may Allah bless him and grant him peace, who said:

“There are four traits: whoever possesses them is a complete hypocrite, and whoever possesses one of them has a trait of hypocrisy until he abandons it: when entrusted, he betrays; when he speaks, he lies; when he makes a covenant, he breaks it; and when he disputes, he transgresses all bounds.”

The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, thus explained that the heart may contain both an element of hypocrisy and an element of faith. If it contains an element of hypocrisy, it contains a measure of friendship with Allah and a measure of enmity towards Him. Hence, extraordinary phenomena may occur through some of these people: those arising from their faith in Allah and their mindfulness of Him are miraculous gifts granted to Allah’s allies, while those arising from their hypocrisy and enmity towards Him are manifestations of devils.

For this reason, Allah, exalted is He, has commanded us to say in every prayer:

“Guide us to the straight path—the path of those You have blessed, not of those who have incurred Your wrath, nor of those who have gone astray.”

“Those who have incurred Your wrath” are those who know the truth but act contrary to it, while “those who have gone astray” are those who worship Allah without knowledge. Whoever follows his desires, his spiritual taste, and his inward experiences, knowing that he is acting contrary to the Book and the Sunnah, is among “those who have incurred Your wrath.” If he does not know this, he is among “those who have gone astray.”

We ask Allah to guide us to the straight path, the path of those He has blessed: the prophets, the steadfastly truthful, the martyrs, and the righteous. What excellent companions they are! All praise belongs to Allah, Lord of all worlds. The final outcome belongs to the righteous. May Allah bless Muhammad.