As for the covenants that Muslims conclude among themselves, honouring them is even more obligatory and violating them is a far graver sin. Foremost among these is breaking the pledge of allegiance that one has given to an Imam whom he has willingly accepted.
Al-Bukhārī (6786) and Muslim (108) transmit, on the authority of Abū Hurayrah, that the Prophet ﷺ said: “Three types of people Allah will neither speak to nor purify on the Day of Resurrection, and theirs will be a painful punishment…,” and he mentioned among them: “a man who pledges allegiance to a leader for nothing but worldly gain—if the leader gives him what he wants he remains loyal, but if he withholds it, he withholds his loyalty.”
Under the heading of covenants that must be fulfilled—and whose betrayal is forbidden—fall all binding contracts that Muslims make with one another by mutual agreement: sales, marriages and every other obligatory transaction. The same applies to pledges owed to Allah Himself, such as devotional vows and the like.
The fifth trait is: “when he is entrusted, he betrays.” If a man is given a trust, he is obliged to return it, as Allah says, “Indeed, Allah commands you to render trusts to those to whom they are due” ⦗al-Nisāʾ 4:58⦘.
Al-Tirmidhī (1264) and Abū Dāwūd (3534) record from Abū Hurayrah that the Prophet ﷺ said: “Render the trust to the one who entrusted you, and do not betray the one who betrays you.” Betrayal of a trust is one of the hallmarks of hypocrisy. Allah says: “Among them are those who pledged to Allah, ‘If He grants us of His bounty, we will surely give in charity…’” ⦗al-Tawbah 9:75⦘, up to His words, “…so He caused hypocrisy to settle in their hearts until the Day they will meet Him, because they broke their promise to Allah and because they used to lie” (77).
He also says: “We offered the Trust to the heavens and the earth…” ⦗al-Aḥzāb 33:72⦘.
In sum, every form of minor hypocrisy goes back to the discrepancy between what is concealed and what is displayed, as al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, may Allah have mercy on him, observed.
A number of the early scholars said: The hypocrite’s show of humility is that you see the body humbled while the heart