Tafseer Ibn Kathir of AL BAQARAH [13]

13. And when it is said to them: Believe as the people believe,'' They say: ”Shall we believe as the fools have believed'' Verily, they are the fools, but they do not know. Allah said that if the hypocrites are told,

(”Believe as the people believe,''), meaning, `Believe just as the believers believe in Allah, His angels, His Books, His Messengers, Resurrection after death, Paradise and Hellfire, etc. And obey Allah and His Messenger by heeding the commandments and avoiding the prohibitions.' Yet the hypocrites answer by saying,

(”Shall we believe as the fools have believed'') they meant (may Allah curse the hypocrites) the Companions of the Messenger of Allah . This is the same Tafsir given by Abu Al-`Aliyah and As-Suddi in his Tafsir, with a chain of narration to Ibn `Abbas, Ibn Mas`ud and other Companions. This is also the Tafsir of Ar-Rabi` bin Anas and `Abdur-Rahman bin Zayd bin Aslam. The hypocrites said, ”Us and them having the same status, following the same path, while they are fools!'' `The fool' is the ignorant, simple-minded person who has little knowledge in areas of benefit and harm. This is why, according to the majority of the scholars, Allah used the term foolish to include children, when He said,

(And do not give your property, which Allah has made a means of support for you, to the foolish) (4:5). Allah answered the hypocrites in all of these instances. For instance, Allah said here,

(Verily, they are the fools). Allah thus affirmed that the hypocrites are indeed the fools, yet,

(But they know not). Since they are so thoroughly ignorant, the hypocrites are unaware of their degree of deviation and ignorance, and such situation is more dangerous, a severer case of blindness, and further from the truth than one who is aware.