“There are four (traits); whoever has them is a sheer hypocrite, and whoever has one trait of them has one of the traits of hypocrisy until he gives it up: whenever he speaks, he tells a lie; whenever he makes a covenant, he proves treacherous; whenever he makes a promise, he breaks it; and whenever he is in a dispute, he behaves in a shameless immoral manner

Explanation

The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) warned of four traits; if they are combined in a Muslim, he becomes quite similar to the hypocrites due to them. This applies to a person in whom these traits are dominant, not someone who rarely exhibits any of them. They are: First: When he speaks, he intentionally lies and avoids truthfulness. Second: When he makes a covenant, he does not fulfill it and proves treacherous to the other party. Third: When he makes a promise, he does not keep it; rather, he breaks it. Fourth: When he quarrels and falls into dispute with someone, he acts severely, departs from the truth, turns to deception in his response and argument, and tells falsehood and lies. Hypocrisy is to reveal something different from what is kept hidden. This exists in a person who possesses these traits. His hypocrisy is exercised toward those to whom he speaks or makes a promise or those who entrust him, quarrel with him, or engage in a covenant with him. It is not that he is a hypocrite in terms of Islam, revealing it and concealing Kufr. Whoever possesses one of these traits possesses a trait of hypocrisy until he gives it up.

Benefits

• The Hadīth demonstrates some signs of hypocrites to intimidate and warn us about falling into them.
• The bottom line in this Hadīth is that these traits are traits of hypocrisy, and he who possesses them is similar to the hypocrites in these traits and assumes their morals; it does not mean that he is a hypocrite who reveals Islam and conceals Kufr. It was said that this applies to the one in whom these traits are dominant and he takes them lightly and carelessly. Indeed, a person who likes that, mostly has a corrupt creed.
• Al-Ghazāli said: The core of religion is limited to three things: speech, action, and intention. He pointed out that speech is corrupted by lying, action is corrupted by betrayal, and intention is corrupted by breaking a promise, as for breaking a promise then it isn't blameworthy unless there was an intential intention to break it. However, if he was determined to fulfill the promise and then something prevented him or he changed his mind, this is not a form of hypocrisy.
• Hypocrisy is of two types: Creedal hypocrisy, which brings one out of Imān; it is to reveal Islam and conceal Kufr. Practical hypocrisy, which is to imitate the manners of hypocrites; it does not bring one out of Imān, though it is a major sin.
• Ibn Hajar said: The scholars unanimously agreed that if a person is a believer with his heart and tongue, and engages in these traits, he is not judged to be a disbeliever or a hypocrite who shall abide in Hellfire eternally.
• An-Nawawi said: A group of scholars said: It refers to the hypocrites during the Prophet's lifetime. They spoke about their Imān and lied; they were entrusted with their religion and betrayed it; they gave promises regarding the matter of the religion and its support and broke their promises; and they were immoral in their disputes.

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