constantly, night and day, in the utmost state of renunciation, and devote himself rigorously to acts of worship, yet fail to follow the remembrance He has sent down—the Qur’an—he would still be one of Satan’s allies. Even if he were to soar through the air or walk upon water, it is Satan who is bearing him aloft. A fuller discussion of this occurs elsewhere.

[The characteristics of hypocrites are four, inherited from the pre-Islamic age]

Section

There are people who possess faith yet also exhibit a strand of hypocrisy. In the two Ṣaḥīḥs it is related from ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar, may Allah be pleased with them both, that the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—said:

“Four traits—whoever has them is an out-and-out hypocrite, and whoever has any one of them has a trait of hypocrisy until he abandons it: when he speaks, he lies; when he makes a promise, he breaks it; when he is entrusted, he betrays the trust; and when he makes a pact, he behaves treacherously.”