and hadith commentaries—is familiar even to ordinary people. Both the Quran and the Sunnah establish this.

Ibn al-Murahhal then turned to another point, saying:

“Al-Hasan al-Basrī calls the sinful person a hypocrite, whereas your associates do not.”

Shaykh Taqī al-Dīn replied:

“On the contrary, he is called a hypocrite in the sense of minor hypocrisy, not major hypocrisy. Hypocrisy can refer both to major hypocrisy, which is concealing disbelief, and to minor hypocrisy, which is a discrepancy between one’s inward and outward states regarding religious obligations.”

Ibn al-Murahhal asked him:

“On what basis do you say that the term applies to both?”

Shaykh Taqī al-Dīn replied:

“This is well known among the scholars. They understood in this sense the words of the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace:

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

“Al-Tirmidhī and others mentioned this and related it from the scholars. More than one of the early generations said:

‘There is disbelief of a lesser degree, hypocrisy of a lesser degree, and polytheism of a lesser degree.’

“If hypocrisy is a general category comprising two types, then the sinful person falls within one of those types.”