2:14

Wa izaa laqul lazeena aamanoo qaalooo aamannaa wa izaa khalw ilaa shayaateenihim
qaalooo innaa ma'akum innamaa nahnu mustahzi'oon

And when they come across those who believe, they say, "We believe"; but when they
are alone with their devils, they say, "We are with you; we were only ridiculing."

And when they meet those who believe, they say: "We believe, but when they are
alone with their Shayatin (devils), they say: "Truly, we are with you; verily, we
were but mocking
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ASBAB AL NUZUL
(And when they fall in with those who believe, they say: We believe) [2:14].

Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ibrahim informed us> Shaybah ibn Muhammad>‘Ali ibn Muhammad
ibn Qurrah> Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Nasr> Yusuf ibn Bilal> Muhammad ibn Marwan> al-
Kalbi> Abu Salih> Ibn ‘Abbas who said: “This verse was revealed about ‘Abdullah ibn
Ubayy and his followers. It so happened that they went out one day and were
received by a group of Companions of Allah’s Messenger, Allah bless him and give
him peace. ‘Abd Allah ibn Ubayy said: ‘See how I will bar these fools from you!’ He
proceeded and took hold of the hand of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, may Allah be well
pleased with him, and said: ‘Welcome to the truthful, the master of Banu Tamim and
leader of Islam, the second person in the cave along with Allah’s Messenger, who
gave up his person and his wealth’. Then he took hold of the hand of ‘Umar ibn al-
Khattab, may Allah be well pleased with him, and said: ‘Welcome to the master of
Banu ‘Adiyy ibn Ka‘b, the distinguisher2 and the strong in the religion of Allah,
who gave up his person and wealth for Allah’s Messenger’. Then he took hold of the
hand of ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah ennoble his face, and said: ‘Welcome to the
cousin and son-in-law of Allah’s Messenger, the master of Banu Hashim apart from
Allah’s Messenger’. Then they dispersed. ‘Abd Allah told his companions: ‘How did I
do? When you see them do as I do’. His companions praised him. But when the Muslims
returned to the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, and informed him of
what happened, Allah revealed this verse”.3

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THE HYPOCRITES ARE CUNNING AND DECEIT

Allah said that when the hypocrites meet the believers, they proclaim their faith
and pretend to be believers, loyalists and
friends. They do this to misdirect , mislead and deceive the
believers. The hypocrites also want to have a share of the
benefits and gains that the believers might possibly acquire

Yet ,
"But when they are alone with their Shayatin"
meaning, if they are alone with their devils,
such as their leaders and masters among the rabbis of the Jews, hypocrites and
idolators.,...

HUMAN AND JINN DEVILS

Ibn Jarir said, "The devils of every creation are the mischievous among them. There
are both human devils and Jinn devils. Allah said,

"And so We have appointed for every Prophet enemies Shayatin

among mankind and Jinn, inspiring one another with adorned speech as a delusion"
6:112
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THE MEANING OF MOCKING

- Allah said,

"They say: "Truly, we are with you".

Muhammad bin Ishaq reported that Ibn Abbas said thatthe Ayah means, "We are with
you,

"Verily, we were but mocking",

meaning, we only mock people (the believers) and deceive

them. Ad-Dahhak said that Ibn Abbas said that the Ayah,

"Verily, we were but mocking", means, "We (meaning the hypocrites) were mocking the
Companions of Muhammad.

Also, Ar-Rabi` bin Anas and Qatadah said similarly.

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TAFSIR AL TUSTARI

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Decoding the Quran

And when they are with the believers, they say, “We believe – we accept”; but when
they are alone with their devils/evil ones (the corrupters and deluders of their
illusion) they say, “Indeed, we are with you; we were only mocking them.”

...
[2:14] When they meet (laqū is actually laquyū, but the ḍamma has been omitted,
being too cumbersome for pronunciation; likewise the yāʾ [is omitted], because it
is unvocalised and is followed by a wāw); those who believe, they say, ‘We
believe’; but when they go apart, away from them and return, to their devils, their
leaders, they say, ‘We are with you, in religion; we were only mocking, them [the
believers] by feigning belief.