Hypocrisy & Its Signs

I want to talk to you a little bit about nifaq (hypocrisy). Now hypocrisy (nifaq in Arabic), it means to dig a tunnel to submerge oneself, so that others don't know form where you will emerge. Al Imam Al Nawawi, Al Gazzali they use this imagery, where they say it's like a rat, who burrows but makes an escape hatch so that when the snake falls him in, he thinks he has trapped him but in fact that rat knows how to get out from a pre-determined exit. 

That's Munafiq.! That's the hypocrite. That's the word in Arabic. Nifaq was not known to the Arab, up until the biasa of our Nabi Muhammad (p). Al Arab, they use to pride themselves on, you know we spoke a little about it, Muru'ah, shivery, manliness. Muru'ah is...it's not about doing what's right and wrong, it's what doing, it is about doing what is most right out of what is right. That's Muru'ah. That you don't just chose what's right from what's wrong but you chose what is the most right from what is right. This is a distinguished hire mode of thinking about a believer. The Mushrikeen of Quraish, they use to pride themselves on this Muru'ah. That their word would not be brought to the ground. That their promise would be kept. Even if it meant, the one they were speaking about or questioned about was their avowed enemy.They didn't have Nifaq. Nifaq emerged after the Hijra. The Mushrikeen before the Hijra, they hated the Prophet, they would say we hate you. (sallal laho alaihi wasallam). 

After the Hijra, there was duplicity and there were people who pretended to believe when in fact in their hearts they disbelieved. And this is Nifaq ul Akbar. Major Nifaq! That a person has no faith, but claims to have faith. And those individual, the Prophet (sallal laho alaihi wasallam) left be and Umar (Radiallahu Anhu) would say to him, 'Ya Rasool Allah, Allah has informed you who they are, you know that they are disbelievers and Munafaikoon. In their hearts there is no iman and you know them by name. Ya Rasool Allah, lets dispatch them, get rid them!' The Prophet Muhammad (sallal laho alaihi wasallam) teaches us a principle in our faith. That we deal people with the outward. You never look into a person's heart because you cannot. You don't say, "I know inside, he is this, I know inside, he hates, I know inside Islam, I know inside, he is an unbeliever." No! The Prophet (sallal laho alaihi wasallam) said, "I was not orders to open a person's chest and look in their heart. Let them be." That was major Nifaq. Unbelief but pretended to believe. Do you know what it is? My dear brothers. The minor level of hypocrisy is what seen in signs. Now I want you understand, sometimes people misunderstand these hadith where the Prophet Muhammad (sallal laho alaihi wasallam) says...

The sign of a hypocrite. These are signs means it's not because they do this they are hypocrites. There's other things they do that make them hypocrites. But these signs, they manifest themselves beyond their control. A Hypocrite cannot ever hide it! Because he is a hypocrite. What are these signs? He cannot control it. When he speaks, he lies. Even though he doesn't want to lie, he will lie. Cannot control it! Why? Because in his heart, there is that susceptibility to hypocrisy. You trust him, he betrays. Promises, betrays. In another riwaaya there is four characteristics, four signs. The forth one, when he disputes with you, he is over board, he goes too far. Its not just normal abuse, he goes way over what you would expect for a particular situation or circumstance.

 By Sheikh Yahya Ibrahim