it will be for the sake of Allah’s religion. If I am imprisoned, imprisonment is, for me, among the greatest blessings Allah has bestowed upon me. By Allah, I cannot adequately thank Him for His blessing upon me in this imprisonment. I have nothing over which to fear people—neither land grants, nor a school, nor wealth, nor authority or prestige. Rather, it is you who have reason to fear, should you lose the authority and wealth you now enjoy, and should your religion, through which you attain happiness in this world and the Hereafter, become corrupted. This was the aim of the enemy who stirred up this turmoil.”

I said:

“These emirs, judges and shaykhs in Egypt are my brothers and companions. I have never wronged any of them; I have always treated them well. What grievance, then, is there between me and them? But the hypocrites, the enemies of Islam, have misled them.”

I say to you—though I did not happen to say this to him—that among the believers are those who listen to the hypocrites and obey them, even though they are not themselves hypocrites. As Allah Most High said:

“And among you are those who listen to them.”

Allah also said to His Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace:

“Do not obey the disbelievers and the hypocrites, and disregard their harm.”

Hypocrisy has branches and pillars, just as faith has branches and pillars. In the two authentic collections, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, is reported to have said:

“The signs of a hypocrite are three: when he speaks, he lies; when he promises, he breaks his promise; and when he is entrusted with something, he betrays that trust.”

It is also reported in both collections that he said:

“Whoever possesses four traits is a complete hypocrite, and whoever possesses one of them has a trait of hypocrisy until he abandons it: when he speaks, he lies; when he makes a covenant, he betrays it; when he disputes, he acts wickedly; and when he is entrusted with something, he betrays that trust.”