| Sumario: | Who were the persons described as "hypocrites" ( I al-munafiqun i ) in the Qur'an? A Sickness in the Heart: Were the Qur'an's Hypocrites a late Antique Sect? In the late chapter I al-Ta rim i 66:9, the Qur'an instructs Muhammad to keep up his efforts: "Prophet, struggle ( I jahid i ) against the pagans and the hypocrites and be stern with them. Reasoning backward from the Qur'an verses, the paradigmatic quranic hypocrites lacked fervent piety, showing too little enthusiasm when praying and mentioning God; allowed the ridicule of passages of the Qur'an; occasionally made fun of the Prophet when he misspoke during an act of revelation; acted lewdly toward the Prophet's wives, were unwilling to pull their weight in defending Medina; and offered themselves as clients to powerful pagans.
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