Explication and Evaluation of the View that Hypocrisy in the Qur’an Is a Qur’anic Technical Reality

Abstract

Many lexicographers and Qur’anic scholars maintain that nifāq is a post-Islamic term constructed within the Qur’an, that it should be regarded as a Qur’anic technical reality, and that it means duplicity, especially duplicity in accepting Islam. By contrast, some researchers have considered nifāq to be an Ethiopic loanword meaning a conflict that leads to the fragmentation of a unified whole. The problem addressed in the present study is the explication and evaluation of the view that nifāq in the Qur’an constitutes a Qur’anic technical reality. The aim of this research is to provide an accurate understanding of the meaning of the word nifāq in the Qur’anic verses as well as its interpretation. This article is organized according to a descriptive-analytical method in order to examine the semantic development of the word nifāq before the revelation of the Qur’an. The result of the study indicates that although nifāq is an Ethiopic loanword, it means persistent doubt and, consequently, opposition to the correct decision. The word is used in the Qur’an with this same meaning, while other meanings—such as duplicity, outward profession of faith in Islam without inward belief, or a conflict that culminates in the fragmentation of society—are all implications or consequences of the selected meaning of nifāq.