Hypocrites are two-faced people who assume a mask of devotion and enter the community of the faithful, whom they seek to harm for as long as they remain alongside them. They tell tales to the deniers, and seek to damage the unity and solidarity among believers. Most of them do dwell among believers, but harbor secret intentions, and work for their own material interests for so long as they remain among them. When sooner or later, such people understand that they can secure no such gains from believers, they of course see this as sufficient reason for them to depart from them.
Some actually have faith initially, when they enter the community of the faithful. But their consciences gradually wither and they submit themselves to satan. Because of the sickness in their hearts, satan weakens their devotion and sensitivity to the verses of the Qur’an. They then naturally enter the Religion of the Ignorant, or in other words, the secret religion of satan.
These people view events not in the light of the contents of the Qur’an, but from the perspective that applies in any society that does not live by religious moral values. The clearest example of this occurs during moments of difficulty. While the Qur’an foresees trust in Allah and a refusal to despair in times of trouble, at such times, hypocrites display a similarity to the Society of the Ignorant. They either overreact or else panic, thus exhibiting their unbalanced attitude for all to see.
All the characteristics we have described reveal to us the position of hypocrites, both in this world and the next, and introduce us to their features and general spiritual condition. The views of hypocrites are set out in detail in verses of the Qur’an. These people, who fail to fear Allah as they ought, engage in constant activity against the faithful in this world. They adopt this literally as a duty and maintain that attitude with great stubbornness. This is their natural way of behaving. Satan suggests to them that what they do is good. And so as satan wraps himself around them, these hypocrites, heedless of Allah and His verses, turn away from faith towards denial.
As we have seen, these characteristics of theirs may take many forms. But at the end of the day, the aims and intentions behind all of them are identical. That is, to multiply their own interests as soon as possible and to depart from the faithful by inflicting as much harm on them as they can.
No matter how long these hypocrites remain alongside believers, they know that they will abandon them eventually. The time they determined for such departure is generally times of difficulty. As we know, every prophet has been sent to societies devoid of faith, to warn them. Deniers, who live by the religion of their forefathers which they’ve grown up with and to which they are accustomed, have always opposed these chosen individuals and insisted on rejecting what they had to say. They have sought to neutralize their influence by means of various verbal and physical assaults. Yet throughout the course of history, all the deniers who behaved in this manner have failed to achieve their aims, as a consequence of a hidden law—and have been disappointed in this world and in the Hereafter.
This hidden law is the fact that believers are under the protection of Allah and deniers can never harm them. In verses we are told that:
. . . Allah will not give the disbelievers any way against the believers. (Surat an-Nisa’: 141)
. . . The stratagems of the disbelievers are nothing but errors. (Surah Ghafir: 25)
Deniers are unaware of this law, however, and have always sought to oppress messengers and the believers and attempted to convert them to their own religion. Hypocrites, fearful of deniers’ assaults, have always sought believers' permission to lag behind in the struggle, always imagining that they could save themselves from any likely harm by fleeing in this manner.
By such behavior, however, hypocrites earn themselves a terrible place in the Hereafter, no matter how much they imagine themselves to have profited. They never once thought of repenting during their time in this world. Completely hardening their hearts against the truth, these people were “like rocks or even harder still” (Surat al-Baqara: 74), in the words of the Qur’an. They lived heedless of Allah and waged a great war against His religion.
That is why they will be so humiliated in the Hereafter. Messengers have been sent to warn them, and they have been told the truth and forbidden to commit evil. They are well aware of the concepts of good and evil and of living for Allah, yet still turn their backs. Since they fail to understand the existence and might of Allah, the threat of punishment does not alarm them. By not believing in the existence of Hell, they imagine that they are far removed from it, and that it is a purely imaginary place.
When the subject of the Hereafter is raised, the disease of self-satisfaction that infects their souls manifests itself. They have no thoughts of retribution. The most important evidence of this is that they never even consider the possibility of suffering in the Hereafter. But even a moment’s reflection on the possibility of having to account for oneself in the Hereafter and that one might go to Hell because of the sins one has committed should be enough to spur a person into action or at the very least, to reconsider his position. The fact that they declare war on religious moral values is proof that they have never considered this eventuality.
Yet their self-satisfaction will bring them nothing but humiliation in this world. In the Hereafter, on the other hand, they will encounter the very things they despised and be cursed for their actions. That is what they deserve as a result of all their endeavors. Allah has revealed the fate of hypocrites thus:
Remaining in it timelessly, for ever, as long as the heavens and Earth endure, except as your Lord wills. Your Lord is the Doer of what He wills. (Surah Hud: 107)
6 Mayıs 2010 Perşembe
THE STATE OF HYPOCRITES IN THE HEREAFTER
Don't they know that whoever opposes Allah and His messenger, will have the Fire of Hell, remaining in it timelessly, for ever? That is the great disgrace. (Surat at-Tawba: 63)
The reward meted out to hypocrites who declared war on Allah and His religion is that which they thoroughly deserve. Throughout their eternal lives, hypocrites will experience physical and spiritual torment.
Hypocrites’ infernal torment actually begins while they are in this world. In addition to terrible humiliation and belittlement, many other forms await them while they are still living on Earth. The greatest suffering, however, will without doubt be that of Hell—an endless, eternal burning fire.
Moment of Death
All human beings live out the destiny set out for them by Allah, and they die at the moment determined by Him. The souls of believers—those who live their lives in the light of His wishes—are gently taken by angels as a blessing from Allah, and are welcomed to Paradise. Allah imparts these glad tidings to believers in the Qur’an:
Those the angels take in a virtuous state. They say, “Peace be upon you! Enter the Garden for what you did.” (Surat an-Nahl: 32)
This does not apply to deniers, however. Angels do not gently bear their souls away. On the contrary, they take their souls by striking them on the back and on the face. In addition to the physical pain they will experience, this is also a terrible humiliation for them. Allah has terrified all hypocrites and deniers with this humiliation and suffering:
If only you could see when the angels take back those who disbelieved at their death, beating their faces and their backs: “Taste the punishment of the burning!” (Surat an-Anfal: 50)
How will it be when the angels take them in death, beating their faces and their backs? (Surah Muhammad: 27)
As the angels bear away their souls in this way, they begin to realize the kind of recompense that awaits them for everything they did in this world. The prestige they sought so hard to maintain on Earth is suddenly destroyed. They die in humiliation and are later cast into Hell:
Say to those who disbelieve: “You will be overwhelmed and crowded into Hell. What an evil resting-place!” (Surah Al 'Imran: 12)
Those who disbelieve spend their wealth barring access to the way of Allah. They will spend it; then they will regret it; then they will be overthrown. Those who disbelieve will be gathered into Hell. (Surat an-Anfal: 36)
Those who are herded headlong into Hell, such people are in the worst position. They are the most misguided from the way. (Surat al-Furqan: 34)
Torment in Hell
1. The Worst Torment
Hypocrites, whom Allah describes in the Qur’an as deserving of even worse, will be punished with the greatest suffering in the Hereafter—in other words, with the torment of Hell:
. . . Do you, then, believe in one part of the Book and reject the other? What repayment will there be for any of you who do that except disgrace in this world? And on the Day of Resurrection, they will be returned to the harshest of punishments. Allah is not unaware of what you do. (Surat al-Baqara: 85)
2. An Unremitting Suffering
Those are the people who trade the Hereafter for this world. The punishment will not be lightened for them. They will not be helped. (Surat al-Baqara: 86)
Hypocrites will remain in Hell for all eternity and their suffering will never be lightened in any way.
3. A Fierce Punishment
Give news to the hypocrites that they will have a painful punishment. (Surat an-Nisa’: 138)
According to the Qur’an, the torment of Hell will be fierce and very great. Everyone there will be cast into the flames. Escape will be impossible. They will be bound with chains and iron shackles. They will be scourged with whips of iron. Hypocrites, whose only foods will be boiling water, pus, the tree of Zaqqum and thorns, will wish to leave Hell, but their suffering will never end or ever be alleviated.
The reason is that although they knew everything Allah required of them in this world, they followed their Earthly desires and turned their backs on the truth, declaring war on Allah and His religion.
4. The Most Humiliating Torment
The people in Hell will assume a frightening appearance and experience torment in all respects. Their bodies will be torn apart with fire, boiling water will be poured over their heads, and they will be forced to wear clothing made of tar and flame:
But those who strive against Our signs, trying to nullify them, will have a punishment most humiliating. (Surah Saba’: 5)
5. The Curse of Allah
As we have seen, hypocrites will be surrounded with torments in all respects in Hell. Yet there is one torment even greater than all of these, and that is the curse of Allah—His refusal to speak with them and His humiliation and disparagement of them:
The repayment of such people is that Allah’s curse is on them and that of the angels and of all humanity. (Surah Al 'Imran: 87)
Those who conceal what Allah has sent down of the Book and sell it cheap, take nothing into their bellies but the Fire. On the Day of Resurrection Allah will not speak to them or purify them. They will have a painful punishment. (Surat al-Baqara: 174)
6. They Will be All Alone
The people they imagined to be their friends in this world will be far distant from them in the Hereafter. Each will have his own sufferings, for which reason they will be able to find no friend or comforter, and they will remain all alone.
. . . You will not find any one to help them. (Surat an-Nisa’: 145)
In the Hereafter, moreover, they will curse the people they called closest to them in this world.
. . . But then on the Day of Resurrection, you will reject one another and curse one another. The Fire will be your shelter. You will have no helpers. (Surat al-'Ankabut: 25)
7. They Will Suffer Terrible Loss
There is no doubt that in the Hereafter they will be the losers. (Surat an-Nahl: 109)
Leaving behind the life of this world, which they imagined to be so profitable, they will die and enter Hell, their true abode. There they will see the true face of all things and realize that rather than having gained any profit, they have actually suffered a terrible loss. They will realize that everything they did in this world has been meaningless and cannot benefit them at all.
The Lowest Level of Hell
The hypocrites are in the lowest level of the Fire. You will not find any one to help them. (Surat an-Nisa’: 145)
As Allah reveals to us in the above verse, hypocrites inhabit “the lowest level of the Fire.” The reason for that, of course, is their two-facedness and their moral model based on strife.
We have touched on dozens of elements that determine hypocrites’ cunning natures. One aim behind our setting out these defects one by one is to show that hypocrites are among the cruelest people who have ever lived, and to provide a means of imparting that knowledge to all.
The reason why the hypocrites described right throughout this book are to be regarded as cruel and extreme is because they are people to whom knowledge has been given. In other words, they have been told of religious moral values and have learned the truth from believers, and even from the messenger of Allah himself. They have lived for a while according to those religious moral values, but then turned their backs on them and, of course, on Allah, on His messenger and the faithful, imagining that their life would be easier as deniers. Allah reveals that:
They swear by Allah that they said nothing, but they definitely spoke the word of disbelief and returned to disbelief after their Islam. They planned something, which they did not achieve and they were vindictive for no other cause than that Allah and His messenger had enriched them from His bounty. If they were to repent, it would be better for them. But if they turn away, Allah will punish them with a painful punishment in this world and the Hereafter, and they will not find any protector or helper on the Earth. (Surat at-Tawba: 74)
Therefore, they bear a greater burden of responsibility than—and are quite distinct from—those to whom knowledge has not been imparted; in other words, to people who have not been called to religious moral values and the Qur’an, and who have thus never been followers of Islam. The suffering they experience in the Hereafter will be far worse than the latter, as is revealed by Allah. That is because hypocrites appear to be religious during the course of their lives, avoiding any number of telltale sins that would enable them to be identified by believers. In their hearts, however, they harbor no obedience towards Allah and His messenger but on the contrary, feel a cunning hatred of and enmity towards them. It is only natural and just that such people should deserve the worst punishment in Hell, because hypocrites have witnessed the finest examples of moral values in the community of the faithful, have lived in the most peaceful environment, and have experienced great love and respect. However, although they have known nothing but goodness and beauty from believers, still they manage to feel hatred for them because of the sickness in their hearts.
Moreover, because they were proud and arrogant in the face of believers during their time in this world, Allah will humiliate and belittle them.
The position of the hypocrites is described thus in one hadith:
On the Day of Qiyamah, the one in the vilest of conditions will be a two-faced person. (Sahih Bukhari and Muslim)
They seek to deceive believers in this world but in the Hereafter, will beg them for even the slightest help. Yet of course believers will not be taken in by this. Thanks to the infinite justice of Allah, they will live for all eternity among His blessings.
Verses speak of hypocrites’ endless lamentation in Hell:
That Day the men and women of the hypocrites will say to those who believe, “Wait for us so that we can borrow some of your light.” They will be told, “Go back and look for light!” And a wall will be erected between them with a gate in it, on the inside of which there will be mercy but before whose exterior lies the punishment. They will call out to them, “Were we not with you?” They will reply, “Indeed you were. But you made trouble for yourselves and hung back and doubted and false hopes deluded you until Allah’s command arrived. The deluder deluded you about Allah. So today no ransom will be accepted from you or from those who disbelieved. Your refuge is the Fire. It is your master. What an evil destination!” (Surat al-Hadid: 13-15)
The reward meted out to hypocrites who declared war on Allah and His religion is that which they thoroughly deserve. Throughout their eternal lives, hypocrites will experience physical and spiritual torment.
Hypocrites’ infernal torment actually begins while they are in this world. In addition to terrible humiliation and belittlement, many other forms await them while they are still living on Earth. The greatest suffering, however, will without doubt be that of Hell—an endless, eternal burning fire.
Moment of Death
All human beings live out the destiny set out for them by Allah, and they die at the moment determined by Him. The souls of believers—those who live their lives in the light of His wishes—are gently taken by angels as a blessing from Allah, and are welcomed to Paradise. Allah imparts these glad tidings to believers in the Qur’an:
Those the angels take in a virtuous state. They say, “Peace be upon you! Enter the Garden for what you did.” (Surat an-Nahl: 32)
This does not apply to deniers, however. Angels do not gently bear their souls away. On the contrary, they take their souls by striking them on the back and on the face. In addition to the physical pain they will experience, this is also a terrible humiliation for them. Allah has terrified all hypocrites and deniers with this humiliation and suffering:
If only you could see when the angels take back those who disbelieved at their death, beating their faces and their backs: “Taste the punishment of the burning!” (Surat an-Anfal: 50)
How will it be when the angels take them in death, beating their faces and their backs? (Surah Muhammad: 27)
As the angels bear away their souls in this way, they begin to realize the kind of recompense that awaits them for everything they did in this world. The prestige they sought so hard to maintain on Earth is suddenly destroyed. They die in humiliation and are later cast into Hell:
Say to those who disbelieve: “You will be overwhelmed and crowded into Hell. What an evil resting-place!” (Surah Al 'Imran: 12)
Those who disbelieve spend their wealth barring access to the way of Allah. They will spend it; then they will regret it; then they will be overthrown. Those who disbelieve will be gathered into Hell. (Surat an-Anfal: 36)
Those who are herded headlong into Hell, such people are in the worst position. They are the most misguided from the way. (Surat al-Furqan: 34)
Torment in Hell
1. The Worst Torment
Hypocrites, whom Allah describes in the Qur’an as deserving of even worse, will be punished with the greatest suffering in the Hereafter—in other words, with the torment of Hell:
. . . Do you, then, believe in one part of the Book and reject the other? What repayment will there be for any of you who do that except disgrace in this world? And on the Day of Resurrection, they will be returned to the harshest of punishments. Allah is not unaware of what you do. (Surat al-Baqara: 85)
2. An Unremitting Suffering
Those are the people who trade the Hereafter for this world. The punishment will not be lightened for them. They will not be helped. (Surat al-Baqara: 86)
Hypocrites will remain in Hell for all eternity and their suffering will never be lightened in any way.
3. A Fierce Punishment
Give news to the hypocrites that they will have a painful punishment. (Surat an-Nisa’: 138)
According to the Qur’an, the torment of Hell will be fierce and very great. Everyone there will be cast into the flames. Escape will be impossible. They will be bound with chains and iron shackles. They will be scourged with whips of iron. Hypocrites, whose only foods will be boiling water, pus, the tree of Zaqqum and thorns, will wish to leave Hell, but their suffering will never end or ever be alleviated.
The reason is that although they knew everything Allah required of them in this world, they followed their Earthly desires and turned their backs on the truth, declaring war on Allah and His religion.
4. The Most Humiliating Torment
The people in Hell will assume a frightening appearance and experience torment in all respects. Their bodies will be torn apart with fire, boiling water will be poured over their heads, and they will be forced to wear clothing made of tar and flame:
But those who strive against Our signs, trying to nullify them, will have a punishment most humiliating. (Surah Saba’: 5)
5. The Curse of Allah
As we have seen, hypocrites will be surrounded with torments in all respects in Hell. Yet there is one torment even greater than all of these, and that is the curse of Allah—His refusal to speak with them and His humiliation and disparagement of them:
The repayment of such people is that Allah’s curse is on them and that of the angels and of all humanity. (Surah Al 'Imran: 87)
Those who conceal what Allah has sent down of the Book and sell it cheap, take nothing into their bellies but the Fire. On the Day of Resurrection Allah will not speak to them or purify them. They will have a painful punishment. (Surat al-Baqara: 174)
6. They Will be All Alone
The people they imagined to be their friends in this world will be far distant from them in the Hereafter. Each will have his own sufferings, for which reason they will be able to find no friend or comforter, and they will remain all alone.
. . . You will not find any one to help them. (Surat an-Nisa’: 145)
In the Hereafter, moreover, they will curse the people they called closest to them in this world.
. . . But then on the Day of Resurrection, you will reject one another and curse one another. The Fire will be your shelter. You will have no helpers. (Surat al-'Ankabut: 25)
7. They Will Suffer Terrible Loss
There is no doubt that in the Hereafter they will be the losers. (Surat an-Nahl: 109)
Leaving behind the life of this world, which they imagined to be so profitable, they will die and enter Hell, their true abode. There they will see the true face of all things and realize that rather than having gained any profit, they have actually suffered a terrible loss. They will realize that everything they did in this world has been meaningless and cannot benefit them at all.
The Lowest Level of Hell
The hypocrites are in the lowest level of the Fire. You will not find any one to help them. (Surat an-Nisa’: 145)
As Allah reveals to us in the above verse, hypocrites inhabit “the lowest level of the Fire.” The reason for that, of course, is their two-facedness and their moral model based on strife.
We have touched on dozens of elements that determine hypocrites’ cunning natures. One aim behind our setting out these defects one by one is to show that hypocrites are among the cruelest people who have ever lived, and to provide a means of imparting that knowledge to all.
The reason why the hypocrites described right throughout this book are to be regarded as cruel and extreme is because they are people to whom knowledge has been given. In other words, they have been told of religious moral values and have learned the truth from believers, and even from the messenger of Allah himself. They have lived for a while according to those religious moral values, but then turned their backs on them and, of course, on Allah, on His messenger and the faithful, imagining that their life would be easier as deniers. Allah reveals that:
They swear by Allah that they said nothing, but they definitely spoke the word of disbelief and returned to disbelief after their Islam. They planned something, which they did not achieve and they were vindictive for no other cause than that Allah and His messenger had enriched them from His bounty. If they were to repent, it would be better for them. But if they turn away, Allah will punish them with a painful punishment in this world and the Hereafter, and they will not find any protector or helper on the Earth. (Surat at-Tawba: 74)
Therefore, they bear a greater burden of responsibility than—and are quite distinct from—those to whom knowledge has not been imparted; in other words, to people who have not been called to religious moral values and the Qur’an, and who have thus never been followers of Islam. The suffering they experience in the Hereafter will be far worse than the latter, as is revealed by Allah. That is because hypocrites appear to be religious during the course of their lives, avoiding any number of telltale sins that would enable them to be identified by believers. In their hearts, however, they harbor no obedience towards Allah and His messenger but on the contrary, feel a cunning hatred of and enmity towards them. It is only natural and just that such people should deserve the worst punishment in Hell, because hypocrites have witnessed the finest examples of moral values in the community of the faithful, have lived in the most peaceful environment, and have experienced great love and respect. However, although they have known nothing but goodness and beauty from believers, still they manage to feel hatred for them because of the sickness in their hearts.
Moreover, because they were proud and arrogant in the face of believers during their time in this world, Allah will humiliate and belittle them.
The position of the hypocrites is described thus in one hadith:
On the Day of Qiyamah, the one in the vilest of conditions will be a two-faced person. (Sahih Bukhari and Muslim)
They seek to deceive believers in this world but in the Hereafter, will beg them for even the slightest help. Yet of course believers will not be taken in by this. Thanks to the infinite justice of Allah, they will live for all eternity among His blessings.
Verses speak of hypocrites’ endless lamentation in Hell:
That Day the men and women of the hypocrites will say to those who believe, “Wait for us so that we can borrow some of your light.” They will be told, “Go back and look for light!” And a wall will be erected between them with a gate in it, on the inside of which there will be mercy but before whose exterior lies the punishment. They will call out to them, “Were we not with you?” They will reply, “Indeed you were. But you made trouble for yourselves and hung back and doubted and false hopes deluded you until Allah’s command arrived. The deluder deluded you about Allah. So today no ransom will be accepted from you or from those who disbelieved. Your refuge is the Fire. It is your master. What an evil destination!” (Surat al-Hadid: 13-15)
CAN HYPOCRITES REPENT?
And others are left awaiting Allah’s command as to whether He will punish them or turn to them. Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise. (Surat at-Tawba: 106)
As Allah has revealed in the Qur’an, “. . . He is not pleased with ingratitude in His servants . . .” (Surat al-Zumar: 7). In other words, He wishes to lead His servants onto the true path, forgive their sins and admit them to Paradise. But hypocrites insist on turning their backs to this call. Although they know and understand, they remain unmoved by His verses and because of their cruelty and pride, persist in their denial. Yet there may be some among them who long to put an end to such behavior. In that event, anyone who wishes to repent needs to fully understand his own helplessness, beg Allah’s forgiveness with the utmost sincerity, and repent definitively in such a way as never to return to hypocrisy.
On condition that he is truly sincere, it may be possible—if Allah so wishes—for Him to accept a hypocrite’s repentance. Indeed, we are told that “. . . if anyone repents after his wrongdoing and puts things right, Allah will turn towards him. Allah is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful” (Surat al-Ma’ida: 39).
A number of verses in the Qur’an deal with hypocrites repenting. It may be hoped that Allah will accept the repentance of those who confess the sins they have committed and sincerely intend to exhibit a genuine attitude towards His messenger:
But others have acknowledged their wrong actions and mixed a right action with another which is wrong. It may well be that Allah will turn towards them. Allah is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful. (Surat at-Tawba: 102)
Allah has given examples of hypocrites who lived in the past and how some of them repented. As is revealed in verses, some members of the people of the Prophet Muhammad (saas) made all kinds of excuses in order not to go to war and sought the permission of the Prophet (saas) to remain behind. Since they did so, they rejoiced and regarded themselves as very advantaged. In their own minds they had escaped the danger of death and ensured their own survival by not participating in the fighting. They did not think that the death they were seeking to avoid might still find them, even in their own homes. The fact is, however, that had they submitted to the Prophet (saas) and gone to war, then even if death did catch up with them, they would have been martyrs and by the mercy of Allah, would have earned, the right to enter Paradise.
However, since they harbored doubts about the Hereafter, they regarded death in battle as a serious loss. They regarded remaining behind with their families and saw taking care of business and similar matters as much more advantageous.
The Qur’an refers to “three people” from among this community who wished to remain behind. Like the others, they failed to participate in the war, failed to act alongside the believers and support the faithful against the deniers. However, these three differed from the others who “remained behind” in one important respect: According to what is revealed in the Qur’an, these people regretted not having gone to war, were ashamed of themselves and sincerely repented, seeking Allah’s forgiveness. Allah accepted their repentance.
Why were they forgiven? The main reason was that they sincerely feared Allah, beseeched Him in their need and begged Him for forgiveness. One verse from the Qur’an describes their sincerity and the pangs of conscience they suffered:
And also towards the three who were left behind, so that when the Earth became narrow for them, for all its great breadth, and their own selves became constricted for them and they realized that there was no refuge from Allah except in Him, He turned to them so that they might turn to Him. Allah is the Ever-Returning, the Most Merciful. (Surat at-Tawba: 118)
In addition, Allah refers to hypocrites’ repenting as being auspicious for them. This is a great blessing on them. If He so wishes, Allah will forgive them despite their wickedness, and forgive their sins—as is revealed in the following verse:
. . . If they were to repent, it would be better for them. But if they turn away, Allah will punish them with a painful punishment in this world and the Hereafter. . . . (Surat at-Tawba: 74)
Most hypocrites imagine that they can commit all kinds of evil and then repent in their old age or when they realize they are about to die. Yet Allah reveals in a verse that He will not accept any repentance they make when they feel they are about to die:
There is no repentance for people who persist in doing evil until death comes to them and who then say, “Now I repent,” nor for people who die disbeliever. We have prepared for them a painful punishment. (Surat an-Nisa’: 18)
The repentance which will be acceptable is described in these terms in the Qur’an:
Allah only accepts the repentance of those who do evil in ignorance and then quickly repent after doing it. Allah turns towards such people. Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise. (Surat an-Nisa’: 17)
As Allah has revealed in the Qur’an, “. . . He is not pleased with ingratitude in His servants . . .” (Surat al-Zumar: 7). In other words, He wishes to lead His servants onto the true path, forgive their sins and admit them to Paradise. But hypocrites insist on turning their backs to this call. Although they know and understand, they remain unmoved by His verses and because of their cruelty and pride, persist in their denial. Yet there may be some among them who long to put an end to such behavior. In that event, anyone who wishes to repent needs to fully understand his own helplessness, beg Allah’s forgiveness with the utmost sincerity, and repent definitively in such a way as never to return to hypocrisy.
On condition that he is truly sincere, it may be possible—if Allah so wishes—for Him to accept a hypocrite’s repentance. Indeed, we are told that “. . . if anyone repents after his wrongdoing and puts things right, Allah will turn towards him. Allah is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful” (Surat al-Ma’ida: 39).
A number of verses in the Qur’an deal with hypocrites repenting. It may be hoped that Allah will accept the repentance of those who confess the sins they have committed and sincerely intend to exhibit a genuine attitude towards His messenger:
But others have acknowledged their wrong actions and mixed a right action with another which is wrong. It may well be that Allah will turn towards them. Allah is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful. (Surat at-Tawba: 102)
Allah has given examples of hypocrites who lived in the past and how some of them repented. As is revealed in verses, some members of the people of the Prophet Muhammad (saas) made all kinds of excuses in order not to go to war and sought the permission of the Prophet (saas) to remain behind. Since they did so, they rejoiced and regarded themselves as very advantaged. In their own minds they had escaped the danger of death and ensured their own survival by not participating in the fighting. They did not think that the death they were seeking to avoid might still find them, even in their own homes. The fact is, however, that had they submitted to the Prophet (saas) and gone to war, then even if death did catch up with them, they would have been martyrs and by the mercy of Allah, would have earned, the right to enter Paradise.
However, since they harbored doubts about the Hereafter, they regarded death in battle as a serious loss. They regarded remaining behind with their families and saw taking care of business and similar matters as much more advantageous.
The Qur’an refers to “three people” from among this community who wished to remain behind. Like the others, they failed to participate in the war, failed to act alongside the believers and support the faithful against the deniers. However, these three differed from the others who “remained behind” in one important respect: According to what is revealed in the Qur’an, these people regretted not having gone to war, were ashamed of themselves and sincerely repented, seeking Allah’s forgiveness. Allah accepted their repentance.
Why were they forgiven? The main reason was that they sincerely feared Allah, beseeched Him in their need and begged Him for forgiveness. One verse from the Qur’an describes their sincerity and the pangs of conscience they suffered:
And also towards the three who were left behind, so that when the Earth became narrow for them, for all its great breadth, and their own selves became constricted for them and they realized that there was no refuge from Allah except in Him, He turned to them so that they might turn to Him. Allah is the Ever-Returning, the Most Merciful. (Surat at-Tawba: 118)
In addition, Allah refers to hypocrites’ repenting as being auspicious for them. This is a great blessing on them. If He so wishes, Allah will forgive them despite their wickedness, and forgive their sins—as is revealed in the following verse:
. . . If they were to repent, it would be better for them. But if they turn away, Allah will punish them with a painful punishment in this world and the Hereafter. . . . (Surat at-Tawba: 74)
Most hypocrites imagine that they can commit all kinds of evil and then repent in their old age or when they realize they are about to die. Yet Allah reveals in a verse that He will not accept any repentance they make when they feel they are about to die:
There is no repentance for people who persist in doing evil until death comes to them and who then say, “Now I repent,” nor for people who die disbeliever. We have prepared for them a painful punishment. (Surat an-Nisa’: 18)
The repentance which will be acceptable is described in these terms in the Qur’an:
Allah only accepts the repentance of those who do evil in ignorance and then quickly repent after doing it. Allah turns towards such people. Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise. (Surat an-Nisa’: 17)
THE APPROACH TO BE ADOPTED TOWARDS HYPOCRITES
O Prophet! Strive against the disbelievers and hypocrites and be harsh with them. Their refuge is Hell. What an evil destination! (Surat at-Tahrim: 9)
The approach to be taken towards hypocrites receives much attention in the Qur’an. In the same way as the believer learns all he needs from the Qur’an, he also learns how to behave in this regard.
The exemplary advice given to believers in the Qur’an is this: that believers should never take hypocrites as their friends, and that they should warn the hypocrites by means of the Qur’an so long as the two remain together. And if the advice given bears no fruit, they should expel the hypocrites from among them. At this point, of course, Allah’s messenger must take the final decision regarding the hypocrites. By means of His messenger, Allah enables believers to take the correct decision. Let us now examine those verses concerning the attitude to be adopted towards hypocrites.
1. Not to Confide in Them
You who believe! Do not make friends of people with whom Allah is angry, who have despaired of the Hereafter as the disbelievers have despaired of the inhabitants of the graves. (Surat al-Mumtahana: 13)
As we have seen from the beginning, in the light of the verses of the Qur’an, hypocrites are definitely not the kind of people that one should befriend or confide in. Only those of weak faith or in whose hearts faith is not yet fully established take these people, who fail to befriend Allah and who are in consequence not befriended by Him, as their confidants.
The verses revealed by Allah on this subject encourage believers to be on their guard against hypocrites at all times and never to confide in them. It is a matter of great importance to be on one’s guard against hypocrites, who hate the believers and wish them to be dispersed and suffer difficulties.
2. To Rule with Justice Among Them
They are people who listen to lies and consume ill-gotten gains. If they come to you, you can either judge between them or turn away from them. If you turn away from them, they cannot harm you in any way. But if you do judge, judge between them justly. Allah loves the just. (Surat al-Ma’ida: 42)
Implementing the stipulation in the above verse is a matter for the messenger at the head of the people alone. The messenger either rules among the hypocrites, as he desires, or else turns his back on them.
3. To Give Advice if They Will Receive That Advice
Allah knows what is in such people’s hearts, so turn away from them and warn them and speak to them with words that take effect. (Surat an-Nisa’: 63)
As can be seen from this verse, it is recommended that hypocrites be given effective advice. By this important and effective method, they can come to realize what they have done and regret it. The main thing here is to issue reminders so that they can feel such regret. Someone who fails to heed such advice has declared open war on the religious moral values. Therefore, one must never forget that these people should be spurned, not befriended.
Believers give these people advice in the hope that they will mend their ways. But certainly, every piece of advice increases the suffering in the Hereafter of the hypocrite who turns his back on it. All the advice given to hypocrites is actually a snare, set for them by Allah. By remaining among believers and working in secret, hypocrites imagine that they are being very clever, never realizing that in the Hereafter, they will be recompensed for every piece of advice they received while remaining among believers. In this way they fall into an eternal trap while seeking to set their own snares for believers.
4. Not to Insist on Warning Them if They Refuse to Heed Advice
Enjoining what is good and forbidding what is evil is the responsibility of every believer. Yet there is a limit to this. Allah states that if the person being given advice rejects it obdurately, then nothing further should be said to him:
Remind, then, if the reminder benefits. He who has fear will be reminded. But the most miserable will shun it. (Surat al-A'la: 9-11)
In the event that hypocrites insist in their fanatic denial, further warnings will be of no avail. Believers should leave them to their own devices.
5. To Combat Them and Behave in a Stern, Deterrent Manner
O Prophet, strive against the disbelievers and hypocrites and be harsh with them. . . . (Surat at-Tawba: 73)
This is a very important piece of advice from Allah. A harsh and determined approach from believers towards hypocrites, who fail to keep their word to Allah, lie and harbor corruption and rebellion in their hearts, has a deterrent effect. Being on one's guard against the strife they will cause, taking relevant precautions beforehand and identifying them in good time before they can wreak any harm are most important duties for believers. Believers have been charged with being on their guard at all times against the danger from hypocrites, exposing these people who harbor sickness in their hearts, and thereby causing others to avoid them. This is indeed what they do.
Taking all due precautionary measures and at the same time, never permitting them the opportunity to cause strife, acts as a warning to later generations of hypocrites.
6. Not to Allow Them to Struggle Alongside the Faithful
Hypocrites do not actually struggle alongside believers, because they fail to fear Allah as they ought, are devoted to worldly concerns and feel enormous admiration for deniers. Since they remain lagging behind and choose a life apart from that of believers, Allah commanded the Prophet (saas) never to permit hypocrites to struggle alongside the faithful:
If Allah returns you to a group of them, and they ask you for permission to go out, say, “You will never go out with me, nor will you ever fight an enemy with me. You were happy to stay behind the first time, so stay behind with those who are left behind.” (Surat at-Tawba: 83)
7. To Remove Them from the Community of the Faithful
He [Musa] said, “What do you think you were doing, Samaritan?” He [Samaritan] said, “I saw what they did not see. So I gathered up a handful from the messenger’s footprints and threw it in. That is what my inner self urged me to do.” He said, “Go! In this world you will have to say, 'Untouchable!’ And you have an appointment which you will not fail to keep. Look at your deity to which you devoted so much time. We will burn it up and then scatter it as dust into the sea.” (Surah Ta Ha: 95-97)
The attitude regarding Samaritan, who cased strife among the people of the Prophet Musa (as), is a most effective precaution that should be recommended against all hypocrites, because hypocrites cause strife among believers and to turn them towards denial, in the same way that they themselves have turned in the direction of denial. Even if they fail, they seek to wear believers down psychologically. In such an event, the most rational course is to remove them from among sincere believers.
8. To Refuse to Heed Them
So call and go straight as you have been ordered to. Do not follow their whims and desires. . . . (Surat ash-Shura: 15)
Obeying or heeding a hypocrite will result in considerable harm. A person who abandons the behavior pleasing to Allah and goes along with hypocrites is actually following the path of satan. Those who go along with satan represent his army and can never attain salvation, either in this world nor in the next. For that reason, Allah warns believers against this danger and forbids them to engage in behavior such as agreeing with hypocrites’ suggestions.
9. To Pay no Heed to the Troubles and Woes They Inflict
Allah is believers’ Guardian and Protector. In times of difficulty and distress, they seek help from Him, and are patient and submissive. They also exhibit fortitude and submit to Allah in the face of difficulties stemming from hypocrites. They pray for the harm that hypocrites seek to inflict to be visited upon them instead. For that reason, Allah tells believers to pay no attention to hypocrites’ actions, since these are all ineffective and invalid:
But because of their breaking of their covenant, We have cursed them and made their hearts hard. They distort the true meaning of words and have forgotten a good portion of what they were reminded of. You will never cease to come upon some act of treachery on their part, except for a few of them. Yet pardon them, and overlook. Allah loves good-doers. (Surat al-Ma’ida: 13)
Turn from them and say, “Peace! You will soon come to know.” (Surat az-Zukhruf: 89)
10. To Establish with Them no Ties of Affection or Friendship
As the friends of satan, hypocrites have adopted him as their guardian. Therefore, a believer will avoid hypocrites just as he avoids satan. Since they are the enemies of Allah and religion, believers are also hostile to them as well and feel great anger towards them in their hearts. Indeed, Allah forbids believers to take as friends those who war against them on the subject of religion:
Allah merely forbids you from taking as friends those who have fought you in the religion and driven you from your homes and who supported your expulsion. Any who take them as friends are wrongdoers. (Surat at-Mumtahana: 9)
11. To Avoid Them
Hypocrites engage in a constant struggle against believers, persisting in cunning activities against them so long as they remain in their midst. If they leave the community of the faithful, they carry out these activities from a distance. For believers’ security and peace of mind, therefore, it is of the greatest importance to avoid hypocrites as one would satan himself, and to stay as far away from them as one would from the flames.
Allah has promised that so long as believers avoid them, hypocrites will be able to do them no harm:
If something good happens to you, it galls them. If something bad strikes you, they rejoice at it. But if you are steadfast and guard against evil, their scheming will not harm you in any way. Allah encompasses what they do. (Surah Al 'Imran: 120)
The approach to be taken towards hypocrites receives much attention in the Qur’an. In the same way as the believer learns all he needs from the Qur’an, he also learns how to behave in this regard.
The exemplary advice given to believers in the Qur’an is this: that believers should never take hypocrites as their friends, and that they should warn the hypocrites by means of the Qur’an so long as the two remain together. And if the advice given bears no fruit, they should expel the hypocrites from among them. At this point, of course, Allah’s messenger must take the final decision regarding the hypocrites. By means of His messenger, Allah enables believers to take the correct decision. Let us now examine those verses concerning the attitude to be adopted towards hypocrites.
1. Not to Confide in Them
You who believe! Do not make friends of people with whom Allah is angry, who have despaired of the Hereafter as the disbelievers have despaired of the inhabitants of the graves. (Surat al-Mumtahana: 13)
As we have seen from the beginning, in the light of the verses of the Qur’an, hypocrites are definitely not the kind of people that one should befriend or confide in. Only those of weak faith or in whose hearts faith is not yet fully established take these people, who fail to befriend Allah and who are in consequence not befriended by Him, as their confidants.
The verses revealed by Allah on this subject encourage believers to be on their guard against hypocrites at all times and never to confide in them. It is a matter of great importance to be on one’s guard against hypocrites, who hate the believers and wish them to be dispersed and suffer difficulties.
2. To Rule with Justice Among Them
They are people who listen to lies and consume ill-gotten gains. If they come to you, you can either judge between them or turn away from them. If you turn away from them, they cannot harm you in any way. But if you do judge, judge between them justly. Allah loves the just. (Surat al-Ma’ida: 42)
Implementing the stipulation in the above verse is a matter for the messenger at the head of the people alone. The messenger either rules among the hypocrites, as he desires, or else turns his back on them.
3. To Give Advice if They Will Receive That Advice
Allah knows what is in such people’s hearts, so turn away from them and warn them and speak to them with words that take effect. (Surat an-Nisa’: 63)
As can be seen from this verse, it is recommended that hypocrites be given effective advice. By this important and effective method, they can come to realize what they have done and regret it. The main thing here is to issue reminders so that they can feel such regret. Someone who fails to heed such advice has declared open war on the religious moral values. Therefore, one must never forget that these people should be spurned, not befriended.
Believers give these people advice in the hope that they will mend their ways. But certainly, every piece of advice increases the suffering in the Hereafter of the hypocrite who turns his back on it. All the advice given to hypocrites is actually a snare, set for them by Allah. By remaining among believers and working in secret, hypocrites imagine that they are being very clever, never realizing that in the Hereafter, they will be recompensed for every piece of advice they received while remaining among believers. In this way they fall into an eternal trap while seeking to set their own snares for believers.
4. Not to Insist on Warning Them if They Refuse to Heed Advice
Enjoining what is good and forbidding what is evil is the responsibility of every believer. Yet there is a limit to this. Allah states that if the person being given advice rejects it obdurately, then nothing further should be said to him:
Remind, then, if the reminder benefits. He who has fear will be reminded. But the most miserable will shun it. (Surat al-A'la: 9-11)
In the event that hypocrites insist in their fanatic denial, further warnings will be of no avail. Believers should leave them to their own devices.
5. To Combat Them and Behave in a Stern, Deterrent Manner
O Prophet, strive against the disbelievers and hypocrites and be harsh with them. . . . (Surat at-Tawba: 73)
This is a very important piece of advice from Allah. A harsh and determined approach from believers towards hypocrites, who fail to keep their word to Allah, lie and harbor corruption and rebellion in their hearts, has a deterrent effect. Being on one's guard against the strife they will cause, taking relevant precautions beforehand and identifying them in good time before they can wreak any harm are most important duties for believers. Believers have been charged with being on their guard at all times against the danger from hypocrites, exposing these people who harbor sickness in their hearts, and thereby causing others to avoid them. This is indeed what they do.
Taking all due precautionary measures and at the same time, never permitting them the opportunity to cause strife, acts as a warning to later generations of hypocrites.
6. Not to Allow Them to Struggle Alongside the Faithful
Hypocrites do not actually struggle alongside believers, because they fail to fear Allah as they ought, are devoted to worldly concerns and feel enormous admiration for deniers. Since they remain lagging behind and choose a life apart from that of believers, Allah commanded the Prophet (saas) never to permit hypocrites to struggle alongside the faithful:
If Allah returns you to a group of them, and they ask you for permission to go out, say, “You will never go out with me, nor will you ever fight an enemy with me. You were happy to stay behind the first time, so stay behind with those who are left behind.” (Surat at-Tawba: 83)
7. To Remove Them from the Community of the Faithful
He [Musa] said, “What do you think you were doing, Samaritan?” He [Samaritan] said, “I saw what they did not see. So I gathered up a handful from the messenger’s footprints and threw it in. That is what my inner self urged me to do.” He said, “Go! In this world you will have to say, 'Untouchable!’ And you have an appointment which you will not fail to keep. Look at your deity to which you devoted so much time. We will burn it up and then scatter it as dust into the sea.” (Surah Ta Ha: 95-97)
The attitude regarding Samaritan, who cased strife among the people of the Prophet Musa (as), is a most effective precaution that should be recommended against all hypocrites, because hypocrites cause strife among believers and to turn them towards denial, in the same way that they themselves have turned in the direction of denial. Even if they fail, they seek to wear believers down psychologically. In such an event, the most rational course is to remove them from among sincere believers.
8. To Refuse to Heed Them
So call and go straight as you have been ordered to. Do not follow their whims and desires. . . . (Surat ash-Shura: 15)
Obeying or heeding a hypocrite will result in considerable harm. A person who abandons the behavior pleasing to Allah and goes along with hypocrites is actually following the path of satan. Those who go along with satan represent his army and can never attain salvation, either in this world nor in the next. For that reason, Allah warns believers against this danger and forbids them to engage in behavior such as agreeing with hypocrites’ suggestions.
9. To Pay no Heed to the Troubles and Woes They Inflict
Allah is believers’ Guardian and Protector. In times of difficulty and distress, they seek help from Him, and are patient and submissive. They also exhibit fortitude and submit to Allah in the face of difficulties stemming from hypocrites. They pray for the harm that hypocrites seek to inflict to be visited upon them instead. For that reason, Allah tells believers to pay no attention to hypocrites’ actions, since these are all ineffective and invalid:
But because of their breaking of their covenant, We have cursed them and made their hearts hard. They distort the true meaning of words and have forgotten a good portion of what they were reminded of. You will never cease to come upon some act of treachery on their part, except for a few of them. Yet pardon them, and overlook. Allah loves good-doers. (Surat al-Ma’ida: 13)
Turn from them and say, “Peace! You will soon come to know.” (Surat az-Zukhruf: 89)
10. To Establish with Them no Ties of Affection or Friendship
As the friends of satan, hypocrites have adopted him as their guardian. Therefore, a believer will avoid hypocrites just as he avoids satan. Since they are the enemies of Allah and religion, believers are also hostile to them as well and feel great anger towards them in their hearts. Indeed, Allah forbids believers to take as friends those who war against them on the subject of religion:
Allah merely forbids you from taking as friends those who have fought you in the religion and driven you from your homes and who supported your expulsion. Any who take them as friends are wrongdoers. (Surat at-Mumtahana: 9)
11. To Avoid Them
Hypocrites engage in a constant struggle against believers, persisting in cunning activities against them so long as they remain in their midst. If they leave the community of the faithful, they carry out these activities from a distance. For believers’ security and peace of mind, therefore, it is of the greatest importance to avoid hypocrites as one would satan himself, and to stay as far away from them as one would from the flames.
Allah has promised that so long as believers avoid them, hypocrites will be able to do them no harm:
If something good happens to you, it galls them. If something bad strikes you, they rejoice at it. But if you are steadfast and guard against evil, their scheming will not harm you in any way. Allah encompasses what they do. (Surah Al 'Imran: 120)
HYPOCRITES HAVE NEVER VANQUISHED THE PROPHETS
Those who anticipate the worst for you say, “Were we not with you?” whenever you gain a victory from Allah, but if the disbelievers have a success they say, “Did we not have the upper hand over you and yet in spite of that keep the believers away from you?” Allah will judge between you on the Day of Resurrection. Allah will not give the disbelievers any way against the believers. (Surat an-Nisa’: 141)
All through history, hypocrites have rebelled against the truth and waged a war against believers from inside their community. As revealed in the verse “. . . But all might belongs to Allah and to His messenger and the believers. But the hypocrites do not know this” (Surat al-Munafiqun: 8), hypocrites have always claimed that they are superior to believers and will overcome them. Yet despite all these baseless claims, they have never been able to vanquish the believers. Messengers and the believers around them have always emerged victorious. This situation has persisted, just like a law, throughout history.
When events are viewed through the perspective of the Qur’an, the reason for this is easy to see. Allah never permits hypocrites to gain an advantage over the faithful. On the contrary, he overthrows them by means of the messenger and the faithful. Allah reveals in the Qur’an that He has warned all deniers, hypocrites included, who engage in actions aimed against believers and that He will punish them unless they put an end to their cunning activities:
If the hypocrites and those with sickness in their hearts and the rumor-mongers in Madina do not desist, We will set you onto them. Then they will only be your neighbors there a very short time. (Surat al-Ahzab: 60)
Allah also reveals, with examples, how He will always support sincere believers who turn to Him in all they do against the deniers. By means of Allah’s help and support, His messengers have always secured victory, even under the most seemingly difficult conditions.
This is described with several examples in the Qur’an. One of these is Talut, who assumed command of the army in a war waged against the deniers in the time of the Prophet Dawud (as). Talut, placed in command of the believers due to his superior military abilities, made a number of recommendations to the army. However, a number of people of weak faith turned their backs on this advice, though they should have obeyed him, and acted in accordance with their own desires:
When Talut marched out with the army, he said, “Allah will test you with a river. Anyone who drinks from it is not with me. But anyone who does not taste it is with me—except for him who merely scoops up a little in his hand.” But they drank from it—except for a few of them. Then when he and those who believed with him had crossed it, they said, “We do not have the strength to face Goliath and his troops today.” But those who were sure that they were going to meet Allah said, “How many a small force has triumphed over a much greater one by Allah’s permission! Allah is with the steadfast.” (Surat al-Baqara: 249)
At the moment of battle, the hypocrites sought to create difficulties for the faithful by their sudden disobedience, though the believers displayed not the slightest disobedience and supported the messenger in the fighting:
When they came out against Goliath and his troops, they said, “Our Lord, pour down steadfastness upon us, and make our feet firm, and help us against this disbelieving people.” And with Allah's permission they routed them. . . . (Surat al-Baqara: 250-251)
Allah grants success to believers and victory over the deniers in response to their sincerity and determination. While they enjoy great success in this world, and the approval and paradise of Allah in the Hereafter, deniers are cursed and punished by Him.
All through history, hypocrites have rebelled against the truth and waged a war against believers from inside their community. As revealed in the verse “. . . But all might belongs to Allah and to His messenger and the believers. But the hypocrites do not know this” (Surat al-Munafiqun: 8), hypocrites have always claimed that they are superior to believers and will overcome them. Yet despite all these baseless claims, they have never been able to vanquish the believers. Messengers and the believers around them have always emerged victorious. This situation has persisted, just like a law, throughout history.
When events are viewed through the perspective of the Qur’an, the reason for this is easy to see. Allah never permits hypocrites to gain an advantage over the faithful. On the contrary, he overthrows them by means of the messenger and the faithful. Allah reveals in the Qur’an that He has warned all deniers, hypocrites included, who engage in actions aimed against believers and that He will punish them unless they put an end to their cunning activities:
If the hypocrites and those with sickness in their hearts and the rumor-mongers in Madina do not desist, We will set you onto them. Then they will only be your neighbors there a very short time. (Surat al-Ahzab: 60)
Allah also reveals, with examples, how He will always support sincere believers who turn to Him in all they do against the deniers. By means of Allah’s help and support, His messengers have always secured victory, even under the most seemingly difficult conditions.
This is described with several examples in the Qur’an. One of these is Talut, who assumed command of the army in a war waged against the deniers in the time of the Prophet Dawud (as). Talut, placed in command of the believers due to his superior military abilities, made a number of recommendations to the army. However, a number of people of weak faith turned their backs on this advice, though they should have obeyed him, and acted in accordance with their own desires:
When Talut marched out with the army, he said, “Allah will test you with a river. Anyone who drinks from it is not with me. But anyone who does not taste it is with me—except for him who merely scoops up a little in his hand.” But they drank from it—except for a few of them. Then when he and those who believed with him had crossed it, they said, “We do not have the strength to face Goliath and his troops today.” But those who were sure that they were going to meet Allah said, “How many a small force has triumphed over a much greater one by Allah’s permission! Allah is with the steadfast.” (Surat al-Baqara: 249)
At the moment of battle, the hypocrites sought to create difficulties for the faithful by their sudden disobedience, though the believers displayed not the slightest disobedience and supported the messenger in the fighting:
When they came out against Goliath and his troops, they said, “Our Lord, pour down steadfastness upon us, and make our feet firm, and help us against this disbelieving people.” And with Allah's permission they routed them. . . . (Surat al-Baqara: 250-251)
Allah grants success to believers and victory over the deniers in response to their sincerity and determination. While they enjoy great success in this world, and the approval and paradise of Allah in the Hereafter, deniers are cursed and punished by Him.
DAMAGE WROUGHT BY THE DISEASE OF SELF-SATISFACTION
And so that He might punish the men and women of the hypocrites and the men and women of the idolaters-those who think bad thoughts about Allah. They will suffer an evil turn of fate. Allah is angry with them, and has cursed them and prepared Hell for them. What an evil destination! (Surat al-Fath: 6)
Self-satisfaction is by itself a source of trouble for hypocrites. However, as you have seen in the preceding chapters, most of the time they are unaware of this. So self-satisfied and conceited are they that they are even able to ask, "Why does Allah not punish us for what we say? . . ." (Surat al-Mujadala: 8). As emphasized above, however, they are unaware that instead of the evident calamity they expect, they actually suffer numerous calamities, including physical and spiritual harm.
Allah refers in His verses to this harm suffered by hypocrites. Let us now examine these, one by one.
1. They are not Wise
Wisdom is one of the greatest assets a human being can possess. An unwise person is in a most wretched position, even though, being unwise, he is not even aware of this. He confuses wisdom with intelligence and so makes inaccurate decisions.
The same thing applies to the hypocrite, who may enjoy a particular level of intelligence. But he can never enjoy the wisdom that Allah bestows only on true believers, which allows them to distinguish right from wrong. They are thus deprived of one of the greatest blessings.
Wisdom is also one of a person's greatest needs. At every moment of his life, a person needs it to be able to distinguish right from wrong and to protect himself from evil. The hypocrite's devotion to this world leads to his being unwise. Therefore, he is unsuccessful when it comes to even the simplest matters requiring wisdom. The greatest proof of hypocrites' lack of wisdom is how they imagine that Allah does not see what they do. (Surely Allah is beyond that!) Therefore, they seek to deceive believers and imagine that they can do so with impunity. They are addressed in the following terms in the Qur'an:
Don't they know that Allah knows what they keep secret and what they make public? (Surat al-Baqara: 77)
Another unwise claim they make is that Allah will not bring their iniquity into the light of day. However, on the Day of Judgment, Allah will round up and punish all the hypocrites who have ever lived. Before the Day of Judgment, He will also humiliate them in this world.
2. They are Unable to Comprehend the Verses
Sincere Muslims are, as set out in the Qur'an, "those who, when they are reminded of the signs of their Lord, do not turn their backs, deaf and blind to them" (Surat al-Furqan: 73). They are particularly sensitive to the verses of Allah. All believers know that all the verses of the Qur'an directly concern them and that they cannot remain unconcerned or distant from any of them. However, for possession of this state of mind, there is one very important precondition. An individual must be very humble, and not regard himself as free from any imperfections or defects. Only when a person has this sincerity and humility will Allah bestow the meaning of His verses in his or her heart.
Hypocrites, on the other hand, are very proud and a far cry from being sincere. They can never possess such an understanding due to their self-satisfaction. Although constantly exposed to the messenger's message, they lack the ability to understand a single word he says. Their lack of comprehension is related in the Qur'an:
You will not make dead men hear; you will not make deaf men hear the call, when they turn their backs in flight. You will not guide blind men from their misguidance. You will not make anyone hear except for those who believe in Our signs and so are Muslims. (Surat ar-Rum: 52-53)
The Qur'an also tells us how hypocrites, unaffected by the messenger's words, possess a closed understanding due to the effects of their own self-satisfaction:
Who could do greater wrong than someone who is reminded of the signs of his Lord and then turns away from them, forgetting all that he has done before? We have placed covers on their hearts, preventing them from understanding it, and heaviness in their ears. Though you call them to guidance, they will nonetheless never be guided. (Surat al-Kahf: 57)
Again, as a consequence of the self-satisfaction that infects them and their inability to understand Allah's Book, they misinterpret various of His verses. The reason for this is their pride and unfounded trust in their own limited wisdom. Allah warns believers beforehand against this disease carried by hypocrites by telling how they will seek to create strife in the community of the faithful:
It is He Who sent down the Book to you from Him: verses containing clear judgments—they are the core of the Book—and others which are open to interpretation. Those with deviation in their hearts follow what is open to interpretation in it, desiring conflict, seeking its inner meaning. No one knows its inner meaning but Allah. Those firmly rooted in knowledge say, "We believe in it. All of it is from our Lord." But only people of intelligence pay heed. (Surah Al 'Imran: 7)
3. Allah Inflicts Various Spiritual Troubles on Them
Allah inflicts various spiritual woes on people who are arrogant before Allah thinking himself self-sufficient, and He makes a dark and narrow life for them in this world. Hypocrites cannot comprehend the source of the spiritual troubles visited upon them and live in confusion, since they are quite incapable of fathoming their origins.
They first harbor uneasiness, whose origins they are unable to identify. Yet the reason for it is actually quite clear.
There is evil in every human being's lower self. However, just as he knows this, he also knows to avoid it. That is because—as stated in the verse below—while Allah imparts sin and evil in the human self, He also imparts the inspiration with which to avoid them:
And [I swear by] the self and what proportioned it and inspired it with depravity or sense of duty, he who purifies it has succeeded; he who covers it up has failed. (Surat ash-Shams: 7-10)
As we have seen, in the same way that one side of self calls people to wickedness, a person also possesses a conscience that constantly calls him to goodness. The voice of the lower self is that of satan, and the voice of one's conscience is the voice of truth. By constantly ignoring their conscience, hypocrites bring the wickedness in their lower selves to the fore. At this point they enter a state of spiritual conflict, and as a result, experience unremitting unease.
In addition to this unease, whose cause they are totally unable to identify, they harbor feelings of restlessness, doubt, and fear. The factor underlying all this fear is their distance from Allah and inability to comprehend that all things are under His control. Since they imagine that events are actually under their own control, they assume that they must also calculate every tiny detail regarding them.
Like all deniers, hypocrites are constantly preoccupied by such worldly matters as how to live, how to please others, how to maintain good health and never fall ill. That is by no means the end of the matter; they panic when they see that events are not going as they wish, and chase even more after the things of this world. This state of affairs persists until they die. Since they refuse to submit, admit their need of Allah, and place their affairs in His hands, they live in permanent stress and restlessness. Their psychological states are described in these terms in the Qur'an:
They imagine every cry to be against them. (Surat al-Munafiqun: 4)
In addition, their efforts to make themselves popular and please others actually worsen their uneasy situation. That is because hypocrites, who constantly perform evil and mire themselves in sin, are in fact not liked by many people at all. In the same way that they attract the hatred of believers, they also gain the antipathy of others. Allah depicts them as repellent to others, thus inflicting on them one of the worse troubles they could ever face, that of not being loved, and thus leaving them alone and friendless in both this world and the Hereafter.
These people are unloved by others in the same way that they are unloved by Allah. They seek to give the impression that they are of great stature, though they are not so at all, and thus fall into a most humiliating position. Actually despised by those around them, they never enjoy true respect, and no value is ever placed on their ideas. That they will be demeaned both in this world and in the Hereafter is revealed in the Qur'an:
. . . They will have disgrace in this world and in the Hereafter they will have a terrible punishment. (Surat al-Baqara: 114)
. . . Do you, then, believe in one part of the Book and reject the other? What repayment will there be for any of you who do that except disgrace in this world? . . . (Surat al-Baqara: 85)
4. They Imagine that They will Inevitably be Forgiven
. . . [They are] taking the goods of this lower world, and saying, "We will be forgiven." (Surat al-A'raf: 169)
Due to the disease of self-satisfaction they bear within them, hypocrites imagine that Allah has a great love for them and will inevitably reward them with good things. They maintain that all their many devilish deeds were actually committed with the best of intentions. They think, along the lines of the verse cited above, "If we do wrong, we will be forgiven." This stems from their refusal to recognize Allah or to appreciate His justice.
Yet Allah is He Who punishes evil. Because of what they have done in this world, hypocrites will be gravely disappointed in the next one. They appear to be as one with the community of the faithful, and may engage in various activities. Yet because of the sickness in their hearts, they will see that all their actions in this world count for nothing. However, their self-satisfaction prevents them from seeing this while they are in this world. The position they will face in the Hereafter is described in these terms in verses:
Say: "Shall I inform you of the greatest losers in their actions? People whose efforts in the life of this world are misguided while they suppose that they are doing good." (Surat al-Kahf: 103-104)
5. The Physical Harm Wrought by Their Self-Satisfaction
We have already emphasized the consequences to which hypocrites' actions will give rise. Instead of thinking that these will inflict harm on them, they imagine that they are actually performing good deeds, as the verses tell us. The warnings and reminders issued to them come as a great surprise. They imagine that the believers they deal with are behaving wrongly and are unnecessarily warning totally innocent people. They imagine that the messenger and believers cannot fully appreciate them. However, believers, and the messenger in particular, are perfectly capable of perceiving the sickness in their hearts, both from their defective words and from their external appearances. Indeed, Allah has revealed that His messenger will be able to recognize them:
If We wished, We would show them to you and you would know them by their mark and know them by their ambivalent speech. Allah knows your actions. (Surah Muhammad: 30)
But as we have been describing since the very outset, the disease of self-satisfaction actually inflicts great harm on them. Their inner darkness and their uneasy, cunning spiritual state totally impacts on their external appearance. Clear proof can be seen regarding their hypocrisy, both in their speech and in their physical appearance. But as previously stated, only the messenger can establish certain identification on this matter. Following his description, the believers around him witness how their inner darkness is reflected on the outside.
The fact that their ways of speaking and facial expressions are defective, the dark expression that falls over their faces, their inability to understand even the simplest matters, and their lack of wisdom are just a few examples of the damage their sickness inflicts. Yet they cannot see that the blessings in their possession are departing one by one. On the contrary, they imagine that all is well. Indeed, they remain totally unaware of the defects in their external appearance, their gestures, expressions and speech. This is both a great trouble inflicted on them by Allah, and also a trap that will cause their own snares to rebound back on themselves.
Self-satisfaction is by itself a source of trouble for hypocrites. However, as you have seen in the preceding chapters, most of the time they are unaware of this. So self-satisfied and conceited are they that they are even able to ask, "Why does Allah not punish us for what we say? . . ." (Surat al-Mujadala: 8). As emphasized above, however, they are unaware that instead of the evident calamity they expect, they actually suffer numerous calamities, including physical and spiritual harm.
Allah refers in His verses to this harm suffered by hypocrites. Let us now examine these, one by one.
1. They are not Wise
Wisdom is one of the greatest assets a human being can possess. An unwise person is in a most wretched position, even though, being unwise, he is not even aware of this. He confuses wisdom with intelligence and so makes inaccurate decisions.
The same thing applies to the hypocrite, who may enjoy a particular level of intelligence. But he can never enjoy the wisdom that Allah bestows only on true believers, which allows them to distinguish right from wrong. They are thus deprived of one of the greatest blessings.
Wisdom is also one of a person's greatest needs. At every moment of his life, a person needs it to be able to distinguish right from wrong and to protect himself from evil. The hypocrite's devotion to this world leads to his being unwise. Therefore, he is unsuccessful when it comes to even the simplest matters requiring wisdom. The greatest proof of hypocrites' lack of wisdom is how they imagine that Allah does not see what they do. (Surely Allah is beyond that!) Therefore, they seek to deceive believers and imagine that they can do so with impunity. They are addressed in the following terms in the Qur'an:
Don't they know that Allah knows what they keep secret and what they make public? (Surat al-Baqara: 77)
Another unwise claim they make is that Allah will not bring their iniquity into the light of day. However, on the Day of Judgment, Allah will round up and punish all the hypocrites who have ever lived. Before the Day of Judgment, He will also humiliate them in this world.
2. They are Unable to Comprehend the Verses
Sincere Muslims are, as set out in the Qur'an, "those who, when they are reminded of the signs of their Lord, do not turn their backs, deaf and blind to them" (Surat al-Furqan: 73). They are particularly sensitive to the verses of Allah. All believers know that all the verses of the Qur'an directly concern them and that they cannot remain unconcerned or distant from any of them. However, for possession of this state of mind, there is one very important precondition. An individual must be very humble, and not regard himself as free from any imperfections or defects. Only when a person has this sincerity and humility will Allah bestow the meaning of His verses in his or her heart.
Hypocrites, on the other hand, are very proud and a far cry from being sincere. They can never possess such an understanding due to their self-satisfaction. Although constantly exposed to the messenger's message, they lack the ability to understand a single word he says. Their lack of comprehension is related in the Qur'an:
You will not make dead men hear; you will not make deaf men hear the call, when they turn their backs in flight. You will not guide blind men from their misguidance. You will not make anyone hear except for those who believe in Our signs and so are Muslims. (Surat ar-Rum: 52-53)
The Qur'an also tells us how hypocrites, unaffected by the messenger's words, possess a closed understanding due to the effects of their own self-satisfaction:
Who could do greater wrong than someone who is reminded of the signs of his Lord and then turns away from them, forgetting all that he has done before? We have placed covers on their hearts, preventing them from understanding it, and heaviness in their ears. Though you call them to guidance, they will nonetheless never be guided. (Surat al-Kahf: 57)
Again, as a consequence of the self-satisfaction that infects them and their inability to understand Allah's Book, they misinterpret various of His verses. The reason for this is their pride and unfounded trust in their own limited wisdom. Allah warns believers beforehand against this disease carried by hypocrites by telling how they will seek to create strife in the community of the faithful:
It is He Who sent down the Book to you from Him: verses containing clear judgments—they are the core of the Book—and others which are open to interpretation. Those with deviation in their hearts follow what is open to interpretation in it, desiring conflict, seeking its inner meaning. No one knows its inner meaning but Allah. Those firmly rooted in knowledge say, "We believe in it. All of it is from our Lord." But only people of intelligence pay heed. (Surah Al 'Imran: 7)
3. Allah Inflicts Various Spiritual Troubles on Them
Allah inflicts various spiritual woes on people who are arrogant before Allah thinking himself self-sufficient, and He makes a dark and narrow life for them in this world. Hypocrites cannot comprehend the source of the spiritual troubles visited upon them and live in confusion, since they are quite incapable of fathoming their origins.
They first harbor uneasiness, whose origins they are unable to identify. Yet the reason for it is actually quite clear.
There is evil in every human being's lower self. However, just as he knows this, he also knows to avoid it. That is because—as stated in the verse below—while Allah imparts sin and evil in the human self, He also imparts the inspiration with which to avoid them:
And [I swear by] the self and what proportioned it and inspired it with depravity or sense of duty, he who purifies it has succeeded; he who covers it up has failed. (Surat ash-Shams: 7-10)
As we have seen, in the same way that one side of self calls people to wickedness, a person also possesses a conscience that constantly calls him to goodness. The voice of the lower self is that of satan, and the voice of one's conscience is the voice of truth. By constantly ignoring their conscience, hypocrites bring the wickedness in their lower selves to the fore. At this point they enter a state of spiritual conflict, and as a result, experience unremitting unease.
In addition to this unease, whose cause they are totally unable to identify, they harbor feelings of restlessness, doubt, and fear. The factor underlying all this fear is their distance from Allah and inability to comprehend that all things are under His control. Since they imagine that events are actually under their own control, they assume that they must also calculate every tiny detail regarding them.
Like all deniers, hypocrites are constantly preoccupied by such worldly matters as how to live, how to please others, how to maintain good health and never fall ill. That is by no means the end of the matter; they panic when they see that events are not going as they wish, and chase even more after the things of this world. This state of affairs persists until they die. Since they refuse to submit, admit their need of Allah, and place their affairs in His hands, they live in permanent stress and restlessness. Their psychological states are described in these terms in the Qur'an:
They imagine every cry to be against them. (Surat al-Munafiqun: 4)
In addition, their efforts to make themselves popular and please others actually worsen their uneasy situation. That is because hypocrites, who constantly perform evil and mire themselves in sin, are in fact not liked by many people at all. In the same way that they attract the hatred of believers, they also gain the antipathy of others. Allah depicts them as repellent to others, thus inflicting on them one of the worse troubles they could ever face, that of not being loved, and thus leaving them alone and friendless in both this world and the Hereafter.
These people are unloved by others in the same way that they are unloved by Allah. They seek to give the impression that they are of great stature, though they are not so at all, and thus fall into a most humiliating position. Actually despised by those around them, they never enjoy true respect, and no value is ever placed on their ideas. That they will be demeaned both in this world and in the Hereafter is revealed in the Qur'an:
. . . They will have disgrace in this world and in the Hereafter they will have a terrible punishment. (Surat al-Baqara: 114)
. . . Do you, then, believe in one part of the Book and reject the other? What repayment will there be for any of you who do that except disgrace in this world? . . . (Surat al-Baqara: 85)
4. They Imagine that They will Inevitably be Forgiven
. . . [They are] taking the goods of this lower world, and saying, "We will be forgiven." (Surat al-A'raf: 169)
Due to the disease of self-satisfaction they bear within them, hypocrites imagine that Allah has a great love for them and will inevitably reward them with good things. They maintain that all their many devilish deeds were actually committed with the best of intentions. They think, along the lines of the verse cited above, "If we do wrong, we will be forgiven." This stems from their refusal to recognize Allah or to appreciate His justice.
Yet Allah is He Who punishes evil. Because of what they have done in this world, hypocrites will be gravely disappointed in the next one. They appear to be as one with the community of the faithful, and may engage in various activities. Yet because of the sickness in their hearts, they will see that all their actions in this world count for nothing. However, their self-satisfaction prevents them from seeing this while they are in this world. The position they will face in the Hereafter is described in these terms in verses:
Say: "Shall I inform you of the greatest losers in their actions? People whose efforts in the life of this world are misguided while they suppose that they are doing good." (Surat al-Kahf: 103-104)
5. The Physical Harm Wrought by Their Self-Satisfaction
We have already emphasized the consequences to which hypocrites' actions will give rise. Instead of thinking that these will inflict harm on them, they imagine that they are actually performing good deeds, as the verses tell us. The warnings and reminders issued to them come as a great surprise. They imagine that the believers they deal with are behaving wrongly and are unnecessarily warning totally innocent people. They imagine that the messenger and believers cannot fully appreciate them. However, believers, and the messenger in particular, are perfectly capable of perceiving the sickness in their hearts, both from their defective words and from their external appearances. Indeed, Allah has revealed that His messenger will be able to recognize them:
If We wished, We would show them to you and you would know them by their mark and know them by their ambivalent speech. Allah knows your actions. (Surah Muhammad: 30)
But as we have been describing since the very outset, the disease of self-satisfaction actually inflicts great harm on them. Their inner darkness and their uneasy, cunning spiritual state totally impacts on their external appearance. Clear proof can be seen regarding their hypocrisy, both in their speech and in their physical appearance. But as previously stated, only the messenger can establish certain identification on this matter. Following his description, the believers around him witness how their inner darkness is reflected on the outside.
The fact that their ways of speaking and facial expressions are defective, the dark expression that falls over their faces, their inability to understand even the simplest matters, and their lack of wisdom are just a few examples of the damage their sickness inflicts. Yet they cannot see that the blessings in their possession are departing one by one. On the contrary, they imagine that all is well. Indeed, they remain totally unaware of the defects in their external appearance, their gestures, expressions and speech. This is both a great trouble inflicted on them by Allah, and also a trap that will cause their own snares to rebound back on themselves.
HYPOCRITES' SELF-SATISFACTION
They allot to Allah what they themselves dislike and their tongues frame the lie that they will receive the best. There is no doubt at all that they will receive the Fire and that they are people who go to excess. (Surat an-Nahl: 62)
People who fear Allah always hope for His help and support in all matters. As reported in the words of the Prophet Musa (as), for example: ". . . My Lord, I am truly in need of any good You have in store for me" (Surat al-Qasas: 24), they are aware that they need their Creator at every moment. This is where the self-satisfaction of hypocrites, whose characteristics are the exact opposite of those of believers, emerges.
The Qur'an uses the word "istaghna" (self-satisfaction, self-sufficiency) to describe people who imagine they have no need of anything. Yet the term actually applies solely to Allah, for only He has no need of anything. Humans and all other living things are helpless, needy entities, created by Allah and in need of Him in order to survive. Allah addresses human beings so that they may realize their helplessness:
O humanity! An example has been made, so listen to it carefully. Those whom you call upon besides Allah are not even able to create a single fly, even if they were to join together to do it. And if a fly steals something from them, they cannot get it back. How feeble are both the seeker and the sought! (Surat al-Hajj: 73)
Hypocrites, on the other hand, are unaware of their neediness in the face of Allah. They harbor within themselves an arrogance similar to that of satan. Even though they are belittled in the sight of Allah and in that of believers, they imagine that they can deceive people and imagine themselves to be very intelligent and superior. They imagine themselves to be always on the true path, never admitting the possibility that they might have deficiencies or be in error. All these things are actually symptoms of a kind of sickness whose name is "self-satisfaction," as described above.
Indeed, Allah reveals that hypocrites have a sickness in their hearts, which is only increased by their two-facedness:
Among the people there are some who say, "We believe in Allah and the Last Day," when they are not believers. They think they deceive Allah and those who believe. They deceive no one but themselves but they are not aware of it. There is a sickness in their hearts and Allah has increased their sickness. They will have a painful punishment on account of their denial. (Surat al-Baqara: 8-10)
The disease of self-satisfaction has been seen in all deniers throughout history. Allah has indicated the disease, which leads people directly to Hell, in several verses of the Qur'an.
This disease began with satan. The first sign of self-satisfaction in him, who regarded himself as the most superior of all created beings, came with satan's refusal to prostrate himself before the Prophet Adam (as), despite Allah's commanding him to do so. Satan's own explanation for this behavior was that the Prophet Adam (as) had been created out of earth and he himself, out of fire.
Therefore, every denier since the world began has harbored this same characteristic, due to their sharing the same nature as satan. The self-satisfaction of the hypocrites is the same as that which first manifested itself in satan.
The first symptom of self-satisfaction is a person's refusal to believe the sickness in his heart, as the Qur'an puts it. Indeed, hypocrites totally reject the idea, which then leads to their sickness increasing still further. That is because someone who is conceited and regards himself as perfect, will feel no need to avoid sin and wickedness. Indeed, Allah reveals in the Qur'an that people who regard themselves as unblemished will develop even greater excesses. It is stated in verses that:
No indeed! Truly man is unbridled, seeing himself as self-sufficient. (Surat al-'Alaq: 6-7)
The self-sufficiency that hypocrites harbor within themselves has various symptoms and consequences, which are described in detail in verses of the Qur'an—and become even clearer when set out one after the other.
1. They Feel No Responsibility Toward the Verses
One of the groups of deniers who regard themselves as exempt from the verses of the Qur'an—in other words, who are unaware that the verses apply to them—are the hypocrites. Despite reading the Qur'an, they regard the stipulations of many verses as having little to do with them. For example, the description of Hell only increases a believer's fear, because there is always the possibility of losing Allah's approval and going to Hell. But since hypocrites regard themselves as predestined to enter Paradise, these verses have no effect on them. They are therefore unable to see and understand the many verses that are addressed directly to them.
When the believer is reminded of verses, or given advice by hearing them cited, his fear increases, and he abides by them, displaying exceptional sincerity. But when the hypocrite is reminded of them, he behaves pretty much as if he never heard the verses at all. He never reflects on or takes advice from Allah's wisdom:
What is the matter with them that they run from the Reminder? (Surat al-Muddaththir: 49)
Another distinguishing feature of hypocrites is that their observance of religion is limited to words. Their falsehood can also be seen in terms of abiding by the verses. Allah has revealed in a number of verses just how insensitive they are to His verses and how they seek to distance themselves from their provisions as far as possible:
Don't you see those who claim that they believe in what has been sent down to you and what was sent down before you, still desiring to turn to a satanic source for judgment in spite of being ordered to reject it? Satan wants to misguide them far away. When they are told, "Come to what Allah has sent down and to the messenger," you see the hypocrites turning away from you completely. (Surat an-Nisa': 60-61)
Don't you see those who have been given a portion of the Book being invited to let Allah's Book be the judge between them? But then a group of them turn away. (Surah Al 'Imran: 23)
2. They Imagine Themselves to be Very Intelligent
Hypocrites place a great deal of trust in their own intelligence, despite their not actually possessing any true wisdom at all. They are unable to appreciate the dire nature of their situation. They live imagining that their every deed and every decision is the best ones possible. In particular, they regard themselves as their own sole authority on matters of religion. Because of this twisted logic, they also imagine that believers are on the wrong path. Their illogical ideas are revealed in the following verse:
And when the hypocrites and those with sickness in their hearts said, "These people have been deluded by their religion." But those who put their trust in Allah will find Allah to be Almighty, All-Wise. (Surat an-Anfal: 49)
As can be seen from the verse, since they imagine that only they are on the true path, they do not appreciate believers' wisdom. Yet the truth is, believers constitute the only community on Earth on which Allah has bestowed pure wisdom. Nonetheless, hypocrites regard themselves as superior to everybody else, and whenever believers are cited as role models in living by the religious morality, the hypocrites make it clear that they remain unimpressed by their intelligence. These inaccurate ideas on the subject of believers lead hypocrites into a grievous position, as is revealed in another verse:
When they are told, "Believe in the way that the people believe," they say, "What! Are we to believe in the way that fools believe?" No indeed! They are the fools, but they do not know it. (Surat al-Baqara: 13)
As revealed in the verse, hypocrites are "fools" because they tell the most unpleasant lies and imagine that even though they prepare snares with no foundation to them, believers will not catch on and that the messenger will not bring these strategies into the light of day. However, when the time comes, Allah shows them and other people the humiliating position they are in.
3. They Imagine Themselves to be Profiting
Another aspect that separates the hypocrites from the community of the faithful is that in living by the religious moral values, they constantly hold themselves back. It is revealed in the Qur'an that in the struggle waged by the community of the faithful, hypocrites seek to keep themselves as far as possible to the rear, and behaving always in a reluctant manner:
Among you there are people who hang back and if you encounter a setback then they say, "Allah has blessed me in that I was not there with them." (Surat an-Nisa': 72)
By not submitting to Allah and His messenger, not engaging in the struggle, spending generously or performing a great number of other observances, hypocrites imagine that they are profiting, and consider performing these observances disadvantageous. Therefore, since they do not seek Allah's approval and regard themselves as unflawed, performing these observances seems a task of enormous difficulty for them.
We can set out a few points on which hypocrites imagine themselves to be ahead of the game by holding themselves back:
a) They Avoid the Struggle
Since they are devoted to the life of this world, hypocrites have a great fear of death, and the very thought of death makes them very uneasy. They never reflect that death is a commandment of Allah, or consider maintaining their religious observances until the moment of their death arrives. Indeed, Allah describes the situation of the hypocrites in the time of the Prophet (saas). They imagined that not going to war would keep them out of danger of death, and so regarded making excuses for not going to war as a sign of healthy intelligence. In the Qur'an, Allah tells of the joy they felt at hanging back during the war:
Those who were left behind were glad to stay behind the Messenger of Allah. . . . (Surat at-Tawba: 81)
The fact is, however, that death can strike anyone anywhere. Since hypocrites think on only a superficial level, they never bring this point to mind. There is no guarantee that death will not come to someone who hangs back from danger in his own home. Yet as stated at the outset, hypocrites lack the understanding to comprehend their own superficiality. They therefore see any temporary salvation or brief postponement as putting them ahead of the game.
b) They Do Not Co-exist with Believers
Allah has revealed that He will test the community of the faithful with both good and evil. Believers are subjected to tests in this world in order to attain the Hereafter. Therefore, they experience various events, some of which may appear auspicious and others not, but Allah eventually turns them all to the advantage of believers. Since they are aware of the secret of the testing to which they are subjected, they always display the same enthusiasm and effort in competing to earn Allah's approval. They never fall prey to fear or despair.
However, in the community of the faithful, there is another group who fail to grasp the secret of the test and look only at the surface of events. As discussed a little earlier, hypocrites seek to keep themselves as far from troublesome events as they can. If their means permit, they even stay far away from the community of the faithful, since they are unwilling to face the same difficulties that believers do. Indeed, Allah has informed believers—by means of examples from the past, but with particular reference to times of war—that hypocrites prefer to watch believers from as great a distance as possible:
They think that the Confederates have not departed and if the Confederates did appear then they would wish they were out in the desert with the Arabs, asking for news of you. If they were with you they would only fight a very little. (Surat al-Ahzab: 20)
Another verse reveals how hypocrites, who seek to remain at a distance from believers and not to be affected by the events that befall them, see themselves as profiting from this:
If good happens to you it galls them. If a mishap occurs to you, they say, "We made our preparations in advance," and they turn away rejoicing. (Surat at-Tawba: 50)
c) They Do Not Obey the Messenger of Allah
Obedience to the messenger of Allah means holding Allah and His Book above all things, because obedience to Allah and the Qur'an means obedience to His messenger. Believers who are sincerely devoted and obedient to Allah display the same devotion and obedience towards His messenger. The messenger of Allah is of greater value to them than their own lives or desires. The Qur'an refers to believers who protected the Prophet (saas) at the cost of their own lives, who went off to war with him, and who held him above their own selves.
The hypocrites of the time did not go off to war, however. They regarded themselves as exceedingly advantaged and intelligent because they were not obliged to protect the Prophet (saas). Those hypocrites who did join the troops, but who then became frightened and turned back, failed to heed the call of the Prophet Muhammad (saas) to them, and fled without looking back:
Remember when you were scrambling up the slope, refusing to turn back for anyone, and the Messenger was calling to you from the rear. . . . (Surah Al 'Imran: 153)
They imagined that this flight was their salvation. The fact is, however, that by departing from the command of the Prophet's (saas), they made a grave error. They earned Allah's displeasure and were thus condemned to eternal suffering.
They Claim to be Well-Intentioned
Hypocrites literally compete with one another on the subject of strife and discord. Since they fear believers, however, whenever their wickedness comes to light they swear that they are "well-intentioned" and reconciliatory, and seek to convince believers of this. In all their wickedness, they go to the messenger and make great efforts to convince him of their good intentions. A clear example of this can be seen in the Qur'an:
How will it be when a disaster strikes them because of what they have done, and then they come to you swearing by Allah: "We desired nothing but good and reconciliation?" Allah knows what is in such people's hearts . . . (Surat an-Nisa': 62-63)
Of course, as stated in the verse, Allah knows very well that they are lying and what they are concealing in their hearts. This He will reveal at a time of His choosing. He also makes His messenger aware of their situation.
They Try to Free Themselves from Blame with Self-Praise
Don't you see those who praise themselves for purity? No, Allah purifies whoever He wills. (Surat an-Nisa': 49)
How important the approval of other people is for hypocrites! Indeed, as revealed in the above verse, they constantly praise themselves for the purposes of gaining approval. They seek to cover up all their mistakes and justify their desires, in the event that any of their mistakes do see the light of day. They also take pains to depict themselves as true believers, even though they are actually not.
Naturally, however, their efforts achieve success only among people like themselves. Believers identify their two-faced behavior before much time has passed, and respond with the appropriate behavior themselves.
They Cannot Bear to Receive Advice
As we have emphasized throughout this book, one of the main features of hypocrites is their satanic pride. They have grown so arrogant that they cannot admit that they have any deficiencies or are at fault in any regard. If admonished about these deficiencies or errors, then they inevitably display great anger towards whomever does so.
However, the principle features of believers, and messengers in particular, is enjoining what is good and forbidding what is evil. In other words, the faithful constantly give one another advice and seek to eradicate one another's errors and deficiencies. Since hypocrites are also found within the community of the faithful, they also frequently become engaged in this religious observance that believers perform in order to earn Allah's approval.
In those verses dealing with the hypocrites who lived at the time of the Prophet Muhammad (saas), we can see how hypocrites, who regarded themselves as flawless, became angry in the face of the advice given them. So excessive was their reaction to the reminders issued to them from the Qur'an that, in the words of one verse, they would ". . . strike you down with their evil looks . . ." (Surat al-Qalam: 51). They saw no need to hide the hatred and anger they felt towards the Prophet (saas), and made this quite apparent.
No doubt their reactions stemmed from the fact that the Prophet (saas) gave them advice. Had he not reminded them of such matters as the imminence of death, the scale of the torment of Hell in the Hereafter, and that status in this world and the next of those who oppose the Qur'an, and had he instead praised the hypocrites to others, then they would have felt no hatred towards him. However, as an immutable law of Allah, His messengers continue to do their duty and enjoin everyone, no matter who they might be, to do what is good and avoid what is evil.
They Imagine They Will Not be Punished
. . . [they] say to themselves "Why does Allah not punish us for what we say?" Hell will be enough for them! They will roast in it. What an evil destination! (Surat al-Mujadala: 8)
The reason why they continue doing what they do and refuse to abandon their activities is that they don't imagine any troubles will ever be visited on them. Their mindset is one of "If trouble were going to be inflicted on us, it would already have happened." But this is entirely of their own imagining, because the laws of Allah are very different. He will inflict troubles immediately if He wishes, or else postpone them for a while.
In addition, contrary to what they imagine, hypocrites constantly suffer troubles, of which they themselves are unaware. For example, in addition to their defective speech and mannerisms and inability to reason, they live in a constant state of stress, cannot take pleasure from beautiful things, and lack knowledge of the value of blessings.
Allah postpones the deaths of some of them, giving them time to further increase their denial in this world. Additionally, the suffering they will experience in Hell is also increased proportionally:
Do not let their wealth and their children impress you. Allah merely wants to punish them by them in this world, and for them to expire while they are disbelievers. (Surat at-Tawba: 85)
They Imagine Their Worldly Values will Protect Them
We have already touched on the effect of such people's worldly values, how they imagine themselves to be superior, and their enormous self-confidence. Their families and assets head the list of those elements in which they place the greatest confidence and trust, believing that their families and material assets will protect them in the Hereafter, and thus put themselves at ease. They are unaware that not even the most prestigious and powerful people in this world can protect them against any difficulty that may be inflicted by Allah. Thus, they display a most groundless conceit.
The fact is, however, that they will witness all things disappearing one by one. On the Day of Judgment, they will be accompanied neither by their families nor by any of their assets from this world. On the contrary, they will be all alone and utterly defenseless. In addition, they will realize—by means of various calamities inflicted on them by Allah—that these assets availed them nothing in this world either.
As already discussed, they imagine that through rejecting religious moral values and turning away from the community of the faithful, they will actually profit. They believe that in that way, they will be able to live in comfort, according to their worldly desires. They imagine that death, sickness or trouble will never come to them, and that they will be able to live in peace and security for many years. But the fact is that, quite the contrary, trouble and sorrow will follow wherever they go. Indeed, Allah has given believers the warning that both in this world and in the Hereafter He will inflict troubles on those who turn their backs on religion:
But if anyone turns away from My reminder, his life will be a dark and narrow one and on the Day of Resurrection We will gather him blind. (Surah Ta Ha: 124)
They Imagine They are Destined for Paradise
One of the characteristics of hypocrites is that their belief in the Hereafter is very weak and distorted. Most of them do not believe that after death, they will have to account for crimes they committed in this world. And even if they do admit such a possibility, they regard themselves as destined to enter Paradise on account of having done everything necessary to do so. Examples of this flawed thinking are given in the Qur'an:
"I do not think the Hour will ever come. But if I should be sent back to my Lord, I will definitely get something better in return." (Surat al-Kahf: 36)
According to their own flawed logic, simply because they live among believers, they must have performed various services, for better or worse. That being so, they will be rewarded for these in the Hereafter and will inevitably be admitted to Paradise. At the very worst, they think they will suffer punishment in Hell and then be admitted to Paradise. Allah reveals these misconceptions in the Qur'an:
That is because they say, "The Fire will only touch us for a number of days." Their inventions have deluded them in their religion. (Surah Al 'Imran: 24)
As the verse informs us, this is an invention, on account of which hypocrites have been deluded in their religion. This verse, which follows on from the one cited above, reveals the kind of end awaiting them as a result:
But how will it be when We gather them all together for a Day about which there is no doubt? Every self will be paid in full for what it earned. They will not be wronged. (Surah Al 'Imran: 25)
People who fear Allah always hope for His help and support in all matters. As reported in the words of the Prophet Musa (as), for example: ". . . My Lord, I am truly in need of any good You have in store for me" (Surat al-Qasas: 24), they are aware that they need their Creator at every moment. This is where the self-satisfaction of hypocrites, whose characteristics are the exact opposite of those of believers, emerges.
The Qur'an uses the word "istaghna" (self-satisfaction, self-sufficiency) to describe people who imagine they have no need of anything. Yet the term actually applies solely to Allah, for only He has no need of anything. Humans and all other living things are helpless, needy entities, created by Allah and in need of Him in order to survive. Allah addresses human beings so that they may realize their helplessness:
O humanity! An example has been made, so listen to it carefully. Those whom you call upon besides Allah are not even able to create a single fly, even if they were to join together to do it. And if a fly steals something from them, they cannot get it back. How feeble are both the seeker and the sought! (Surat al-Hajj: 73)
Hypocrites, on the other hand, are unaware of their neediness in the face of Allah. They harbor within themselves an arrogance similar to that of satan. Even though they are belittled in the sight of Allah and in that of believers, they imagine that they can deceive people and imagine themselves to be very intelligent and superior. They imagine themselves to be always on the true path, never admitting the possibility that they might have deficiencies or be in error. All these things are actually symptoms of a kind of sickness whose name is "self-satisfaction," as described above.
Indeed, Allah reveals that hypocrites have a sickness in their hearts, which is only increased by their two-facedness:
Among the people there are some who say, "We believe in Allah and the Last Day," when they are not believers. They think they deceive Allah and those who believe. They deceive no one but themselves but they are not aware of it. There is a sickness in their hearts and Allah has increased their sickness. They will have a painful punishment on account of their denial. (Surat al-Baqara: 8-10)
The disease of self-satisfaction has been seen in all deniers throughout history. Allah has indicated the disease, which leads people directly to Hell, in several verses of the Qur'an.
This disease began with satan. The first sign of self-satisfaction in him, who regarded himself as the most superior of all created beings, came with satan's refusal to prostrate himself before the Prophet Adam (as), despite Allah's commanding him to do so. Satan's own explanation for this behavior was that the Prophet Adam (as) had been created out of earth and he himself, out of fire.
Therefore, every denier since the world began has harbored this same characteristic, due to their sharing the same nature as satan. The self-satisfaction of the hypocrites is the same as that which first manifested itself in satan.
The first symptom of self-satisfaction is a person's refusal to believe the sickness in his heart, as the Qur'an puts it. Indeed, hypocrites totally reject the idea, which then leads to their sickness increasing still further. That is because someone who is conceited and regards himself as perfect, will feel no need to avoid sin and wickedness. Indeed, Allah reveals in the Qur'an that people who regard themselves as unblemished will develop even greater excesses. It is stated in verses that:
No indeed! Truly man is unbridled, seeing himself as self-sufficient. (Surat al-'Alaq: 6-7)
The self-sufficiency that hypocrites harbor within themselves has various symptoms and consequences, which are described in detail in verses of the Qur'an—and become even clearer when set out one after the other.
1. They Feel No Responsibility Toward the Verses
One of the groups of deniers who regard themselves as exempt from the verses of the Qur'an—in other words, who are unaware that the verses apply to them—are the hypocrites. Despite reading the Qur'an, they regard the stipulations of many verses as having little to do with them. For example, the description of Hell only increases a believer's fear, because there is always the possibility of losing Allah's approval and going to Hell. But since hypocrites regard themselves as predestined to enter Paradise, these verses have no effect on them. They are therefore unable to see and understand the many verses that are addressed directly to them.
When the believer is reminded of verses, or given advice by hearing them cited, his fear increases, and he abides by them, displaying exceptional sincerity. But when the hypocrite is reminded of them, he behaves pretty much as if he never heard the verses at all. He never reflects on or takes advice from Allah's wisdom:
What is the matter with them that they run from the Reminder? (Surat al-Muddaththir: 49)
Another distinguishing feature of hypocrites is that their observance of religion is limited to words. Their falsehood can also be seen in terms of abiding by the verses. Allah has revealed in a number of verses just how insensitive they are to His verses and how they seek to distance themselves from their provisions as far as possible:
Don't you see those who claim that they believe in what has been sent down to you and what was sent down before you, still desiring to turn to a satanic source for judgment in spite of being ordered to reject it? Satan wants to misguide them far away. When they are told, "Come to what Allah has sent down and to the messenger," you see the hypocrites turning away from you completely. (Surat an-Nisa': 60-61)
Don't you see those who have been given a portion of the Book being invited to let Allah's Book be the judge between them? But then a group of them turn away. (Surah Al 'Imran: 23)
2. They Imagine Themselves to be Very Intelligent
Hypocrites place a great deal of trust in their own intelligence, despite their not actually possessing any true wisdom at all. They are unable to appreciate the dire nature of their situation. They live imagining that their every deed and every decision is the best ones possible. In particular, they regard themselves as their own sole authority on matters of religion. Because of this twisted logic, they also imagine that believers are on the wrong path. Their illogical ideas are revealed in the following verse:
And when the hypocrites and those with sickness in their hearts said, "These people have been deluded by their religion." But those who put their trust in Allah will find Allah to be Almighty, All-Wise. (Surat an-Anfal: 49)
As can be seen from the verse, since they imagine that only they are on the true path, they do not appreciate believers' wisdom. Yet the truth is, believers constitute the only community on Earth on which Allah has bestowed pure wisdom. Nonetheless, hypocrites regard themselves as superior to everybody else, and whenever believers are cited as role models in living by the religious morality, the hypocrites make it clear that they remain unimpressed by their intelligence. These inaccurate ideas on the subject of believers lead hypocrites into a grievous position, as is revealed in another verse:
When they are told, "Believe in the way that the people believe," they say, "What! Are we to believe in the way that fools believe?" No indeed! They are the fools, but they do not know it. (Surat al-Baqara: 13)
As revealed in the verse, hypocrites are "fools" because they tell the most unpleasant lies and imagine that even though they prepare snares with no foundation to them, believers will not catch on and that the messenger will not bring these strategies into the light of day. However, when the time comes, Allah shows them and other people the humiliating position they are in.
3. They Imagine Themselves to be Profiting
Another aspect that separates the hypocrites from the community of the faithful is that in living by the religious moral values, they constantly hold themselves back. It is revealed in the Qur'an that in the struggle waged by the community of the faithful, hypocrites seek to keep themselves as far as possible to the rear, and behaving always in a reluctant manner:
Among you there are people who hang back and if you encounter a setback then they say, "Allah has blessed me in that I was not there with them." (Surat an-Nisa': 72)
By not submitting to Allah and His messenger, not engaging in the struggle, spending generously or performing a great number of other observances, hypocrites imagine that they are profiting, and consider performing these observances disadvantageous. Therefore, since they do not seek Allah's approval and regard themselves as unflawed, performing these observances seems a task of enormous difficulty for them.
We can set out a few points on which hypocrites imagine themselves to be ahead of the game by holding themselves back:
a) They Avoid the Struggle
Since they are devoted to the life of this world, hypocrites have a great fear of death, and the very thought of death makes them very uneasy. They never reflect that death is a commandment of Allah, or consider maintaining their religious observances until the moment of their death arrives. Indeed, Allah describes the situation of the hypocrites in the time of the Prophet (saas). They imagined that not going to war would keep them out of danger of death, and so regarded making excuses for not going to war as a sign of healthy intelligence. In the Qur'an, Allah tells of the joy they felt at hanging back during the war:
Those who were left behind were glad to stay behind the Messenger of Allah. . . . (Surat at-Tawba: 81)
The fact is, however, that death can strike anyone anywhere. Since hypocrites think on only a superficial level, they never bring this point to mind. There is no guarantee that death will not come to someone who hangs back from danger in his own home. Yet as stated at the outset, hypocrites lack the understanding to comprehend their own superficiality. They therefore see any temporary salvation or brief postponement as putting them ahead of the game.
b) They Do Not Co-exist with Believers
Allah has revealed that He will test the community of the faithful with both good and evil. Believers are subjected to tests in this world in order to attain the Hereafter. Therefore, they experience various events, some of which may appear auspicious and others not, but Allah eventually turns them all to the advantage of believers. Since they are aware of the secret of the testing to which they are subjected, they always display the same enthusiasm and effort in competing to earn Allah's approval. They never fall prey to fear or despair.
However, in the community of the faithful, there is another group who fail to grasp the secret of the test and look only at the surface of events. As discussed a little earlier, hypocrites seek to keep themselves as far from troublesome events as they can. If their means permit, they even stay far away from the community of the faithful, since they are unwilling to face the same difficulties that believers do. Indeed, Allah has informed believers—by means of examples from the past, but with particular reference to times of war—that hypocrites prefer to watch believers from as great a distance as possible:
They think that the Confederates have not departed and if the Confederates did appear then they would wish they were out in the desert with the Arabs, asking for news of you. If they were with you they would only fight a very little. (Surat al-Ahzab: 20)
Another verse reveals how hypocrites, who seek to remain at a distance from believers and not to be affected by the events that befall them, see themselves as profiting from this:
If good happens to you it galls them. If a mishap occurs to you, they say, "We made our preparations in advance," and they turn away rejoicing. (Surat at-Tawba: 50)
c) They Do Not Obey the Messenger of Allah
Obedience to the messenger of Allah means holding Allah and His Book above all things, because obedience to Allah and the Qur'an means obedience to His messenger. Believers who are sincerely devoted and obedient to Allah display the same devotion and obedience towards His messenger. The messenger of Allah is of greater value to them than their own lives or desires. The Qur'an refers to believers who protected the Prophet (saas) at the cost of their own lives, who went off to war with him, and who held him above their own selves.
The hypocrites of the time did not go off to war, however. They regarded themselves as exceedingly advantaged and intelligent because they were not obliged to protect the Prophet (saas). Those hypocrites who did join the troops, but who then became frightened and turned back, failed to heed the call of the Prophet Muhammad (saas) to them, and fled without looking back:
Remember when you were scrambling up the slope, refusing to turn back for anyone, and the Messenger was calling to you from the rear. . . . (Surah Al 'Imran: 153)
They imagined that this flight was their salvation. The fact is, however, that by departing from the command of the Prophet's (saas), they made a grave error. They earned Allah's displeasure and were thus condemned to eternal suffering.
They Claim to be Well-Intentioned
Hypocrites literally compete with one another on the subject of strife and discord. Since they fear believers, however, whenever their wickedness comes to light they swear that they are "well-intentioned" and reconciliatory, and seek to convince believers of this. In all their wickedness, they go to the messenger and make great efforts to convince him of their good intentions. A clear example of this can be seen in the Qur'an:
How will it be when a disaster strikes them because of what they have done, and then they come to you swearing by Allah: "We desired nothing but good and reconciliation?" Allah knows what is in such people's hearts . . . (Surat an-Nisa': 62-63)
Of course, as stated in the verse, Allah knows very well that they are lying and what they are concealing in their hearts. This He will reveal at a time of His choosing. He also makes His messenger aware of their situation.
They Try to Free Themselves from Blame with Self-Praise
Don't you see those who praise themselves for purity? No, Allah purifies whoever He wills. (Surat an-Nisa': 49)
How important the approval of other people is for hypocrites! Indeed, as revealed in the above verse, they constantly praise themselves for the purposes of gaining approval. They seek to cover up all their mistakes and justify their desires, in the event that any of their mistakes do see the light of day. They also take pains to depict themselves as true believers, even though they are actually not.
Naturally, however, their efforts achieve success only among people like themselves. Believers identify their two-faced behavior before much time has passed, and respond with the appropriate behavior themselves.
They Cannot Bear to Receive Advice
As we have emphasized throughout this book, one of the main features of hypocrites is their satanic pride. They have grown so arrogant that they cannot admit that they have any deficiencies or are at fault in any regard. If admonished about these deficiencies or errors, then they inevitably display great anger towards whomever does so.
However, the principle features of believers, and messengers in particular, is enjoining what is good and forbidding what is evil. In other words, the faithful constantly give one another advice and seek to eradicate one another's errors and deficiencies. Since hypocrites are also found within the community of the faithful, they also frequently become engaged in this religious observance that believers perform in order to earn Allah's approval.
In those verses dealing with the hypocrites who lived at the time of the Prophet Muhammad (saas), we can see how hypocrites, who regarded themselves as flawless, became angry in the face of the advice given them. So excessive was their reaction to the reminders issued to them from the Qur'an that, in the words of one verse, they would ". . . strike you down with their evil looks . . ." (Surat al-Qalam: 51). They saw no need to hide the hatred and anger they felt towards the Prophet (saas), and made this quite apparent.
No doubt their reactions stemmed from the fact that the Prophet (saas) gave them advice. Had he not reminded them of such matters as the imminence of death, the scale of the torment of Hell in the Hereafter, and that status in this world and the next of those who oppose the Qur'an, and had he instead praised the hypocrites to others, then they would have felt no hatred towards him. However, as an immutable law of Allah, His messengers continue to do their duty and enjoin everyone, no matter who they might be, to do what is good and avoid what is evil.
They Imagine They Will Not be Punished
. . . [they] say to themselves "Why does Allah not punish us for what we say?" Hell will be enough for them! They will roast in it. What an evil destination! (Surat al-Mujadala: 8)
The reason why they continue doing what they do and refuse to abandon their activities is that they don't imagine any troubles will ever be visited on them. Their mindset is one of "If trouble were going to be inflicted on us, it would already have happened." But this is entirely of their own imagining, because the laws of Allah are very different. He will inflict troubles immediately if He wishes, or else postpone them for a while.
In addition, contrary to what they imagine, hypocrites constantly suffer troubles, of which they themselves are unaware. For example, in addition to their defective speech and mannerisms and inability to reason, they live in a constant state of stress, cannot take pleasure from beautiful things, and lack knowledge of the value of blessings.
Allah postpones the deaths of some of them, giving them time to further increase their denial in this world. Additionally, the suffering they will experience in Hell is also increased proportionally:
Do not let their wealth and their children impress you. Allah merely wants to punish them by them in this world, and for them to expire while they are disbelievers. (Surat at-Tawba: 85)
They Imagine Their Worldly Values will Protect Them
We have already touched on the effect of such people's worldly values, how they imagine themselves to be superior, and their enormous self-confidence. Their families and assets head the list of those elements in which they place the greatest confidence and trust, believing that their families and material assets will protect them in the Hereafter, and thus put themselves at ease. They are unaware that not even the most prestigious and powerful people in this world can protect them against any difficulty that may be inflicted by Allah. Thus, they display a most groundless conceit.
The fact is, however, that they will witness all things disappearing one by one. On the Day of Judgment, they will be accompanied neither by their families nor by any of their assets from this world. On the contrary, they will be all alone and utterly defenseless. In addition, they will realize—by means of various calamities inflicted on them by Allah—that these assets availed them nothing in this world either.
As already discussed, they imagine that through rejecting religious moral values and turning away from the community of the faithful, they will actually profit. They believe that in that way, they will be able to live in comfort, according to their worldly desires. They imagine that death, sickness or trouble will never come to them, and that they will be able to live in peace and security for many years. But the fact is that, quite the contrary, trouble and sorrow will follow wherever they go. Indeed, Allah has given believers the warning that both in this world and in the Hereafter He will inflict troubles on those who turn their backs on religion:
But if anyone turns away from My reminder, his life will be a dark and narrow one and on the Day of Resurrection We will gather him blind. (Surah Ta Ha: 124)
They Imagine They are Destined for Paradise
One of the characteristics of hypocrites is that their belief in the Hereafter is very weak and distorted. Most of them do not believe that after death, they will have to account for crimes they committed in this world. And even if they do admit such a possibility, they regard themselves as destined to enter Paradise on account of having done everything necessary to do so. Examples of this flawed thinking are given in the Qur'an:
"I do not think the Hour will ever come. But if I should be sent back to my Lord, I will definitely get something better in return." (Surat al-Kahf: 36)
According to their own flawed logic, simply because they live among believers, they must have performed various services, for better or worse. That being so, they will be rewarded for these in the Hereafter and will inevitably be admitted to Paradise. At the very worst, they think they will suffer punishment in Hell and then be admitted to Paradise. Allah reveals these misconceptions in the Qur'an:
That is because they say, "The Fire will only touch us for a number of days." Their inventions have deluded them in their religion. (Surah Al 'Imran: 24)
As the verse informs us, this is an invention, on account of which hypocrites have been deluded in their religion. This verse, which follows on from the one cited above, reveals the kind of end awaiting them as a result:
But how will it be when We gather them all together for a Day about which there is no doubt? Every self will be paid in full for what it earned. They will not be wronged. (Surah Al 'Imran: 25)
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