The Quran

Preface

أَلَم تَرَ إِلَى الَّذينَ يَزعُمونَ أَنَّهُم آمَنوا بِما أُنزِلَ إِلَيكَ وَما أُنزِلَ مِن قَبلِكَ يُريدونَ أَن يَتَحاكَموا إِلَى الطّاغوتِ وَقَد أُمِروا أَن يَكفُروا بِهِ وَيُريدُ الشَّيطانُ أَن يُضِلَّهُم ضَلالًا بَعيدًا

Yusuf Ali

Hast thou not turned Thy vision to those¹ who declare that they believe in the revelations that have come to thee and to those before thee? Their (real) wish is to resort together for judgment (in their disputes) to the Evil One, though they were ordered to reject him. But Satan?s wish is to lead them astray far away (from the right).

The immediate reference was to the hypocrites (Munafiqin) of Medīna, but the words are general, and the evil of hypocrisy has to be dealt with in all ages. This type of man is what is called Mr. Facing-both-ways in Bunyan’s “Pilgrim’s Progress.” Such men declare that they are always with the Right, but calmly intrigue with evil and injustice, and even make injustice their judge if their personal interests arc served in that way.