is not truly humble.
ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “The thing I fear most for you is the learned hypocrite.” They asked, “How can a hypocrite be learned?” He replied, “He speaks words of wisdom, yet acts with injustice and wrongdoing.”
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Minor hypocrisy is a pathway that leads to major hypocrisy, just as persistent sins pave the way to disbelief.
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Among the gravest traits of practical hypocrisy is for a person to perform an action that outwardly appears righteous while inwardly intending nothing but an evil objective. He employs this deception to reach his goal, rejoices in his trickery and guile, basks in people’s praise for what they see on the surface, and thus secures the wicked aim he has concealed.
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Because the Companions understood hypocrisy to be the discrepancy between what is hidden and what is displayed, some of them feared for themselves when they felt their attentiveness, tenderness, and humility wane after leaving a gathering of remembrance and returning to worldly concerns—family, children, and wealth. They worried that this might be hypocrisy, until the Prophet ﷺ reassured them, saying, “That is not hypocrisy.” [Narrated by Abū Yaʿlā (6/105)].
Disagreement among the scholars:
Scholars hold three opinions regarding the ruling of keeping one’s promise:
• The majority maintain that fulfilling a promise is recommended but not obligatory—neither as a matter of religious duty nor in the courts. This is the position of the three imams: Abū Ḥanīfah, al-Shāfiʿī, and Aḥmad.
Al-Ḥāfiẓ remarked: “The claim of consensus on this point is untenable, for the disagreement is well-known, though those who obligate it are few.” They support their stance with several proofs, among them:
– The report recorded by Abū Dāwūd (4995) and al-Tirmidhī (2633), who graded it sound, that the Prophet ﷺ said: “When one of you makes an appointment with his brother intending to keep it but then fails to do so, there is no sin upon him.”
– The fact that if a person makes a promise, swears an oath, and then adds the exception, “if Allah wills,” the obligation is waived