Seeking Allah's Mercy
Qul HuwaAllahu Ahud!
Asalamoalaikom wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuh. . .
Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
The more faith and knowledge a person has, the more he will fear that he may be among this class of people (i.e., hypocrites), hence the leaders and earliest generations of this ummah were so afraid that they might be among them. ‘Umar used to say to Hudhayfah: I adjure you by Allaah, did the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) mention me along with the people (i.e., the hypocrites)? He said: No, but I would not praise anyone after you, meaning; I would not praise people (by saying that they are not mentioned among the hypocrites). It does not mean that ‘Umar was the only one who was free of hypocrisy.
Tareeq al-Hijratayn (p. 604)
-al-Haafiz Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
al-Ja’d Abu ‘Uthmaan said: I said to Abu Raja’ al-‘Attaaridi: Did you meet anyone whom I met of the companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) who feared falling into hypocrisy? He said: Yes. Praise be to Allaah I met some of the prominent ones among them, and they used to fear it a great deal. And he had met ‘Umar.
- and he (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
Among those of the Sahaabah who used to seek refuge with Allaah from falling into hypocrisy were: Hudhayfah, Abu’l-Darda’ and Abu Ayyoob al-Ansaari. Among the Taabi’een there were many who did that. Ibn Sireen said: There is nothing I fear more than this verse (interpretation of the meaning): “And of mankind, there are some (hypocrites) who say: ‘We believe in Allaah and the Last Day,’ while in fact they believe not” [al-Baqarah 2:8]. Ayyoob said: Every verse in the Qur’aan which mentions hypocrisy I fear lest it apply to me. Mu’aawiyah ibn Qurrah said: ‘Umar used to fear it, so how I can feel safe from it? al-Hasan spoke a great deal concerning this matter, as did the imams of Islam after them.
It was narrated that ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Amr said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “There are four characteristics, whoever has them all is a pure hypocrite, and whoever has one of them has one of the characteristics of hypocrisy, until he gives it up: when he speaks he lies, when he makes a covenant he betrays it, when he makes a promise he breaks it, and when he disputes he resorts to obscene speech.”
Narrated by al-Bukhaari (34) and Muslim (58).
It was also narrated (2632) by al-Tirmidhi (may Allaah have mercy on him) who said after it:
What this means according to the scholars is hypocrisy of action. It was the hypocrisy of disbelieving at the time of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). Something similar was narrated from al-Hasan al-Basri when he said: Hypocrisy is of two types: hypocrisy of action and hypocrisy of disbelief.
Al-Haafiz Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
This goes back to what we mentioned above: that hypocrisy may be minor or major. Minor hypocrisy is hypocrisy of action, which is what these people feared for themselves. It leads to major hypocrisy which is feared for the one who is overcome by minor hypocrisy to such an extent that it robs him of faith altogether,
As Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“when they turned away (from the path of Allaah), Allaah turned their hearts away (from the Right Path)”
[al-Saff 61:5]
“And We shall turn their hearts and their eyes away (from guidance), as they refused to believe therein for the first time”
[al-An’aam 6:110]
It was narrated that Hanzalah al-Usaydi said: Abu Bakr met me and said: How are you, O Hanzalah? I said: Hanzalah has become a hypocrite. He said: Subhaan Allaah! What are you saying? I said: When we are with the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) he reminds us of the Fire and the Garden until it is as if we are seeing them with our own eyes, but when we depart from the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), we attend to our wives and children and businesses, and we forget a great deal. Abu Bakr said: By Allaah, we experience something similar. Abu Bakr and I went and entered upon the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and I said: Hanzalah has become a hypocrite, O Messenger of Allaah. The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Why is that?” I said: O Messenger of Allaah, when we are with you, you remind us of the Fire and the Garden until it is as if we are seeing them with our own eyes, but when we depart from you, we attend to our wives and children and businesses, and we forget a great deal. The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “By the One in Whose hand is my soul, if you continued as you are when you are with me, and continued to remember (Paradise and Hell), the angels would shake hands with you in your homes and on the streets. But, O Hanzalah, there is a time for this and a time for that” (he said it) three times.
Narrated by Muslim (2750).
Al-Nawawi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
With regard to the words “we attend to our wives and children and businesses”,
Al-Harawi and others said: What this means is that we get absorbed with that and get busy with it.
“businesses” refers how a man earns a living.
“Hanzalah has become a hypocrite” means: he was afraid that he had become a hypocrite, because he felt the fear of Allaah when he was sitting with the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and that was manifested in the way he focused on remembrance of Allaah and thinking of the Hereafter, but when he departed he became distracted by his wife and children and earning a living in this world, and the basic meaning of hypocrisy is showing the opposite of what one conceals of evil, so he was afraid that he was a hypocrite because of that. But the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) told him that this was not hypocrisy, and that they were not expected to be like that all the time. “There is a time for this and a time for that.”
Sharh Muslim (17/66, 67)
Al-Bukhaari (may Allaah have mercy on him) gave a chapter heading to the report he narrated from Ibraaheem al-Taymi, Ibn Abi Mulaykah and al-Hasan al-Basri – which we have quoted above – saying: Chapter on the believer’s fear that his deeds may be cancelled out without him realizing.
And he ended this chapter by saying:
And there is fear for the one who persists in hypocrisy and sin without repenting, because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “and do not persist in what (wrong) they have done, while they know” [Aal ‘Imraan 3:135].
End quote.
Al-Haafiz Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
What the words of al-Bukhaari (may Allaah have mercy on him) – And there is fear for the one who persists in hypocrisy and sin without repenting, because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “and do not persist in what (wrong) they have done, while they know” [Aal ‘Imraan 3:135] – mean is that if one persists in sin and the various types of hypocrisy without repenting there is the fear that the one who does that may be punished by having his faith taken away altogether, so that he becomes a complete hypocrite and meets a bad end – we seek refuge with Allaah from that – as it is said that sin is the way to kufr.
Fath al-Baari by Ibn Rajab (1/181).
Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
The more faith and knowledge a person has, the more he will fear that he may be among this class of people (i.e., hypocrites), hence the leaders and earliest generations of this ummah were so afraid that they might be among them. ‘Umar used to say to Hudhayfah: I adjure you by Allaah, did the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) mention me along with the people (i.e., the hypocrites)? He said: No, but I would not praise anyone after you, meaning; I would not praise people (by saying that they are not mentioned among the hypocrites). It does not mean that ‘Umar was the only one who was free of hypocrisy.
Tareeq al-Hijratayn (p. 604)
-al-Haafiz Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
al-Ja’d Abu ‘Uthmaan said: I said to Abu Raja’ al-‘Attaaridi: Did you meet anyone whom I met of the companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) who feared falling into hypocrisy? He said: Yes. Praise be to Allaah I met some of the prominent ones among them, and they used to fear it a great deal. And he had met ‘Umar.
- and he (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
Among those of the Sahaabah who used to seek refuge with Allaah from falling into hypocrisy were: Hudhayfah, Abu’l-Darda’ and Abu Ayyoob al-Ansaari. Among the Taabi’een there were many who did that. Ibn Sireen said: There is nothing I fear more than this verse (interpretation of the meaning): “And of mankind, there are some (hypocrites) who say: ‘We believe in Allaah and the Last Day,’ while in fact they believe not” [al-Baqarah 2:8]. Ayyoob said: Every verse in the Qur’aan which mentions hypocrisy I fear lest it apply to me. Mu’aawiyah ibn Qurrah said: ‘Umar used to fear it, so how I can feel safe from it? al-Hasan spoke a great deal concerning this matter, as did the imams of Islam after them.
It was narrated that ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Amr said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “There are four characteristics, whoever has them all is a pure hypocrite, and whoever has one of them has one of the characteristics of hypocrisy, until he gives it up: when he speaks he lies, when he makes a covenant he betrays it, when he makes a promise he breaks it, and when he disputes he resorts to obscene speech.”
Narrated by al-Bukhaari (34) and Muslim (58).
It was also narrated (2632) by al-Tirmidhi (may Allaah have mercy on him) who said after it:
What this means according to the scholars is hypocrisy of action. It was the hypocrisy of disbelieving at the time of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). Something similar was narrated from al-Hasan al-Basri when he said: Hypocrisy is of two types: hypocrisy of action and hypocrisy of disbelief.
Al-Haafiz Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
This goes back to what we mentioned above: that hypocrisy may be minor or major. Minor hypocrisy is hypocrisy of action, which is what these people feared for themselves. It leads to major hypocrisy which is feared for the one who is overcome by minor hypocrisy to such an extent that it robs him of faith altogether,
As Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“when they turned away (from the path of Allaah), Allaah turned their hearts away (from the Right Path)”
[al-Saff 61:5]
“And We shall turn their hearts and their eyes away (from guidance), as they refused to believe therein for the first time”
[al-An’aam 6:110]
It was narrated that Hanzalah al-Usaydi said: Abu Bakr met me and said: How are you, O Hanzalah? I said: Hanzalah has become a hypocrite. He said: Subhaan Allaah! What are you saying? I said: When we are with the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) he reminds us of the Fire and the Garden until it is as if we are seeing them with our own eyes, but when we depart from the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), we attend to our wives and children and businesses, and we forget a great deal. Abu Bakr said: By Allaah, we experience something similar. Abu Bakr and I went and entered upon the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and I said: Hanzalah has become a hypocrite, O Messenger of Allaah. The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Why is that?” I said: O Messenger of Allaah, when we are with you, you remind us of the Fire and the Garden until it is as if we are seeing them with our own eyes, but when we depart from you, we attend to our wives and children and businesses, and we forget a great deal. The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “By the One in Whose hand is my soul, if you continued as you are when you are with me, and continued to remember (Paradise and Hell), the angels would shake hands with you in your homes and on the streets. But, O Hanzalah, there is a time for this and a time for that” (he said it) three times.
Narrated by Muslim (2750).
Al-Nawawi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
With regard to the words “we attend to our wives and children and businesses”,
Al-Harawi and others said: What this means is that we get absorbed with that and get busy with it.
“businesses” refers how a man earns a living.
“Hanzalah has become a hypocrite” means: he was afraid that he had become a hypocrite, because he felt the fear of Allaah when he was sitting with the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and that was manifested in the way he focused on remembrance of Allaah and thinking of the Hereafter, but when he departed he became distracted by his wife and children and earning a living in this world, and the basic meaning of hypocrisy is showing the opposite of what one conceals of evil, so he was afraid that he was a hypocrite because of that. But the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) told him that this was not hypocrisy, and that they were not expected to be like that all the time. “There is a time for this and a time for that.”
Sharh Muslim (17/66, 67)
Al-Bukhaari (may Allaah have mercy on him) gave a chapter heading to the report he narrated from Ibraaheem al-Taymi, Ibn Abi Mulaykah and al-Hasan al-Basri – which we have quoted above – saying: Chapter on the believer’s fear that his deeds may be cancelled out without him realizing.
And he ended this chapter by saying:
And there is fear for the one who persists in hypocrisy and sin without repenting, because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “and do not persist in what (wrong) they have done, while they know” [Aal ‘Imraan 3:135].
End quote.
Al-Haafiz Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
What the words of al-Bukhaari (may Allaah have mercy on him) – And there is fear for the one who persists in hypocrisy and sin without repenting, because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “and do not persist in what (wrong) they have done, while they know” [Aal ‘Imraan 3:135] – mean is that if one persists in sin and the various types of hypocrisy without repenting there is the fear that the one who does that may be punished by having his faith taken away altogether, so that he becomes a complete hypocrite and meets a bad end – we seek refuge with Allaah from that – as it is said that sin is the way to kufr.
Fath al-Baari by Ibn Rajab (1/181).
