Quranic Terminology: Conceal (3)
Other Types of Concealment
Published in June 5, 2018
Translated by: Ahmed Fathy
Firstly: concealment within one's heart:
We assert these two general points below.
1- God is the Omniscient Lord Who knows what is hidden and concealed and hidden which is unknown to mortals and He knows also what is known and declared by mortals: "He knows what is said openly, and He knows what you conceal." (21:110); "...God knows what you reveal and what you conceal." (24:29); "The Knower of the Invisible and the Visible; the Grand, the Supreme. It is the same; whether one of you conceals his speech, or declares it; whether he goes into hiding by night, or goes out by day." (13:9-10).
2- One's heart/mind/soul is the storage of secrets never known to other people but fully known to the Almighty Omniscient Lord God .
Types of concealment within one's heart:
Regarding the angels:
1- Human beings have hidden secrets and God knows their concealed thoughts; this applies to what angels conceal as well; when God told the angels that He will create human beings as successors on earth instead of the groups named as Gog and Magog who corrupted the earth, the angels told God that these successors might commit bloodshed and spread corruption; God told them that He knows what they never know: " When your Lord said to the angels, "I am placing a successor on earth." They said, "Will You place in it someone who will cause corruption in it and shed blood, while we declare Your praises and sanctify You?" He said, "I know what you do not know."" (2:30). God taught Adam all names; his progeny are end owned with innate instinct to learn words and names and children begin talking before they reach the age of four; reaching the age of six, they know basic knowledge about life; besides, children neither hinder their inquisitive nature not stop posing endless questions. God says in the Quran: "And He taught Adam the names, all of them; then he presented them to the angels, and said, "Tell Me the names of these, if you are truthful." They said, "Glory be to You! We have no knowledge except what You have taught us. It is you who are the Knowledgeable, the Wise."" (2:31-32).
2- Why did God tell the angels that He knows what they reveal and conceal? What did they conceal? In fact, Iblis the angel, who became Satan the devil later on, concealed something: his arrogance. This concealed thought was divulged by this test; namely, the divine command to prostrate to Adam, once he was created, was obeyed by all angels without questioning except for Iblis/Satan whose arrogance, no longer concealed but known beforehand to God, of course, drove him to disobey the command and to argue against it and he was punished by being cursed/distanced and being expelled from the Upper realm: "And We said to the angels, "Bow down to Adam." They bowed down, except for Satan. He refused, was arrogant, and was one of the disbelievers." (2:34).
Concealment of (dis)belief:
1- Belief/faith in the Lord God may increase or decrease; people in man situations and based on their free will fluctuate sometimes between belief and disbelief while concealing their true stances and feelings, known only to the Omniscient Lord God: "Whenever a chapter is revealed, some of them say, "Which of you has this increased in faith?" As for those who believe: it increases them in faith, and they rejoice. But as for those in whose hearts is sickness: it adds disgrace to their disgrace, and they die as unbelievers." (9:124-125); "Those who believe, then disbelieve, then believe, then disbelieve, then increase in disbelief, God will not forgive them, nor will He guide them to a way." (4:137).
2- Shortly before the battle of Uhud, the hypocrites refused to engage into the military endeavors to defend Yathreb by pretending they did not know how to fight; God the Omniscient Lord has exposed their disbelief which they had concealed: "And that He may know the hypocrites. And it was said to them, "Come, fight in the cause of God, or contribute." They said, "If we knew how to fight, we would have followed you." On that day they were closer to infidelity than they were to faith. They say with their mouths what is not in their hearts; but God knows what they conceal." (3:167).
3- Some hypocrites in Yathreb would declare their obedience to Muhammad as a leader and then spread lies about him; this means that ascribing lies to Muhammad began during his lifetime; such inveterate liars among the exposed hypocrites concealed their disbelief, known only to God the Omniscient Lord Who told Muhammad to distance himself from them: "They profess obedience, but when they leave your presence, some of them conspire something contrary to what you said. But God writes down what they conspire. So avoid them, and put your trust in God. God is Guardian enough." (4:81).
4- Hypocrites in Yathreb among the People of the Book pretended to convert to Islam and they concealed their disbelief, known only to God the Omniscient Lord: "When they come to you, they say, "We believe," though they have entered with disbelief, and they have departed with it. But God is well aware of what they conceal." (5:61).
5- Some hypocrites in Yathreb were among those adamant in hypocrisy who hid and concealed their true stance of disbelief: "Among the Desert-Arabs around you there are some hypocrites, and among the inhabitants of Yathreb too. They have become adamant in hypocrisy. You do not know them, but We know them. We will torment them twice; then they will be returned to a severe torment." (9:101). We prove in our book titled "The Unspoken-of History of the Pre-Umayyad 'Righteous' Caliphs" (found in English on this link: http://www.ahl-alquran.com/arabic/book_main.php?main_id=83) that the companions of the crime known as the Arab conquests and their four 'righteous' caliphs were certainly among those adamant in hypocrisy who concealed their stances carefully and very well during Muhammad's lifetime; Muhammad himself never knew they were hypocrites.
6- God has provided this warning to believers: "The messenger's sole duty is to convey. God knows what you reveal and what you conceal." (5:99); before it in the same context, God says the following about those believers in terms of peace NOT in terms of belief/faith within the hearts/minds: "O you who believe! Wine, gambling, idolatry, and mausoleums are abominations of Satan's doing. Avoid them, so that you may prosper. Satan wants to provoke strife and hatred among you through intoxicants and gambling, and to prevent you from the remembrance of God, and from prayer. Will you not desist? Obey God and obey the Messenger, and be cautious. If you turn away - know that the duty of Our messenger is clear communication." (5:90-92).
7- In contrast, a Pharaonic prince among the retinue of courtiers (or family members) of Moses' Pharaoh concealed his faith/belief out of fear of Pharaoh but he announced it in defense of Moses: "A believing man from Pharaoh's family, who had concealed his faith, said, "Are you going to kill a man for saying, "My Lord is God," and he has brought you clear proofs from your Lord? If he is a liar, his lying will rebound upon him; but if he is truthful, then some of what he promises you will befall you. God does not guide the extravagant imposter." (40:28).
Concealment of bearing witness/testimony and of money:
1- Within this story of the Israelites and Moses, God miraculously revived/resuscitated a murdered man to make him utter the name of his murderer, a name hidden/concealed by some Israelites who argued a lot before obeying God's command to slaughter a cow to hit the dead man with it: "And recall when Moses said to his people, "God commands you to sacrifice a heifer." They said, "Do you make a mockery of us?" He said, "God forbid that I should be so ignorant." They said, "Call upon your Lord to show us which one." He said, "He says she is a heifer, neither too old, nor too young, but in between. So do what you are commanded." They said, "Call upon your Lord to show us what her color is." He said, "He says she is a yellow heifer, bright in color, pleasing to the beholders." They said, "Call upon your Lord to show us which one; the heifers look alike to us; and God willing, we will be guided." He said, "He says she is a heifer, neither yoked to plow the earth, nor to irrigate the field; sound without blemish." They said, "Now you have brought the truth." So they slew her; though they almost did not. And recall when you killed a person, and disputed in the matter; but God was to expose what you were concealing. We said, "Strike him with part of it." Thus God brings the dead to life; and He shows you His signs, that you may understand." (2:67-73).
2- When a divorced woman finds herself pregnant, she must announce her pregnancy and never to conceal it: "Divorced women shall wait by themselves for three periods. And it is not lawful for them to conceal what God has created in their wombs, if they believe in God and the Last Day. Meanwhile, their husbands have the better right to take them back, if they desire reconciliation. And women have rights similar to their obligations, according to what is fair. But men have a degree over them. God is Mighty and Wise." (2:228).
3- It is prohibited in Islam to conceal one's testimony when one bears witness in any situation: "...And do not conceal testimony. Whoever conceals it is sinner at heart. God is aware of what you do." (2:283).
4- It is prohibited in Islam to conceal/hide one's wealth out of stinginess: "Those who are stingy, and exhort people to stinginess, and conceal what God has given them from His bounty. We have prepared for the disbelievers a disgraceful torment." (4:37).