Warning Against Hypocrisy (3/6)

The way to integrity and freedom from hypocrisy is by following the guidance of Allah (the Almighty and the Exalted) as Allah (The Most High) said concerning the hypocrites:

Meaning: "…But if they had done what they were instructed, it would have been better for them and a firmer position for them in faith (66).

And then We would have given them from Us a great reward (67).

And We would have guided them to a straight path (68).

And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger- those will be with the ones upon whom Allah bestows favor, among the Prophets, the steadfast affirmers of truth, the martyrs and the righteous. And excellent are those as companions (69).

That is the bounty from Allah, and sufficient is Allah as knower.” (70). [Surah An-Nisa’, 4: 66-70].

And it is with this you will know that the hypocrites actually suffered a great loss as a result of their turning away from the guidance of Allah, for they have certainly missed the gratification of Allah, His favor, mercy, great reward and the companionship of His Prophets, the steadfast affirmers of truth, the martyrs and the righteous. And they fell into their evil deeds such as their disproof of Allah and His Messenger, their evil assumption about Allah, and their followership of what angers Allah, and their dislike for what He loves and pleases, and their effort towards fighting against the Religion of Allah with their sayings and actions, and their alliance with the unbelievers from the people of the Book and the polytheists and their patronage for them against Muslims, and their harm to the believers. So, they deserved an intense punishment for the consequence of their crime. Allah (the Exalted) said:

Meaning: "And that He may punish the hypocrites, men and women, and the polytheist, men and women- those who assume about Allah an assumption of evil nature. Upon them is a misfortune of evil nature; and Allah has become angry with them and has cursed them and prepared for them Hell, and evil it is as a destination.” [Surah Al-Fath, 48: 6]

And (the Exalted) said:

Meaning: "That is because they followed what angered Allah and disliked His pleasure, so He rendered worthless their deeds.” [Surah Muhammad, 47:28]

And because of the contradiction between their external and their internal, they fell into hideous and dispraise acts of lying, deception, treason, immorality and breach of promise. These have been their characters with which they are detected.

The acts of hypocrites are of two categories;

The first category: acts of paganism; whoever commits them is a disbeliever in Allah (the Almighty), out of the Religion of Islam even if he prayed and fast and claim to be a Muslim.

An example of that includes: disproving Allah and His Messenger, hatred, blasphemy, mockery of Allah and His signs and His Prophet, forming alliance with the unbelievers and supporting them against the Muslims.

Thus, these acts and the likes of it are among the violators of Islam, so whoever falls into them is a disbeliever in Allah (the almighty and the exalted). In fact, he is a pagan, out of the Religion of Islam, but if he manifests Islam, then he is a hypocrite with major hypocrisy.

This category is termed by some scholars as creedal hypocrisy and that is because of the introversion of the heart on infidelity, because these kinds of acts and speeches of infidelity do not emanate from a faithful heart. However, their aim (i.e. the scholars) is not to restrict hypocritical acts to issues of creed.

The second category: Dispraised acts and characters, these acts even though they do not withdraw from [Islam] on their own, only that it is not found except in a pure hypocrite. So, it is necessary for a believer to abstain from it so that there will not be a character among the characteristics of hypocrisy in him. These characters are the ones explained by the Prophet (sallAllahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) in his saying:

Meaning: "there are three signs of a hypocrite: when he speaks he lies, when he makes a promise he fails, and when he is trusted he betrays.” [Transmitted by Bukari and Muslim on the authority of Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him) and, in another narration by Muslim he said]:

Meaning: "there are three signs of a hypocrite, even if he observed fast and prayed and asserted that he was a Muslim". In the transmission of Ahmad the Prophet (sallAllahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) said:

Meaning: "Three signs if they are found in a man, he is then a pure hypocrite…" to the end of the hadith with an approximate wordings. And in Sahih of Al- Bukhari and Muslim on the authority of Abdullah ibn Amr ibn Al'as (may Allah be pleased with them) he said: the Prophet (sallAllahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) has said:

Meaning: "Four characteristics anyone who possessed them is a pure hypocrite and anyone who possessed one of them possessed a characteristic of hypocrisy till he abandons it: when he talks he lies, when he makes a covenant he acted treacherously, and when he quarreled he deviated from the truth.”

Therefore, whoever has the habit of lying in his speech, betrayal when he promises, and when he is trusted he acts treacherously, he is then a pure hypocrite. And [the word] (إذا ) [i.e, (if)] which is not used to mean extent, implies repetition and numerousness, and this will exclude a person from whom these acts occurs in rarity and negligibly. Thus, he has committed a sinful act and an act from the acts of the hypocrites, but he will not become a hypocrite or someone with a character of hypocrisy, until he becomes used to it or is popularly known with it.

 (Continued)