“There are four (traits); whoever has them is a sheer hypocrite, and whoever has one trait…

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Hadith narrated by Agreed upon

Authenticity grade : Authentic

Hadith text: “There are four (traits); whoever has them is a sheer h…

عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عَمْرٍو رضي الله عنهما قال: قال رَسولُ اللهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: «أَرْبَعٌ مَنْ كُنَّ فِيهِ كَانَ مُنَافِقًا خَالِصًا، وَمَنْ كَانَتْ فِيهِ خَلَّةٌ مِنْهُنَّ كَانَتْ فِيهِ خَلَّةٌ مِنْ نِفَاقٍ حَتَّى يَدَعَهَا: إِذَا حَدَّثَ كَذَبَ، وَإِذَا عَاهَدَ غَدَرَ، وَإِذَا وَعَدَ أَخْلَفَ، وَإِذَا خَاصَمَ فَجَرَ».

‘Abdullāh ibn ‘Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: “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 of the hadith: “There are four (traits); whoever has them is a sheer h…

Lessons: “There are four (traits); whoever has them is a sheer h…

• 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.

Categories : Hypocrisy · Condemning Sins · Forbidden Utterances and Tongue Evils