Surah al-`Ankabut (The Spider ) 29 : 11

• This is the only mention of hypocrisy or hypocrites [munafiqeen] in the whole of the Makki Surahs. Interestingly, its mention is associated to the Fitnah and test of the Believers - this is when hypocrisy emerges and manifests. 

Explanatory Note

He certainly knows what everyone harbours in their hearts and their innermost thoughts. He knows who is a true believer and who is a hypocrite. Who can deceive God or project a false image to Him? He will certainly expose them. After all, the test aimed to separate true believers from hypocrites.

We need to reflect a little on the accurate Qur’ānic description of the error such people make. It says that: “he thinks that oppression by man is as grievous as God’s punishment.” Such error is not that they weaken and find themselves unable to endure any more. True believers may indeed weaken at some point, because human endurance has its limits. They do not, however, lose sight of the great gulf that separates what their tormentors can inflict on them and God’s grievous punishment. They never confuse this transitory world with that of immortality, not even when the torture and hardship visited upon them exceeds human endurance. A believer never loses the sense that God overpowers everything in the universe, not even when he is under the greatest pressure. This is the point that separates true believers from hypocrites.