Nifaq

[Ansari]

Let us look at what Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him said:

Narrated 'Abdullah bin 'Amr: "The Prophet said, "Whoever has the following four (characteristics) will be a pure hypocrite and whoever has one of the following four characteristics will have one characteristic of hypocrisy unless and until he gives it up.

1. Whenever he is entrusted, he betrays.

2. Whenever he speaks, he tells a lie.

3. Whenever he makes a covenant, he proves treacherous.

4. Whenever he quarrels, he behaves in a very imprudent, evil and insulting manner." (Translation of Sahih Bukhari, Belief, Volume 1, Book 2, Number 33)"

[مروة]

Jazak Allahu kheiran akhi ..

Here is something i came across this morning:

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions.

Pride and hypocrisy are dispraised characteristics which are not of the morals and conduct of the people of iman.

The Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) defined pride saying: "It is to be arrogant toward the truth, and to deny people their rights." Reported by Muslim. These are two main characteristics of a person with pride: he rejects the truth and despises people. Other characteristics that such person have can be encompassed within these two characteristics like refusing to acknowledge one's mistakes, and refusing to sit with poor people and so on.

As regards, hypocrisy (Nifaq), it is of 2 kinds:

The first kind: Hypocrisy which is connected to belief, which is to conceal Kufr (disbelief) and to show Iman (belief). This kind of Nifaq takes the person out of the fold of Islam.

The second kind: This kind of Nifaq is called pragmatic Nifaq. It is to perform acts which are the characteristics of the people of Nifaq, like those mentioned in the Hadith. The Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) said:

"There are four things if they are found in a person, then he is a real Munafiq (hypocrite), and if one of them is found in a person, then there is a trait of Nifaq in him until he leaves it: If he is entrusted, he cheats, if he speaks he lies, if he promises, he fails to keep his promise, and if he quarrels he uses obscene and immoral expressions." Reported by Bukhari and Muslim.

With regard to how to treat pride and hypocrisy, it is by remembering the greatness of Allah, and by fearing His punishment and severe torture in addition to remembering the bad fate of the people of pride and hypocrisy. So this could be a treatment for both characteristics.

However, pride has a treatment peculiar to it, which is that a person has to remember his origin, and that he is a weak creature, created from nothing and will become nothing. His beginning is a drop of sperm and his end is a rotten corpse, and in his body he carries excrements.

In addition to the above, one should remember the good fate of humble people who are beloved by Allah, they are the people who will be honored and given a high status, in addition to entering paradise.

The treatment peculiar to hypocrisy is to remember the fate of being truthful and sincere, and what Allah has prepared as permanent pleasure for the truthful people, and to think about what Allah has prepared as severe punishment for hypocrites.

Allah knows best.