both faith and hypocrisy. The Quran and Sunnah indicate this, for the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, mentioned the branches of faith and the branches of hypocrisy, saying:
“Whoever has one of these traits has a branch of hypocrisy until he abandons it.”
That branch may coexist with many branches of faith. Hence he said:
“Whoever has an atom’s weight of faith in his heart will come out of the Fire.”
Thus, we know that whoever possesses even the slightest amount of faith will not remain in the Fire forever. Whoever possesses much hypocrisy will be punished in the Fire in proportion to the hypocrisy he possesses, then come out of it.
Accordingly, His words to the Bedouins:
“You have not believed; rather, say, ‘We have submitted,’ for faith has not yet entered your hearts.”
—deny that faith had truly entered their hearts. This does not preclude their possessing a branch of it, just as He denied faith to the adulterer, the thief, whoever does not love for his brother what he loves for himself, and whoever’s neighbor is not safe from his harm, among others already mentioned. Indeed, the Quran and hadith contain many instances in which faith is denied to people because they neglect certain obligations.
We therefore say: Some of the early generations explained “We have submitted” as “We have surrendered for fear of the sword,” while others said, “It means Islam.” Both interpretations are correct, for the latter meant only entering Islam. Outward Islam includes hypocrites, so it also includes those whose hearts contain both faith and hypocrisy. It is known that whoever has an atom’s weight of faith in his heart will come out of the Fire, unlike the pure hypocrite whose heart is entirely black: he is the one who will be in the lowest depths of the Fire. This is why the Companions feared hypocrisy within themselves, but did not fear