Meaning

Whom were the hypocrites calling "the fools" (al-sufahāʾ)?

Answer

Imām Ibn al-Jawzī (d. 597 AH / 1201 CE) summarized the scholars' opinions in his book "Zād al-Masīr" as follows:

All the Companions. [Ibn ʿAbbās]
Women and children. [Al-Ḥasan]
ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām and his fellow converts from Judaism. [Muqātil]

Verses cited

2:13 Al-Baqarah وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ ءَامِنُوا۟ كَمَآ ءَامَنَ ٱلنَّاسُ قَالُوٓا۟ أَنُؤْمِنُ كَمَآ ءَامَنَ ٱلسُّفَهَآءُ ۗ أَلَآ إِنَّهُمْ هُمُ ٱلسُّفَهَآءُ وَلَـٰكِن لَّا يَعْلَمُونَ When it is said to them, ‘Believe, as the others believe,’ they say, ‘Should we believe as the fools do?’ but they are the fools, though they do not know it.

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