justice, wanted to take revenge on this hypocrite with cruel
methods by torturing him and beating him up. With all that theft he committed,
God disgraced this hypocrite throughout his life. The goods he stole never turned
into blessings for him and God turned each vileness he committed into trouble and
disturbance for him. God showed Muslims that the lives of hypocrites always end
in disasters, both in this world and in the hereafter.

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